Ok pocket friends, I’m lighting the beacons: can anyone recommend a lawyer in the Chicago area who represent college students in disciplinary disputes with universities? Issues include disability accommodation refusals and harassment. I’m at a loss so any suggestions would be appreciated!

Mark your calendars: The Federal Circuit is coming to Chicago!

Can't wait to see the Federal Circuit at Chicago-Kent on October 6!

Fun fact: Did you know that Chief Judge Moore used to be a law professor at @chicagokentlaw.bsky.social?

"This Article exposes the gap between the rhetoric and reality of copyright's parody doctrine." - @cathaysmith.bsky.social

Not saying that game was stolen from Egypt but it is now on display at museum in London.

BREAKING: Eleventh Circuit, on a 2-1 vote, upholds injunction blocking Florida from enforcing its 2022 Stop WOKE Act in the university context. The majority opinion is from Judge Britt Grant, a Trump appointee: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

Happy 4th of July weekend! Have you been shopping for your flag swimsuit or for other appropriately patriotic attire for your backyard cookout? Wondering why the American flag can appear on so many fashion options? @cathaysmith.bsky.social and I have you covered!

What are you wearing for America at 250 tomorrow? Check out my new essay with Prof. Felicia Caponigri @fashionbyfelicia.bsky.social in The Fashion Law @tfl.bsky.social on the American flag in fashion: www.thefashionlaw.com/america-at-2... 🇺🇸 #July4 #AmericaAt250 #fashion #trademark #copyright

Thrilled to return to fair use in my newest article, Parody of What?, forthcoming in the Georgia State University Law Review! papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... We often hear that a parody must comment on “the original work.” But that narrow definition doesn’t reflect how courts actually decide cases.

Call For Papers, Law and Cultural Production / lawlit.blogspot.com/2026/06/call...

IP Summer Camp @chicagokentlaw.bsky.social begins tomorrow, June 23, 12 pm CDT on Zoom! I am looking forward to chatting with Prof. Ben Sobel @law.wisc.edu about his new work on #copyright law. If you're interested in derivative works, #fanfiction, character copyright, or #IP, we hope to see 😎 you!

I'll be tuning in to today's motion hearing in RRT v. Bawtinheimer (2 pm PT / 4 pm CT). The case involves an alleged #cult suing a former member for #copyright infringement. To learn about the case, check out this post: blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/202...

It's always bittersweet when the conference ends. I loved hosting JIPSA at @chicagokentlaw.bsky.social and couldn't do it without our incredible colleagues and staff. Thanks again to @design-law.bsky.social, @cathaysmith.bsky.social, @graemedinwoodie.bsky.social, and Greg Reilly for your support!

I am so excited for IP Summer Camp! Sign ups are opened!

Full line-up:

Get excited--it's time for Chicago-Kent's IP Summer Camp! Register to join us for all (or just some) of the sessions here: iit-edu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Current* conditions near Chicago, IL:

Spotted on my bus ride to work today… ad for #AI for lawyers (featuring Jude Law)

I don’t know how many times I’ve had to say this: it’s TRADEMARK, not PATENT!!!!!

Full-funded (home or international) collaborative PhD studentship (Kew and Royal Holloway, University of London) available. Deadline 8 May. Topic: ‘Just acquisitions? Law and ethics over time in Kew’s overseas plant collecting history’ #Skystorians

Brian Frye is a pretty intimidating guy. If you're too nervous to speak with him, feel free to reach out to me--I am happy to do guest-hosted interviews!

I always wonder - usually in vain - just how big auction houses determine provenance information. Thanks to the Epstein Files, we can see exactly how a seemingly rock-solid provenance was built on shifting sands for this Hercules. 🧵

Mike Pence got totally owned here: Jewish plaintiffs won a ruling against Indiana's abortion ban, using the law he signed 11 years ago as governor to help evangelicals refuse to cater gay weddings and such. Now similar challenges could win in other red states. We tell the story at @forward.com.

