For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, October 24, 2016, we will discuss the following:

Poly America, L.P. v. API Industries, Inc. (Fed Cir. October 14, 2016) (available here). Plaintiff brought a patent infringement action, where the district court found that the patent and prosecution history “contain clear and unequivocal statements that the inventor intended to limit the claimed invention to a trash bag with ‘short seals’ at its upper corners that extend inwardly to narrow the bag’s upper opening”.  The Federal Circuit affirmed, concluding that the lower court correctly construed the term ‘short seal’ to require that such seals extend inwardly.

TCA Television Corp. v. McCollum.  (2nd Cir October 11, 2016 ) (available here). The lower court dismissed an action for copyright infringement by the heirs of Abbot and Costello regarding the iconic “Who’s on First” routine, finding that the defendant’s verbatim use of a portion of the routine was non-infringing fair use.  The Second Circuit found that, though defendant’s use was not a fair use, plaintiff had failed to establish ownership of a valid copyright.

All are invited to join us on Monday, October 24, 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.