In this episode we have the chance to interview James Bikoff, who is frequently litgating trademarks of the International Olympic Committee, FIFA and other large sports associations. The we also talk about a podcasting patent that was recently cancelled. And in the end, we tell you about decisions of the Enlarged Board of Appeal of the European Patent Office regarding the patentability of plants.

 

 

IP FRIDAYS

Co-Presenters:

Rolf Claessen and Kenneth Suzan

Episode 26 – April 17, 2015

RC = Rolf Claessen

KS = Kenneth Suzan

JB = James Bikoff

Hi. This is Mark Lemley from Stanford Law School and you are listening to IP Fridays.

KS: Hello and welcome to this episode of IP Fridays. Our names are Ken Suzan and Rolf Claessen and this is THE podcast dedicated to Intellectual Property. It does not matter where you are from, in-house or private practice, novice or expert, we will help you stay up-to-date with current topics in the fields of trademarks, patents, design and copyright, discover useful tools and much more.

RC: Welcome to the 26th episode of IP Fridays. Today we have a very prominent guest, Jim Bikoff, who is litigating trademarks for the International Olympic Committee as well as FIFA and other popular sports associations and we will also tell you about a podcasting patent that has been partly revoked and the European Patent Office issued two important decisions of enlarged boards of appeal regarding the protection of essentially biological processes and products resulting thereof. But before we jump into all this, I want to say that we are very proud to be hosting our own little reception, or Meet-Up, during the INTA meeting in San Diego for the IP Fridays Podcast so if you want to be on board and meet us personally, you can see everything you need to know in the show notes of this episode or simply go to www.ipfridays.com/inta. We are also proud to be co-hosting the Meet the Bloggers Event during the INTA meeting in San Diego and you can find out more at www.meet-the-bloggers.com.

So first I want to tell you about a podcasting patent that has been partly cancelled. Patent 8,112,504 had been issued to Personal Audio LLC and this patent basically covered podcasting in its broadest claims and this patent became interesting to the news when the owner of the patent started to sue both comedians, like Adam Carolla, who had a podcast and also three major television networks so on October 30, 2013, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, with the help of pro bono attorneys filed a petition requesting the inter partes review of this patent and, in particular, claims 1 – 35 were relevant to podcasting. It was actually not so easy to find prior art since the patent dates back to a filing date in 1996. They were able to find a publication by CNN on their Website in the year of 1994 which was the CNN Newsroom Video Magazine and the USPTO agreed that this publication actually made the relevant claims obvious over the prior art. If you want to read the full story, you can go to www.ipfridays.com/podcastingpatent.

Ken Suzan had the chance to interview Jim Bikoff who is litigating the trademarks for the International Olympic Committee and here is what he had to say…

KEN SUZAN’S INTERVIEW WITH JAMES BIKOFF:

KS: Thank you Rolf. Today we are speaking with James Bikoff, a partner in the intellectual property practice of Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP.

Jim works out of the firm’s Washington DC office and his practice focuses on formulating and implementing worldwide trademark and copyright protection and enforcement programs for clients in the consumer and industrial product sectors, as well as non-profits, and service providers such as banks and insurance companies. He also engages in Internet and domain name counseling and enforcement actions.

Mr. Bikoff has been active for over 30 years directing worldwide trademark and cop...

Scott Godes talks with Ken Suzan about cybersecurity threats to intellectual property. The EPO has announced plans for the annual fees for the European patent with unitary effect. And we proudly announce that we are co-host of the Meet the Bloggers event during the INTA Annual Meeting in San Diego.

Transcript Here

IP FRIDAYS

Co-Presenters:

Rolf Claessen and Kenneth Suzan

Episode 25 – April 3, 2015

RC = Rolf Claessen

KS = Kenneth Suzan

SG – Scott Godes

Hi. This is Gene Quinn. I am a patent attorney and the founder of ipwatchdog.com and you are listening to IP Fridays.

KS: Hello and welcome to this episode of IP Fridays. Our names are Ken Suzan and Rolf Claessen and this is THE podcast dedicated to intellectual property. It does not matter where you are from, in-house or private practice, novice or expert, we will help you stay up-to-date with current topics in the fields of trademarks, patents, design and copyright, discover useful tools and much more.

