20 January

Sticky

This Week in Washington IP: Selecting the Next Register of Copyrights, 5G Workforce Concerns and Smart City Models for U.S. Communities

Posted by COFFYLAW, LLC

in Blog

This week in Washington, D.C., Congress is relatively quiet while the House of Representatives enters a district work period. In the Senate, the Commerce Committee will hold a hearing to explore ways to improve the workforce for the 5G industry to promote the build-out of necessary networking infrastructure in this country. The Library of Congress will host a pair of listening sessions to discuss the selection process for the next Register of Copyrights with members of the public. Elsewhere, the Center for Strategic and International Studies will host a series of events on technology issues later in the week, including...

20 January

0 Comments

Sticky

Responding to Criticism of ‘State Pharmaceutical Importation Programs Threaten Patients and Innovation

Posted by COFFYLAW, LLC

in Blog

A recent article by Dr. Kristina M. L. Acri née Lybecker highlighted her research about the fiscal workability of state pharmaceutical importation programs from two aspects: Cost of counterfeit testing of products that have been handled by unregulated entities Because these medicines will be handled by unregulated entities, they need to be subjected to finished product testing using statistical sampling to ensure they’re genuine. The counterfeit pharmaceutical business is well established and has even involved licensed Canadian pharmacies and wholesalers, so no entity in Canada can be trusted, especially since we’ve previously had difficulties extraditing them for trial. Cost of adverse medical events due to...

20 January

0 Comments

Sticky

Reflections on Denial of Cert in Athena Diagnostics

Posted by COFFYLAW, LLC

in Blog

“If the Supreme Court does not function as intended in the Constitution, and has in fact transformed the structure of our government from three co-equal branches of government to two co-equal branches governed by the Supreme Court, what do we do?” I was at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference when I learned a week ago that the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) had denied Athena Diagnostic’s Petition for Certiorari. I was shocked. We feel the same when as a child we discover there is no Santa Claus—a trusted institution is not as represented. SCOTUS ignored a recommendation from the U.S....

19 January

0 Comments

Sticky

Google v. Oracle: An Expansive Fair Use Defense Deters Investment In Original Content

Posted by COFFYLAW, LLC

in Blog

Google v. Oracle America, a case pending before the United States Supreme Court, is a seemingly never-ending battle, since 2010, between two Silicon Valley behemoths. But now that battle may finally be nearing its conclusion. On January 7, the first of the amicus briefs were filed, signaling that both sides are marshaling their arguments for one final push toward the finish line. The dispute centers on Oracle’s allegation and multibillion-dollar damage claim that Google’s unauthorized use of Oracle’s Java API (“Application Programming Interface”) package in its Android operating system infringed Oracle’s copyrights under the statute – 17 U.S.C. 107(1). As a result, Oracle has sued Google...

18 January

0 Comments

Sticky

How to Help Data Scientists Overcome Their Patent Doubts

Posted by COFFYLAW, LLC

in Blog

When discussing patentable inventions with data scientists, I often hear them dismiss their inventions under arguments such as these: “We’re using the same tools as everyone else,” “Augmenting data for the training set is well known,” “A similar thing has been done for car-bumper design” (said by the designer of a churro-making machine), “Configuring the neural-network hyperparameters is trivial,” and worst of all, “It’s obvious.” Data scientists often believe that their accomplishments are not patentable, but in-depth exploration of their work often uncovers patentable ideas. I am referring to data scientists that use machine-learning (ML) tools to uncover intrinsic relationships within...

17 January

0 Comments

Sticky

Other Barks & Bites, Friday, January 17: IP Provisions in Partial U.S.-China Trade Deal Are a Boon for Pharma, IBM Joins LOT Network, and Alphabet Hits $1 Trillion Market Cap

Posted by COFFYLAW, LLC

in Blog

This week in Other Barks & Bites: The new China-U.S Trade Deal offers stronger patent dispute mechanism for drug companies; IBM joins LOT Network and tops the list of top U.S. patent recipients for a 27th straight year; the U.S. Supreme Court hears a pair of appeals in trademark cases and seems eager to overturn lower court rulings in both; Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman dissents on a pair of precedential decisions issued by the CAFC; tech giant Alphabet is the fourth U.S. tech company to hit a $1 trillion market capitalization; China announces that it received 1.401 million invention...

