Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

Thomas A. Ward

ARRIS

Welcome to the fall edition of New Matter for 2017. The cover art on this issue shows trademarks affected by the Supreme Court decision in Matal v. Tam from June of 2017, which dealt with disparaging marks cancelled by the Trademark Office and particularly involved the Slants trademark. The Matal v. Tam decision allows reclaiming of marks previously considered disparaging, and that includes the Redskins mark. The Matal v. Tam decision is covered in detail by an article in this issue, and MCLE is available for this article. Although the cover focuses on a Supreme Court decision that makes a substantial change in trademark rights, another Supreme Court decision, TS Heartland v. Kraft Foods, from May of 2017, has made a major change in patent venue. The TS Heartland case will likely end the reign of the Eastern District of Texas as the forum of choice for patent trolls, and significantly limit forum shopping in future patent infringement litigation. The TS Heartland case is also covered by an article in this issue.

We would like to thank the members of the IP section who provided the DC Trip report in this issue. The IP section annually sends a delegation to visit representatives of different organizations in Washington DC so that we can gather information important to California IP Attorneys. Often the IP Section offers Programs that include speakers that have been met on the DC Trip. Please take a look at the DC Trip report in this issue.