RC: Welcome to the 25th episode of IP Fridays. As our listeners already know, we are hosting an IP Fridays Meet-Up during the INTA meeting in San Diego on the May 5th so if you want to sign up for that, please send us an e-mail and you will get an invitation for this Meet-Up. Also, we are host to the Meet the Bloggers Event on May 4th. If you want to learn more about the Meet the Bloggers Event, where you can meet relevant bloggers in the fields of trademarks, you can go to www.ipfridays.com/meetthebloggers. We would be happy to see you at either one of these events and it would be great to see you at both events.

So what has happened in the intellectual property field? The EPO has finally proposed levels of renewal fees for the Unitary Patent and I will tell you more about this. But before I tell you about the renewal fees, we have a special guest today, which is Scott Godes of Barnes & Thornburg LLP. He is a partner in charge of insurance and cyber security threats and he is telling us about the risk of intellectual property being stolen in cyber-attacks and how the insurance industry is responding to that threat. So Ken, take it away…

KEN SUZAN’S INTERVIEW WITH SCOTT GODES:

KS: Rolf, today I am joined by Scott Godes who is a veteran trial lawyer with experience in insurance coverage matters and technology issues. He is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg LLP’s Washington, D.C. office and is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department, the Policyholder Insurance Recovery and Counseling Group, and the Internet & Technology Law Group.

Scott has assisted a variety of clients over the years to obtain more than $1 billion in insurance coverage. In one of his most significant matters, he was co-lead counsel in a landmark class action trial. It was the first case of its kind to determine that insurance coverage was available, without aggregate limits, for thousands of asbestos claims.

Scott is also a co-chair of the American Bar Association’s Computer Technology Subcommittee of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the Section of Litigation.

Scott regularly represents clients facing cybersecurity, data breach, cyberattack, privacy and other technology-related claims. He has litigated and advised clients regarding insurance coverage for data breaches and cybersecurity issues.

Scott, welcome to IP Fridays.

SG: Thanks Ken. It’s great to join you.

KS: Scott, what should companies think about when it comes to their intellectual property and cybersecurity?

SG: Ken, we are in an age where companies know that intellectual property is the most valuable thing that they have and we are far, far away now from days when people were most concerned about risks of bodily injury and so companies are beginning to think about things like destruction of their intellectual property and at the most basic, non-headline grabbing level,

3D-printing has many implications in view of intellectual property – Paul Banwatt talks with Ken Suzan about this topic. Also we cover the reintroduction of the Innovation Act by Bob Goodlatte, pushing patent reform in the US. Lastly, we invite you to our IP Fridays Meetup in San Diego. We are also proud to be co-hosts of the Meet the Bloggers event in San Diego as well!

 

IP FRIDAYS

 

Co-Presenters:

Rolf Claessen and Kenneth Suzan

 

Episode 24 – March 20, 2015

 

RC =   Rolf Claessen

KS =    Kenneth Suzan

PB = Paul Banwatt

 

Hi.  This is Gene Quinn.  I am a patent attorney and the founder of ipwatchdog.com and you are listening to IP Fridays.

 

KS:      Hello and welcome to this episode of IP Fridays.  Our names are Ken Suzan and Rolf Claessen and this is THE podcast dedicated to Intellectual Property.  It does not matter where you are from, in-house or private practice, novice or expert, we will help you stay up-to-date with current topics in the fields of trademarks, patents, design and copyright, discover useful tools and much more.

 

RC:      Welcome to the 24th episode of IP Fridays.  As you know, we are hosting an IP Fridays Meetup in San Diego on the 5th of May and we can proudly say that 20 free tickets to our Meetup went away really quickly and are sold out now.  So we decided to introduce a new ticket for $25.00 which is basically covering our additional costs with the Hyatt Hotel in San Diego.  So if you want to attend our IP Fridays Meetup in San Diego on the 5th of May you can still do so by signing up at www.ipfridays.com/inta and you will just be required to cover our additional costs that are involved with your participation.  In addition, we are very proud to be co-hosts of the “Meet the Bloggers” Event on the 4th of May, in the evening, and there will be news coming up very soon.

