IP Law Daily, WORTH NOTING—Other IP law developments, (Jun 3, 2022)

By WK Editorial Staff

A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Intellectual Property community.

TRADEMARK—TTAB: The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board on May 23 re-designated as precedential a decision issued March 22, 2022, denying Opposer Conopco's motion to re-open its discovery and trial periods, granting applicant Transom Symphony OpCo’s motion to amend and narrow its identification of goods, and dismissing Conopco’s Section 2(d) opposition to registration of the standard character mark LUX ENHANCER for certain hair care products in view of Conopco's registered stylized mark LUX for “soap and body cleansing wash.” The Board denied Conopco’s motion to reopen discovery after a 19-month delay that was inexcusable and completely within Conopco’s control. Nevertheless, based on Conopco’s timely pleaded registration, the Board found likelihood of confusion. Transom Symphony proposed to narrow its applied-for goods to avoid likelihood of confusion, which the Board accepted. The applicant’s new identification of goods reads: “Hair care preparations distributed through and used by hair stylists and other hair care professionals” (Conopco, Inc. v. Transom Symphony OpCo, LLC, May 23, 2022, By the Board),

COPYRIGHT OFFICE NEWS: The Copyright Office announced this week that the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) will begin accepting claims on Thursday, June 16, 2022. As the first ever copyright small claims forum, the CCB will provide an accessible and efficient option for resolving copyright disputes involving claims up to $30,000. As of June 16, CCB participants will be able to register for eCCB, the CCB’s electronic filing and case management system, and submit or respond to a claim at the CCB. They will also have access to the CCB Handbook materials for guidance on how to navigate the CCB.

More information about the CCB can be found here .

COPYRIGHT OFFICE NEWS: The Copyright Office announced that it is undertaking a public study at the request of Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) to evaluate the deposit requirements of section 407 and 408 of the Copyright Act and to consider whether “removing the `best edition' requirement from the registration deposit process in section 408 could help improve the registration process.” Under section 407 of the Act, once a copyrighted work is published in the United States, the copyright owner must, within three months of publication, deposit “two complete copies of the best edition” of the work with the Copyright Office “for the use or disposition of the Library of Congress.”  Under section 408, copyright owners who apply to register works that have been published must generally include with their applications a deposit that consists of “two complete copies or phonorecords of the best edition” of their works. The Copyright Office provides the Library of Congress with one of the two submitted best edition copies to allow the Library to grow its collection. The Copyright Office generally transfers over 700,000 copyright deposits to the Library each year. Some copyright owners have explained that they have difficulty complying with the “best edition” requirement because they do not possess copies of the best edition of a work. The Office has been exploring options that would permit registration applicants to submit digital copies of works and provide the Library with physical copies only upon demand. To aid in its review of this topic, the Office is soliciting input from interested members of the public. Written comments must be received by July 18, 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 33836, June 3, 2022).

COPYRIGHT OFFICE NEWS: The U.S. Copyright Office has announced that the next public modernization webinar will take place on June 27, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. As part of its modernization efforts, the Copyright Office released a limited pilot program of an online recordation system in April 2020 that will replace the current paper-submission process. This new online recordation system allows users to electronically submit certain types of documents for recordation pertaining to copyright under section 205 of Title 17. Toward the end of spring, this system will open to the general public. This webinar will discuss the online recordation system’s features and what new users will need to know to start using the system. Participants must register for this Copyright Office webinar.

COPYRIGHT ROYALTY BOARD NEWS: The Copyright Royalty Judges have published for comment proposed regulations that set rates and terms applicable during the period beginning January 1, 2023, and ending December 31, 2027, for the Section 115 statutory license for making and distributing certain configurations of phonorecords of nondramatic musical works. On May 5, 2022, the Judges received a Joint Motion to Adopt New Settlement of Statutory Royalty Rates and Terms for Subpart B Configurations (Motion). The settlement proposes that the section 115 royalty rate for Subpart B Configurations for the rate period commencing January 1, 2023, be set at $0.12 per track, with annual inflation-based adjustments for subsequent years of the rate period. The Moving Parties also proposed editorial and substantive changes to applicable regulations found in both subparts A and B of part 385 to accomplish the rate increase. The Judges are soliciting comments on whether they should adopt the proposed regulations as statutory rates and terms relating to the making and distribution of physical or digital phonorecords of nondramatic musical works encompassed in subpart B, part 385 of the applicable regulations. Comments and objections are due by July 1, 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 33093, June 1, 2022).

USPTO NEWS: The USPTO has announced is implementing a “Climate Change Mitigation Pilot Program,” which is designed to positively impact the climate by accelerating the examination of patent applications for innovations that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In a recent blog post, USPTO Director Kathi Vidal noted that the USPTO “is committed to encouraging and incentivizing innovation in clean and green energy technologies to combat the climate crisis.” The program is intended to encourage research, development, and innovation in the climate space and provide ready and equitable intellectual property protection to incentivize investment and bring those solutions to the country and world. The program aligns with and supports President Biden’s Executive Order 14008, dated January 27, 2021, and is part of the USPTO's efforts to secure an equitable economic future, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate climate change. Applications accepted into the pilot program will be advanced out of turn (accorded special status) for first action on the merits. More information is available on the USPTO’s Climate Change Mitigation webpage (87 Fed. Reg. 33750, June 3, 2022).

News: Copyright Patent TechnologyInternet Trademark USPTO