intellectual-property

66 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-753 Zioness Movement, Inc. v. The Lawfare Project, Inc. Second Circuit 2025-12-29 Pending consumer-confusion intellectual-property lanham-act legal-standing source-identification trademark-ownership 1. Whether, under the Lanham Act, a court or jury may find joint ownership of a trademark between competing entities—neither of which pleaded or prove…
25-568 Jaime Rogozinski v. Reddit, Inc. Ninth Circuit 2025-11-12 Denied Response Waived brand-identity intellectual-property platform-rights social-media trademark user-generated-content Who owns the trademark for a user-created online community on a social media platform: the social media platform that provides the technical infrastru…
25-449 Stephen Thaler v. Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights and Director of the United States Copyright Office, et al. District of Columbia 2025-10-14 Pending Amici (3)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) ai-generated-works artificial-intelligence authorship copyright-law creative-works intellectual-property 1. Whether works outputted by an AI system without a direct, traditional authorial contribution by a natural person can be copyrighted.
25-5794 Jasmine E. Golden v. Amazon North Carolina 2025-10-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP access-to-justice civil-rights corporate-misconduct gatekeeper-order intellectual-property pro-se-litigation 1. Petitioner was denied appropriate justice and retribution for the intentional maligning of her brand name, GoldenPrints, LLC, and intellectual prop…
25-270 Nazir Khan v. Merit Medical Systems, Inc. Federal Circuit 2025-09-09 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) constitutional-injury estoppel federal-circuit intellectual-property patent-infringement patent-standing 1. whether Federal circuit erred in affirming sum mary Judgement of non-infringement of Utah Court Judgement No2023-2329 based on estoppel in con trav…
25-217 CeramTec GmbH v. CoorsTek Bioceramics LLC, fka C5 Medical Werks, LLC Federal Circuit 2025-08-22 Denied Response Waived design-functionality evidence-standard intellectual-property product-design trademark-law utility-patent Whether under this Court's decision in TrafFix Devices, Inc. v. Marketing Displays, Inc., 532 U.S. 23 (2001), a utility patent that produces a product…
25A82 Stephen Thaler v. Shira Perlmutter, Register of Copyrights and Director of the United States Copyright Office, et al. District of Columbia 2025-07-21 Presumed Complete ai-authorship copyright-office copyright-protection creative-works intellectual-property machine-generated-work Question not identified.
24A1263 Designworks Homes, Inc., et al. v. Columbia House of Brokers Realty, Inc., dba House of Brokers, Inc., dba Jackie Bulgin & Associates, et al. Eighth Circuit 2025-06-23 Presumed Complete architectural-design commercial-use copyright-law fair-use intellectual-property transformative-use Whether the fair use doctrine under copyright law permits commercial appropriation of an architect's proprietary house plans without compensation or c…
24-6839 Ralph W. Baker, Jr. v. Ta-Nehisi P. Coates, et al. Second Circuit 2025-03-25 Pending Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP copyright-law expression-of-ideas intellectual-property judicial-interpretation literary-rights originality Whether the court of appeals correctly interpreted copyright protection for an author's arrangement of words
24-1016 RiseandShine Corporation, dba Rise Brewing v. PepsiCo, Inc. Second Circuit 2025-03-24 Pending CVSGResponse RequestedRelisted (2) circuit-split federal-trademark intellectual-property likelihood-of-confusion statutory-interpretation trademark-law Whether trademark strength is a question of fact in a likelihood-of-confusion analysis under 15 U.S.C. § 1114
24-1011 Jem Accessories, Inc., dba Xtreme Cables, a New Jersey Corporation v. Harman International Industries, Inc., a Delaware Corporation Ninth Circuit 2025-03-21 Denied circuit-split intellectual-property laches lanham-act statute-of-limitations trademark-law Whether courts may borrow state statutes of limitations to create presumptions of laches in federal trademark actions under the Lanham Act; Whether co…
24-953 Lerner and Rowe PC, an Arizona Corporation v. Brown Engstrand & Shely LLC, dba Accident Law Group, an Arizona Corporation, et al. Ninth Circuit 2025-03-05 Denied circuit-split consumer-confusion intellectual-property lanham-act likelihood-of-confusion trademark-infringement Whether the Ninth Circuit's analysis of likelihood of consumer confusion factors in trademark infringement actions conflicts with other Circuit Courts…