 

Today I will tell you about the reintroduction of the Innovation Act in the U.S. to fight the patent troll problem so since majorities have changed in Congress and the Senate it is expected that this Innovation Act will be passed quite quickly but before we jump into that story, we have our special guest today.  Ken had the chance to interview Paul Banwatt.  He is COO and General Counsel of Matter and Form Inc. which is a company focused on 3D scanning and 3D printing and Paul will talk about the legal issues around 3D printing.

 

KEN SUZAN’S INTERVIEW WITH PAUL BANWATT:

 

KS:      Rolf, today we are talking about the growing trend of 3D printing with Paul Banwatt, the COO and general counsel to Matter and Form Inc., the manufacturer of a high tolerance 3D scanner.

Paul Banwatt was previously an associate at Gilbert’s LLP in Toronto, Canada. Paul’s practice was dedicated to innovative and creative industries and included software and technology, copyright, trademark and patent litigation, government relations and advocacy, global health law, and social finance.  Paul’s practice also included entertainment law.

Paul is also a musician.  As a musician, Paul’s bands (The Rural Alberta Advantage, Woodhands) received two 2012 Juno nominations, charted on the Billboard U.S. Top 200, played at the 2011 Coachella Music Festival, and have been featured in numerous publications including Spin, NME, Playboy Magazine, The New York Times and The Globe and Mail.

Paul has a J.D. and a B.A. in Political Science and Economics, both from the University of Toronto.

Paul is also co-founder and author of the 3D Printing law blog “Law in the Making” – www.lawitm.com.

 

Welcome Paul to IP Fridays.

 

PB:      Thanks very much for having me.

 

KS:      Paul,

Peter Sloane tells us how to fight against trademark renewal scams. Taylor Swift has protected her lyrics as trademarks to be able to fight T-Shirts with her lyrics. Is it possible to copyright cooking recipies? Find out in this episode! Also, we invite all listeners to our IP Fridays Meetup during the INTA Meeting in San Diego. Find Details at http://www.ipfridays.com/inta

 

IP FRIDAYS

 

Co-Presenters:

Rolf Claessen and Kenneth Suzan

 

Episode 23 – March 6, 2015

 

RC =   Rolf Claessen

KS =    Kenneth Suzan

PS = Peter Sloane

 

 

PS:       I am Peter Sloane, a partner at Leason Ellis in White Plains, New York and you’re listening to IP Fridays.

 

KS:      Hello and welcome to this episode of IP Fridays. Our names are Ken Suzan and Rolf Claessen and this is THE podcast dedicated to Intellectual Property. It does not matter where you are from, in-house or private practice, novice or expert, we will help you stay up-to-date with current topics in the fields of trademarks, patents, design and copyright, discover useful tools and much more.

 

RC:      Welcome to the 23rd episode of IP Fridays. We have now hit over 2,000 monthly downloads of our MP3 files (audio files), and a total of more than 13,000 downloads and we are very proud of that. Another thing we want to mention is that we will host a small gathering for our listeners during the INTA meeting in San Diego. If you want to learn about this gathering and want to attend the gathering, please visit www.ipfridays.com/inta. In this episode we will tell you about Taylor Swift trademarking her lyrics. We will also tell you about how not to copyright recipes, and our very special guest today is Peter Sloane of the firm Leason Ellis and he will tell us about a recent case he won against one of these scam renewal notices companies. You might all know these companies that are sending out these scam letters asking you to pay money to be entered into a database. But first, Ken has a story about Taylor Swift and trademarking lyrics.

 

KS:      Popular songwriter Taylor Swift has made a smooth and successful transition from being a country artist, to a pop artist. Her new album, “1989” has broken sales records within the first week, but Taylor Swift has also decided not to have her album available on the popular music sharing service, Spotify. Swift’s music is hot and has attracted the attention of many people seeking to make profits off of her stardom.

