(Originally appeared in Los Angeles Daily Journal Dec. 30, 2015) Can the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office refuse to register trademarks that are racist, offensive, and disparaging to minorities, religious groups, and others? For over a hundred years, the well-established answer to that question has been “yes.” Under Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act and…

(Originally published in Los Angeles Daily Journal 10/23/2015) On Monday Oct. 19, 2015, the Supreme Court decided to review the standard for determining willfulness and enhancing damages in patent cases. The Court granted certiorari in a pair of cases in which enhanced damages were rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit,…