For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, December 18, 2017, we will discuss the following cases:

Inventor Holdings v. Bed Bath & Beyond, (CAFC, December 8,2017) (available here). Inventor Holdings sued Bed Bath & Beyond for infringement of several patents directed to methods of processing payments. The trial court granted Bed Bath & Beyond’s motion for judgment on the pleadings as well as motion for attorney’s fees, the CAFC affirmed. The court agreed that fees were warranted due to the extremely weak argument made by Inventor Holdings, and noted the need to prevent similar arguments in the future.

Dr. Seuss v. ComicMix LLC, (S.D. Cal December 7, 2017) (available here). Defendant published a book entitled “Oh, the Places You’ll Boldly Go!” in the same style as Dr. Seuss’s “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” Dr. Seuss’s estate sued defendant for copyright infringement, trademark infringement, and unfair competition. Defendant moved for summary judgment asserting the defense of fair use. The court denied the motion, finding that defendant had failed to satisfy each factor of nominative fair use.

All are invited to join us on December 18, 2017, 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.