 

Multiple websites sell handmade and vintage products that often have music lyrics         written on them. Popular lyrics from Swift’s songs have been featured on many products   sold through such Websites. Her lyrics are printed onto merchandise such t-shirts, mugs,          cell phone cases, guitars, and much more, without Swift’s approval or authorization.      How to solve such a situation? File trademarks.

From now on, if you want to use Taylor’s lyrics on your products however, you’ll need to be one of her licensees. Lyrics such as “This Sick Beat,” and “Nice to Meet You.           Where You Been?” are the subject of pending trademark applications at the United States           Patent and Trademark Office. Taylor Swift may indeed have the world’s first             trademarked lyrics. The lyrics that Swift writes have become catchphrases, and many             others have seen the dollar potentials of Ms. Swift’s artistic talent. A quick search of the            USPTO data for applications filed by Ms. Swift revealed dozens upon dozens of pending        trademark applications covering goods such as toys, bean bags, and Christmas stockings     to napkin rings, candle holders, and coasters.

 

This time Peter Zura gives us the inside scoop of the SAWS program at the USPTO. Also, you will find out how to validate European Patents in Morocco. And finally, Japan and the US joined the Hague-System for design protection. Have fun!

 

 

IP FRIDAYS

 

Co-Presenters:

Rolf Claessen and Kenneth Suzan

 

Episode 22 – February 20, 2015

 

RC =   Rolf Claessen

KS =    Kenneth Suzan

 

 

Hi.  This is Gene Quinn.  I am a patent attorney and the founder of ipwatchdog.com and you are listening to IP Fridays.

 

KS:      Hello and welcome to this episode of IP Fridays.  Our names are Ken Suzan and Rolf Claessen and this is THE podcast dedicated to Intellectual Property.  It does not matter where you are from, in-house or private practice, novice or expert, we will help you stay up-to-date with current topics in the fields of trademarks, patents, design and copyright, discover useful tools and much more.

 

RC:      Welcome to the 22nd episode of IP Fridays.  Today we have a special guest, Peter Zura, who is a fellow patent attorney and he is also a fellow blogger.  He is the author of the blog “The 271 Patent Blog” which has been a little bit quiet in recent times but I really enjoyed listening to that blog, or actually reading that blog.  Peter, if you listen to this, I really want to encourage you to start blogging again and I promise if you start blogging again, I will repost everything you do on IP news.com and maybe we can also include one of the stories in IP Fridays.  Peter will tell us more about the SAWS Program within the USPTO.  It is a program to deal with let’s say difficult patent applications and you will learn more about that in this episode.  Then I will tell you about the U.S. and Japan joining the Hauge system.  Basically an international design protection system administered by WIPO and I will also tell you more about Morocco which is now accepting granted European patents as their own patents so you can basically validate European patents in Morocco which is not in Europe but in Africa.  For now, let’s turn over the microphone to Ken who had the chance to interview Peter Zura.

 

KEN SUZAN’S INTERVIEW WITH PETER ZURA:

 

KS:      Rolf, I am speaking now to Peter Zura, a partner in the Chicago office of Barnes & Thornburg and a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property Law Department.  Mr. Zura’s practice includes preparing, prosecuting and securing patent portfolio development and enforcement, preparing, prosecuting and securing patent protection for his clients’ innovations, and providing intellectual property counseling including advice on patent infringement, validity and large portfolio due diligence studies for acquisitions, licensing and pre-suit purposes.  Peter spent time as a patent examiner in the United States Patent and Trademark Office and as an electrical engineer at General Dynamics Land Systems Division.  Mr. Zura earned his B.S. in electrical engineering from Oakland University in 1990 and his J.D. from Michigan State University College of Law in 1997.  He also received his LLM from the George Washington University School of Law in 2002.  Welcome, Peter, to IP Fridays.

 

PZ:      Thanks Ken.  Thanks for having me on.

 

KS:      Peter, we are going to talk today about the SAWS Program at the USPTO.  What exactly is the SAWS Program?

 

PZ:      Well it’s one of these things that everybody kind of has known about but it’s never really been in any public consciousness so to speak.  I was an examiner in the late 90’s and I was aware of the program.  However, I had not ever used it.  It was brought up as an option once in a case that I had but essentially at the time there were other tools available for us to be able to deal with the application.

