Windsor, Vermont Intellectual
Property Law Blog

Some of our readers have asked how Gail Zappa can even apply for a trademark of Don van Vliet's moniker, CAPTAIN BEEFHEART, and want to know whether something can be done now to prevent the mark from registering. The Trademark office (PTO) doesn't require an applicant...

A major revision to the European Union trademark system that will affect both Community trademarks (CTM) and individual country trademarks (of EU member states) is imminent. Some of the changes are administrative and some legal, while others directly affect trademark...

Authors Guild et al v. Google, Inc. United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Docket No. 13-4829-cv On October 16, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Google, Inc.’s book scanning project (the “Library Project”) in Authors Guild v....

Whether it’s yoga, karate, Pilates or any other form of movement or exercise, the copyright laws do not protect the modalities themselves. Copyright protection can only be secured for the manner in which they are described, and even then, protection is limited. In...

International Registrations designating the European Union (CTM/OHIM) previously relied upon the International Bureau (WIPO) for compliance with proper goods and services classification. There are differences between what is acceptable by WIPO, and would be acceptable...

Copyright is a limited monopoly on the right to copy, disseminate, create new works from and exploit works protected under copyright law, e.g., photographs, paintings, drawings, sculpture, mixed media works, video, film, musical compositions, sound recordings (but...

Under copyright law, among the exclusive rights that are held by copyright holders is the right of public performance. In some cases, the copyright holder is free to negotiate any fee or royalty that it desires for public performance, or even refuse such performance...

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) is currently considering ways to ensure that trademark registrants claim only those goods and services for which they are actually using their marks. All the proposals involve time and expense to the trademark...

The House will hold hearings today, June 10th, and again on June 25th on royalties payable to copyright holders of musical compositions by terrestrial and digital media services. The Songwriter Equity Act is expected to be the focus of the June 10th hearings. The...

Over the past year, Congress has been reviewing various provisions of the Copyright Act, including those affecting how copyright royalty rates for radio and streaming services are determined, in order to assess whether reforms are necessary or desirable. The U.S....