Harper & Bates LLP partner Shannon Bates was recently published in Manufacturing Engineering, a magazine serving U.S. engineers and other manufacturing professionals. The article, “A Legal, Cultural Framework for Protecting Innovation, IP,” discusses the importance of developing a framework for safeguarding IP assets through patent or trade secret protections, as well as how patents and trade secrets differ…
Harper & Bates LLP partner Scott Harper spoke at the Professional Outdoor Media Association’s (POMA) 12th Annual Business Conference on June 15, in Shreveport-Bossier, La. Harper’s presentation titled “Intellectual Property Field Guide,” focused on how to protect and enforce intellectual property rights in visual and written media. Harper was able to relate to a number of conference…
A version of this article, which was written by Austin Champion, originally appeared in the April 2017 edition of Texas Lawyer. With the enactment of the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA), federal courts are now wide open for trade secret litigation. Nearly a year later, courts have already started interpreting the act, providing…
The U.S. Supreme Court provided additional guidance on what industrial designs can and cannot be copyrighted in a recent decision involving cheerleading uniforms. Courts previously interpreted the Copyright Act as providing copyright protection for original works of art but not for industrial designs. In Star Athletica v. Varsity Brands, the court clarified where art ends…
In what could be considered a win for patent holders, the U.S. Supreme Court this week eliminated a common defense to patent infringement claims. The Court’s ruling in SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC precludes defendants from asserting the defense of laches in response to claims for damages brought within the Patent Act’s…
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal that could change the landscape of patent case venue selection across the country. The appeal of TC Heartland, LLC v. Kraft Food Group Brands LLC, questions whether patent infringement cases must be brought in the district in which the alleged infringer is incorporated or whether cases may…
Harper & Bates LLP achieved a rare victory this week when the Patent Trial and Appeal Board denied institution on five of six petitions for Inter Partes Review (IPR) filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against its client. In a unique effort by a government agency to leverage the America Invents Act, the DOJ petitioned the…
Harper & Bates LLP is pleased to announce that partner Shannon Bates, have been invited to serve as faculty members of the 54th Annual Intellectual Property Law Conference. The Conference will be held November 14-15, 2016, in Plano, Texas, hosted by the Center for American and International Law (CAIL). Each year, the conference attracts top…
The passing of the America Invents Act (AIA) in 2012 dramatically changed the landscape of patent litigation in the United States by establishing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), an administrative tribunal within the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that resolves patent validity disputes. The number of new cases filed in this new forum…
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) Rules of Practice have been amended and go into effect January 14, 2017 for all proceedings, including those then-pending. The changes include, among other things, allowing submission of testimony by declaration (subject to the other party’s ability to cross-examine the declarant via live deposition), limiting the number of…