The IP Watchdog Gene Quinn is explaining the current state of software patents and Brian Dorn of Barnes & Thornburg is summarizing a very interesting discussion with United States Representative Erik Paulsen he moderated on the topic of life science and patents.

 

 

IP FRIDAYS

 

Co-Presenters:

Rolf Claessen and Kenneth Suzan

 

Episode 21 – February 6, 2015

 

RC =   Rolf Claessen

KS =    Kenneth Suzan

BD =   Brian Dorn

GQ =   Gene Quinn

 

Hi.  This is Gene Quinn.  I am a patent attorney and the founder of ipwatchdog.com and you are listening to IP Fridays.

 

KS:      Hello and welcome to this episode of IP Fridays.  Our names are Ken Suzan and Rolf Claessen and this is THE podcast dedicated to Intellectual Property.  It does not matter where you are from, in-house or private practice, novice or expert, we will help you stay up-to-date with current topics in the fields of trademarks, patents, design and copyright, discover useful tools and much more.

 

RC:      Welcome to the 21st episode of IP Fridays.  Today we have an interview with Gene Quinn who is a patent attorney in the U.S. and he is also hosting a famous blog called IP Watchdog.  He is a specialist in software patents so we are talking about that topic.  Also, Ken had the chance to interview Brian Dorn of Barnes & Thornburg.  He moderated a discussion with U.S. Government Representative Erik Paulsen about life science and patents.  But before we jump into the interviews, I want to say thank you to the Stanford Lawyer Website who mentioned us and our podcast on their Website.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  So without further ado, here is the interview with Ken and Brian Dorn.

 

KEN SUZAN’S INTERVIEW WITH BRIAN DORN:

 

KS:      Rolf, I am joined by Brian Dorn who is Of Counsel at Barnes & Thornburg in the Minneapolis office.  Brian, you recently moderated an hour long discussion with United States Representative Erik Paulsen, who is also co-chair of the Congressional Medtech Caucus on the topic of the Federal Government and the Life Science Industries.  Can you summarize your discussion for our listeners?

 

BD:     Yes.  Thank you.  We had kind of a wide-ranging discussion regarding various topics looking to the recently started Congressional Session, the 114th Congress.  We discussed tax law looking at the medical device tax repeal.  That was rather front and center because Representative Paulsen is the chief author on that and it is one of the higher priorities for the Republican Party in that it has already been introduced, it has 254 co-sponsors, so it will pass the House, it has support in the Senate, all across the political divide, Senator Hatch’s bill ranging from Ted Cruz in Texas to Elizabeth Lauren in Massachusetts so that’s something that should be happening quickly.  We talked about the effects of corporate inversions, if anything would be done with Congress.  We discussed intellectual property.  We discussed regulatory law in terms of the 510(k) Program in terms of medical devices, meningitis B vaccine regulation and trying to get that approved or the status of that, Representative Paulsen is a big proponent of trying to speed that up because that vaccine is approved in Canada and Europe and we still have college students here in the United States dying from meningitis B one of the reasons the vaccine is not available.  Lastly we also discussed the Federal Government’s response to the Ebola situation,

INTA J. Scott Evans chats with us about his new role as president of the International Trademark Association INTA, we give you background information about the serious unrest at the European Patent Office and we talk about the new dedicated IPR court in Shanghai.

 

IP FRIDAYS

 

Co-Presenters:

Rolf Claessen and Kenneth Suzan

 

Episode 20 – January 23, 2015

 

RC =   Rolf Claessen

KS =    Kenneth Suzan

JSE = J. Scott Evans

 

This is Mark Lemley from Stanford Law School and you are listening to IP Fridays.

 

KS:      Hello and welcome to this episode of IP Fridays.  Our names are Ken Suzan and Rolf Claessen and this is THE podcast dedicated to Intellectual Property.  It does not matter where you are from, in-house or private practice, novice or expert, we will help you stay up-to-date with current topics in the fields of trademarks, patents, design and copyright, discover useful tools and much more.