24-729 Forrest L. Geist v. Kansas State University Foundation, et al. Tenth Circuit 2025-01-13 Denied Response Waived constitutional-rights intellectual-property property-protection safe-harbor sovereign-immunity takings-clause May a natural person, whose IP is taken by state gov't w/o payment, seek fair redress under the selfexecuting Takings Clause if that state's legislati…
24A573 Kenneth Carey, et al. v. Jonathan Kirk, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2024-12-12 Presumed Complete contract-dispute copyright creative-attribution intellectual-property music-rights record-label Whether a music artist and record label can be held liable for alleged copyright or contractual disputes involving ownership and attribution of creati…
24A532 Mahfooz Ahmad v. Colin Day, et al. Second Circuit 2024-12-02 Presumed Complete business-tort employment-retaliation injunctive-relief intellectual-property software-misappropriation trade-secrets Whether a technology company can be enjoined from commercially exploiting allegedly misappropriated intellectual property when the plaintiff claims th…
24-537 Canadian Standards Association v. P.S. Knight Company, Limited, et al. Fifth Circuit 2024-11-14 Denied Amici (3) copyright-law government-edicts intellectual-property legal-protection merger-doctrine statutory-interpretation Whether government edicts and merger doctrines strip copyrightable works of protection under the Copyright Act when incorporated by reference into law
24A380 Mahfooz Ahmad v. Colin Day, et al. Second Circuit 2024-10-22 Presumed Complete employment-discrimination frivolous-appeal habeas-corpus intellectual-property pro-se-litigation summary-judgment Whether a pro se litigant's employment discrimination and intellectual property claims can survive dismissal as frivolous when alleging unlawful termi…
24A358 Binyomin Rutstein v. Compulife Software, Inc. Eleventh Circuit 2024-10-17 Presumed Complete copyright-law data-extraction database-access intellectual-property trade-secrets web-scraping Whether web scraping of publicly accessible online data constitutes an improper means of acquiring trade secrets under the Federal Defend Trade Secret…
24A272 David Whitehead v. United States District Court for the District of Arizona, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-09-18 Presumed Complete attorney-misconduct contract-dispute copyright-infringement fbi-investigation freedom-of-information-act intellectual-property Whether a federal court can compel the FBI to disclose investigative records related to potential copyright infringement and attorney misconduct invol…
24-301 William French Anderson, et ux. v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue Tenth Circuit 2024-09-17 Denied Response Waived business-expenses economic-espionage intellectual-property legal-deductibility sixth-amendment trade-secrets Whether attorney fees incurred in defending against a false criminal claim intended to steal intellectual property are deductible business expenses un…
23-1252 Bill Gaede, et ux. v. Michael Delay, et al. Ninth Circuit 2024-05-30 Denied copyright-act copyright-infringement false-designation false-designation-of-origin intellectual-property lanham-act origin-clause scientific-priority usurpation Whether usurpation of scientific priority constitutes a violation under either the 'false designation of origin' clause of the Lanham Act or the copyr…
23-752 Y.Y.G.M. SA, dba Brandy Melville v. Redbubble, Inc. Ninth Circuit 2024-01-11 Denied Response Waived adverse-consequences circuit-split contributory-liability contributory-trademark-infringement intellectual-property knowledge-standard legal-standard reasonable-steps specific-infringement trademark-infringement trademark-law Whether the Ninth Circuit erred by holding that a defendant may be held liable for contributory trademark infringement only if it knows or has reason …
23-6201 Courtney Green v. General Mills World Headquarters, et al. Eighth Circuit 2023-12-08 Dismissed Relisted (2)IFP civil-rights due-process eavesdropping harassment intellectual-property non-consensual-monitoring privacy-violation reasonable-privacy surveillance unjust-enrichment Did the respondent General mills use these findings to duplicate a breakfast creation for mass production of its breakfast cereal brand?
