Inevitable Disclosures

The Section just completed its 49th Annual Institute, and it was nothing short of a springtime delight. Thanks to all who attended—the energy at the conference was electric, and we had a tremendous collection of impressive and riveting speakers, and truly inspiring award winners.  If you weren’t able to make it don’t fret, the panels will be in our webinar catalog in the coming months. Read more

Chicken Soup for the Soul is suing tech companies OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, xAI, Perplexity, Apple, and Nvidia for copyright infringement. The suit, filed March 17 in the Northern District of California, alleges that hundreds of its copyrighted works were ingested without authorization or compensation to train large language models. The lawsuit alleges that in 2018, an OpenAI employee downloaded pirated books from Library Genesis—a shadow library repeatedly enjoined by federal courts—to create internal datasets later used to train GPT-3. To review the complaint, click here.  Read more

The Copyright Office published a notice of proposed rulemaking on March 20, 2026 regarding proposed changes to its fee schedule. The NPRM proposes substantial increases in certain fees, including raising the fee for news website group registrations from $95 to $350. The news website option was adopted in 2024 and provides publishers for the first time an easy way to register online content. The Office previously adjusted its fees in 2020. NMA is preparing a response ahead of the submission deadline on May 4, and interested members of the news industry are encouraged to get in touch. Following the NPRM, the proposed fee schedule will go into effect 120 days after it is provided to Congress, absent congressional action. To review the NPRM, click here. Read more

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) has filed a federal trademark lawsuit against DraftKings, Inc. alleging unauthorized use of the NCAA’s iconic basketball tournament trademarks, including MARCH MADNESS®, FINAL FOUR®, ELITE EIGHT®, and SWEET SIXTEEN®, in connection with online sports betting and gambling services. To view the complaint, click here.  Read more

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the ​issue of whether art generated by artificial intelligence can be copyrighted under U.S. law, turning a case involving a computer scientist from Missouri who was denied a copyright for a piece of visual art made by his AI system. Read more

In early 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court (the “Court”) agreed to hear a case at the heart of pharmaceutical intellectual property that could have significant implications for the manufacturers of both patented and generic drugs. Read more

As we settle into not-quite-winter, not-quite-spring, remind yourselves that flowers are just around the corner. Read more

Each year at the IP Institute, the Section honors outstanding legal professionals for their contributions to the advancement of intellectual property law. Join us at the 49th IP Institute on March 20 – 21, 2026 at The Clift Royal Sonesta to celebrate our recipients. Read more

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) de-designated Proppant Express Investments, LLC v. Oren Technologies, LLC and Adello Biologics LLC v. Amgen Inc. from precedential status. Read more

The Section extends you a warm welcome to 2026, and hopes that this quarter is already proving fruitful and joyous for each of you. Read more