Copyright Cases: Rights Reservation does not Eliminate Standing for Licensed Rights and Fifth Time's the Charm for Ricky Martin Great Bowery Inc. v. Consequence Sound LLC et al. (available here) Famed photographer Annie Leibovitz entered into an agreement with a licensing agency, Great Bowery, granting it the exclusive, worldwide right to "license, market, and promote" [...]
Agentic AI in the Legal Profession Everyone knows about AI in general these days. It is creeping speedily into all professions, but particularly those that deal with words. As it turns out, that includes lawyers, particularly those that draft long, rote, detailed documents that attempt (sometimes failing) to be consistent and fit a particular form. [...]
Acquired Game Developers Sue Their Publisher, Over and Over and Over Zampella & West v. Activision In 2010, Jason West and Vince Zampella were fired by Activision. West and Zampella were the co-creators of the Call of Duty franchise. Even by 2010, the series had grossed billions of dollars for Activision. Since then, the games [...]
State of AI in Intellectual Property Law Copyright Law In the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Thaler v. Perlmutter was decided about one year ago on March 18, 2025. In that case, Dr. Stephen v. Thaler sought to register the copyright in the work "A Recent Entry into Paradise" [...]
Pokémon and Edge Games Fighting for their IP Lives The Edge of Reason Update January 23, 2206: It appears that Dr. Langdell has responded to this mention of the TTAB decision. You can see those comments below. In Mobigame v. Edge Games, Inc. (Cancellation No. 92075393) (decision here) an incredibly longstanding battle over the trademark [...]
Recent European Patent Office Guidance of Patent Claim Interpretation in Assessing Patentability In our SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, October, 27 2025 we will discuss a recent decision whereby the European Patent Office ellucidates on the extent to which the description and drawings may guide patentability within the claims. Traditionally, the European Patent Office [...]
Epic v. Apple Update We previously covered the early stages of this case here. Epic, upset with Apple's "compliance" with the Judge's injunction, recently sought enforcement of the original injunction. On April 30, 2025, Judge Gonzalez Rogers found Apple had failed to comply, stating dramatically: This is an injunction, not a negotiation. There are no [...]
AI and Copyright Several recent cases address the interrelationship of artificial intelligence and copyright law. Courts seem to be getting the idea a bit, and to at least have questions on the way in which AI functions. Rather than dismiss cases outright, courts are starting to explore how the use of content - particularly to [...]
MGA v. T.I. Decision There were big headlines last week when MGA Entertainment Inc. lost in a jury verdict to Grand Hustle LLC (and others) in a trade dress and/or name, image, and likeness rights of the OMG Girlz. But, no articles seem to really discuss the substance of the case in any degree. It [...]
Let's go Back in Time The Delorean broke into the collective consciousness of America in 1985 with the motion picture Back to the Future. The story of the original Delorean Motor Company is literally the stuff of insane documentaries. From high-flying ex-GM car designer to cocaine trafficking to fund continued operations of John Delorean's assembly [...]
