Weekly IP Buzz for the Week Ending July 24, 2020

In this week's post, we see that cell phone users were dismayed to recently find out that popular web applications were copying and storing the contents of their phones’ clipboards.

Plus, goodwill is an important and highly valuable intangible asset derived from consumer perception and desire for a specific product or service. Trademark protection involves guarding the reputation that built the goodwill in a brand.

Another Way You’re Losing Your Privacy: Mobile Clipboard Data

A number of social networking platforms have come under fire when it was recently revealed that mobile applications installed onto cellular phones could have found a new insidious way to spy on user information—by copying the contents of a user’s clipboard data. 

In technological lexicon, the “clipboard” originally referred to a small, temporary buffer that operating systems provided for users to utilize as a short-term storage space that could allow the user to transfer a small amount of information from application to application or from window to window.  As technology improved, the storage space and capabilities of the clipboard increased, and many operating systems expanded the clipboard to be able to hold multiple entries or even give users the option to “lock” specific clipboard entries so that the user could permanently have access to the entry until purposely deleted. 

But, unfortunately, it was recently revealed that a number of big-name companies behind popular phone applications such as Reddit, TikTok, and LinkedIn were actually copying and storing the contents of their app users’ clipboards.  While some companies have claimed that the coding behind such copying was for innocuous reasons, (e.g., Reddit claims the code was to help suggest post titles) others have simply declined to comment. Many of the most high-profile companies, including the aforementioned three, however, have promised to remove the code and discontinue the practice.    

Most of the privacy violations were uncovered after the rollout of a new privacy feature released in iOS 14 that alerted users when applications they had opened were copying their clipboard.  Obviously, the implications behind such copying would mean that these applications could be keeping records of any information you have ever copied, pasted, or simply stored on your clipboard.  For many, clipboard information is not only information that is often copied for use between applications, but also, clipboard information may include highly sensitive personal data such as: social security numbers; passwords; credit card numbers; or bank routing numbers, etc. 

Read more here.

What Is Goodwill and Why Should It Be Protected?

In previous posts on trademarks, we've discussed the fact that trademark rights stem from the use of the mark on certain goods or services—and when licensed or sold, must always be accompanied by the goodwill associated with the products or services. This post discusses the significance of goodwill. 

To better understand the technicalities of trademark law, it’s instructive to look into the principles behind the law. And it can be enlightening to look to older cases to get a feel for the bedrock principles behind the law. Back in 1877, the Supreme Court looked at the function of trademarks as a protector of goodwill and why you don’t have an unrestricted right to sell goods under your own name if that name is already being used as a trademark.

As the Supreme Court understood it, the concept of goodwill was paramount to the analytical framework yet tied firmly to the trademark. It encapsulates the experience that consumers have with a particular brand. You put your mark on your goods, customers buy those goods, and if they are satisfied and want more, they seek out your brand again. The trademark symbolizes not just the qualities those customers seek out, but also the reputation of the business. The goodwill is measured by the customer’s willingness purchase those goods from that source again. 

Read the full article here.

Click to read the previous Weekly IP Buzz on Thriving Attorney.

For more posts, see our Intellectual Property Law Blog.

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In addition to Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer.