Intellectual Property
Apple Goes After Amazon.com For Its Use of “Appstore.”
Apple Inc. on Friday sued Amazon.com for trademark infringement when Amazon launched its online ‘app store’ to sell software applications for mobile devices.
Copyright
New York Judge Rejects Google Books Settlement
SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2011 — A federal judge in New York City has rejected the expansive amended settlement agreement between Google, U.S. authors and publishers more than a year after the court heard from a wide variety of interested parties in hearings on the fairness of the settlement of a cla
Commerce
Obama Administration Officials Push Patent Reform As Senate Continues Debate
WASHINGTON, March 1, 2011 — Top Obama administration officials moved to assuage American inventors’ fears Tuesday that a fundamental change being sought in the nation’s patent system won’t put them at a disadvantage .
Ninth Circuit
Motion Picture Association Tries To “Unfriend” Google In Court Fight Over Digital Copyright Law
SAN FRANCISCO, February 21, 2011 — Movie industry lawyers told an appeals court late last week that it should ignore an attempt by Google to get involved in an appeal of a case that they won — even if Google is ostensibly on their side.
Justice Department
Senate Judiciary Committee Addresses COICA Criticisms
WASHINGTON, February 17, 2011 – The Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a hearing Wednesday to address potential criticisms of the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Acts (COICA), which would target websites dedicated to stealing American intellectual property.
Copyright
Japanese Book Publishers Up Against Wall As IPad Spurs Cottage Industry of Book Scanning
The murky status of rights clearance is bamboozling the Japanese publishing industry’s efforts to move into the eBook market even as start-ups take matters into their own hands and start scanning books for people who want to make space in their apartments in Japan, according to a recent report in Bl
Intellectual Property
Patent Reform Bill Flies Through Senate Judiciary Despite Tech Community Split
WASHINGTON, February 4, 2011 — The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously approved a patent reform package despite a sharp division of opinion about it among the biggest names in the technology industry.
Intellectual Property
Appeals Court Decides That Search-Related Infringement Case Against Google Isn’t Frivolous
A search-related tech company’s patent infringement lawsuit against Google wasn’t frivolous and deserved a full hearing even though the smaller company’s CEO publicly proclaimed in a blog post that its technology is different from Google’s, and even though the legal system agreed with that conclusio
Mobile
Las Vegas: Ground Zero For the Battle of 4G Wireless Technologies
LAS VEGAS, January 10, 2011 – After last week’s slew of press conferences and unveilings, the latest new products at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) left little doubt: 2011 will be “The Year of 4G.” In fact, CES 2011 was as much about the networks as it was about the devices themselves. As the
FCC
CES Panel Debates Net Neutrality, With Carriers Complaining About FCC Rules
LAS VEGAS, January 6, 2011 – Government and industry representatives gathered Thursday at the Consumer Electronics Show for a panel discussion on the merits of the FCC’s recent Open Internet Order and its effects on the broadband industry. Cecilia Kang of the Washington Post moderated the panel, in
Comcast v. FCC
FCC Issues Open Internet Rules
WASHINGTON, December 22, 2010 – In an uncommon split vote on Tuesday, the FCC handed down an order requiring network providers to abide by certain rules intended to maintain network neutrality.
Copyright
Viacom: YouTube Doesn’t Qualify For the DMCA’s Safe Harbor
Google’s YouTube isn’t eligible for the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s safe harbor provisions because its founders deliberately built the business on pirated content, according to media behemoth Viacom’s lawyers in an appeal of a June district court ruling against its favor. The appeal cites int
Senate Judiciary
U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Approves Domain Name Blocking Bill Aimed At Curbing Online Piracy
WASHINGTON, November 19, 2010 – The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday unanimously approved legislation that would provide the U.S. Justice Department with enhanced powers to quickly block the domain names and third party enablers of web sites that it deems are dedicated to the piracy of in
FTC
Government Taking Steps to Address Companies’ Vast Collections of Private Consumer Data
WASHINGTON, November 3, 2010 – As consumers provide large amounts of private information to web services, the government is tuning into the fact that the use of this information by these companies is becoming increasingly important.
Copyright
Russian Internet Companies Call for Online Liability Regime Clarity
Five of Russia’s largest internet companies have called for an update of its copyright laws, according to the wire news service Agence France Press. “We believe that when the procedures are being observed (to prevent copyright violations) internet services cannot be held responsible for content upl
Copyright
Report: Google Launches Music Service in India to Stave Off Piracy
Google has partnered with three digital music providers to launch a new online music service to increase broadband usage and stave off internet piracy, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report.