Check out this important new paper by my colleague @design-law.bsky.social about a new form of judge shopping - where plaintiffs add or drop defendants in mass joinder #IP cases based on the judge they are assigned. She compares this to cheating maneuvers in #roulette!

“What makes it so special … is that you can walk to the coast anywhere in England, turn left or right, and walk beside the sea for as long as you like.” ❤️

Today in "Nope, Not Infringing": Parting Stone, Inc. v. Remember Me Pebbles LLC, Docket No. 2:26-cv-00931 (W.D. Wash. Mar 18, 2026). This patent covers a design for "solidified cremation remains," as show in in the drawing. Not any stone-shaped solidified remains. #ConceptFallacy

Ooh, you know that the originality rejection caught my eye.

Enjoyed sharing my latest project on The Copyrightability of Living Organisms with the engaging law faculty @californiawestern.bsky.social. Great feedback on my early stage project and SO MUCH SUN! 🌞

Religious organizations have long weaponized #copyright to silence critics. My new post on @ericgoldman.bsky.social’s blog breaks down RRT v Bawtinheimer - a suit by the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church against an ex member - and why it feels like a classic case of “copyright silencing.” 👇🏽

Big #ScheduleA news: Last year, Dyson won an uncontested appeal on a Lanham Act remedies issue. That decision, Dyson v. David 7, made number nine on my wrap-up of the most important Schedule A developments of 2025: blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/202...

The weather in the Washington DC area in the summer is . . . well . . . anyway, this sounds like a cool opportunity! www.usajobs.gov/job/86114660...

Note that copyright already protects disembodied designs. So you don't *need* design patents for this stuff...unless your design fails to meet the low bar set by Feist. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Would you rather be perceived as likable or competent? Would you rather be “shrill” but finish your sentence or polite but interrupted by your male colleague? Would you rather shoot literal botulism into your face or look your real age, you hag?

"This $2,500 scholarship will support a woman+ who is currently enrolled in law school or graduate school studies in the fields of law, science, technology, engineering, or math and/or is a recent graduate thereof seeking professional testing/certification for the first time."

A triceratops skeleton that once greeted visitors at a Wyoming museum is heading to an online auction as dinosaur prices keep soaring.

Always appreciate 🙏🏼 @rtushnet.bsky.social’s blogging! So helpful to review feedback on my projects and catch-up on all the fascinating IP talks that I missed. Here’s a great summary of projects from #WIPIP26 Panel 6 @bulaw.bsky.social, including my early-stage project on copyright & living organisms

Enjoyed chatting with @ashleybelanger.bsky.social @arstechnica.com about Copyright x AI x Microsoft x Harry Potter 👇🏽 check it out below…

Wow.

I feel like I should add: This isn't just an IPLAC event. This event will be hosted by--and began as a program organized by students at--Loyola Law School Chicago.

If you’re in the D.C.-area on Thursday (Feb 12), and love nature or copyright law, come hear my talk @gwlaw.bsky.social! Details below 🐛

Join us for the first GWCLT Speaker Series of the semester: Professor @cathaysmith.bsky.social of @chicagokentlaw.bsky.social on “Copyrighting Nature”—when copyright should protect or exclude works created by nature, duplicating nature, or inspired by it. Lunch provided!

Same. ⬇️

You can pry my em dashes out of my cold dead hands.

Hundreds protested in the Loop tonight in the snow and frigid cold as part of a nationwide shutdown in response to federal immigration raids, and fatal shootings by federal agents, in Minneapolis. Read the full story soon @ blockclubchicago.org 📍 Chicago #OnAssignment for @blockclubchi.bsky.social

Version 2 of our open-access patent casebook is now available! - Free PDF copy available here: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... - Low-cost print copy available here: a.co/d/8vpSEQi And if you'd like to assign just one day on designs, we've got a supplement for that: papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

Puffery of the day, no reasonable consumer edition (h/t @zacharyschrag.bsky.social ) (FWIW my students tend to divide on Leonard v. Pepsico; maybe not with this one)