In 2000, a California artist named Joe Morford created a piece called “Banana and Orange,” featuring synthetic pieces of the titular fruits duct-taped to bright green paper. He posted it to his Website, Facebook, and YouTube accounts and—here’s the kicker—sought, and received, a formal copyright from the US Copyright Office for “Banana and Orange.” So far, so good, nothing to see here—right?

Well…not so fast.

Fast forward to 2019, when Italian artist Mauricio Catellan presented his notorious piece, “Comedian,” consisting of a single REAL (that is to say, completely edible) banana duct-taped to a wall. “Comedian” caused a huge stir in the art world and beyond, becoming one of the most memed and lampooned pieces of modern art in history.  This seemingly farcical gambit paid off for Catellan three times, to the tune of roughly $390,000!

When Morford learned about “Comedian,” he was none too pleased, if his Facebook status from the time he first heard of it is any indicator. On Sunday, December 15th, 2019, he posted:

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It’s the most popular Christmas song of all time, certified Diamond by the Record Industry Association of America with over 10 million copies sold—the only Christmas tune ever to achieve that milestone. It might be the most danceable, poppy, upbeat song ever to convey the message that a loved one is missed and wanted at home for Christmas. And it’s been a perennial favorite on the pop charts and “Best Of” holiday playlists since it debuted in 1994, becoming nearly as ubiquitous as the Grinch and Jolly Old Saint Nick himself and earning an annual estimated $3.9 million in personal royalties for the artist who recorded it.

I’m talking, of course, about Mariah Carey’s smash hit, “All I Want for Christmas is You.”

But all is not well in Whoville…
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There was once a man who was trying to make a movie. He worked grueling hours at menial jobs, lived in a cold-water apartment, and still couldn’t get his passion project off the ground. At one point, he was so destitute that he had to sell his beloved dog for $25 to eat. But fortune is fickle, and that man ended up becoming one of the most renowned names in modern cinema: Sylvester Stallone! (Spoiler: Yes, he got the dog back, and you can see him in the original Rocky.) This is one of my favorite celebrity success stories and a big reason why Sly remains one of my favorite actors and personal heroes.

Sadly, stories of so-called “starving artists” are commonplace.
Let's talk about it.

In my role as a patent attorney, I’ve noticed a sharp increase in the proliferation of “weird” patents in the last several years. When I started out in this profession 25 years ago, there was no such thing as the show Shark Tank. If you were talking about a shark tank, you were probably relating your latest visit to SeaWorld or using the term as a metaphor for a law office. Only the most hardcore of the hardcore geeks and nerds in a given field knew or cared about most patents until months or even years after they’d already been filed and approved, and their observations rarely if ever made it to the stage where they got the general public stirred up.

What changed and why are people watching patents so closely now?

Well—there are a lot of reasons...and we're gonna talk about them!

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It may be the most “meta” case in modern IP law history: A small AR/VR company called Meta.is (aka MetaX) is suing Meta (aka Facebook), alleging that Facebook’s change to the Meta name has diluted the original Meta.is brand and caused what is known as “reverse confusion” in IP circles by irrevocably giving the appearance that Meta.is is aligned with, and/or a wholly owned subsidiary of, Facebook. 

If this sounds confusing, it is—and the legal arguments from which it derives are the sort of conundrum that can and likely will end up rewriting case law basically regardless of how it shakes out in court!

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In the wake of Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ well-publicized battle with the House of Mouse over jurisdictional issues arising from Disney’s criticism of a controversial new law, Missouri Senator Josh Hawley has now entered the fray.

According to a tweet Hawley posted on Twitter on May 2nd, he intends to introduce legislation to strip away the “special copyright protections” enjoyed by “woke companies” and the “sweetheart deals” he contends led to them, starting with Disney.

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The global response to Russia’s role as the chief aggressor in the Ukrainian war has many surprising—and chilling—implications. From rising gas prices to the heartbreaking images and stories on the news, to the resurrected specter of a nuclear war of annihilation which most people thought well and truly buried with the end of the Cold War, it seems the Ukrainian conflict has left virtually nothing in the Western world untouched.

But it’s the Russian response to sanctions, and specifically the passage of two decrees concerning intellectual property owned by denizens of “unfriendly countries” who have protested the Russian attack on Ukraine, that I find particularly alarming and unfathomable. Let’s take a closer look at these decrees and evaluate the far-reaching and potentially catastrophic results they may involve for Russia.

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