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The new Music Modernization Act combines provisions of four separate legislative initiatives into a single bill that is expected to reform the music licensing system. In particular, the Act proposes to create the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), an independent not-for-profit organization selected by the Copyright Office. This licensing organization would create a publicly accessible database storing song ownership information and provide a blanket mechanical license for digital streaming. While there are currently other royalty collection societies for performance copyrights, such as ASCAP and BMI, there has never existed an organization that provides licenses for mechanical copyrights. Under the MLC regime,…

Omni Legal Group’s Ariana Santoro was recently honored by being invited to attend the annual College and Career Day at Alliance Margaret M. Bloomfield High School in Huntington Park. While there, Ms. Santoro inspired students with college on the horizon by regaling them about her college experience in obtaining two degrees and unusual path to becoming a patent attorney. Ariana emphasized how keeping an open mind and pursuing interesting opportunities while in college pushed her towards her eventual success. She engaged the students of multiple classes by providing a primer on intellectual property law and even demonstrated exemplary patented client…

Apple Inc. recently patented the design of the Apple Store. The tech giant received a design patent in China in 2015, which was filed in the United States that same year. The design patent covers a “Building” and the patent figures feature a four support beam structure. This particular design was used for the Zhongjie Joy City Apple Store in China, which ended up only including two support beams.

In two recent decisions by the United States Supreme Court, the constitutionality of inter partes review was determined. Inter partes review (IPR) is a procedure within the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) which authorizes a board (namely, the Patent Trial and Appeals board) to reconsider and cancel an already-issued patent claim. Any person who is not the patent owner may petition for such review. The first case, Oil States Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, involved a patent owned by Oil States and relating to technology for protecting wellhead equipment used in hydraulic fracturing. Oil States…

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled that an animal can potentially have constitutional standing to claim copyright infringement but that the Copyright Act does not expressly provide for such ability. While on a wildlife reserve in Sulawesi, Indonesia, wildlife photographer David Slater’s unattended camera was picked up and used by Naruto, a local monkey, to take several photographs of itself. These “monkey selfies” of the seven-year-old crested macaque later appeared in a book published by Slater and Wildlife Personalities, Ltd. This book identifies Slater and Wildlife Personalities as the copyright owners of these photographs. Subsequently, People…

A jury in Eastern District of Texas recently ordered Apple to pay $502.6 million in damages for patent infringement. The claims were brought by VirnetX based on four patents related to powering iMessage, FaceTime, and other secure communications products. The decision ends an eight year long legal battle between Apple and VirnetX. The battle started back in 2010 when VirnetX filed a separate suit and ultimately was awarded roughly $440 million in damages. Originally founded by former engineers to develop security technology for the United States government, VirnetX has become a patent troll that primarily makes money from similar infringement…

In the most recent development in the battle between Tinder and Bumble, Bumble has filed a lawsuit against Tinder’s parent Company, Match Group, alleging trade secret misappropriation. The lawsuit alleges Match and Bumble were in acquisition talks when Match Group requested “confidential and trade secret information” as a part of these discussions and subsequently used this information for its own business gains. Trade secrets constitute information which derives independent economic value from not being generally known. The suit further goes on to claim that once Match discovered other companies were also interested in investing in or acquiring Bumble, Match filed…

Omni Legal Group superstar James Cole’s screenwriting debut will screen at the 16th annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. The short film titled “Fifteen Years Later” is set 15 years post-911 and the story depicts two once-promising young men who have been experiencing psychological and professional deterioration since this tragedy. This acclaimed festival is widely recognized as the premiere showcase of groundbreaking Indian cinema internationally and features a distinguished panel of jurors that will preside over the festival’s features and shorts competitions.  While the festival lasts from April 11th-15th, the premier of “Fifteen Years Later” will take place on…

Abraham Lincoln is the only U.S. president to hold a patent. Indeed, in 1849, Honest Abe received U.S. Patent No. 6,469 for a “Manner of Buoying Vessels.” This patent envisioned a device for lifting boats over shoals. Lincoln was inspired during a trip traveling across the Great Lakes during which the steamboat ran aground on a sandbar. The captain of this boat improvised by emptying barrels and boxes and forcing them under the sides of the boat, thereby buoying it up. Prior to this, steamboats would discharge cargo and people when they got stuck in shallow water. This invention, however,…

This summer, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) anticipates the 10 millionth patent will issue. Over the span of these last 9 million-some-odd patents, the patent system has experienced significant changes and developments. This first Patent Act was put into place in 1790, merely one year after ratification of the Constitution and formation of the new government. Based on Congress’ power to grant writers and inventors exclusive rights to their works in order “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts,” this Act provided a 14-year expiration for patents and vested the power to grant patents in…