Posts in Podcasts

This week on IP Goes Pop! fellow Volpe Koenig Shareholder Robert Leonard joins Michael Snyder to talk about artists’ rights and attempts by musicians to regain rights to their original recordings. This episode begins with a brief overview of the “bundle of rights” that copyright owners hold. From there the discussion turns to “master” recordings. Master recordings are the music recordings that serve as the basis for the marketable form of music whether that be vinyl, CDs, mp3s or streaming platforms. When musicians sign record contracts with recording studios they typically sign over the copyrights to their master recordings often without a full understanding of the value of these rights.

What happens when someone believes a movie is based on their original idea? What sets one Zombie film apart from another? In this episode of IP Goes Pop! intellectual property attorneys and co-hosts Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue take a trip to a Hollywood writer’s room to explore movies having similar themes and plots.

In this spooktacular episode of IP Goes Pop! treat yourself to the intellectual property (IP) of Halloween. From the disputes surrounding the iconic Halloween mask to the similarities, and important differences, between some people’s favorite friendly ghost, Casper, and the ghost in the Ghostbusters logo, who ya gonna call but IP Goes Pop hosts, and Volpe Koenig Shareholders, Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue?

This week on IP Goes Pop! Volpe Koenig Shareholder Michael Snyder explores what happens when real world intellectual property makes its way into the virtual (video game) world. In this episode, Michael looks at the outcomes of two separate cases involving famous major video game franchises, and how their use of real-world images ended up in court.

This week, IP Goes Pop! makes patents fun (or at least tries)! Volpe Koenig Shareholder Randy Huis is back to explore the world of toy patents with host Michael Snyder.

In this episode of IP Goes Pop!, hosted by Volpe Koenig intellectual property attorney Michael Snyder, Michael takes listeners on a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard as he discusses patents obtained by celebrities. Michael, a self-proclaimed Van Halen fan himself, kicks this podcast off with a discussion of the innovations of guitar legend Eddie Van Halen. Mike explains that in addition to being the famed leader of the band bearing his name, Eddie Van Halen was an inventor, having obtained several patents on musical instruments.

This week on IP Goes Pop! Volpe Koenig founder Tony Volpe joins intellectual property attorney Michael Snyder to talk about the right of publicity. Whether it’s protecting your image or even your voice, how has the legal landscape changed in the age of technology and “going viral”? In this episode, Michael and Tony discuss how the right of publicity has manifested within different aspects of pop culture and key cases that have shaped the intellectual property rights protecting one’s likeness across various media.

Take a nostalgic trip to the magazine rack of yesteryear with IP attorneys Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue (also an avid comic book collector) for an entertaining discussion about comic books characters and how those characters may be protected by intellectual property.

In this episode, IP attorneys Michael Snyder and Michael Berkowitz explore the increasingly frequent phenomenon where famous personalities blurt out words and phrases that go viral – and the subsequent trademark madness that may follow. Tune in as the IP in pop culture discussion turns toward examples of celebrities, athletes, politicians, and reality stars capturing the public’s attention with funny/interesting words or phrases. As their catchphrases spread quickly through social media, some going “viral,” there is often a rush to seek intellectual property protection for perceived commercial benefit or value. But can popular phraseology be trademarked? And who owns it?

Welcome to this week’s episode of IP Goes Pop! hosted by Volpe Koenig intellectual property attorney Michael Snyder.

In this episode, Mike is joined by fellow Volpe Koenig Shareholder, Randy Huis, to talk about inventions and technology in the popular cartoon world of “The Simpsons” television show. Mike and Randy dive headfirst into the fictional town of Springfield to discuss some of the wacky and creative ideas and inventions, and whether they could be protected in “real life.” From designing his own car to inventing an automatic hammer and an untippable chair, what IP rights would Homer Simpson have in the real world?

Welcome to this week’s episode of IP Goes Pop!, hosted by Volpe Koenig intellectual property attorney Michael Snyder. In this episode, Michael is joined by fellow Volpe Koenig shareholder Jay Halt and patent attorney Ankit Aggarwal, to talk about artificial intelligence and its place in pop culture. They discuss inventorship and how it can become even more complicated when artificial intelligence is added to the mix. The panel seeks to answer a very interesting question: What happens when artificial intelligence technology provides a solution that is previously unknown?

Welcome to this week’s episode of IP Goes Pop! hosted by Volpe Koenig intellectual property (IP) attorneys Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue. In Episode 2, Mike and Joe talk about IP “urban legends.” What is an IP urban legend? That would be misinformation circulating about patents, trademarks, copyrights, or trade secrets that sounds like it could be true, but is not quite accurate (and certainly not from a legal or technical standpoint).

Patents, trademarks, and copyrights are often referenced in popular movies, television and songs. IP Goes Pop! explores the interface between intellectual property and popular culture. Who owns the rights to creative expression? How long does a patent last? Do the media get it right when reporting on intellectual property issues? What makes a trade secret truly secret? Hosted by Volpe Koenig intellectual property attorneys Michael Snyder and Joseph Gushue, with guest colleagues, inventors, writers, and creators, IP Goes Pop! discusses intellectual property with a pop culture twist.

The first episode of this season of Clause 8 featured the most recent USPTO Director – Andrei Iancu – discussing his efforts to strengthen America’s patent system over the last three years.  One of the most publicly vocal opponents of those efforts was Josh Landau, patent counsel at the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA).  Now that those views are in ascendancy in the Biden administration and Congress, it made sense to finish this season by talking to Josh.

“Jeff [Roh, CEO at IntuitiveX] knew for every person like [him], who is able to succeed, there’s countless others who aren’t. They just fall flat because they encounter resistance and give up. And so he was on a mission to make other inventors and surgeons be successful as well.” Don’t miss this latest episode of Clause 8 with President and Chief Legal Officer of IntuitiveX, Mark Han, about the new business model IntuitiveX created to help innovators in the medical field.