23A235 Hasbro, Inc., et al. v. Markham Concepts, Inc., et al. First Circuit 2023-09-12 Presumed Complete 17-usc-505 attorney-fees circuit-split copyright-infringement fee-shifting intellectual-property Whether courts should apply a presumption in favor of awarding attorney's fees to prevailing parties in copyright infringement cases under 17 U.S.C. §…
22-7800 Mac Truong v. Richard Michael DeWine, Governor of Ohio, et al. Sixth Circuit 2023-06-15 Denied IFP abortion abortion-rights civil-rights constitutional-rights due-process free-speech intellectual-property pro-se-litigation standing standing-doctrine Does Petitioner have standing to sue Defendants for violating his copyrighted intellectual property and constitutional rights?
22-1126 In Re Dorothy M. Hartman 2023-05-18 Denied Response Waived civil-rights constitutional-violations due-process evidence-tampering government-overreach intellectual-property judicial-misconduct patent-rights separation-of-powers Should Judges of Appellate Courts have the right to ignore, manipulate, or even destroy evidence in cases pending before them in support of the Federa…
22-7013 Carl Puckett, et ux. v. Ain Jeem, Inc. Eleventh Circuit 2023-03-16 Denied IFP appellate-review certiorari civil-procedure due-process eleventh-circuit federal-jurisdiction intellectual-property legal-standing pro-se-petition property-dispute standing trademark-infringement Whether the Eleventh Circuit erred in dismissing the Pucketts' trademark infringement claims against Ain Jeem, Inc.
22-552 Camellia Grill Holdings, Inc. v. Grill Holdings, L.L.C., et al. Fifth Circuit 2022-12-16 Denied Response Waived circuit-split contractual-terms due-process due-process-clause exxon-mobil inextricably-intertwined intellectual-property property-rights rooker-feldman rooker-feldman-doctrine Whether the Court should resolve the circuit split in the wake of Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Saudi Basic Industries Corp., 544 U.S. 280 (2005) and elucidate…
22-6126 Jeffrey Salt v. Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. Second Circuit 2022-11-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-contempt civil-procedure due-process fifth-amendment intellectual-property non-party non-party-injunction trademark trademark-dispute Did Jeffrey Salt's Fifth Amendment due process rights violate when the District Court ruled he was bound by an injunction and subject to civil contemp…
22-347 Diece-Lisa Industries, Inc. v. Disney Store USA, LLC, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-10-13 GVR Response RequestedRelisted (3) expressive-work first-amendment intellectual-property likelihood-of-confusion reverse-confusion trademark-infringement trademark-law Does the First Amendment provide an infringer blanket immunity for trademark infringement across all categories of goods so long as they can claim the…
22-5220 Palani Karupaiyan v. Jatinder Singh, et al. Third Circuit 2022-07-29 Rehearing Relisted (2)IFP civil-procedure civil-rights discrimination due-process federal-statutes intellectual-property procedural-error standing tax-evasion USCA failed to vacate the Sua sponte order of dismissing the complaint is error
22-35 Yufan Zhang v. UnitedHealth Group, et al. Eighth Circuit 2022-07-12 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) 14th-amendment arbitration burden-of-proof due-process employment-termination equal-protection evidence-destruction intellectual-property Whether the burden of proof with clear and convincing evidence was improperly imposed on the plaintiff
21-8012 Soraya Maria Rigor v. Dale Carlsen, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-06-01 Denied IFP civil-rights due-process intellectual-property punitive-damages racketeering special-relationship takings university-trustees Question not identified
