Street artists seeking copyright protection for their murals face many hurdles. One increasingly important one is 17 USC 120(a), part of 1990 legislation extending copyright protection to architectural works for the first time. Section 120(a) limits the new copyright protections for architecture, providing “the copyright in an architectural work ... does not include the right to prevent the making, distributing, or public display of … photographs … of the work, if the building in which the work is embodied is located in or ordinarily visible from a public place.”

On November 15, 2019, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear the final appeal of Oracle v. Google, with dramatic global implications for interoperability, innovation, and competition. The culmination of over nine years of furiously fought litigation between two technology titans, this case concerns nothing less than the scope of copyright protection for software and the freedom to interoperate.

Nowhere are mediation skills more important than in resolving intellectual property disputes. This program will examine how mediators adapt the process to fit the situation presented by individual cases and how counsel for the parties can be most effective in using the process to achieve positive results for their clients. The focus will be on how resolution through mediation is often quite appropriates for intellectual property cases, especially those where non-monetary and/or relationship issues predominate.

In this program, Geetha Kandiah—an accomplished international IP attorney whose contributions to the field have been recognized by Managing IP publications and World Trademark Review —will guide practitioners through some of the exciting trademark law updates in Malaysia and Myanmar.  Among the key changes —Malaysia’s recent accession to the Madrid Protocol will ease filing requirements and streamline fees, and the new Act also provides for recognition of non-traditional marks, vulnerability to non-use revocation, and the recognition of privilege for communications with registered trademark agents.

Women are 50.8% of the U.S. population.  Yet, in virtually every field, they trail behind men in their representation in leadership positions.  In its Women in the Workplace 2017 research study, McKinsey & Company found that, at major law firms, women attorneys constitute 45% of associates, but only 22.7% partners, and 19% of equity partners.  The in-house legal environment doesn’t reflect significantly better representation in leadership positions either.  While not providing the ultimate solution for obtaining gender parity in the legal field, this CLE program addresses a potential targeted tool women lawyers can use for career advancement and job satisfaction: cultivating sponsors.  

This introductory webinar will provide an overview of how the four basic intellectual property tools (trademarks, copyrights, patents, & trade secrets) are being deployed by the legal cannabis industry in the U.S. (with a focus on California businesses and entrepreneurs). Time permitting, this webinar will also address some related IP licensing and litigation issues. This webinar is intended to provide a foundation for a number of future webinars that will delve into each of the main subject areas in greater detail.