Patriots Try to Cash in on Their (yet to be) Undefeated Season

The Super Bowl is coming up on Sunday, with the resurgent New York Giants set to face off against the undefeated New England Patriots. The biggest storyline headed into the game is the fact that the Patriots are trying to become the first team since the 1972 Dolphins to finish a season undefeated. A victory would give the Patriots a 19-0 record, besting the 17-0 record that the 'Fins achieved over 35 years ago.

Not going unnoticed is the Patriots' attempt to subsequently cash in their unprecedented success. On January 17, 2008, representatives from the Patriots filed trademark applications with the USPTO for the trademarks "19-0" and "19-0 The Perfect Season". The move not only would prevent others from profiting from the Patriots' historic season, but it would also allow the team to exclusively sell merchandise with the trademarked words.

As a shot back at the Patriots, the Giants' hometown newspaper, the New York Post, filed paperwork for the trademark "18-1".

We will find out on Sunday if Patriots QB Tom Brady will be sporting a "19-0" t-shirt or if members of the 1972 Dolphins will be lounging around in ones emblazoned with "18-1".

Google's Summary Judgment Partially Overturned

On Wednesday, December 26, 2007, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated part of a summary judgment granted to Google in a patent infringement suit brought against the search engine.

A Wisconsin district court originally granted Google's motion for summary judgment in the patent infringement suit brought by Hyperphrase Technologies. The suit claimed that Google, in using its AutoLink and AdSense, infringed four of Hyperphrase's patents. The appeals court ruled differently and remanded part of the case, vacating a summary judgment in Google's favor that AutoLink did not infringe two of Hyperphrase's patents. However, the appeals court agreed that Google's AdSense did not infringe any of the patents.

AutoLink is part of Google's toolbar and turns non-linked content on websites into links back to Google-related sites, such as Google Maps. Google's AdSense is an ad serving program that allows website owners to enable text, image and video advertisements on their sites.

The case was remanded back to the Wisconsin district court.

Martha Stewart, Town Resolve Trademark Dispute

The long-running trademark dispute between Martha Stewart and the villagers of Katonah, NY has been resolved. The parties agreed to a compromise: that Stewart may only use the name Katonah in connection with furniture, mirrors, pillows and chair cushions. Stewart had previously desired to obtain protection in connection with home furnishings and accessories, indoor lighting, paint, carpeting and flooring.

The dispute started after the villagers of the small, upstate New York town and some its businesses filed an opposition against Stewart's attempt to trademark the name for her desired goods. The residents argued that Stewart's use of the town name would harm existing businesses. In addition, a nearby American Indian tribe objected because the village is named after one of its 17-century chiefs.

New UPSTO Report Hints of More Efficient, Tougher Office

In its annual Performance and Accountability Report, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) disclosed that it had reviewed a record number of patent applications and trademark applications in fiscal year 2007.

In total, examiners reviewed 362,227 patent applications and attorneys analyzed 323,527 trademark applications, both a record number. In addition, the average time from filing of a trademark application to preliminary examination by an examining attorney was three months.

Even though examiners are seemingly prosecuting patent applications faster, the Report also indicates that obtaining a patent may be getting harder. In 2006, the USPTO's patent appeals board upheld examiners' rejections 69% of the time, up from 51% in 2005. Additionally, the USPTO granted only 51% of patent applications eligible for approval, compared to 2000 when the USPTO granted 72% of eligible patent applications.

Fall Out Boy's Copyright Mishap

Chicago punk band Fall Out Boy has seen its popularity surge over the last couple of years following the successful releases of its last two albums. In support of the band's latest release, Infinity on High, Fall Out Boy embarked on its nationwide "Young Wild Things" tour.

Unbeknownst to the band, the tour's artwork, inspired by the children's story Where the Wild Things Are, had infringed the rights of the book's author, Maurice Sendak. The artwork includes graphics depicting Fall Out Boy's members as characters from the story. The graphics were included on tour t-shirts, posters and other merchandise sold to fans.

The band has since abandoned the imagery and issued an apology to Sendak on its website. Sendak has not taken any legal action, and no word exists on whether he will.

Court Grants Preliminary Injunction to Block New USPTO Rules

On the eve of the effective date for the United States Patent and Trademark Office's (USPTO) new rules regarding claiming and continuations practice, Judge James Cacheris of the Eastern District of Virginia issued a preliminary injunction to prevent the rules from going into effect.

The main rule changes centered around limiting the number of continuations that an applicant may file and the number of claims that an application may contain, and many portions of the rules were to apply retroactively to about 700,000 pending applications. The USPTO readied to effect the rules on November 1, 2007. However, several corporations as well as the American Intellectual Property Law Association (AIPLA) filed amici briefs opposing the rule changes in the months leading up to the effective date. The corporations argued that prior court decisions warned against any blanket prohibition on the number of continuations that an applicant may file and contended that the USPTO lacks substantive rulemaking authority. Further, they argued that owners of pending applications would need to take prompt action to either abandon, limit or amend claims to comply with the proposed claim limit.

The USPTO countered by claiming that the rules are within the USPTO's regulatory authority and that the Office already made a substantial investment in training the examiners.

Nevertheless, Cacheris issued the injunction, which temporarily blocks the USPTO from implementing of all the proposed rules. The injunction is effective until there is a final judgment in the case.

Colorado Rockies Look to Trademark "Rocktober"

The Colorado Rockies enter their first World Series in franchise history on the heels of winning 21 out of their last 22 games, as well as seven straight playoff games. Their opponent, the Boston Red Sox, managed to squeak by the Cleveland Indians in seven games to advance to their second World Series in four years.

Since the Rockies' started their amazing playoff run, the city of Denver and its businesses have been using the term "Rocktober" on everything from billboards to newspaper headlines. But now, the team wants to trademark the term to maintain exclusive rights over its use. On October 4, 2007, the Rockies filed a trademark application for "Rocktober" for the mark to be used on everything from stuffed animals to t-shirts.

Because playoff baseball only occurs during the month of October, the Rockies hope that they beat the Red Sox this year and make the playoffs in future years to provide for additional opportunities to sell all things "Rocktober".