Blockchain Legal Resource

After more than 40 days of gridlock, Congress appears close to a deal to reopen the federal government. The Senate has reached an agreement in principle on a package of appropriations and continuing resolutions, but both chambers must still complete votes before funding is enacted. A full reopening may take several more days. During the shutdown, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been operating with only a small emergency staff to handle matters posing an immediate threat to markets or investors; the agency’s core review and interpretive functions have been effectively paused.

In February, we posted about the USPTO’s Inventorship Guidance for AI-assisted Inventions, 89 Fed. Reg. 10043 (Feb. 13, 2024), and how that guidance might affect a retailer in New USPTO AI-Assisted Invention Guidance Will Affect Retailers and Consumer Goods Companies.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly changing the way businesses operate, from the way we research and write, to the way data is processed, to the way inventory is measured and distributed, to the way employees are monitored and beyond. Soon, artificial intelligence might be providing life advice, saving hospital patients or accelerating the development of cities. It is already reshaping corporate America. Very few, if any, industries—including the insurance industry—are immune. As the consultancy McKinsey wrote in 2021, artificial intelligence “will have a seismic impact on all aspects of the insurance industry.” McKinsey’s prediction has proved prescient.

As AI continues to influence the insurance industry and the broader economy, new opportunities and risks abound for policyholders. It is therefore essential for policyholders to keep up-to-date about insurance law’s latest frontier. To help policyholders navigate this new frontier, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s insurance recovery team is introducing a new resource: The Hunton Policyholder’s Guide to Artificial Intelligence.

On February 8, 2023, a jury in the Southern District of New York reached a verdict finding Mason Rothschild liable for trademark infringement of the Hermes BIRKIN mark when Rothschild advertised and sold a series of “MetaBirkin” non-fungible tokens (NFT or NFTs).¹ The verdict required Mr. Rothschild pay $110,000 for trademark infringement and dilution, as well as $23,000 for cybersquatting on the MetaBirkins domain name.²