Blog Articles

A new adult-themed domain name blocking mechanism has announced a promotional price incentive that expires on December 31, 2019. We recommend considering this option for your most valuable marks.

In the last several years, the United States has experienced a surge in the number of sexual assault victims who have publically disclosed their stories. Sexual harassment is prevalent across a broad range of industries, including Hollywood, media, hospitality and healthcare. As such, it has spurred many industries to reexamine their own policies to prevent sexual harassment. The gaming industry is no different.

On October 24, 2019, the Nevada Gaming Commission (“NGC”) voted unanimously to adopt amendments to Regulation 4A, which governs lotteries and games of chance that raise money for nonprofit organizations in the state.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) new rule requiring foreign-domiciled trademark applicants, registrants, or trademark-proceeding parties to be represented by a U.S. attorney (84 FR 31498) took effect on August 3, 2019. The USPTO issued an accompanying initial Examination Guide in early August to help implement the rule. After taking into account responses …

Continue reading "Revised Examination Guide Addresses Concerns with Determining Applicant’s Domicile"

In Curver v. Home Expressions, decided on September 12, 2019, the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of Curver’s design patent infringement suit against Home Expressions. The Federal Circuit held that “claim language can limit the scope of a design patent where the claim language supplies the only instance of an article of manufacture that appears …

Continue reading "Beware Your Design Language – Curver v. Home Expressions"

The United States, unlike many other countries, requires proof of use before a trademark registration will be granted.  Applicants can still file an application before use commences, provided that the applicant has a bona fide intent to use a mark, but the trademark registration still will not issue until acceptable use evidence is submitted.  This …

Continue reading "Use Requirements in the United States for Foreign Applicants"

Per- and polyflouroalkyl substances (collectively known as a class as “PFAS”) have been widely used in industrial and consumer applications for years.  PFAS are a class of long-lasting chemicals that have been shown to accumulate in the human body.  PFAS have historically been used in non-stick cookware, stain and water resistant fabrics, and are also …

Continue reading "PFAS Legislation May Impact Utilities and Other Unprepared Sectors"

A discussion regarding remote registration for Nevada sports books has been raised recently with sports betting commentators having arguments for both innovation and keeping the status quo. On the one hand, the argument is that given the numerous casinos in Las Vegas, it is not difficult to register for a sports wagering account in-person. The …

Continue reading "Remote Registration for Sports Wagering Accounts in Nevada"

Entertainment Software Association (ESA)’s Chief Counsel of Tech Policy, Michael Warnecke, announced at a recent Federal Trade Commission workshop examining loot boxes,[1] that the video game industry will require disclosure of the odds of winning in-game items from paid loot boxes. Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony Interactive Entertainment have agreed to new platform policies with regard …

Continue reading "Video Game Industry Pledges to Disclose Odd of Winning In-Game Items from Loot Boxes"

On Wednesday morning, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled to uphold the death sentence of Alan Matthew Champagne who killed two people and then buried them in his mother’s backyard, only to be discovered 20 months later by a landscaper. In affirming the lower court’s ruling, the Court rejected Champagne’s argument that Arizona’s death penalty violated both the U.S. Constitution and the Arizona Constitution. Champagne also lost on a host of other challenges that the Court assessed and rejected.

The Arizona Supreme Court recently ruled that a Phoenix light rail ballot initiative can proceed to the polls in August 2019. According to the Court, the proponents of the ballot initiative did not violate ARS 19-118.01(A) by paying signature gatherers per signature because that prohibition only applies to statewide ballot initiatives, not city initiatives. Nor did the initiative supporters violate ARS 19-102(A) through a misleading 100-word descriptive statement.

The ballot initiative before the Court in Associated General Contractors v. City of Phoenix and Building a Better Phoenix seeks to end all funding for the expansion of the city’s light rail system. If passed by Phoenix voters, current light rail operations would remain, but planned expansions would be scrapped (listen to this AZCentral podcast for more details).

The impetus for the upcoming August 3, 2019 rule change requiring all foreign-domiciled trademark applicants and registrants to retain licensed counsel in the United States is an increase in foreign trademark applicants acting pro se and who are failing to comply with the rules of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”). Many countries …

Continue reading "New USPTO Rules for Foreign Applicants Ensure Compliance With U.S. Use Requirements"

The governor of New Hampshire signed sports betting legislation, HB 480, on July 12, 2019. The new law authorizes sports betting at retail locations and mobile wagering while located within the geographic boundaries of the state. If you would like to discuss this recent legislation, please contact authors Karl Rutledge at krutledge@lrrc.com, Glenn Light at …

Continue reading "New Hampshire Sports Betting Legislation Approved"

By Kyle Kellar and Christopher Underwood Last week, the Federal Circuit, in Forum US v. Flow Valve[i], affirmed the lower court’s ruling invalidating a reissue patent because the broadened claims added in the reissue failed to satisfy the original patent requirement under 35 U.S.C. § 251. As a brief refresher, the original patent requirement requires that …

Continue reading "The Federal Circuit Clampsdown on Broadening Reissues – Or Does It?"

