For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, December 10, 2018, we will discuss the following cases:

Close v. Sotheby’s, Inc (9th Circuit December 3, 2018 available here). In a previous litigation, the court held plaintiff’s claim for resale royalties under the CRRA were expressly preempted by the 1976 Copyright Act, and affirmed the dismissal of claims involving art sales postdating the Copyright Act’s effective date of January 1, 1978.The court reversed the dismissal of CRRA claims when they involved sales occurring before January 1, 1978, but after the CRRA’s effective date of January 1, 1977. The CRAA mandates a fee award to the prevailing party, which the 9th circuit awarded in this case.

Maxchief Investments Ltd. v. Wok & Pan. (CAFC November 29 2018 here) Maxchief Investments Limited  appealed from a judgment in the District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The district court dismissed Maxchief’s declaratory judgment action against Wok & Pan, Ind., Inc. for lack of personal jurisdiction and dismissed Maxchief’s tortious interference claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The CAFC affirmed reasoning that Wok lacked sufficient contacts with the forum state of Tennessee for personal jurisdiction as to both the declaratory judgment claim and the tortious interference claim.

We will also discuss an academic paper regarding conflicts in patent practice (available here)

All are invited to join us on Monday December 10, 2018, 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.