Scott Douglass

Jul 11, 2024 | ipwatchdog.com | Eileen McDermott |Robert Plotkin |Dominic Rota |Scott Douglass

“According to the Office’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Setting and Adjusting Patent Fees, the present backlog is predicted to increase to 820,200 by FY 2026 before decreasing to 780,000 by FY 2029.” U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Director Kathi Vidal published a Director’s blog post today addressing the Office’s current backlog of patent and trademark applications, which the latest USPTO data shows to be 785,387 unexamined applications/ 25.6 months total pendency...

Jul 11, 2024 | jdsupra.com | Scott Douglass |Dominic Rota

With the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI) platforms such as ChatGPT and Google Gemini, the widespread use of copyrighted works to train the software systems behind these programs is raising pressing legal questions about the permissible use of copyrightable works. Recently, there has been a spree of licensing deals between businesses that develop generative AI systems and those that own the content necessary to train those systems.

Jul 5, 2024 | jdsupra.com | Scott Douglass |Dominic Rota

Bette Midler. Vanna White. Marylin Monroe. Each of these women has undoubtedly shaped pop culture in some meaningful way. Perhaps what is lesser known is that litigation surrounding each of these women has shaped the legal world's understanding of an individual's right to publicity. Many states still do not formally recognize a right to publicity, while other states that do recognize such a right, are not uniform. Some of these states recognize the right by statute, others by common law.

Jun 27, 2024 | jdsupra.com | Scott Douglass |Dominic Rota

June 27, 2024 To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have reshaped our socio-legal understanding of "property." Prior to the launch of NFTs, laypersons and lawyers alike evaluated tangible and intangible assets in the context of physical (real) space.

Mar 12, 2024 | asce.org | Scott Douglass |M. Asce

By Scott L. Douglass, Ph.D., P.E., BCCE, M. ASCECivil engineers want to design in climate-sensitive ways, and a fundamental question is how much sea-level rise should be accounted for in the design of coastal infrastructure today. Some Federal Highway Administration guidance provides quantitative answers to that question. Long-term sea-level rise is making our coastal infrastructure more vulnerable during extreme events.