What exactly is an “immoral” or “scandalous” trademark, and should the government be the arbiter of making such a determination? In the second landmark trademark decision in two years, the Supreme Court invalidated the Lanham Act’s prohibition on registering “immoral” or “scandalous” trademarks. Iancu v. Brunetti, 588 U.S. ___ (2019). The Court’s decision expands the …

Continue reading "SCOTUS Decision on “immoral or Scandalous” Trademarks"

Southern District of Texas Remands Obama WOTUS Rule The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas decided on May 28, 2019, that the Obama-era Clean Water Rule defining “waters of the United States” (WOTUS Rule), see 80 Fed. Reg. 37,054 (June 29, 2015), must be remanded to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and …

Continue reading "Federal Water Quality – WOTUS Rule Updates Leave Some States in Flux"

In light of the New Hampshire Lottery Commission Wire Act ruling issued on June 3, 2019, the Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) issued a new memorandum on June 12, 2019 extending the June 14, 2019 deadline for implementation of the Wire Act reinterpretation. The last extension we reported was issued on …

Continue reading "DOJ Extends Deadline to Enforce Wire Act Reinterpretation, Yet Again"

From a business perspective, many factors must be considered when growing a business to multiple locations, and this will vary based on the product or service being provided.

Cybersecurity attorneys Doug DePeppe, Hilary Wells, Bill Nelson and Ed Barkel explore why businesses must start paying attention to their 'Cyber Hygiene' on the latest episode of the Business Leaders Podcast.

On June 3, 2019, U.S. District Court Judge Paul Barbadoro issued a 60-page ruling rejecting the 2018 Wire Act Interpretation that stated the Wire Act applied to all forms of gambling rather than only sports betting. As mentioned in our prior blogs, this case was brought in New Hampshire by the New Hampshire Lottery Commission …

Continue reading "2018 Wire Act Reinterpretation Set Aside by U.S. District Court in New Hampshire"

Language for the “The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act” was introduced on May 23, 2019 by Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), along with Senators Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). This bill purports to ban the exploitation of children through “pay-to-win” and “loot box” monetization practices by the video game industry. The rules would …

Continue reading "Federal Loot Box Legislation Introduced: The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act"

On April 30, 2019, Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland approved House Bill 48 titled “eSports Act.”[1] The eSports Act defines “eSports Competition” as a competition involving video games, including first-person shooters, real-time strategy games, and multi-player online battle arenas in which: (1) players compete against each other; and (2) the dominant element determining the results …

Continue reading "eSports Competitions Legislation Approved in Maryland"

Josh Hawley, a United States Senator from Missouri, recently announced plans to introduce a bill titled “The Protecting Children from Abusive Games Act.” The bill would, in essence, make it illegal for games “played by minors” to include loot boxes or pay-to-win microtransactions. How exactly the bill would achieve this is unclear as there is …

Continue reading "Proposed Loot Boxes & Microtransactions Gaming Bill in Missouri"

New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal filed suit on May 7, 2019 against the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) for its failure to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) request filed on February 5, 2019. The request sought documents relating to Sheldon Adelson’s lobbying efforts regarding the recent DOJ interpretation of the …

Continue reading "NJ Attorney General Sues DOJ For Failure To Respond To FOIA Request Regarding The Recent Wire Act Interpretation"

Last week the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) refused to rule out future prosecution of state lotteries and their employees and vendors under the 1961 Wire Act. “The potential Wire Act liability of state agencies, employees, and vendors involves the evaluation of numerous complicated and important issues, and the department intends to give these issues …

Continue reading "New Hampshire Lottery Commission and NeoPollard Interactive Respond to DOJ’s Refusal to Determine Wire Act Applicability to State Lotteries as Requested by the Court"

The Quinault Indian Nation has filed a lawsuit against Valve Corporation in the State of Washington alleging the popular game developer engages in unregulated and unlicensed online gambling. The complaint, filed on April 3, 2019, claims the introduction of the loot box system in CS:GO “was a deliberate attempt . . . to increase its …

Continue reading "The Future of Loot Boxes in the State of Washington May Lie within its Courts"

We are honored to have our Gaming and Licensing practice recognized by Chambers USA 2019, and for Karl Rutledge being recognized in the USA – Nationwide category. We are excited to announce that 25 attorneys and 10 practice areas of our firm, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie, have been recognized by Chambers USA 2019, one of the most …

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On April 10, 2019, President Trump signed an executive order that alters how Section 401 review is performed under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”).  Currently, applicants must seek State authorization of a project pursuant to Section 401 of the CWA from the State in which the project is located. Section 401 delegates federal authority to the …

Continue reading "Executive Order Will Impact Clean Water Act Permitting Process"

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) continues to leave the gaming industry scratching their heads as it now claims the Office of Legal Counsel’s (OLC) November 2018 Opinion did not address the Wire Act’s applicability to state lotteries and their vendors. This assertion came in a memo from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, dated …

Continue reading "U.S. DOJ Claims Reinterpretation of Wire Act Did Not Address State Lotteries and Its Vendors"

Intellectual Property attorney Drew Wilson details the difficulties of ongoing IP conflicts between major brands and somewhat underground edibles manufacturers. The article was originally published in the April edition of Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine. Read the full article by clicking here.