Other Barks & Bites for Friday, December 16: New USPTO Commissioner for Patents Named; COVID IP Waiver Extension Officially Delayed; and EUIPO-EU Commission Report Finds 31% Increase in Fakes Detained

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the United States Patent and Trademark Office names a new Commissioner for Patents and recognizes COVID-19 innovators; the World Trade Organization’s TRIPS Council officially recommends delaying a decision on extending the waiver of IP rights for COVID-19 innovations to therapeutics and diagnostics; a copyright case against Taylor Swift for her hit song “Shake It Off” is dropped; Apple wins a patent for satellite technology; and researchers in California achieve historical fusion energy.

Bites

WTO TRIPS Council Recommends Delay on Extending COVID IP Waiver to Diagnostics/ Therapeutics

Following the U.S. United States Trade Representative (USTR) announcement last week supporting a delay of the decision to extend a waiver of IP rights under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to COVID-19 diagnostics and therapeutics, the World Trade Organization’s (WTO’s) TRIPS Council today officially recommended the delay. The original deadline was meant to be December 17. Vaccine access advocacy group, The People’s Vaccine Alliance, called the Council’s recommendation “utter nonsense.”

USPTO Names New Commissioner for Patents

Vaishali Udupa

USPTO Director Kathi Vidal announced Friday, December 16, that Vaishali Udupa will take the helm as the Office’s Commissioner for Patents. Former Commissioner for Patents, Drew Hirshfeld, stepped down in June of 2022. Udupa is an intellectual property attorney, engineer, and executive at Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). She will join the Office effective January 17, 2023.

EUIPO-EC Report Shows 31% Increase in Fakes Detained

A report released on Friday, December 16, by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Commission on detentions of fake products at EU borders and in the EU internal market found that approximately 86 million fake items were detained in the EU in 2021, an increase of almost 31% compared to 2020. The five most detained products, in terms of the number of items detained in the whole EU, were packaging material, cigarettes, labels, clothing and toys.

USPTO Honors Life-Saving COVID Innovations

On Thursday, December 15, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced five winners of the Patents for Humanity: COVID-19 category competition. The award honors “innovators with a pending U.S. patent application or issued U.S. patent focused on inventions that track, prevent, diagnose, or treat COVID-19.” The five winners are the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for inventing stabilized coronavirus spike proteins, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for a novel therapy to help treat and prevent COVID-19, the University of South Florida for developing 3D-printed nasal swabs, Caron Products for a decontamination chamber used to disinfect personal protective equipment, and Gilead Sciences Inc. who developed remdesivir. The winners will receive acceleration certificates that will expedite certain hearings before the USPTO.

Judge Rules Jury Must Define “Beer” in Corona Trademark Case

On Tuesday, December 13, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled against Modelo in its bid to achieve a pre-trial win over Constellation Brands. The trademark case hinges on whether hard seltzer can be classified as a beer. Modelo sublicensed several trademarks to Constellation to be used on beers, however, Constellation used one of the trademarks on a line of hard seltzers. Kaplan said, “Modelo has more dictionaries on its side of this debate over the meaning of ‘beer’… but the fact remains that dictionaries, however important, do not resolve this case.” Thus, the judge denied Modelo’s motion concluding that the Court could not judge that no reasonable jury could side with Constellation.

Scientists Achieve Fusion Ignition

On Tuesday, December 13, the Department of Energy (DOE) announced that researchers at the National Ignition Facility in California achieved a historic first known as energy gain or fusion ignition. The researchers focused 2.05 megajoules of laser light onto a capsule of fusion fuel and as a result created 3.15 megajoules of energy. The DOE called it “a major scientific breakthrough decades in the making that will pave the way for advancements in national defense and the future of clean power.”

Taylor Swift Copyright Case Dropped

On Monday, December 12, Taylor Swift and two songwriters that sued her over her song “Shake It Off” reached an agreement to end a long-standing copyright lawsuit, according to Variety. Last week, District Judge Michael W Fitzgerald refused to dismiss the case and ordered the lawsuit to be heard by a jury trial. The alleged copyright pertained to “players gonna play” and “haters gonna hate” which also appeared in 3LW’s 2001 song “Playas Gon’ Play.” The lawsuit had been in the court system for over five years, and both sides have yet to comment publicly on the terms of the agreement.

Photographer Sues Gannett Media for $34 Million

On Friday, December 9, photographer Stephanie Campbell filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against media conglomerate Gannett Media for using a photograph without her permission. The photograph was of former NFL coach Katie Sowers, who received media attention for becoming the first openly gay coach in the league. Campbell registered the relevant photos with the USPTO after she photographed Sowers when she heard she received her first NFL job. The photographer alleges that Gannett used a screenshot of the photo rather than asking her for permission to use and distribute it.

Barks

USPTO Releases New Virtual Assistant

On Thursday, December 15, the USPTO announced a new virtual assistant that aims to “enhance customer service by providing immediate, targeted answers to common customer questions.” The new feature is currently in beta and focuses on trademark content, but it may be expanded to cover more information. “The USPTO is rethinking all of our offerings to create a better user experience and greater access for all,” said USPTO Director Kathi Vidal. 

Oregon Newspaper Wins Trade Secret Case

On Wednesday, December 14, The Oregonian reported that the city of The Dalles agreed to disclose how much of the city’s water goes to a Google data center. The Dalles previously sued The Oregonian to prevent the disclosure the water records as Google believed the data constituted a trade secret. Google argued that the water data would reveal sensitive information about how their data centers work. The city’s mayor said they dropped the lawsuit on advice from the tech giant. 

Apple Granted Satellite Patent

On Tuesday, December 13, the USPTO granted Apple a patent titled “Communication Terminal” related to the tech company’s expanding interest in satellite technology. The inventors listed on the patent have also worked on Apple’s Emergency Services technology, but the technology may also extend to other services including media, voice, and internet data.

District Judge Orders Gun Manufacturer Case to Continue

On Tuesday, December 13, the United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin ruled against early dismissal in a patent infringement case between two gun manufacturers, Patriot Ordnance Factory, Inc. and Hearing Protection LLC. The patent lawsuit was filed in July 2021 by Patriot Ordnance, in which the company alleged that Hearing Protection infringed on its patented “heat exchanger barrel nut.”

Smucker’s Sends Warning Letter to Small Sandwich Entrepreneur

On Tuesday, December 13, the Star Tribune reported that the food conglomerate The J.M. Smucker Company issued a warning to a Minneapolis entrepreneur over his crustless sandwiches. According to the letter, the national food company’s Uncrustables brand protects the “round crustless sandwich design with a bite taken out.” However, the local entrepreneur has no intention of complying with the cease-and-desist letter.

This Week on Wall Street

Twitter Suspends Journalists Over Private Jet Trackers

On Thursday, December 15, Twitter suspended multiple journalists who have covered owner Elon Musk in the past. Initially, the journalists reported they were not given a reason for the suspension and there was widespread confusion as to why the journalists were suspended. Musk later tweeted that the journalists were suspended for a new rule about private jet trackers, which have been used to track high-profile individuals like Musk.

Former FTX CEO Arrested

On Monday, December 12, Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas after U.S. authorities filed criminal charges. Bankman-Fried was charged with wire fraud, conspiracy, and campaign finance violations. The disgraced CEO was in charge of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX which went bankrupt after the exchange was $8 billion in the hole.

Quarterly Earnings – The following firms identified among the IPO’s Top 300 Patent Recipients for 2021 are announcing quarterly earnings next week (2021 rank in parentheses):

• Monday: None
• Tuesday: Nike (111^th)
• Wednesday: None
• Thursday: None
• Friday: None

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