Public Comment Period to Close March 30 on Plan for Offshore Oil Development

In late January 2015 the Department of the Interior took a tentative step toward allowing oil drilling off the coast of South Carolina and several other Southeastern states. The Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released a Draft Proposed Program (DPP) for 2017-2022 and for the first time has proposed opening areas off the South…
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What the Hack IP

Wyche Inside IP By Meliah Bowers Jefferson You’ve made sure that all of your key patents, copyrights, and trademarks are properly registered. You have iron-clad employment agreements protecting your company’s trade secrets and confidentiality agreements rivaling those signed by the staff of the British Royal Family. But now more than ever, it is not your…
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“March Madness” You Say? Be Careful How You Use That Term!

Wyche Inside IP By Wallace K. Lightsey It is March, and the minds of many turn to college basketball and to the NCAA tournament in particular. The intense focus of the American public and TV-viewing audience on the tournament is an irresistible motivation to advertisers to incorporate “March Madness” into the names of sales and…
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Transforming the Fair Use Analysis – Seventh Circuit Criticizes “Transformative Use”

Wyche Inside IP By Troy A. Tessier Under the Copyright Act, “fair use” is a defense to a copyright infringement claim. According to the statute, the determination of fair use depends on four main factors: The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit…
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Update on the Innovation Act

Wyche Inside IP By Wallace K. Lightsey Wyche Inside IP previously reported on the effort of Congress to combat abuses by “patent trolls” through passage of the Innovation Act (H.R. 9). This legislation was introduced in 2013 and passed the House of Representatives by an overwhelming bipartisan vote of 325-91, but became bogged down in…
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March Madness in the Supreme Court – and Our Bracketology

Wyche Inside IP By Wallace K. Lightsey On March 31, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in two important patent cases. How will it decide? Here are our predictions. In Commil USA, LLC v. Cisco Systems, Inc., the Court will consider whether a defendant’s good-faith belief that a patent is invalid is a…
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