Freedom to Operate Opinions: What Are They, and Why Are They Important?

What is a freedom to operate opinion, and why is it important? A freedom to operate opinion (FTO) is a legal opinion from a qualified intellectual property attorney that concludes a proposed commercial product or process may be made, used, sold, or offered for sale without infringing another party’s intellectual property rights. Although there is …

New Stimulus Bill Creates Small Claims Copyright Court

On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the highly anticipated COVID-19 stimulus relief and government-funding bill. The second stimulus package is omnibus legislation spanning over 5,500 pages, and includes several provisions that will influence the intellectual property legal landscape. In this article, we will take a brief look at the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement …

The Surprising Scope of European Design Patent Rights

The scope of European design patents are quite surprising. Unlike in the U.S., design patent applications in Europe are not reviewed by an Examiner to determine patentability – the patent application just has to meet the formality requirements to grant. Thus, the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) does not determine the scope of a …