At our next SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, December 5, 2016, we will discuss the following:

Antonick v. Electronic Arts, Inc. (Fed. Cir. November 22, 2016) (available here).  Plaintiff Antonick developed the computer code for EA’s Madden Football game for the Apple II computer. EA later released versions of the game for Sega and Nintendo. EA asked Antonick to develop a version of the game for Sega, and then told Antonick to stop his development for Sega. EA contracted with Park Place to develop a version of the game for Sega and Nintendo. Antonick sued for copyright infringement asserting that the Sega and Nintendo versions were derivative works of his code. The district court found as a judgment of matter of law in favor of EA because the plaintiff failed to provide sufficient evidence of copyright infringement. The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling finding in favor of EA.

Cross Commerce Media, Inc. v. Collective, Inc. (2nd Cir. November 7, 2016) (available here). Appellant Collective, Inc. sent Cross Commerce Media a cease and desist letter asserting infringement of Collective’s trademark for “collective”. Cross Commerce Media argued that Collective’s trademark was descriptive, and the district court agreed. Collective then argued that the mark had not acquired secondary meaning, and the district court agreed with Cross Commerce Media. Cross Commerce then requested several remedies, including attorney fees and prevailed on that at the district court. On appeal, the Second Circuit vacated the district court’s decision finding that the trademark for “collective” is suggestive, not descriptive, and the case is being remanded to the district court for further findings as to whether the mark “collective” was actually used in commerce before Cross Commerce Media began using it in commerce.
All are invited to join us on Monday, Dec. 5, 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 Elisha Manzur by 9 am Monday morning.