By Charlie Stiernberg

Digital Public Library of America Goes Live, Sans Fanfare

The Digital Public Library of America (“DPLA”) website went live late last week; however, the celebration was postponed in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombing, reports the Harvard Crimson. After more than two years of planning, the DPLA became the first national digital library in the world—with about two million books, pictures, manuscripts, and other materials. The staff is working to overcome copyright obstacles to add more works. A ceremony was to take place on April 18 and 19 at the Boston Public Library, the first public library in the country. But given its proximity to the site of the bombings, organizers decided to reschedule the event for the fall.

ITC Rules Apple iPhone did not Violate Motorola Patents

The International Trade Commission (“ITC”) terminated its investigation into Apple’s alleged infringement of Motorola U.S. Patent No. 6,246,862 (“the ‘862 patent”), “Sensor controlled user interface for portable communication device,” finding no violation of section 337, reports Ars Technica. The ‘862 patent was the last patent remaining of the six included in the original complaint filed by Motorola in 2010. In a notice issued April 22, the ITC found that the ‘862 patent is obvious in view of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,052,464 and 5,894,298. The case is one piece of a larger patent battle between Apple and Motorola, being waged in courts worldwide.

Parties Race to Register “Boston Strong” Trademark with USPTO

Less than a week after the Boston Marathon bombing, two Massachusetts parties have applied to trademark the phrase “Boston Strong” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”), reports the Huffington Post. The first application, filed by Born Into It, Inc., is a standard character mark for “clothing and accessories.” The second application, filed by an individual, is also a standard character mark for “[i]mprinting messages on T-shirts.” The hashtag #BostonStrong has garnered a strong following on Twitter over the last week. The Huffington Post notes that similar applications following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were denied by the USPTO.