The Lewis and Roca Intellectual Property Blog

Complaints regarding inadequate protection for trademark owners will apparently not stop the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") from launching its new unlimited gTLD (generic Top Level Domain) program as quickly as possible in 2013. The new web environment will include hundreds of different words appearing to the right of the dot in domain names, in sharp contrast to the existing limited number of authorized strings such as .com, .biz, .net, and .info. Initial evaluations of over 1900 applications for new Top Level Domains have begun to be published by ICANN and will continue through August. Strings containing non-Latin script, known as Internationalized Domain Names ("IDNs"), of which there are over 100 in Chinese, Arabic and other alphabets, will launch first in May or June. read more

Patent law holds that a party can be held liable for direct infringement when that party performs all steps of a patent claim.  In contrast, there is no direct infringement where multiple parties collectively – but independently – perform all steps of a patent claim.  Historically, there could be no indirect infringement without direct infringement, that is, indirect infringement required proof that at least one party performed all steps of the patent claim. 

That precedent changed last August when the Federal Circuit issued its decision in Acamai Tech’s, Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc., 692 F.3d 1301 (Fed. Cir. 2012). 

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This year the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers ("ICANN") received over 1900 applications for new generic Top Level Domains ("gTLDs").  (A Top Level Domain refers to the string of letters to the right of the "dot" such as dot com, dot net, or dot info.)  Currently there are 22 of these as well as over two hundred country code domains, e.g. (dot)us.  As part of this effort to launch an unlimited number of new gTLDs, ICANN had put in place a procedure whereby governments who are members of its Government Advisory Committee (the "GAC") could issue an "Early Warning" as to any new gTLDs they oppose or feel should have conditions attached before launching. read more

Today we bring you Part Two of an article authored by our partner Ms. Emily Bayton and published by Law360 on October 16, 2012.  You can check out Part One of the article here:http://www.lrlaw.com/ipblog/blog.aspx?entry=601. read more

As an intellectual property lawyer and avid sports fan, I’m always interested in a case involving the legal intersection between sports and IP. There are plenty of IP issues facing the sports industry. Like any other industry, it’s driven by money, much of which is generated from IP. From licensing of team names and logos, to broadcast and sponsorship rights, to merchandise deals, IP plays a large role in the value of the sports industry.

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Any company or individual that works with technology may have to deal with patents. Even companies that do not patent their own products or services may nevertheless be impacted by patent law. While certain high-profile patent cases (Apple-Samsung) have featured large patent-holders on both sides, patent lawsuits may also be brought against small companies (start-up) that do not have any patents in their arsenal.

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