21-1299 Nicholas D. Scoyni v. Daniel R. Salvador, et al. Ninth Circuit 2022-03-29 Denied constitutional-rights due-process intellectual-property judicial-recusal procedural-rules recuse service-mark service-marks takings-clause trademarks Does the district court have the right to adjudicate an intellectual-property case without addressing parties' pleas, disregarding legal precedence of…
21-417 Sulzer Mixpac AG v. A&N Trading Company, et al. Second Circuit 2021-09-16 Denied Amici (3)Response RequestedRelisted (2) circuit-split functionality intellectual-property lanham-act legal-interpretation product-features product-functionality trademark-protection utility Whether any degree of utility categorically renders a product feature functional and thus ineligible for federal trademark protection under the Lanham…
21-384 Moreh J. Buchanan v. Sony Music Entertainment Inc., et al. District of Columbia 2021-09-09 Denied Response Waived access access-evidence copyright-infringement demonstration-songs dissemination entertainment-lawyer intellectual-property music-industry unauthorized-copying will-smith Whether the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit erred in dismissing the petitioner's copyright-infringement claims
21-209 Huping Hu, et al. v. Drew Hirshfeld, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office Federal Circuit 2021-08-13 Denied Response Waived 35-usc-101 intellectual-property judicial-exceptions natural-phenomenon operability-standard patent-eligibility person-having-ordinary-skill-in-the-art quantum-entanglement reproducibility-of-results scientific-discovery section-101 Whether the PTO's standards for determining operability under § 101 are biased against groundbreaking inventions
21-5223 Donnell Bledsoe v. CBS Television Network, et al. Ninth Circuit 2021-07-28 Denied Relisted (2)IFP civil-procedure constitutional-rights content-moderation copyright-infringement data-collection digital-privacy fair-use fourth-amendment intellectual-property privacy-policy social-media user-consent Whether the plaintiff's copyright and other intellectual property rights were violated by the defendants' unauthorized use of the plaintiff's content …
20-1652 Meghan Belaski, et al. v. Securities and Exchange Commission District of Columbia 2021-05-26 Denied Response Waived confidential-information double-jeopardy fifth-amendment intellectual-property related-action securities-exchange-commission securities-law takings-clause whistleblower whistleblower-award Do the statutory rules of the SEC violate the Double Jeopardy Clause and Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment?
20-1612 Monib Zirvi, et al. v. Jay T. Flatley, et al. Second Circuit 2021-05-19 Denied Amici (1)Response Waived constructive-notice fraudulent-concealment inquiry-notice intellectual-property misappropriation patent pleading-stage standing storm-warnings trade-secret trade-secret-misappropriation Did the Second Circuit err in holding, that under the 'inquiry notice' standard applicable to trade secret misappropriation claims where plaintiff all…
20-7741 Wen Dong Zhao v. Department of State Second Circuit 2021-04-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP administrative-procedure civil-rights department-of-state due-process embassy-communication federal-investigation freedom-of-information government-misconduct intellectual-property judicial-review letter-disposition standing Denial-of-access-to-letters
20-1391 Sportswear, Inc., dba Prep Sportswear v. Savannah College of Art and Design, Inc. Eleventh Circuit 2021-04-05 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) circuit-split consumer-confusion federal-registration intellectual-property related-goods service-mark trademark-infringement unrelated-goods Does the scope of a service mark extend to unrelated goods bearing that service mark?
