Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, January 12, 2015 will be a discussion of the cases below:

Stan Lee Media v. The Walt Disney Co., No. 13-1407 (5th Cir.  December 18, 2014 ) (available here). Here, the 10th Circuit affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the action wherein SLM was precluded from alleging ownership interest in the pre-1998 Marvel characters at issue  on the basis of collateral estoppel.   While SLM contended that it did not have a full and fair opportunity to litigate the ownership issue in the prior litigation, the 10th Circuit was not persuaded.

Isbell v. DM Records, Case No. 13-40878  (Fed. Cir. December 19, 2014 ) (available here).  The 5th Circuit affirmed the lower court’s infringement judgment wherein the trial court, rather than the jury, interpreted the recording agreement.  No extrinsic evidence offered by the parties was conflicting so that the jury was required to make a credibility determination. The only dispute was over the meaning of the recording agreement.

All are invited to join us in our discussion during the SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, January 12, 2015 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 Noelle Smith by 9 am Monday morning.