President Signs Trademark Technical Amendments

On March 17, President Obama signed into law a bill to make a series of changes to the…

National IP Associations Form Network, Hold First Global IP Practitioner Association Summit

Representatives of 13 national intellectual property associations met in Washington, D.C., March 10-12 for the first Global IP Practitioner Association Summit…

ANALYSIS: The Basics of Music Licensing in Digital Media

Businesses that are involved in digital media use music in many ways—and most require some sort of license to make the use legal. Whether the music is used in an advertisement or a music video, on…

ANALYSIS: New Uses of Old Works: May a Licensee Exploit Previously Licensed Content Without the Consent of the Copyright Owner?

Technology continues to create attractive new products, including e-books and iPods, that give users access to a vast number of previously licensed copyrighted works. But when a new product exploits these…

ANALYSIS: False Patent Marking Claims Under the Lanham Act

Section 292 of the Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. §292, led a relatively quiet existence prior to the Federal Circuit’s recent false patent marking decision in…

IRS Says Taxpayers Can Continue to Rely on Expiring Rules on Continuity of Interest

The Internal Revenue Service March 18 said taxpayers can continue to rely on proposed and temporary rules (REG-146247-06, T.D. 9316) on the continuity of business interest requirement in…

Higher Medicare Taxes, Tougher Indexing for ‘Cadillac’ Tax Proposed in Health Care Reform Reconciliation Bill

House Democratic leaders unveiled health care legislation March 18 that includes a higher tax on high-income households than President Obama proposed and a less generous inflation index for…

Foreign Bank Reporting Provisions in New Hiring Law Seen Changing Withholding Landscape

President Obama’s signature on major new jobs legislation (Pub. L. No. 111-147; H.R. 2847) March 18 puts in place a host of requirements for foreign banks to report and disclose accounts with U.S. owners…

Obama Signs Measure Creating $13 Billion in Tax Breaks for Businesses Hiring Workers

President Obama signed the HIRE Act (Pub. L. No. 111-92) into law March 18, creating tax breaks for businesses hiring new workers and extending higher expensing limits for small businesses that…