For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, August 22, 2016, we will discuss the following: Friedman v. Live Nation Merchandise (9th Cir. August 18, 2016) (available here). Plaintiff Glen Friedman is a photographer who took pictures of the hip hop band Run-DMC during the 1980s. Live Nation is a music merchandising company and is involved in [...]
For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, March 28, 2016, we will discuss the following cases: Halo Creative & Design Ltd. v. Comptoir Des Indes, Inc. (Fed. Cir. March 14, 2016) (available here). A Hong Kong furniture manufacturer asserted Canadian defendants infringed their intellectual property and violated Illinois consumer fraud and deceptive business practices [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, March 16, 2015, will be a discussion of the jury verdict in the Blurred Lines copyright infringement case. On March 10, 2015, a jury held that Robin Thicke's hit song titled, "Blurred Lines" infringed Marvin Gaye's copyrights. The jury awarded $7.4 million to Gaye's estate. The jury [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, March 2, 2015 will be a discussion of: Ava Ruha Corporation dba Mother's Market & Kitchen v. Mother's Nutritional Center, Inc., Cancellation No. 92056067 (TTAV 1/29/15 (available here). In a precedential TTAB Opinion, Ava petitioned to cancel Mother's marks "Mother's" and "Mother's Nutritional Center" “Retail grocery stores that exclusively feature foods authorized [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, September 22, 2014 will be a discussion of recent copyright cases. Brief synopses of the cases we will discuss appear below. Princeton Payment Solutions, LLC v. ACI Worldwide, Inc. et al, No. 1:13-vc-852 (ED Va. August 15, 2014) (available here). In this computer software copyright case, the Court granted summary [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, April 14, 2014 will be a discussion of a recent copyright and trademark case: Brief synopses appear below. Peter Mayer Publishers, Inc. v. Shilovskaya, Case No. 12 Civ. 8867 (PGG) (S.D.N. Y 3/31/14, ) (available here). The issue was whether an eBook version of a commissioned English translation of a Russian novel [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, March 24, 2014 will be a discussion of a recent 9th circuit decision and a criminal trade secret jury trial. Brief synopses appear below. Garcia v. Google et. al., Case No. 12-57301 (9th Cir. Feb. 26, 2014) (available here.). Here, the panel reversed the district court’s denial of a preliminary [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, October 21, 2013 will be a discussion of Singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams lawsuit for declaratory relief that his trademark "I am OTHER" company is not infringing on Will.i.am's "I AM" trademark. The complaint can be found here, and the Answer with Counterclaims can be found here. We will also [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, October 7, 2013 will be a discussion of trademark infringement and copyrights in space. Brief synopses appear below. Trader Joe's v. Hallatt, Case No. 13-768 (D.Ct. Wash. 10/2/2013) (available here). Plaintiff Trader Joe's sued Defendant Hallant alleging trademark infirngement, unfair competition and other causes of action. Defendant Hallant owns [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, April 1, 2013 will be a discussion of one Federal Circuit case regarding patent divided infringement and a 9th Circuit case regarding copyright fair use. Brief synopses of the cases appear below. Columbia Pictures et al. v. Gary Fung; Isohunt Web Tech., Inc., Case No. 10-55946 (9th [...]