20-7519 Angadbir Singh Salwan v. Drew Hirshfeld, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office Federal Circuit 2021-03-22 Denied Response WaivedIFP abstract-idea administrative-law civil-rights due-process intellectual-property judicial-corruption patent patent-law standing supreme-court-precedent takings Whether the lower courts' rulings are tainted by corruption financed by China's Communist party, and whether the Supreme Court should reverse the CAFC…
20-751 Ashley Ann Krapacs v. The Florida Bar Florida 2020-12-01 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) abstract-idea administrative-law bar-discipline civil-rights disbarment due-process first-amendment fourteenth-amendment free-speech free-speech 20-7519" integrated-bar intellectual-property judicial-corruption patent-law political-speech professional-conduct state-action supreme-court-precedent Whether the Supreme Court will address alleged jud Whether the state action of disbarment violates the First Amendment as applied to the States through the Fourteenth Amendment
20-706 Stone Creek, Inc. v. Omnia Italian Design, Inc. Ninth Circuit 2020-11-20 Denied circuit-court-precedent circuit-split disgorgement disgorgement-of-profits intellectual-property intentional-misconduct judicial-precedent mishawaka-rubber trademark-infringement unjust-enrichment willfulness Does the Ninth Circuit's refusal to disgorge profits in this case of intentional infringement involving the identical mark on identical products confl…
20-624 Larry Golden v. Apple Inc. Federal Circuit 2020-11-10 Denied 7th-amendment civil-rights due-process intellectual-property patent patent-rights pleading-standards pro-se-litigant procedural-due-process seventh-amendment standing Is it a question of law for the District Court and/or the Appeals Court judges to unjustly violate a Pro Se litigant's procedural due process or viola…
20-5532 Larry Golden v. United States Federal Circuit 2020-08-27 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (3)IFP administrative-review fifth-amendment government-taking government-use implied-in-fact-contract intellectual-property just-compensation takings Has the Government taken private property under the Fifth Amendment Clause of the U.S. Constitution for the benefit of the public without paying just …
20-74 Andrei Iancu, Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Eugene H. Luoma, et al. Federal Circuit 2020-07-27 GVR Response WaivedRelisted (2) administrative-law america-invents-act enablement intellectual-property judicial-review obviousness patent-eligibility patent-review patent-trial-and-appeal-board patent-validity prior-art written-description Whether the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's application of the statutory requirements for patentability under 35 U.S.C. §§ 101, 102, 103, and 112 was …
19-8459 Todd Erling Becker v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2020-05-14 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-procedure copyright-infringement damages fair-use intellectual-property substantial-similarity Whether the lower court erred in its application of the 'substantial similarity' test in a copyright infringement case
19-1290 Michael T. Bennett v. Marvel Entertainment, LLC Eleventh Circuit 2020-05-14 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2) admissions-of-guilt character-design civil-procedure copyright-infringement damages defamation discovery intellectual-property plagiarism poor-man's-copyright standing If the Court finds that the Marvel Character 'Falcon' in the 2014 Captain America The Winter Soldier movie looks strikingly similar from the neck down…
19-1198 CANVS Corporation v. Barbara M. Barrett, Secretary of the Air Force Federal Circuit 2020-04-06 Denied Response Waived administrative-law contract-law due-process government-contracts government-liability intellectual-property small-business small-business-innovation takings Can the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, an administrative panel, deprive a corporation of valuable intellectual property without due process…
19-5299 Samuel Rivera Rosado v. Lucid Energy, Inc. Eleventh Circuit 2019-07-24 Dismissed Relisted (2)IFP civil-rights constitutional-rights copyright-infringement copyright-ownership copyright-protection design-theft due-process intellectual-property patent patent-infringement patent-registration standing takings Whether the U.S. Supreme Court can allow a company to steal a person's copyright ownership, design, drawing and blueprints and secure a patent for the…
19-5179 Susan E. Pattishall v. Vinton G. Cerf, et al. Fourth Circuit 2019-07-16 Denied Relisted (2)IFP civil-rights constitutional-rights due-process first-amendment fourteenth-amendment freedom-of-religion freedom-of-speech intellectual-property statute-of-limitations takings Whether intellectual property should be treated differently from physical property under a statute of limitations
19-5161 Antonio Vernon v. CBS Television Studios, et al. Seventh Circuit 2019-07-12 Denied IFP circuit-split civil-rights contract-law due-process idea-submission implied-contract industry-standards intellectual-property Whether industry standards and customs should be considered as a factor during the analysis of perceived intent and duty of the implied contract parti…