 

RC:      Well thank you for tuning in to the 20th edition of IP Fridays.  Today we have an interview with the INTA President, J. Scott Evans, we will tell you about the unrest at the European Patent Office and we will talk about the newly established IPR Court in Shanghai.  But before that, we want to tease our get together for our listeners during the INTA meeting.  We will be meeting on Tuesday, May 5, 2015, at 6:00 p.m. and we will make available a reservation link shortly so, if you are interested in meeting us and meeting your fellow listeners, mark the day, May 5th, Tuesday, during the INTA meeting.

 

On December 28th, the first standalone Intellectual Property Rights Court in Shanghai was officially unveiled.  This follows a 25% increase in IPR cases in Shanghai so just to let you know, in 2013 there were 6,656 cases accepted at the IPR local courts in Shanghai so these cases just mean the IPR cases, so Intellectual Property Rights cases, that was an increase of 25% over the year 2012 and the Shanghai police handled 2,589 cases related to counterfeit and infringement, up almost 77% on 2012.  If you want to read the whole story, just point your browser to www.ipfridays.com/shanghai.

 

So now I am very excited to announce the feature interview of today which is with the INTA President, J. Scott Evans, and Ken had the chance to talk to him.

 

KEN SUZAN’S INTERVIEW WITH J. SCOTT EVANS:

 

KS:      Thank you Rolf, I am joined today by Mr. J. Scott Evans, who is the President Elect of the International Trademark Association, or otherwise known in the industry as INTA.   Mr. Evans currently serves as Associate General Counsel, Trademarks, Copyright, Domains & Marketing at Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Mr. Evans received his undergraduate degree from Baylor University and his Juris Doctor cum laude in 1992 from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at The University of Louisville.  He first served as Corporate Counsel for Fruit of the Loom where he was responsible for managing the international intellectual property portfolios for Fruit of the Loom and its associate companies The B.V.D. Licensing Corporation, Gitano, Pro Player and Salem Sportswear, Inc.

 

In November 1996, Mr. Evans joined Adams Evans P.A. where he continued to concentrate his practice in the areas of trademark, copyright, unfair competition and Internet law.

 

In November 2007, he joined the legal team at Yahoo! Inc. where he served as a Senior Legal Director – Global Brands and Trademarks.  Mr. Evans joined Adobe Systems Incorporated in October 2013 as Associate General Counsel.  He is a past president of the Intellectual Property Constituency,

Dr. Klaus Grabinski talks with us about the rules of the Unified Patent Court, language issues, training of the judges and many other aspects. We also give you information about the latest USPTO fee reductions for trademarks and the new detailed USPTO Patent Eligibility Guidance in response to the Alice decision of the US Supreme Court.

Happy listening!

IP FRIDAYS

 

Co-Presenters:

Rolf Claessen and Kenneth Suzan

 

Episode 19 – January 9, 2015

 

RC =   Rolf Claessen

KS =    Kenneth Suzan

 

 

 

Hi.  This is Jeannine Percival Wright, the Director of Legal Affairs for Intellectual Property and Litigation with True Religion Brand Jeans in beautiful Los Angeles, California.  You are listening to IP Fridays.  Thanks for the great Podcast guys!

 

KS:      Hello and welcome to this episode of IP Fridays.  Our names are Ken Suzan and Rolf Claessen and this is THE podcast dedicated to Intellectual Property.  It does not matter where you are from, in-house or private practice, novice or expert, we will help you stay up-to-date with current topics in the fields of trademarks, patents, design and copyright, discover useful tools and much more.

 

RC:      Welcome to Episode 19.  Ken and I want to wish you a successful and healthy year 2015.  We have a special treat for you today, a Judge of the Federal Supreme Court in Germany, Dr. Klaus Grabinski is making the rules for the Unified Patent Court and will give us a status update, I will tell you about the USPTO which has released a Patent Eligibility Guidance, and Ken will tell you about fee reductions at the USPTO.

