Intellectual Property Protection

Note: This post is the third in a series of posts on the final text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) by Covington’s International and Public Policy lawyers.  The final TPP text, which was released on November 5, 2015, is available here.  TPP is not expected to enter into force …
Continue Reading What’s New in the TPP’s Intellectual Property Chapter

According to the European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, Věra Jourová, the EU and the US have finalized the EU-US Umbrella Agreement (for the press release, see here; a reportedly near-final draft of the agreement can be read here). This is a remarkable breakthrough after the…
Continue Reading EU – US Umbrella Agreement about to be concluded: towards a transatlantic approach to data protection?

We have already seen tremendous fallout from recent cyber attacks on Target, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, Sony Pictures, and J.P. Morgan.  Now imagine that, instead of an email server or a database of information, a hacker gained access to the controls of a nuclear reactor or a hospital. …
Continue Reading SAFETY First: Using the SAFETY Act to Bolster Cybersecurity

It is a welcome development that the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has moved closer to reauthorization. However, much more can and should be done through AGOA to strengthen intellectual property (IP) rights in Africa, particularly in the continent’s creative sectors. Africa’s creative sectors have the potential to be…
Continue Reading AGOA Should Do More to Strengthen Intellectual Property in Africa’s Creative Sectors

The Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission provided comments (“DOJ/FTC Comments”) last week that highlighted the role of the patent system in promoting “competition, innovation, and consumer welfare.”

The DOJ/FTC Comments were submitted as part of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) Enhanced Quality Initiative.  The PTO’s…
Continue Reading The Antitrust Agencies’ Comments on the Patent System

When John Oliver talks, the Internet starts buzzing.  This week, on HBO’s show “Last Week Tonight,” Oliver highlighted patent litigation reform.  Patent issues rarely hit the mainstream media, and even more rarely do they become fodder for pop culture.  But Oliver’s satirical segment has broken that barrier.

The segment contains…
Continue Reading Patent Legislation Goes Mainstream

This summer, the International Standards Organization (ISO) adopted a new voluntary standard governing the processing of personal data in the cloud — ISO 27018.  Although this recent development has gone mostly unnoticed by the technology and media press to date, the new cloud standard provides a useful privacy compliance framework …
Continue Reading ISO’s New Cloud Privacy Standard