19-46 United States Patent and Trademark Office, et al. v. Booking.com B.V. Fourth Circuit 2019-07-08 Judgment Issued Amici (15)Relisted (2) civil-procedure generic-term generic-terms intellectual-property lanham-act online-business top-level-domain trademark trademark-law trademark-protection trademark-registration uspto Whether the addition by an online business of a generic top-level domain (.com) to an otherwise generic term can create a protectable trademark"
18-1557 William James, et al. v. Barbara Hunt, et al. Eleventh Circuit 2019-06-20 Denied Response Waived abuse-of-discretion civil-procedure civil-rico copyright-act copyright-infringement creative-rights due-process fair-use first-amendment intellectual-property licensing plagiarism Whether literary works are protected under copyright law similarly to music sampling
18-9089 Itoffee Gayle v. Home Box Office, Inc., et al. Second Circuit 2019-05-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review civil-procedure copyright-infringement due-process fair-use federal-jurisdiction first-amendment intellectual-property motion-to-dismiss second-circuit standing Whether the plaintiff's intellectual property was improperly featured in the defendant's (HBO) series, Vinyl
18-8613 Quincy Magee v. The Walt Disney Company, et al. District of Columbia 2019-03-28 Denied IFP antitrust business-disputes civil-procedure civil-rights copyright copyright-infringement copyright-protection corporate-infringement due-process employment-rights fraud intellectual-property licensing patent patent-infringement patent-ownership standing trade-secret Whether the lower courts erred in dismissing petitioner's claims alleging copyright infringement, patent infringement, and fraud
18-1233 Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil Group, Inc., fka Fossil, Inc., et al. Federal Circuit 2019-03-22 Judgment Issued Amici (6)Relisted (2) circuit-split civil-procedure intellectual-property lanham-act profits profits-award remedies statutory-interpretation trademark-infringement willful-infringement willfulness Whether willful infringement is a prerequisite for an award of an infringer's profits for a violation of the Lanham Act
18-1144 Natural Alternatives International, Inc. v. Andrei Iancu, Director, United States Patent and Trademark Office Federal Circuit 2019-03-05 Denied Response Waived administrative-law agency-deference agency-guidance federal-circuit intellectual-property judicial-review patent-law patent-trial-and-appeal-board patent-trial-and-appeals-board priority property-law property-rights trips Did the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit err in analyzing rulings by the Patent Trial and Appeals Board
18-956 Google LLC v. Oracle America, Inc. Federal Circuit 2019-01-25 Judgment Issued CVSGAmici (77)Relisted (4) 17-usc-102 17-usc-107 computer-code computer-program copyright-law copyright-protection fair-use federal-circuit intellectual-property software-development software-interface Whether copyright protection extends to a software interface
18-877 Frederick L. Allen, et al. v. Roy A. Cooper, III, Governor of North Carolina, et al. Fourth Circuit 2019-01-08 Judgment Issued Amici (20)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) 14th-amendment article-i-power congress congressional-power constitutional-law copyright copyright-infringement copyright-remedy-clarification-act federal-power federal-remedies federal-statute intellectual-property sovereign-immunity state-sovereign-immunity Whether Congress validly abrogated state sovereign immunity via the Copyright Remedy Clarification Act
18-728 Jacobus Rentmeester v. Nike, Inc. Ninth Circuit 2018-12-07 Denied Amici (3)Relisted (2) 9th-circuit circuit-split copyright copyright-law copyright-protection creative-expression intellectual-property judicial-interpretation original-creative-judgments original-judgments photographic-originality photography selection-and-arrangement Is copyright protection for a photograph limited solely to the photographer's 'selection and arrangement' of unprotected elements, as the Ninth Circui…
18-615 Bruce Munro, et al. v. Lucy Activewear Inc., et al. Eighth Circuit 2018-11-13 Denied circuit-split civil-procedure copyright copyright-law intellectual-property lanham-act physical-products preemption product-design standing trade-dress Does copyright preclude Lanham Act product design-trade-dress claims for physical products, and if so, under what circumstance(s)?
18-6129 Arika Matelyan v. CD Baby Distribution Co. Ninth Circuit 2018-09-28 Dismissed IFP civil-procedure civil-rights copyright copyright-infringement due-process fair-use first-amendment intellectual-property standing Whether the copyright holder has exclusive rights over the reproduction and distribution of their work
18-63 Steve K. Wilson Briggs v. Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc., et al. Ninth Circuit 2018-07-11 Denied Response Waived civil-procedure civil-rights copyright copyright-claims copyright-law court-procedure due-process free-speech intellectual-property internet-guidelines legal-precedent patent precedent standing Whether by failing to clarify and update internet-access-guidelines, U.S. courts imperil the rights of U.S. intellectual-property-owners