Other Barks & Bites for Friday, September 18: USPTO Announces COVID-19 Provisional Patent Pilot, Copyright Office Issues MMA Ruling and China Issues Draft Patent Linkage Measures

This week in Other Barks & Bites: China’s IP agency announces that registered trademarks have increased past 28 million and also releases draft patent linkage measures in conjunction with China’s pharmaceutical regulator; the EU’s highest court upholds football star Lionel Messi’s right to trademark his name and tells EU member states that third country performers outside the EEA cannot be excluded from rights payments for music recordings; the USPTO announces a pilot program allowing patent applicants to defer fees on certain provisional applications covering inventions related to COVID-19; rapper Nicki Minaj wins a copyright suit filed by singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman on a fair use defense; the Copyright Office issues interim rules and a notice of proposed rulemaking related to several areas of the agency’s rulemaking authority under the Music Modernization Act; and the USPTO establishes a Performance Review Board for reviewing performance appraisal and bonus programs for agency employees.

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