For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, April 18, 2016, we will discuss the following cases:

Ayoub, Inc. and Ayoub Supply, LLC v. ACS Ayoub Carpet Service (TTAB March 31, 2016) (citable decision) (available here).  In an opposition proceeding, applicant could not demonstrate that “Ayoub” had acquired distinctiveness due to lack of substantially exclusive use, namely given that “Ayoub” was a surname used by various third-parties in similar businesses at the same time.

MICROSOFT, GOOGLE INC. v. GEOTAG, INC.,. (Fed. Cir. April 1, 2016) (available here).  The Federal Circuit found that Google did not infringe Geotag’s ‘474 patent with regards to the “dynamic repetition” claimed by the ‘474 patent where AdWords did a broad search of all possible ads, without regard to geography and had no need to replicate entries from a broader area into a narrower one.

All are invited to join us on Monday, April 18, 2016, at noon in our Westlake Village office. This activity is approved for 1 hour of MCLE credit. If you will be joining us, please RSVP to Moniquee Brown by 9 am Monday morning.