 

But before we jump into all of this, I want to announce the winners of the Christmas mugs that I promised.  One Christmas mug goes to Reg in Los Angeles.  She is writing, “Thanks for a great podcast.  It is a great addition to my weekly lineup.  What’s great about it is that it is international in nature and not purely focused on the USPTO.”  Another Christmas mug goes to Ed and he is writing, “Thank you very much for putting these podcasts together.  I have enjoyed listening to all of them as they are very informative.”  He wants to know more about the interim guidance on subject matter eligibility by the USPTO which I am talking about today and he also wants to know more about patent right enforcement in China which we will talk about in the future.  One mug goes to Ruth in London.  She is our most dedicated and loyal listener.  Ruth you are listening to this and you know who I mean.

 

I also want to already tease an event that we are hosting.  Both Ken and I will be present at the INTA meeting in San Diego in May and we will be hosting a meet-up so if you want to meet us in person in San Diego, you will get a link in the next episode where you can register for the meet-up.  It will likely be on Tuesday evening.  We want to meet you in person and we will also invite the guests that have been on the show so far.  So, Ken, you wanted to tell us more about the fee reductions at the USPTO.

 

KS:      Rolf, you will likely pay more for some items in your daily life at the grocery store, convenience store or even when your take your next vacation.  However, in 2015 the United States Patent and Trademark Office is rolling back prices for certain filing fees as long as certain conditions are met.

 

Effective January 17, 2015, there will be a new type of application that can be filed at the USPTO which carries a new pricing structure.  Known as “TEAS Reduced Fee”, practitioners and trademark applicants should consider this option to take advantage of the $50 fee reduction per class.   This lowers the filing fee for one class of goods or services from $325 to $275.   To obtain this savings, the application must be filed electronically via the Trademark Electronic Applicat...

Jordan Weinstein analyzes two recent trademark decisions from the Supreme Court. In the first case, the Supreme Court discussed whether the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s finding of likelihood of confusion in opposition or cancellation cases can be issue preclusive. The second case is about trademark tacking – slight alterations to the mark after filing. And fellow attorney Adrian Dayton tells us how to use LinkedIn more effectively.

IP FRIDAYS

Co-Presenters:

Rolf Claessen and Kenneth Suzan

Episode 18 – December 26, 2014

RC = Rolf Claessen

KS = Kenneth Suzan

JW = Jordan Weinstein

AD = Adrian Dayton

Hello. This is Mark Lemley from Stanford Law School and you are listening to IP Fridays.

KS: Hello. Happy Holidays and welcome to this episode of IP Fridays. Our names are Ken Suzan and Rolf Claessen and this is THE podcast dedicated to Intellectual Property. It does not matter where you are from, in-house or private practice, novice or expert, we will help you stay up-to-date with current topics in the fields of trademarks, patents, design and copyright, discover useful tools and much more.

Both Rolf and I are very happy that you have decided to tune into our podcast today. The response to our joint efforts has been remarkable. We look forward to sharing IP news, interviews and developments with you in the coming New Year. To celebrate this holiday season, we invite you to leave us a voicemail by clicking on the button on the right side of our website at IPFridays.com or use the feedback page to leave us a comment at IPFridays.com/feedback.

Following a random drawing of names, we will choose and announce a total of three winners who will receive complimentary Christmas mugs from an authentic German Christmas Market in Cologne, Germany (Rolf’s hometown). We will take care of shipping no matter where you may be. Make sure to note your e-mail address so we can get in contact with you should you win. We encourage you to stay in touch with us so we can get to know you as our listeners. Also, feel free to note any topics or recommend interview guests that would be a good fit for our program.

From Cologne, Germany to Minneapolis, Minnesota and all points in between and worldwide, we wish you and yours a wonderful Holiday Season and Happy New Year.

RC: Today is Friday, the 26th of December, and you are listening to the Christmas edition of IP Fridays. I hope you enjoyed the introductory music and I hope you will enjoy the Christmas music at the end of this edition of IP Fridays. We have a very special treat for you today. We have, in fact, two interviews for you. The first interview will be with Jordan Weinstein of Barnes & Thornburg LLP and as a second guest for this episode we have Adrian Dayton who is an attorney and now specializes in teaching attorneys how to use social media and, in particular, LinkedIn and Twitter.

