On Monday, August 9, 2021, Chris Kopitzke will lead a discussion of the Copyright Office’s refusal to register the most recent version of the Golden Globe statuette, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s finding that evidence submitted to prove non-use of a trademark was insufficient to establish a prima facie case of abandonment.

In a July 23, 2021 letter decision, available here, the Copyright Review Board affirmed the Copyright Office’s refusal to register a copyright claim in the 2018 version of the Golden Globes statuette. The Board first discussed the minimum requirements for creative expression to register an original work and to support registration of a derivative work. Applying these requirements and legal precedent interpreting them, the Board found that the new elements added to a prior version of the statuette were insufficiently creative to support registration.  The 2018 version and prior version are shown in the letter decision; earlier versions are shown in the attached article.

In Equinix, Inc. substituted for Packet Host, Inc. v. OnePacket LLC, Cancellation No. 92069714 (July 2, 2021) (TTAB), available here, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board found that despite the submission of evidence consisting of declarations, web pages, company records, and a photograph, Petitioner Equinix failed to establish a prima facie case of abandonment by Respondent of the trademark ONEPACKET for computer-related services. Under the Trademark Act, proof of non-use for a three-year period would have triggered a rebuttable presumption of abandonment and would have shifted the burden to Respondent to produce evidence that it had used the mark or intended to resume use. Respondent OnePacket filed an answer, but did not respond to discovery or submit testimony; Petitioner did not move to compel discovery or take testimony from Respondent regarding use or non-use of the mark. The Board held that Petitioner’s evidence, while relevant, was all circumstantial and did not establish Respondent’s lack of use of its ONEPACKET mark.

All are welcome to attend the program at 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time. To join the discussion, please RSVP via email to elisham @ socalip.com (remove the spaces, which have been inserted to thwart spammers) by noon the day of the program to obtain a video conference link. This activity has been approved for one hour of CLE credit.