Our colleagues at Employment Law World recently blogged about a recent trade secrets decision from the Northern District of California, Apple v. Rivos. The case involved a common fact pattern: numerous employees were hired away from Apple by Rivos and Apple brought claims for trade secret misappropriation (among others). The court dismissed the claims against Rivos and provides important guidance that other companies can take to try and limit their liability in potential trade secret claims. Given the importance of trade secret law to our readership, we wanted to take a moment to share it wit ..read more

The opportunity to compete at the Olympic Games represents one of the most honorable achievements of any athlete’s career. And while Olympians may have always been trailblazers in the world of sports, today’s competitors are more than just athletes – they are brand ambassadors, marketing representatives, and social media influencers. While an athlete’s ability to reach audiences presents a unique opportunity for brand partners, it also presents event integrity concerns for the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”). In prior Olympic Games, athletes have used social media to grant fans glimps ..read more

SPB’s Joe Grasser and Scott Warren recently examined the current state of Japan’s copyright laws as they relate to Artificial Intelligence (AI). As they explain, Japan has taken a very flexible approach to help “jump start” AI development in the country. Given the potential impact that this law could have on AI development, we wanted to take a moment to share it with you. Check out the full article on Privacy World: Japan’s New Draft Guidelines on AI and Copyright: Is It Really OK to Train AI Using Pirated Materials? | Privacy World The post Japan’s Flexible Approach to AI and Copyright Suppo ..read more

On September 18, 2023, NetChoice, LLC — a national trade association with members from the tech and social media industry — obtained a preliminary injunction from the District Court for the Northern District of California preventing the State of California from enforcing the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (“AADC” or the “Act”). The reason? The court found it likely violates the First Amendment. The AADC targets all online products and services that children under the age of 18 are likely to  access by, among other things, requiring the relevant online product and service prov ..read more

First, some context Like any other intellectual property asset, EU trade marks can be and are often used as collateral in financial transactions. However, reconciling the EU trade mark regulation (the “EU TM Regulation”) with the applicable national laws on “rights in rem” is not always straightforward, especially when the EU trade mark owner is located outside the EU. Take, for example, Spain:  it is not uncommon for the (non-EU) secured parties (in order to avoid the complexities and costs associated with doing so under Spanish law) to allow and even encourage the grant of the security ..read more

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently published updated guidance emphasizing a very flexible approach to determining obviousness under 35 U.S.C. § 103, consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court’s opinion in KSR v. Teleflex. The guidelines are written for USPTO personnel but combined with the Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP), they provide guidance to practitioners. While purporting to say nothing new, there may be some helpful clues for practitioners among the five parts of the guidance. Five Different Ways to Express Flexibility in Obviousness Rejections Part ..read more

Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are becoming an increasingly important part of our lives and are affecting almost every industry. In compliance with section 5.2(c)(i) of the President’s October 30, 2023 Executive Order (EO) 14110, titled “Safe, Secure, And Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)”, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued Guidance entitled Inventorship Guidance for AI-Assisted Inventions, effective from February 13, 2024, to address what happens when an invention is the result of a human and AI collaboration (AI-assisted invention ..read more

In Waterdrop Microdrink GmbH v. Qingdao Ecopure Filter Co., Ltd., the District Court for the Central District of California denied a motion to compel compliance with a subpoena relating to a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) proceeding, because the subpoena was never signed by the Clerk of the Court — despite the fact that the Board’s own operating manual, the Trademark Board Manual of Procedure (“TBMP”), states that a subpoena in a TTAB proceeding could simply be signed by an attorney. This a noteworthy change in the jurisprudence surrounding TTAB proceedings and is something that al ..read more

Clear disclosure of an ad is of paramount importance in the advertising world, and we have discussed this previously in our blogs here and here. In the ever-evolving landscape of advertising regulations, the recent decision by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regarding social media posts by former footballers in relation to Supreme CBD’s products have sparked discussion in the press. The posts referred to the CBD product helping individuals with anxiety and insomnia and contained discount codes. The complainants understood that the former footballers were brand ambassadors for S ..read more

The authors thank Zara Bhatti for her contributions to this post. The UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned two ads for breach of the rule prohibiting the use of gender stereotypes in advertising, which was introduced in 2019. We commented at the time that these restrictions were likely to see a rise in number of complaints being handled by the regulator. The rule, which features in both the CAP Code (for non-broadcast ads e.g. in newspapers or in social media posts online) and BCAP Code (for broadcast ads e.g. on TV or radio), states that advertising “must not include gender ..read more