For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, June 12, 2017, we will discuss the following cases: TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC (Supreme Court, March 27, 2017) (available here). Kraft Foods sued TC Heartland for patent infringement in Delaware. The district court denied TC’s motion to dismiss or transfer venue. TC [...]
For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, May 8, 2017, we will discuss the following cases: Williamson v. Citrix Online, LLC (Fed. Cir., June 16, 2015) (available here). In the original panel opinion for this case, the majority held that use of the word “module” does not invoke means-plus-function language in patent claims, such that the [...]
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, July 21, 2014 will be a discussion by Ari Katz and Yoav Keren of BrandShield Ltd. BrandShield was established to develop technology and solutions to help businesses protect their brand online from infringement. The Company is backed by Israel's Chief Scientist and with an R&D center based in [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, July 7, 2014 will be a discussion of a Supreme Court case on copyright infringement and a California Appellate opinion on trade secrets. Brief synopses appear below. ABC v. Aereo (U.S. June 25, 2014) (available here). The Supreme Court held that Aereo's service, which provided subscribers the [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, June 2, 2014 will be a discussion of a recent TTAB precedential case and state trade secret opinion. Brief synopses appear below. Chanel, Inc. v. Jerzy Makarczyk (TTAB May 27, 2014) (available here.). Here, Karczyk (“applicant"), filed an application pursuant to Section 1(a) of the Trademark Act to [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, May 12, 2014 will be a discussion of a recent S.D. Cal preliminary injunction decision and N.D. Cal trade secret case. Brief synopses appear below. In Smith v. San Diego Americas for Safe Access (SDA), Case No. 3:130cv-01463 (S.D. Cal 4/30/14), available here: The Court granted SDA’s motion [...]
In Herb Reed Enters., LLC v. Fla. Entm’t Mgmt., __ F.3d __. No. 12-16868, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 23938, *24 (9th Cir. Dec. 2, 2013), see the case here, the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction against defendants’ use of the mark “The Platters” in connection with a vocal group, the panel held that [...]
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, September 30, 2013 will be a discussion of two recent Trade Dress cases. The first case is from the Sixth Circuit: Groeneveld Transport Efficiency, Inc. v. Lubecore International, Case Nos. 12-3545/3576 (6th Cir. Sept. 12, 2013) (available here). The key issue in this case is whether a company can [...]