News

On Thursday morning, the FTC announced a proposed rule which bans new non-compete agreements with employees and independent contractors and prohibits enforcement of existing non-compete agreements (in both cases, the only exception is in conjunction with the sale of a business by one who owns at least 25%). https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/01/ftc-proposes-rule-ban-noncompete-clauses-which-hurt-workers-harm-competition. Should […]

The “metaverse” is upon us, and it is forecasted to impact how businesses operate and how brand names are protected. An entire virtual world has opened for business and is quickly expanding. This virtual world has its own marketplaces for goods and services, just like we see in the real […]

For a number of years, we have cautioned our clients who own trademark registrations not to respond to unsolicited, official-sounding emails which purport to require payment to avoid cancellation of their registrations. These emails come from private companies using names that closely resemble the United States Patent and Trademark Office […]

Doctrine of Equivalents and the “Flexible Bar” Restored By Ury Fischer In a much anticipated decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has vacated the ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in the Festo Corp. v. Shoketsu Kinzoku Kogyo Kabushiki Co. case. The Supreme Court’s unanimous opinion […]

A Patent Split Emerges in the High Court On May 15, 2006, the Supreme Court issued its opinion in the widely followed eBay Inc v. MercExchange, L.L.C. case. (A copy of the opinion may be downloaded here.) In reversing the Federal Circuit, the Supreme Court held that a patent holder […]