But before we head into the interviews, I just want to let you know that we are giving away three really beautiful mugs from a German Christmas Market. A picture can be seen in the show notes so, if you want to win one of these mugs, you simply have to comment on our podcast, any of the episodes, or in the general feedback form, or leave us a voicemail at ipfridays.com/voicemail and make sure you mention your e-mail address so we can get in touch with you. So, now it is time for our first interview. Ken, you had the chance to interview Jordan Weinstein.

KEN SUZAN’S INTEREVIEW WITH JORDAN WEINSTEIN

KS: Thank you Rolf. Today I am joined by Jordan Weinstein. He is a partner in Barnes & Thornburg’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of the firm’s intellectual property department. Jordan has a number of professional affiliations locally and nationally. He is a member of the International Trademark Association’s Editorial Board for the Trademark Reporter and was co-chair of the A...

The USPTO has changed its trademark practice with regard to renewals. Also Sharaz Gill talks with us about his strategies to fight patent trolls. He is heavily involved in the so called phone wars and has sided with companies like Nokia to fight against Non Practicing Entities like IPCom.

IP FRIDAYS

 

Co-Presenters:

Rolf Claessen and Kenneth Suzan

 

Episode 17 – December 12, 2014

 

RC =   Rolf Claessen

KS =    Kenneth Suzan

SG =    Sharaz Gill

 

 

Hello.  This is Sharaz Gill of Skepsis Telecom.  If you would like to hear a little bit about fighting patent trolls, then listen to our podcast.  This is IP Fridays.

 

KS:      Hello.  Happy Holidays and welcome to this episode of IP Fridays.  Our names are Ken Suzan and Rolf Claessen and this is THE podcast dedicated to Intellectual Property.  It does not matter where you are from, in-house or private practice, novice or expert, we will help you stay up-to-date with current topics in the fields of trademarks, patents, design and copyright, discover useful tools and much more.

 

Both Rolf and I are very happy that you have decided to tune into our podcast today.  The response to our joint efforts has been remarkable.  We look forward to sharing IP news, interviews and developments with you in the coming New Year.  To celebrate this holiday season, we invite you to leave us a voicemail by clicking on the button on the right side of our website at IPFridays.com or use the feedback page to leave us a comment at IPFridays.com\feedback.

 

Following a random drawing of names, we will choose and announce a total of three winners who will receive complimentary Christmas mugs from an authentic German Christmas Market in Cologne, Germany (Rolf’s hometown).  We will take care of shipping no matter where you may be.  Make sure to note your e-mail address so we can get in contact with you should you win.  We encourage you to stay in touch with us so we can get to know you as our listeners.  Also, feel free to note any topics or recommend interview guests that would be a good fit for our program.

 

From Cologne, Germany to Minneapolis, Minnesota and all points in between and worldwide, we wish you and yours a wonderful Holiday Season and Happy New Year.

 

RC:      I am Rolf Claessen and I also want to wish you a peaceful Holiday Season and a successful New Year.  Today we will learn about how to fight non-practicing entities, also sometimes called patent trolls, from someone who has been fighting against NPEs.  But before we jump into the interview with Sharaz Gill, who has been fighting patent trolls, Ken Suzan has a story about a really important change in the procedures of the USPTO regarding the renewal of trademarks.  So Ken, take it away…

 

KS:      Rolf, the United States Patent and Trademark Office is about to tie a string around your finger in the form of e-mail reminders for trademark maintenance deadlines.  When dealing with trademark deadlines, it is critical that they be followed to avoid unnecessary cancellations of registrations.   In order to prevent forgetting registration maintenance filing deadlines, the United States Patent and Trademark Office will begin sending out courtesy reminders beginning in early 2015.  The reminders will be sent to all email addresses of record as listed within the Correspondence and Current Owner(s) sections of the USPTO records for the registration.

 

This will apply to Sections 8 and 71 declarations and Section 9 renewals.  It is such a simple idea that you may wonder why this has not been offered in the past.  If this idea catches on, it could spark other similar opportunities for reminders in other fields.

 

In order to receive these courtesy emails, the owner of the registration must meet three requirements....