Parties Settle Trademark Dispute on Eve of Trial

SPSS Inc. v. Nie, No. 08 C 66 (N.D. Ill.) (Darrah, Jr.).

The parties recently settled this trademark dispute shortly before trial.  For more on the parties' history and the settlement, click here for Chicago Tribune reporter and Chicago Law blogger Ameet Sachdev's reporting on the case in the Tribune, and click here for more coverage of the case in the Blog's archives.

Chicagoan to Become Deputy Director of the Patent Office

Congratulations to Sharon Barner, a Chicagoan and the head of Foley & Lardner's IP practice.  Barner has been nominated to become the next Deputy Director of the Patent & Trademark Office.  Based upon reputation and my limited contact with Barner, including among others speaking on a panel at Northwestern with her, the administration made an excellent choice.  For more on the nomination, check out Patently-O and Chicago Law.

Cheezborger! Cheezborger! No Fries . . . . Meet the Bloggers VI

IP Business Congress 2009 comes to Chicago in about  two weeks, June 21-23, 2009 -- click here for registration information.  In honor of such an impressive group of IP lawyers coming to Chicago, I am hosting Meet the Bloggers VI on Tuesday evening June 23 starting at 5pm. 

The IPBC is at the beautiful Four Seasons Chicago, but in order to make sure that attendees get a well-rounded taste of Chicago, Meet the Bloggers VI will be held at the world famous Billy Goat Tavern.  The Billy Goat is just down and below the street from the Four Seasons at 430 N. Michigan Avenue.  Go to the Tribune Tower on Michigan Avenue and take the stairs below the sidewalk to find the Billy Goat.  Those who have a long history in the IP blogosphere will remember that the Billy Goat was also the site of Meet the Blogger III (I am on the left side of the second picture).  Also, I want to thank Meet the Blogger creator and Meet the Blogger III host John Welch of the TTABlog for allowing me to use the Meet the Blogger name.

I am not making any promises, but I am hopeful that if you attend you will meet Chicago legal blogging luminaries such as Internet Cases; Chicago Law (an excellent new blog by the Chicago Tribune's Ameet Sachdev); the anonymous Editor of Blawg Review; Cyberlaw Central; and 12:01 Tuesday. and the 271 Patent Blog.