Guide
How to Trademark Your Business: The Complete 2026 Guide
How to trademark a business in 2026, explained step by step: clearance searches, the USPTO application, current fees, timelines, renewals, and enforcement.
Copyright · Trademarks · Patents · Trade Secrets · Publicity
An Intellectual Property Law Journal
Rigorous, plain-English analysis of the decisions shaping intellectual property, paired with practical guides for the founders, creators, and counsel who have to live by them.
- 598case analyses
- 180practical guides
- 5IP disciplines
Plain-English answers for founders and creators: what protection you need, what it costs, and what to do when there's a problem.
Guide
Which IP Protection Do You Need? A Founder's Guide
Wondering which IP protection do I need? Compare trademark, copyright, patent, and trade secret in plain English so founders and creators can decide what to file first.
Guide
Intellectual Property in California: A 2026 Guide for Founders & Creators
A plain-English guide to intellectual property in California: the non-compete ban, right of publicity, AI digital-replica laws, NIL, trade secrets, and takedowns.
Guide
AI and Intellectual Property: A 2026 Guide
A plain-English 2026 guide to AI and intellectual property: who owns AI output, copyright on AI art, training-data lawsuits, deepfakes, and contract clauses.
Guide
The Creator's Guide to Copyright (2026)
Plain-English copyright for creators: when protection begins, your exclusive rights, when to register, fair use, licensing, and protecting your work online.
Guide
The Startup IP Playbook (2026)
A plain-English guide to startup intellectual property: the four IP types founders own, how to keep the company (not founders) owning it, and what investors check.
Authorship & Ownership
16 Casa Duse v. Merkin: The Dominant Author and Who Owns a Film
The Second Circuit held a director's contribution to a film is not its own copyrightable work; the producer, as dominant author, owns the whole picture.
July 11, 2026
Software & Code
Apple v. Franklin: The Decision That Made Object Code Copyrightable
The Third Circuit's 1983 ruling that object code, ROM firmware, and operating systems are copyrightable expression built the software industry's legal floor.
July 11, 2026
Infringement & Remedies
Arnstein v. Porter: The Two-Step Framework Behind Every Substantial Similarity Test
How the Second Circuit's 1946 split between proof of copying and improper appropriation built the framework every music infringement trial still follows.
July 11, 2026
Extraterritorial Reach
American Rice v. Arkansas Rice Growers: The Lanham Act Reaches Sales in Saudi Arabia
The Fifth Circuit applied the Lanham Act to a U.S. cooperative's rice branding sold only in Saudi Arabia, an effects-based reach now narrowed by Abitron.
July 11, 2026
Counterfeiting & Gray Market
Arcona v. Farmacy Beauty: Counterfeiting Still Requires Likelihood of Confusion
The Ninth Circuit holds trademark counterfeiting requires likelihood of confusion, with no presumption from identical EYE DEW marks on dissimilar products.
July 11, 2026
Domain Names & Cybersquatting
Bosley Medical v. Kremer: Gripe Sites, Commercial Use, and the ACPA's Longer Reach
The Ninth Circuit shielded a noncommercial gripe site from infringement and dilution claims but held that ACPA cybersquatting requires no commercial use.
July 11, 2026
Injunctions
Amazon v. Barnesandnoble.com: A Substantial Question of Validity Defeats an Injunction
The Federal Circuit vacated the one-click preliminary injunction because Barnes & Noble raised a substantial question of validity Amazon could not rebut.
July 11, 2026
Patent-Eligible Subject Matter
American Axle v. Neapco: When a Natural Law Sank a Manufacturing Patent
The Federal Circuit held a driveshaft manufacturing method ineligible under Section 101 for invoking Hooke's law, pushing Mayo deep into the mechanical arts.
July 11, 2026
PTAB (IPR / PGR)
Apple v. Fintiv: The Six Factors That Reshaped PTAB Institution
The PTAB's precedential Fintiv order set six factors for denying IPR institution in view of a parallel trial, reshaping petitioner strategy.
July 11, 2026
Reasonable Secrecy Measures
Abrasic 90 v. Weldcote Metals: Real Secrets, No Protection, No Injunction
A former president took CGW's pricing and customer files, yet the court denied an injunction because the company took almost no measures to guard the data.
July 11, 2026
State Law / UTSA
Advanced Fluid Systems v. Huber: Possession, Not Ownership, Confers Standing to Sue
The Third Circuit held lawful possession, not title, lets a plaintiff sue for trade-secret misappropriation under Pennsylvania law, affirming a $3.1M award.
July 11, 2026
Misappropriation
Ahern Rentals v. EquipmentShare: Pleading Trade Secret Theft on Information and Belief
The Eighth Circuit held that trade secret misappropriation can be pled on information and belief when the proof sits in the defendant's sole control.
July 11, 2026
Name, Image & Likeness
Ali v. Playgirl: A Drawing Can Be a Likeness
A federal court enjoined a nude drawing recognizable as Muhammad Ali, holding New York's statute reaches any portrait, not just photographs.
July 11, 2026
Licensing & Estates
Astaire v. Best Film & Video: The Film Exemption That Reshaped California's Post-Mortem Statute
The Ninth Circuit held Fred Astaire clips in a dance-lesson video fell within California section 990's film exemption, a ruling that triggered the Astaire Act.
July 11, 2026
Commercial Misappropriation
Downing v. Abercrombie & Fitch: Owning the Photo Is Not Owning the People In It
The Ninth Circuit revived surfers' misappropriation claims over a catalog photo, holding a likeness is not preempted by copyright in the image.
July 11, 2026