On July 13, 1836 the U. S. Patent Office issued Patent No. 1 to John Ruggles of Thomaston, Maine for traction wheels used in locomotive steam engines. The Patent was not the first patent issued by the Patent Office but rather was the first one issued under a new patent numbering system implemented by…

On April 24, 2018, the Supreme Court issued the much anticipated decision in Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC (https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/17pdf/16-712_87ad.pdf). The Court held Constitutional the provisions of the America Invents Act authorizing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) to conduct an Inter Partes Review (IPR) in which the PTO reconsiders…

On January 8, 2018 the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced a settlement with the toy manufacturer VTech Electronics concerning alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (“COPPA”) arising from VTech’s collection of personal information from children through internet connected toys.  Under the terms of the settlement VTech is required to pay a fine…

On December 15, 2017 a three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) held that Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act, which prohibits registration of a trademark that is immoral or scandalous, violates the First Amendment and is, therefore, unconstitutional.  In re Brunetti, Appeal No. 2015-1109 (Fed. Cir. December 15, 2017). …