The JBIPL Blog offers a forum for our Editors and Staff to expand our coverage of developments in both business and IP law. The Blog will provide short entries analyzing current cases, trends and issues in business and IP law. The Blog has won the The Expert Institute's 2015 and 2016 Best Legal Blog Contest for Education and Law School Blogs.
Posted: June 18th, 2017
By: Ralph J. D’Agostino*| Guest Writer
![By kundl (Comida Chatarra Uploaded by JohnnyMrNinja) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ADoritos_bag.jpg)
By kundl (Comida Chatarra Uploaded by JohnnyMrNinja) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Posted: June 17th, 2017
By: Maria Pigna*| Staff Writer
It goes without saying that the new age of evolving technology has presented the world with a fast treadmill of development, with no choice but to hop on or be left behind in the dark past. This has left modern businesses and the legal market in a frenzy, with outdated policies and unsettled issues. For decades, great customer service has been about delighting your customers with friendly staff and business policies, but in this digital global economy, the game has changed.
Posted: June 10th, 2017
By: Thomas Gaffney*| Staff Writer
![By Dllu (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](http://ipjournal.law.wfu.edu/files/2017/06/Self_driving_Uber_prototype_in_San_Francisco.jpg "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Self_driving_Uber_prototype_in_San_Francisco.jpg")
Imagine yourself on your morning commute to work, but instead of sitting behind the wheel you are comfortably reclined in your bucket seat reading the newspaper and eating waffles for breakfast. Does this sound too far-fetched? Maybe not. No one is surprised that autonomous vehicles are currently a super-hot topic in the tech and auto industries. Every big name in the tech industry (UBER, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Telsa, etc.) is working on its own version of autonomous driving software; and why would they not? The first company to develop an autonomous car with driving capabilities better than that of a human will get an enormous upper hand in a market that is projected to be worth at least 42 billion dollars by 2025. No one is going to purchase an autonomous car if it is not safe, however, and some of the threats facing these vehicles are not coming from the road but from the internet.
Posted: May 28th, 2017
By: Tommy Tobin*| Guest Writer
Are you considering joining a non-profit board of directors? Non-profit boards in North Carolina operate similarly to those of their for-profit cousins but important differences exist, especially with regard to liability exposure. State law encourages non-profit board service and offers additional immunity protections for volunteer board members.
Posted: May 21st, 2017
By: Cara Van Dorn*| Staff Writer
Computers are learning to do more than drive cars and predict your next online purchase; they are learning to compose music, translate languages in real time, invest your money, diagnose disease, read MRIs and ultrasounds, and even perform surgeries. The possibilities are truly incredible. Many of the brightest minds in engineering, computer science, medicine, and finance are engaged in one of these fields through academia, startup companies, and big corporations such as IBM, Google, and Amazon. Regardless of the field or forum, the limiting factor to the success of any innovation is the same: access to data.
Posted: May 12th, 2017
By: Katherine Escalante*| Staff Writer
At its core, CloudPets’s new toy brings a personal touch to a stuffed animal. A parent can send a recorded message through an app, which transmits through the stuffed animal, allowing your loved one to hear your voice. However, this personal touch may come at the cost of your personal information, passwords, and access to your voice. Like other toys that connect to the internet, this toy stores all that information in the cloud. With scammers developing new ways of attaining personal information, this purchase is surely something parents will have to think about twice before buying.
