Kanye West’s request to secure the trademark for “Sunday Service was rejected.According to TMZ, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected Ye’s application to register the name because someone had beaten him to the punch. [link]

An intellectual property rights -- or IPR -- protection center was officially unveiled in Shenyang, capital city of Northeast China’s Liaoning province, on Oct 17, according to local officials. On June 26 and Aug 1 this year, the protection center got the green light from the Liaoning Intellectual Property Office and the National Intellectual Property Administration. It is the first IPR protection center in Northeast China, officials said. [link]

Chrimar Systems, Inc. filed a petition for en banc rehearing with the Federal Circuit on October 21 asking the full Court to review the so-called Fresenius-Simmons preclusion principle. The petition has a high hurdle to meet, as the underlying Federal Circuit decision was nonprecedential, but the petitioners argue that the case qualifies as a rare exception warranting en banc review.[link]

Beyoncé is more than just one of the music industry’s most recognizable stars. She has built a business empire that extends into entertainment production, fashion, major product endorsements and even streaming music distribution through the Tidal platform with her husband, Jay-Z. Forbesnamed Beyoncé its Most Powerful Woman in Entertainment on two occasions, having sold more than 100 million records worldwide.[link]

Donald Dunner was born in 1931 and passed away on October 16, 2019 (see his long-time firm Finnegan’s tribute here). He spent the first 17 years of his life growing up in New York City’s borough of Brooklyn. [link]

This week in Other Barks & Bites: US Inventor will host an inventor rally during AIPLA’s Annual Meeting to protest the PTAB; the Federal Circuit vacates dismissal of infringement case against Sirius XM; the USPTO updates subject matter patent eligibility guidelines, changes TEAS access, and seeks participants for a beta release of the Patent Center; WIPO reports that China received half of all patent application filings in 2018 while the United States saw its first patent filing decline in a decade; Google files a supplemental brief at the Supreme Court in its case against Oracle; Katy Perry files a motion to overturn the “Dark Horse” copyright verdict against her; the FCC approves the merger between mobile wireless firms T-Mobile and Sprint; and U.S. Customs proposes rulemaking to improve its detention of copyright-violating goods imported at the U.S. border.[link]

On Thursday, October 17, the USPTO issued new patent eligibility guidance. The new guidance discusses and elaborates on the 2019 Revised Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Guidance (PEG) that was issued on January 7, 2019.[link]

The National Music Publishers’ Association is calling on Congress to investigate the ever-growing app TikTok over potential violation of U.S. copyright laws.According to a letter sent by NMPA, the popular video app is consistently violating the rights of songwriters and music publishers.In a letter sent to Senator Marco Rubio on Wednesday, Oct. 16, the NMPA asks Congress to investigate TikTok over potential copyright theft.[link]

In my previous post, I explored how times have changed for photographers who once appeared to have the upper hand in copyright infringement disputes with appropriation artists and others. As discussed there, the high-water mark for photographers may have been several years ago, when the Associated Press used its leverage to reach a settlement with Richard Fairey regarding his Obama Hope poster. [link]

Adidas has garnered itself a reputation for being particularly litigious when it comes to its famed three-stripe trademark, and it is proving just as unwelcoming of plays in its brand name as well. The German sportswear giant does not sell products for pets with its name on them, and it does not want you to either. [link]

In Knauf Insulation, Inc. v. Rockwool International, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s determination in an inter partesreexamination that certain patent claims for two of Knauf’s patents covering fibrous products and related methods and binder and fiber glass products were obvious. [link]

On Thursday, October 17, a Capitol Hill staff briefing will take place at 3:30 PM in 226 Dirksen Senate Office Building on a proposal to increase the amount of time that patent examiners at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have to examine patent applications.[link]

It is with great sadness that I write today on the occasion of the passing of a true legend in the patent world. Donald Dunner, a partner in Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP in Washington, D.C., passed away earlier today.[link]

On Tuesday, I attended a panel discussion on the National Security Implications of Patents along with my siblings, Madeline and Gideon Malone, and we were informed that inventors like the Wright brothers pose a threat to innovation.[link]

On September 24, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its decision in case C-507/17, Google v. CNIL regarding the territorial scope of the “right to be forgotten”.[link]

Facebook is being sued by online banking company, Finco Services, Inc., which operates as Current, for trademark infringement, unfair competition, and false designation of origin relating to Facebook’s controversial subsidiary, Calibra, which plans to launch the digital currency Libra by 2020.[link]

On October 9, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued a final written decision in a covered business method (CBM) review which invalidated all 38 claims of Nasdaq’s U.S. Patent No. 7747506, Recipient Status Indicator System and Method, challenged by Miami International Holdings (MIAX), on Section 101 grounds for being directed to unpatentable subject matter. [link]

When photographers take pictures of individuals, there are substantial questions regarding the elements that should be attributed to the photographer’s creativity so that the work has the requisite originality for protection. [link]

The Federal Circuit’s decision in In re HTC Corp., 889 F.3d 1349 (Fed. Cir. 2018), considered whether the TC Heartland decision extended to foreign defendants to afford them the protections of the special patent venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b).[link]

Shanghai authorities have uncovered 328 intellectual property rights (IPR) violation cases in a campaign ahead of the second China International Import Expo (CIIE).[link]