32 articles
Andrei Iancu
Andrei Iancu (born 1968, Bucharest) is a Romanian-American IP litigator who was USPTO Director and Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property, 2018-2021, known for Section 101 guidance, PTAB reforms, and NCEAI; now Co-Head of IP Litigation at Sullivan & Cromwell.
Comparative intellectual property law
Comparative intellectual property law is the study of how copyright, patent, and trademark rules differ across jurisdictions, from first-to-file versus first-to-use trademark systems to TRIPS flexibilities.
Copyright
Copyright is automatic intellectual-property protection for original works of authorship fixed in tangible form, covering rights to reproduce, distribute, adapt, perform, and display, with duration, fair use, Berne Convention harmonization, and AI-era disputes defining it.
Copyright Act (Ghana)
The Copyright Act, 2005 (Act 690) is the principal statute governing copyright and related rights in Ghana. Enacted in 2005, it replaced the 1985 law and protects folklore.
Copyright Act of 1976
The Copyright Act of 1976 (Pub. L. 94-553), signed October 19, 1976, effective January 1, 1978, is the comprehensive U.S. copyright statute replacing the 1909 Act: fixation-based protection, life-plus-50 (now 70) terms, codified fair use, and termination rights.
Copyright law of Australia
Copyright law of Australia: the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), administered by the Attorney-General's Department, grants automatic, unregistered rights, uses fair dealing exceptions rather than fair use, and was amended by the Copyright Amendment Act 2026 adding Australia's first orphan works scheme; no text and data mining exception for AI exists.
Copyright law of Chile
Copyright law of Chile: Ley 17.336 on Intellectual Property (1970), the special statute governing author's rights and related rights. Covers moral and patrimonial rights, amendments through Law 20.435 (2010), the DDI registry, collective management societies, and pending digital-era reform bills.
Copyright law of India
Copyright law of India: the Copyright Act, 1957 (प्रतिलिप्यधिकार अधिनियम), in force 21 January 1958 under DPIIT; life-plus-60-year term, Section 52 fair dealing, voluntary registration, 2012 digital amendments, Berne/TRIPS/WCT/WPPT membership.
Copyright law of Japan
Copyright law of Japan (著作権法), Law No. 48 of 1970: automatic moral and economic rights, life-plus-70-year term, enumerated exceptions without general fair use, Article 30-4 AI/data exception, and 2023 adjudication amendment.
Copyright law of the United Kingdom
Copyright law of the United Kingdom: automatic, unregistered protection under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, with economic and moral rights, a closed list of fair-dealing exceptions including non-commercial TDM, and unsettled AI-training reform following the 2024-2025 consultation.
Copyright Term Extension Act
The Copyright Term Extension Act (Sonny Bono CTEA, Pub. L. 105-298) is the 1998 US law extending copyright 20 years to life plus 70 years (95 years for works for hire and pre-1978 works), upheld in Eldred v. Ashcroft.
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (1988 c. 48), the principal UK statute on copyright, performers' rights, and unregistered design right; royal assent 15 November 1988, in force 1 August 1989, frequently amended.
David Kappos
David J. Kappos (born 1961) is an American IP lawyer, former IBM chief IP counsel, and USPTO Director 2009-2013 who implemented the America Invents Act, cut the patent backlog, and now co-chairs Cravath's IP practice.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Public Law 105-304 (1998), implements the WIPO Copyright Treaty and WPPT; it bans DRM circumvention under Section 1201 and grants online service providers Section 512 takedown safe harbors.
Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market
Directive (EU) 2019/790, the EU Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive (CDSM Directive), adopted 17 April 2019: press publishers' right (Article 15), platform liability (Article 17), TDM exceptions, upheld by CJEU C-401/19.
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner (Finnegan) is a Washington, DC-founded IP-only law firm (1965), one of the world's largest, filing about 2,500 US patent applications yearly and ranking among the most active firms at the PTAB.
First-sale doctrine
First-sale doctrine, codified at 17 U.S.C. § 109 and also called copyright exhaustion, lets the owner of a lawfully made copy resell, lend, or give it away without permission; covers Bobbs-Merrill, Kirtsaeng, rental limits, and digital limits.
Fish & Richardson
Fish & Richardson P.C. is a Boston-founded (1878) intellectual property law firm specializing in patent litigation, prosecution, and PTAB post-grant work, with 12 U.S. offices plus Munich and Shenzhen; early clients included Bell, Edison, and the Wright Brothers.
Howrey
Howrey LLP (Howrey, Simon, Baker & Murchison), a Washington, D.C. law firm founded in 1956, was the nation's first antitrust firm; it peaked at 750 lawyers and $573 million revenue before dissolving in March 2011, and its Jewel-waiver bankruptcy litigation reshaped unfinished business doctrine.
Indian Patent Office
Indian Patent Office (IPO), part of the CGPDTM under DPIIT, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, grants patents in India. Operates under the Patents Act, 1970 and Patents Rules, 2003; granted 33,504 patents in 2024-25.
Inevitable disclosure doctrine
The inevitable disclosure doctrine is a US trade secret law doctrine allowing courts to bar a departing employee from a new job that would inevitably rely on the former employer's trade secrets.
Intellectual property in China
Intellectual property in China (知识产权): the statutory and judicial system protecting patents, trademarks, copyrights, and IC layout designs, built after 1978 and periodically revised, most recently through 2026 plans and rules.
Intellectual property law by jurisdiction
Intellectual property law by jurisdiction is the comparative study of how countries organize their patent, copyright, trademark, and design systems, and how treaties like TRIPS constrain them.
Intellectual property law journals and magazines
Intellectual property law journals and magazines are periodicals devoted to patent, trademark, and copyright law, ranging from peer-reviewed law reviews to trade magazines for IP professionals.
International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property
The International Association for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AIPPI) is a politically neutral, non-profit association based in Zurich, Switzerland, founded in 1897, with over 8,000 members in more than 110 countries.
Japanese patent law
Japanese patent law (特許法, Tokkyoho) governs patents in Japan under the 1959 Patent Act, administered by the JPO. First-to-file, 20-year term, examination on request within three years, opposition within six months.
Lanham Act
The Lanham Act, also the Trademark Act of 1946 (15 U.S.C. § 1051 et seq.), is the primary U.S. federal trademark statute, signed July 5, 1946, establishing national registration, infringement, and dilution protection.
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (Convention de Paris), 1883 WIPO treaty on patents, trademarks, designs, and unfair competition; national treatment, 12/6-month priority right, 181 members, revised six times through Stockholm 1967.
Patent law of China
Patent Law of the People's Republic of China (中华人民共和国专利法), the national patent statute adopted 1984, effective 1985, covering inventions, utility models, and designs with terms of 20, 10, and 15 years, amended 1992, 2000, 2008, and 2020.
Professional associations of patent and trademark attorneys
Professional associations of patent and trademark attorneys are organizations that qualify, represent, and advocate for IP attorneys, beginning with London's Chartered Institute of Patent Agents in 1882.