Francis Ford Coppola is suing a small Italian restaurant over its name, Tavola, arguing that he owns a trademark in the term. But does he?

Tupac’s holographic performance at Coachella rocked the concert and intellectual property laws. The public performance implicates copyright laws through exclusive rights licensing issues and the rights of publicity through copying of a likeness. As hologram technology progresses, copyright and right of publicity laws will be tested in new ways.

One-time partners Microsoft and Motorola Mobility are going all out in their patent lawsuits with Microsoft seeking to ban Motorola Mobility phone sales in the U.S. and Motorola Mobility seeking to block sales of Windows 7 and Xbox in Germany. In an interesting strategy, Microsoft has blocked a German court’s ruling through a U.S. lawsuit over contracts.

Last month, the Supreme Court unanimously threw a wrench into the gears of straightforward § 101 patentability analysis by concluding in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc.  that an abstract idea—like the pharmacokinetic relationship …

Louis Vuitton sent a cease and desist letter to the University of Pennsylvania over a student group’s symposium poster.

Trademarkia is a relatively new company that is attempting to streamline the trademark application process by offering users a sleek interface and competitive pricing. So have they reached their goal?

Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Neil Young filed six trademark registration applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, giving the impression that Young may be looking to get into the digital content recording and distribution business.

The Fourth Circuit reopened the Rosetta Stone v. Google case last week, vacating a summary judgment ruling in favor of Google. If the case proceeds to trial, the issue will be whether Google infringes upon others’ trademarks when it sells associations to those marks to third-party competitors.

Please join us at the IP Brief’s First Annual Symposium! Monday April 16, 12-3pm, American University Washington College of Law, 4801 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Room 603. Lunch will be served. Guests are coming from Wikipedia, the RIAA, and the Copyright Office. We will be discussing copyright and the Internet and #SOPA. More info: http://www.ipbrief.net/symposium/

Intellectual property rights holders suffered a major defeat in Europe. The European Court of Justice will not analyze the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) to determine whether it violates fundamental European Union rights. The parliamentary move will force a vote on the Act this summer which will face motivated opponents inspired by recent victories in the U.S. in stalling SOPA/PIPA.