For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, September 11, 2017, we will discuss the following cases:

Disney Enterprises, Inc. v. Vidangel, Inc., (9th Circuit, August 24, 2017) (available here). VidAngel ran a service that would stream television and movies but removed objectionable content first. To operate their service, VidAngel purchased physical disks of the content they would stream, decrypt and rip the discs, then stream the ripped content to customers. The district court found VidAngel likely violated the DMCA and Copyright act, and granted a preliminary injunction against VidAngel. The court of appeals for the 9th circuit affirmed.

Stone Creek, Inc. v. Omnia Italian Design, Inc., (9th Circuit, August 24, 2017) (available here). Italian Design separated from Stone Creek but began selling the same furniture with the same trademark as Stone Creek. When sued for trademark infringement, Italian Design tried to use the common law defense of the Tea Rose-Rectanus doctrine. Under this doctrine, the use of a registered mark in a remote location may be excused if used in a remote area and in good faith. The panel held that any claim of good faith was defeated by Italian Design’s knowledge of the mark before the split.

Orion Energy Systems Inc. v. Energy Bank Inc., (E.D Wis. August 29, 2017) (available here). In a short 3-page opinion, the court granted a motion for reconsideration after concluding that the doctrine of assignor estoppel barred Energy Bank’s counterclaim and affirmative defense of invalidity.

All are invited to join us on September 11, 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.