Significant New Trademark and Copyright Legislation

Our good friend, Dave Steiner, gives us a good recap of recent copyright and trademark legislation.

Interestingly, in regard to the Copyright (Small) Claims Board, Steiner writes,

Participating in a procedure before the CCB is voluntary—a respondent may opt out of a procedure originally brought before the CCB. In that event, the CCB must dismiss the proceeding without prejudice, which presumably would force the claimant to file a case in district court. Although other consequences of opting out are not yet clear, we would expect that doing so may lead to larger damages awards and increase the probability of an award of attorneys’ fees for a claimant who prevails over a respondent who has opted out.