Applications of open-source theories of cooperation and development are popping up all over the place. In veiled product R&D, Coca Cola now offers a self-serve soda fountain – the Freestyle – where users can mix hundreds of different flavors to…
Social networking helped you connect with your high school friends, then helped you find colleagues and business contacts across the country. Now it is being used by companies to ward off marauding trademark holders protecting their brand and then some,…
Remind me again why I took the patent bar. I discovered this gem today: § 11.9 Limited recognition in patent matters. (a) Any individual not registered under § 11.6 may, upon a showing of circumstances which render it necessary or…
In the past two months, Google has made strides in increasing the accessibility of legal information. In November, Google introduced Google Scholar, which ranks and returns legal opinions and publications in response to a search. While much of this information…
Decided: July 20, 2009 Plaintiff Gemtron sued Saint-Gobain for infringement of its patent on a refrigerator shelf. Gemtron’s claim 23 detailed a one-piece plastic shelf frame that accepted a glass shelf with a “snap-secure” mechanism that locked the glass into…
Decided: July 1, 2009 Appellant Smith, a member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation, filed two applications for trademarks. Both were rejected, and Smith appealed to the TTAB. The TTAB affirmed, and Smith appealed to the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals….