Yesterday the Federal Circuit ruled in Oracle's favor that Google committed copyright infringement when it copied Java into the Android operating system.  To read the decision, click here.

Schneider Rothman partner and patent guru Jerold I. Schneider was recently featured on Gene Quinn's well read blog IPWatchdog.com discussing design patent infringement.  In his article, Jerry discusses why design patents have the potential to create value for patentees since the Federal Circuit simplified the standard for proving infringement on the ornamental features of a product in the Egyptian Goddess case.

Design patents are misunderstood and under-utilized.  But that is changing.  The last few years have seen a significant shift, favoring the design patent owner, on evaluating design patent infringement. 

Misinformation abounds on the internet.  There is nothing new about that.  But it is especially true when it comes to copyright law. The real estate industry has gone to great lengths to educate its members on copyright to help them avoid infringement.  

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Examination of Patent Applications at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO or PTO) takes too long.  That's the message from the USPTO’s own Performance and Accountability Report for Fiscal Year 2013.

Copyright infringement claims are challenging for an attorney to accept on contingency.  Proving damages for copyright infringement can be a daunting task.  That is one reason why the Copyright Act makes statutory damages available as an alternative to actual damages.

In the last part of this 4-part series, we look at some ways that you can protect your work and provide a sample licensing agreement for you to use which you can find here.

The Professional Real Estate Photographer’s Guide to Protecting Copyright In this third part of our four part article, we offer up some information about license agreements and other tips professional real estate photographers can use to protect their valuable work product from misuse and infringement.

In part 1, we gave you a little background on MLS rules.  In part 2, we'll look at some confusion surrounding what MLS can really copyright as well as a discussion on the real estate agent and their right to your work.