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Intellectual Property

NFTs: The New Kid on Hong Kong’s Digital Block

With the global market for non-fungible tokens (NFTs) now generating billions of US dollars, these new forms of digital asset have gone mainstream and, particularly, mark a fresh development in the way artists can promote and sell their works. But legal professionals are grappling with issues surrounding this new phenomenon and copyright law. What are

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Cutting Appeal-Board Line: New Pilot Program to Expedite PTAB Decisions

In recent years, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has launched several fast-track initiatives — including the electronic priority document exchange (PDX) program and the Global PPH and IP5 PPH pilot programs under the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) — to minimize fees and help accelerate the patent-examination process. Effective July 2, 2020, a new

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Intellectual Property: GDPR after Brexit — What You Need to Know

The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020 and entered a Brexit transition period, which runs until the end of December 2020. During this transition period, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will continue to apply in the UK and UK businesses should continue to follow existing guidance on it. What happens at

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India’s Patent Prosecution Highway: Fast-Track to Patent Examination

On account of the huge backlog of patent applications and the resultant delay in acquiring patents, several inventors have traditionally chosen to stay away from Indian markets. There is finally some effort to change this situation. As per Indian Patent Office (IPO) records, around 6,000 patents were granted and about 15,000 patent applications were decided

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Domestic Attorney Required for Foreign-Domiciled Parties Seeking US Trademarks

In early July 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced a new rule requiring all foreign-domiciled trademark applicants, registrants and parties to Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) proceedings to be represented by an attorney who is licensed to practice law in the United States. The new rule takes effect on August

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US Supreme Court Ruling Allows Registration of Offensive Trademarks

Only two years ago, in the case of In re Tam, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the federal law (the Lanham Act) that prohibited registration of “disparaging” marks violated the First Amendment’s Free Speech Clause. At the end of June 2019, in the case of Iancu v. Brunetti, the Court ruled that the provisions of the

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“Doing Business And Investing In Australia” Guide Now Available

Russell Kennedy Lawyers, the Ally Law member firm located in Melbourne and Canberra, Australia, has published its Doing Business and Investing in Australia Guide providing a general overview of the key legal issues of which foreign organizations should be aware when seeking to do business in or invest in Australia. Topics covered include an overview on

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Key Points When Entering An IT Contract

IT contracts are complex and often contain terms and conditions you may not be familiar with in the daily conduct of your company’s business. When taking on a licence for a new piece of software, or having software or an IT system, including a website, developed for you, it is important that you first read

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