Law Update Newsletters
Scroll through Ted Sabety’s take on developing stories in the field of technology, electronic media, IP and fashion.
European Court of Justice Voids YouTube Music Copyright Infringement Claim
June 22, 2021. In a long-running case regarding Sarah Brightman’s album A Winter Symphony, the producer of the album had sued YouTube in Germany for copyright infringement, alleging that the album had been distributed by YouTube without authorization and further, that bootleg recordings of her performances of the music while on tour had also been distributed by YouTube. (Peterson v. Google LLC,...
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U.S. Supreme Court Orders Review of U.S. Patent Office Reexamination Proceedings by USPTO Director In Order to Comply with the U.S. Constitution
June 21, 2021. In the case U.S. v. Arthrex et al., No. 19-1434, the U.S. Supreme Court splintered over the question of whether USPTO administrative law judges, when issuing a patent validity decision that by statute could not be reviewed by the Director of the...
The U.S. Trade Representative Supports Waiving IP Protection for COVID-19 Vaccine Patents and Know-How—But Germany Says “Nein!”
May 5, 2021. The U.S. and Germany are party to the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights “TRIPS” agreement among major nations that is intended to align their intellectual property laws in connection with the World Trade Organization. India and...
Google Wins its Long Dispute with Oracle over the Java Computer Language API
April 5, 2021. Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. 593 U.S. __(2021). We wrote last year about the ongoing legal battle between Google and Oracle over Java computer language and its potential to create copyright over a computer language. The US Supreme Court handed...
U.S. Department of Justice Punts in its Review of the 80 year-old ASCAP and BMI Antitrust Consent Decrees
January, 2021. The DOJ has concluded that the ancient anti-trust consent decrees that permit ACSCAP, BMI and other Performing Rights Organizations to issue blanket song copyright licenses should be left untouched – despite the document listing all of the current...
Brexit May Affect Your EU Trademark Rights in the UK
January, 2021. Brexit May Affect Your EU Trademark Rights in the UK but Not Your EU Patents: As a result of "Brexit," and effective as of Jan. 1, 2021, the U.K. left the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO)—not the European Patent Office (EPO), which is not the...
The Solar Winds Hack Crisis Lays Bare a Software Contracting Problem
January, 2021. The U.S. Government and major U.S. corporations are still figuring out the extent of the intrusion by Russian hackers into their systems through the Solar Winds software hack. The SVA cyber-spook agency of the Russian government injected malware into...
Sabety Advises Shopkeep During Acquisition by Lightspeed
November, 2020: Our client ShopKeep, Inc. agreed to be acquired by Lightspeed POS Inc. (NYSE: LSPD) (TSX: LSPD), a leading provider of cloud-based, omnichannel commerce platforms. Total consideration was approximately $440 million. Sabety +associates, PLLC...
Sabety Fends Off Patent Troll
October, 2020. Sabety +associates, PLLC quickly fended off another mobile payment patent troll in the case Kwality IP vs. ShopKeep, Inc. 1:20-cv-01316 in the U.S. District Court, Delaware. Our technical analysis of their complaint showed that it was frivolous and...
Zerobase Foundation Launches AI Based COVID Tracing App
November, 2020. Our pro-bono client, Zerobase Foundation, is launching their anonymous QR-code based COVID-19 infection tracing platform. We advised Zerobase regarding Intellectual Property, including licensing and branding. The nonprofit Zerobase Foundation is...
Can US Seize Moderna’s COVID-19 Vaccine Patents?
August 27, 2020. Moderna, the Bio-tech firm famous for its progress on a COVID-19 vaccine, is reported to have never made the required disclosure of its US Government DARPA funding on its 157 patents and patent applications over aspects of its mRNA platform. Under...
Highest EU Court Invalidates U.S. Data Privacy “Safe Harbor”
July 16, 2020. In 2016, the U.S. and the E.U. negotiated a “safe harbor” arrangement to protect in the U.S. the personal data of E.U. consumers, called the EU-US Privacy Shield. The E.U, Commission decided that the Privacy Shield arrangement was sufficient so that ...
Trump’s Executive Order to Regulate Twitter: Going Nowhere
May 28, 2020. Trump’s Executive Order tasks the Federal Communications Commission to “clarify...and determine the circumstances” under which “a social media platform loses its liability protection” for editorial actions “not taken in good faith.” Communications...