This Week in Washington IP: Supply Chain Resiliency, TRUMP TOO SMALL Arguments, and Military Veterans and IP

This week in Washington IP news, a Senate Subcommittee holds a hearing on AI’s impact on the U.S. workforce and the “TRUMP TOO SMALL” trademark case heads to argument at the Supreme Court. Elsewhere, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) holds its last Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) quarterly meeting of the year and the Brookings Institution discusses who makes the rules in an online landscape dominated by big tech firms.

Tuesday, October 31

Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety

AI and the Future of Work: Moving Forward Together

At 10:00 AM on Tuesday, 430 Dirksen Senate Office Building and online livestream

If you’ve been keeping up with D.C., you’d know that artificial intelligence is on the minds of just about every member of Congress. This time it’s the Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety’s turn to take a crack at the impact AI will have on the U.S. economy and labor force. In this hearing, the subcommittee will hear expert witness testimony from a variety of executives and legal experts including Josh Lannin, VP at Productivity Technologies, and Tyrance Billingsley, founder of Black Tech Street.

The Brookings Institution

Techlash: Who makes the rules in the digital Gilded Age?

At 10:00 AM on Tuesday, The Brookings Institution Falk Auditorium and online livestream

Brookings is hosting this book event with Tom Wheeler to discuss his new book, “Techlash: Who Makes the Rules in the Digital Gilded Age?” The book looks at the online landscape which includes powerful tech companies and limited public oversight on important rules. Wheeler will be joined by two Democratic senators, Michael Bennet (CO) and Peter Welch (VT), to discuss this topic.

Wednesday, November 1

Center for Strategic and International Studies

Supply Chain Resiliency and the Outlook for Economic Growth in the Indo-Pacific

At 9:30 AM on Wednesday, CSIS Headquarters and online livestream

The Indo-Pacific region is one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing economic regions in the world, and it increasingly becoming a battleground for economic competition and supply chain geopolitics. A group of policy advisers, business professionals, and academics will meet to discuss economic trends in the region as well as what is being done to build more robust supply chains in the region.

U.S. Supreme Court

Vidal v. Elster Oral Argument

On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Vidal v. Elster, which asks the Court “whether the refusal to register a mark under Section 1052(c) violates the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment when the mark contains criticism of a government official or public figure.” Colloquially known as the “TRUMP TOO SMALL” case, the petition is an appeal from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC), which denied a request for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc in August of its February decision holding the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s application of Section 2(c) of the Lanham Act to reject the mark TRUMP TOO SMALL unconstitutional. Specifically, the CAFC panel held that “applying section 2(c) to bar registration of [Steve] Elster’s mark unconstitutionally restricts free speech in violation of the First Amendment.”

Friday, November 3

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Trademark Public Advisory Committee quarterly meeting

At 11:00 AM on Friday, USPTO Headquarters and online livestream

This will be the last quarterly Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC) of 2024, and it will feature remarks from TPAC Committee Chair David Cho and USPTO Director Kahti Vidal. The meeting will provide an overview of trademark-related policies, goals, performance, budgets, and user fees.

United States Patent and Trademark Office

Intellectual property basics for National Veterans Small Business Week

At 11:00 AM on Friday, online livestream

This event is tailored to military veterans and spouses and discusses how to protect an innovation as you move from idea to product. The event is part of National Veterans Small Business Week and is being hosted in collaboration with the Veterans Business Outreach Center at Mississippi State University.