Posted: May 5th, 2017
| Editor-in-Chief | ||
| James F. Lathrop | ||
| Managing Editor | ||
| Matthew W. Silverstein | ||
| Manuscripts Editor | Marketing Editor | |
| Molly F. McCartney | Ryan Bowersox | |
| Symposium Editor | Executive Articles Editors | |
| Lauren Henderson | Amelia E. Lowe | |
| Development Editor | Rachel A. Oplinger | |
| Dianna Shinn | Zachary L. Rhines | |
| Senior Notes & Comments Editor | Articles Editors | |
| Amanda M. Brahm | Jenna B. Coogle | |
| Notes & Comments Editors | Candice A. Diah | |
| Maria Collins | Matthew Kerschner | |
| Lauren N. Freedman | Luke E. Kraus | |
| Kaitlin G. Westbrook | Sarah Remes | |
| Editorial Staff | ||
| Laura Browder | Hunt Harris | Dana Sisk |
| Chris Choe | Drake Mason | David Swenton |
| Ethan Clark | Nicole Regna | Cara Van Dorn |
| Thomas Gaffney | ||
| Staff Members | ||
| Charity Barger | Anna-Bryce Flowe | Derek Padilla |
| Luke Basha | David Giesel | Maria Pigna |
| Robert Botkin | Doriyon Glass | Kate Riddle |
| Jacky Brammer | Issac Halverson | Garrett Rogers |
| Emily Burke | Nan Hu | Makenna Rogers |
| Libby Casale | Mark Huffman | Amanda Romenesko |
| Melanie Cormier | Joe Karam | Samer Roshdy |
| Mitchell Davis | David Layman | Jonathan Salmons |
| Andrew Dinwiddie | Samantha Liu | Hannah Smith |
| Megan Dyer | Emily Marcum | Joseph Speight |
| Kerrie Edmondson | Leanna Marino | Marisa Stern |
| Katherine Escalante | Brandy Nickoloff | Courtney Wachal |
| Colin Ferriter | Alfred Norris, III |
Brittany Wages |
| Michael Fleming | Briana O’Neil | Zachary D. Young |
| Faculty Advisors | ||
| Barbara R. Lentz | ||
| Simone A. Rose |
Posted: May 2nd, 2017
By: Brandy Nickoloff*| Staff Writer
Moshik Nadav designer behind Moshik Nadav Typography brought suit against Cher in the Southern District of New York for unauthorized use of his “Paris Logo”. Nadav claimed that Cher, her label Warner Bros. Records and other defendants copied the artistic elements of the logo for Cher’s 2013 album Closer to the Truth.
Nadav has a passion for design and sees typography as a distilled form of design. He has described his work as typography that composes high-end, lush typefaces that perfectly suit any premium design. The Moshik Navdav website displays Nadav’s different typefaces which include Lingerie, Paris, and Paris Pro, among others. Visitors of the website are able to purchase the fonts for use through different types of licensing structures. The right to use the fonts is given directly through the website with the terms of use policy acting as a “binding legal agreement” between the Nadav LLC and the web user. Nowhere on the site is there any symbol or language amounting to a federal copyright.
U.S. copyright laws protect “original works of authorship” in categories such as writings, art work, and music. The copyright gives the owner the right to control the way his work is used by others. A copyright exists from the moment that an original work is created. Registration of the copyright is not required for protection, but is recommended because it creates a public record of the copyright, can create eligibility for statutory damages and attorney’s fees in successful litigation, and, if an infringement happens within the first five years of publication, it could be considered evidence of a prima facie case in court.
Posted: April 23rd, 2017
By: Thomas Gaffney*| Staff Writer
On March 1, 2017, Maria Vullo, Superintendent of Financial Services for the Department of Financial Services in the state of New York, promulgated Part 500 of Title 23 of the Official Compilation of Codes, Rules and Regulations of the State of New York, into law. This new regulation is more commonly referred to as the controversial NY state financial cybersecurity rule. Many financial institutions fought this rule vigorously because they view the bill as unprecedented, overly restrictive, and extremely costly for compliance.
Posted: April 13th, 2017
By: Maria Pigna*| Staff Writer
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, commonly known as Coachella, is a three-day event known for its musical performances of top artists, delicious food, world-class art, and its celebrated commitment to sustainability. Aside from the global attention this event receives every year, it has given itself another reason to make headlines. Coachella filed a trademark lawsuit against Urban Outfitters in the U.S. Central District Court of California on March 14, 2017.
