Posts Tagged: "Holiday posts"

It’s New Year’s Day 2022, and as we do each year at this time, we asked our readers to weigh in on their “wildest dreams” for IP in the upcoming year (though I tend to agree with one commenter below who said, “I don’t dream about IP…if you do, seek immediate professional help.”) Responses this year ranged from the practical (that Kathi Vidal and Leonard Stark will be confirmed to their respective nominations) to the fantastical (the invention of a teleporting machine) – and we even got a poetry submission! Read on for more of our readers’ wildest IP dreams, and Happy New Year!

The new year is just a few days away, and it is once again time to ponder the biggest moments and events in the world of intellectual property from the previous 12 months. As we do every year, we asked a panel of industry experts for their insights for our Biggest Moments in IP series, which is the longest running series on IPWatchdog.com. This year, while the role of IP and innovation in the COVID-19 pandemic continued to make the cut, other top picks included the Google v. Oracle Supreme Court copyright decision, the Biden Administration’s support for a waiver of IP rights under the Agreement of Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) for COVID-related technologies, and the administration’s draft language on a new policy statement relating to standard essential patents (SEPs). Here are what this year’s panel of experts identified as the biggest moments in IP for 2021.

Its Christmas time again and IPWatchdog is back at it, compiling a list of iconic patented toys and games. This year, we have added some iconic trademarks to round out the list. This tradition was originally made popular in 2018, and updated in 2019, with a holiday feature by IPWatchdog Founder Gene Quinn: The Most Iconic (and Patented) Toys and Games of All Time. The original post included iconic toys such as “the Video Game Console, Barbie doll, Monopoly, Rubik’s Cube, Battleship, Super Soaker, Hoola Hoop, Slinky, Play-Doh, Easy Bake Oven, Game-Boy Frisbee, YoYo, Lego blocks, Transformers, Tricycles, Bicycles, Scooters, Tonka trucks, Rocking Horse, Twister, Simon, Magic 8 Ball, Erector Set, Etch A Sketch, Bunch-o-Balloons and Mr. Potato Head.” Here are a few more that have brought smiles to the faces of so many on Christmas Day over the years.

Last week, IPWatchdog selected five significant patent developments in Europe, examining what has happened this year and what can be expected in 2022. Here, we review five of the top trademark and copyright decisions and legislative changes across Europe and what’s coming up in the new year. One of the most significant trademark decisions of 2021 came in a case over Hasbro’s EUTM registration for MONOPOLY. The registration, for goods and services in classes 9, 16, 28 and 41, was declared invalid by the EUIPO Second Board of Appeal on the basis that Hasbro had acted in bad faith. On April 21, the EU General Court upheld that decision.

“Adjusting to the new normal” is a phrase that can be used to describe the United States’ and the world’s response to the events of 2021. Almost two years into the pandemic, it is clear that COVID-19 will be around for the near future, and we all have to adjust to it. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) certainly has adjusted, and business as usual is in full effect. Here’s a recap of some of the most significant developments at the USPTO in 2021.

The year 2021 has been a relatively good one for proponents of improving scientific innovation by way of protections for patent rights. Several breakthrough COVID-19 vaccines have been developed by major R&D firms in the pharmaceutical sector, and despite some myopic posturing by several global leaders, a waiver of international IP obligations under the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) has not materialized, ensuring that R&D leaders are properly incentivized to continue pursuing advanced treatments and vaccines for new variants like omicron. Although leading scientists certainly deserve more celebrity status for their advances, patent attorneys are often the unsung heroes of innovation who ensure that protectable property rights arising from those inventions are registered and can be licensed for society’s greater benefit. You can indulge the patent attorney in your life this Christmas with several of the following items that are designed to help attorneys during their daily practice, commemorate early career successes, or provide a fun outlet when an attorney needs to get away from work.

It’s been another challenging year. At the end of 2020, we were all hopeful that 2021 would bring with it a chance to get back to normal, but that has so far eluded most of the world. However, the year did bring with it a lot to be grateful for—the various COVID-19 vaccines, made possible by science and arguably made viable by intellectual property rights—were initially rolled out in the United States beginning in late 2020 and became available to the masses in the spring of 2021. Today, about 60% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, and there would be many hundreds of thousands more deaths without the vaccines. IPWatchdog was able to have its first annual LIVE! event as a result of the vaccines as well, and it was a huge success. I’m very thankful to be part of such a great team and to have such truly genuine and wonderful bosses in Gene and Renée. Below are responses to our request for comments on what the IP community is thankful for this year. If you’d like to be added to our mailing list for these roundup perspective pieces, please write us at editors@ipwatchdog.com.

The fear of being buried alive, also known as Taphophobia, dates back centuries and reached a peak during the nineteenth century, when it was difficult to determine when death actually occurred. There have been many reported instances of individuals being buried alive; unfortunately, its often too late by the time the tragic mistake is discovered…. The fear of being buried alive led to many inventions that would help such an unfortunate person to escape, breathe or signal for help.

Judy W. Reed, one of the first recorded African American women to receive a U.S. patent (No. 305,474), is known for her invention titled “Dough Kneader and Roller”, which was granted patent protection on September 23, 1884. The invention improved upon existing dough kneaders and rollers and included a box for receiving dough and a crank that causes the dough to be drawn between corrugated rollers, whereby the dough is kneaded and rolled into a continuous sheet or ribbon.

Each December, we ask industry experts to identify what mattered in IP for the previous year, as well as their wildest IP dreams for the new year. In 2017, another year-end series was born—predictions and thoughts for the New Year. Attorneys instinctively eschew predictions—and after a year like 2020 we all have learned the hard way they are rather ill-advised—but these brave souls have gone out on a limb to look into their crystal balls, or simply to give their thoughts on what we should be watching or expecting for the year ahead. Here are our esteemed panelists’ responses.

From the Google v. Oracle arguments to Congress’ year-long discussion around reform of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), 2020 was a big one for copyright law. A discussion draft of the DMCA reform bill was released on December 22 by Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Thom Tillis (R-NC), and was meant to solicit comments from stakeholders and other interested parties. Chances the bill will be signed into law anytime soon are slim, but proposed changes such as lowering the specificity with which copyright owners must identify infringing material in certain cases and replacing the notice-and-takedown system in existing law with a “notice-and-staydown” system, would mark a new era in the U.S. copyright regime.

As we get ready to usher in the new year this week (hopefully in smaller groups than usual), it is once again time to look back on the year behind us and to reflect on the biggest moments and key events in the world of intellectual property from 2020. As in years past, we asked a panel of industry experts…

It’s Christmastime yet again and we return to a holiday feature made popular in recent years by IPWatchdog Founder Gene Quinn: a roundup of patents covering the most iconic toys and games ever created. Past lists have featured such classics as Mr. Potato Head, Monopoly, Legos, Simon, the Game Boy and much more. This year, we provide an addendum to this list with a series of 10 additions. Many a child around the world has woken up on Christmas morning to tear the wrapping paper off of a box containing one of the following toys or games, regardless if parents were worried about kids shooting their eyes out or the unusual, sometimes creepy, mood swings of small animatronic owls.

Christmastime is here again, and IPWatchdog is back with the 2020 edition of our Christmas list for patent attorneys. If you have a patent attorney in your life and you have no clue what to get them, the following options should provide you with a few good ideas for gifts—from smaller stocking stuffers to very practical gifts that will show your patent attorney that you’re serious about helping them succeed in their professional life. Merry Christmas!