As digital innovators attempt to bridge the gap between traditional TV broadcasters and increasingly on-the-go audiences, a number of thorny copyright questions have arisen. Following in the footsteps of Aereo, streaming specialist FilmOn now finds itself fighting back against infringement allegations authored by the likes of ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) unveiled plans for a new pilot program intended to bring about faster, more cost-effective resolutions to import trade cases hinging on intellectual property infringement disputes.

Three Silicon Valley lawmakers have introduced an intriguing proposal that would effectively exempt the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office from across-the-board government budget cuts and allow the agency to proceed with several economically stimulating initiatives.

The moment when an entrepreneur first conjures the idea he or she believes can launch or transform a business is an exciting time, but it must be handled with careful discretion. Although many will be eager to get their product or process out to the masses as soon as possible, several key questions must inform invention disclosure strategies.

Popular discussions at the intersection of copyright and profitability traditionally center on lost sales triggered by the scourge of piracy, but technology law expert Jonathan Band recently examined the issues with a broader perspective on overall business health. In a unique longitudinal study, Band discovered that firms within copyright-intensive industries still maintain noticeably stronger financial indicators than those posted by their mass market counterparts.

At a patent and antitrust seminar held in New York last week, Federal Trade Commission chairwoman Edith Ramirez announced that her agency would be launching a comprehensive investigation into the recent spike in patent litigation rates in an effort to gather much-needed practical evidence concerning the commercial consequences of such activity.

BuzzFeed's rise to social content supremacy is largely attributable to the engaging photos and videos that populate its posts, but this popularity has attracted new questions as to how the website sources some of the visual media it publishes. Most notably, BuzzFeed is facing a $3.6 million copyright infringement suit from an independent photographer claiming images were lifted from his online portfolio without consent and repurposed by the news site.

There were plenty of indications that 2012 could be a defining year for the U.S. patent system, not the least of which was the ongoing implementation of America Invents Act (AIA) provisions. Looking back from a distance, researchers are now suggesting that the precedents set and transformations observed may well have been more significant and diverse than originally suspected.

Leading video game developer and distributor Electronic Arts is having its royalty management protocols called into question after a former employee came forward to demand significant financial damages for alleged misappropriation of programming code.

After obtaining patents to cover a new prescription medication, several large pharmaceutical companies have recently pursued so-called pay-for-delay, or reverse payment, strategies that effectively compensate generic drugmakers for their promise not to challenge the patents held by the larger firm or introduce competitive offerings to the marketplace for a set period of time. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has decried these potentially anti-competitive practices for several years, but this week the agency received its strongest show of support yet from the highest court in the land.