The United States Patent & Trademark Office issued an alert to U.S. lawyers warning that unauthorized changes have been made to a number of active trademark applications and registrations by bad actors. The Office warned that these changes may be part of a scheme to register the marks of others on third-party "brand registries." We have not been notified of any such hack for any of your trademark applications or registrations that we are handling. However, [...]

There's no question that intellectual property is the lifeblood of the global tech sector, and growing companies that play fast and loose with their patents do so at their own peril. Indeed, for many startups, a poorly filed application or unwitting early disclosure could pose an existential threat. We've outlined below some golden rules to help your company devise and implement an airtight patent strategy. 1. Act now Canada is a first-to-file jurisdiction, meaning [...]

In May, Japan entered a new era, known as Reiwa, following the abdication of Emperor Akihito, and, consequently, ending the Heisei era. You may be asking, "What does this have to do with Japanese patent numbers?", and these days the answer is "not much", but that hasn't always been the case. Prior to 2000, the Japanese patent numbering system used the Emperor year (the number of years since the current Emperor ascended the Chrysanthemum [...]