For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, January 7, 2018, we will discuss the following cases:

Philpot v. Alternet Media (N.D. Cal November 30, 2018 here) Defendant posted a picture of Willie Nelson with text on a Facebook page. Plaintiff photographer sued defendant for Copyright Infringement. Defendant motioned to dismiss for failure to state a claim, arguing use of the photograph was fair use. The court denied the motion, reasoning that there were not enough facts in the record yet to adequately determine if fair use had occurred.

In Re: Marco Guldenaar Holding B.V (CAFC December 28, 2018 here) Appellant applied for a patent for a dice game at the USPTO (application here). The USPTO rejected the application under 35 U.S.C 101 as being directed to an abstract idea. The CAFC affirmed. Although the court cited Mayo and Alice, the analysis also focused on the printed matter doctrine. Under this doctrine, a claim directed to printed matter is not patentable unless the printed matter is functionally related to the material it is being applied to.

All are invited to join us on Monday January 7, 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.