Other Notable Supreme Court Decisions
These two Supreme Court cases from 2012 and 2014 lent their name to a test used to determine patent eligibility.
What are Alice Corp. Pty. v. CLS Bank Int'l (2014) and Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Lab'ys, Inc. (2012)?
After five years of registration and the filing of an affidavit under Section 15 of the Lanham Act, a trademark gains this status.
What is incontestability?
In 2022, the Federal Circuit case of Thaler v Vidal re-affirmed this requirement for patent protection.
What is human inventorship?
In 1906, these two men were issued Patent No. 821,393 for a “Flying-Machine"
Who are the Wright Brothers?
When Apple sued for iPad patent infringement, Samsung cited this 1968 movie as the originator of the design.
What is 2001: A Space Odyssey?
The 1994 Supreme Court case of Campbell v. Acuff-Rose Music, Inc. dealt with rap group 2 Live Crew’s parody of this classic tune.
What is Oh, Pretty Woman?
Trademark dilution can take two different forms: dilution by blurring or dilution by this.
What is tarnishment?
In its guidance on AI-generated works, the U.S. Copyright Office affirmed the need for human authorship by referencing the 9th Circuit case of Naruto v. Slater involving a photograph taken by this kind of animal.
What is a monkey?
Inventor Richard T. James received a patent for in 1947 for this “helical spring toy which will transfer its turns from one end to the other in an entertaining manner"
What is a slinky?
In 2019, this public university attempted to trademark the word "the" for use on clothing & hats.
What is Ohio State University?
This 2017 Supreme Court decision limited a plaintiff’s ability to forum shop in patent infringement cases.
What is TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Grp. Brands LLC?
Escalator, aspirin and trampoline are all examples of trademarks that have fallen victim to this.
What is genericide?
Courts are currently grappling with cases involving use of copyrighted materials to train their LLM, which stands for this.
What are Large Language Models?
Michael Jackson was an inventor on Patent No. 5,255,452 for a method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion which he used in the music video for this hit song.
What is Smooth Criminal?
His 1922 New York Times obituary mentions that his patent No. 174,465 "has been called the most valuable patent ever issued."
Who is Alexander Graham Bell?
The 2015 case of B & B Hardware, Inc. v. Hargis Indus., Inc. held that what doctrine could be applied to decisions from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
What is issue preclusion (collateral estoppel)?
Some organizations have trademarks that are explicitly protected by statute such as the Red Cross, Red Crescent and marks related to this sporting event.
What are the Olympic Games?
In October 2025, the New York Unified Court System issued an AI policy prohibiting users from using AI programs that are not what?
What is private?
In 1873, this man associated with a type of clothing received a patent for an “improvement in fastening pocket-openings."
Who is Levi Strauss?
Facebook & TiVo have both claimed trademarks for an icon representing this gesture.
What is thumbs-up?
In 2001, the Supreme Court in TrafFix Devices, Inc. v. Mktg. Displays, Inc. held that the existence of this for the product at issue was strong evidence that a claimed trade dress is functional.
What is a utility patent?
Trademarks that incorporate a date, a geographic location, or a model number that is subject to change are said to feature these elements.
What are phantom elements?
In September 2025, this developer of the “Claude” AI program agreed to pay a $1.5 million settlement to copyright owners whose works were used to train its AI.
Who is Anthropic PBC?
He is the only U.S. President to have held a patent, owning Patent No. 6,469 for an “Improvement for Buoying Vessels Over Shoals."
Who is Abraham Lincoln?
Justice Peter Smith embedded a secret code into a 2006 ruling that said this author hadn’t violated a copyright.
Who is Dan Brown?