17 January

0 Comments

Sticky

Ninth Circuit Set to Clarify Aesthetic Functionality Doctrine

Posted by COFFYLAW, LLC

in Blog

A case now pending before the Ninth Circuit, LTTB LLC v. Redbubble, Inc., Docket No. 19-16464, has the potential to clarify the controversial doctrine of aesthetic functionality. Aesthetic functionality has puzzled courts for decades. Particularly before the U.S. Supreme Court issued its modern guidance on functionality in Inwood Labs., Inc. v. Ives Labs., Inc., 456 U.S. 844 (1982); TrafFix Devices v. Mktg. Displays, Inc., 532 U.S. 26 (2001), and Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Prods. Co., 514 U.S. 159 (2d Cir. 2009), courts struggled with how to apply the aesthetic functionality doctrine and issued opinions that, in some instances, muddied the already murky aesthetic functionality waters. Perhaps the...

16 January

0 Comments

Sticky

WIPO Prepares to Elect New Director General

Posted by COFFYLAW, LLC

in Blog

There are 10 candidates declared to succeed Francis Gurry as WIPO Director General, when he retires in September this year after serving two six-year terms. One of them will be nominated to be Director General by the WIPO Coordination Committee on March 5 and 6, before being formally appointed by the WIPO General Assembly. The Coordination Committee comprises 83 of WIPO’s 192 member states. Who are the Candidates? The 10 candidates include eight men and two women. There are three candidates from Asia, three from Latin America, two from Africa, and one each from Europe and central Asia. There are no candidates from North America. They are: Prof....

15 January

0 Comments

Sticky

Federal Circuit Affirms District Court Decision for CBS in Light of PTAB Invalidation

Posted by COFFYLAW, LLC

in Blog

Last Friday, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision that found for the CBS Corporation in its defense against infringement and invalidity as to three claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,112,504 owned by Personal Audio, LLC. While the jury initially found for Personal Audio, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) later invalidated the ‘504 patent and the district court ultimately entered final judgment for CBS. The ‘504 patent describes a system for organizing audio files, “by subject matter, into ‘program segments.’ The patent utilizes a “session schedule,” which allows a user to navigate through the schedule by skipping the remainder of a segment,...

15 January

0 Comments

Sticky

Privacy Policies and the Value of Data in Bankruptcy Sales

Posted by COFFYLAW, LLC

in Blog

The last few years have seen unprecedented changes in the legal landscape concerning data protection and privacy. The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became enforceable in May 2018. In July 2018, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) was enacted, and it became effective January 1, 2020. In response to the GDPR and the CCPA, many businesses are updating their privacy policies to comply with these laws. While crafting these updates, drafters should be cognizant of the effect such policies could have not only in the short term, but also down the road. For example, in the bankruptcy context, the...

This Week in Washington IP: Selecting the Next Register of Copyrights, 5G Workforce Concerns and Smart City Models for U.S. Communities

Responding to Criticism of ‘State Pharmaceutical Importation Programs Threaten Patients and Innovation

Reflections on Denial of Cert in Athena Diagnostics

Google v. Oracle: An Expansive Fair Use Defense Deters Investment In Original Content

How to Help Data Scientists Overcome Their Patent Doubts

Other Barks & Bites, Friday, January 17: IP Provisions in Partial U.S.-China Trade Deal Are a Boon for Pharma, IBM Joins LOT Network, and Alphabet Hits $1 Trillion Market Cap

Ninth Circuit Set to Clarify Aesthetic Functionality Doctrine

WIPO Prepares to Elect New Director General

Federal Circuit Affirms District Court Decision for CBS in Light of PTAB Invalidation

Privacy Policies and the Value of Data in Bankruptcy Sales

MEET OUR TEAM

Our lawyers will also represent you in civil litigation cases such as Patent, Trademark, and Copyright Litigation

EMMANUEL COFFY

Managing Partner

OMPRAKASH SRINGERI

Of Counsel

LEONARD BOYER

Senior Partner

JOHN J. DELATUSH

Technical Advisor, Mechanical Engineer

FRITZNER L. ALTIDOR, ESQ. CPA

Attorney at Law

JEAN-HIRAM COFFY

Technical Advisor, Electrical Engineer

Areas We Serve

Maplewood Location

Brooklyn Location

Clifton Location