Copyright ownership claims are not unusual. But what about authorship? Often the distinction doesn’t matter because, in infringement claims, the owner stands in the shoes of author. But it does matter to termination – the author (or the author’s heirs) is the only one with termination rights; a mere owner cannot exercise a termination...
Read more →Here are the facts: Ness Stewart Irvine was a patentee. Irvine assigned his patents-in-suit to InterAD Technologies, LLC. InterAD assigned them to Zeroclick, LLC (“Zeroclick I”), the plaintiff, a Texas entity. Zeroclick I sued Apple for patent infringement. Erich Spangenberg, listed as the “governing person,” terminated the Zeroclick I entity.1 Non-party Granicus IP, LLC...
Read more →In 2016 the United States enacted trade secret law at the federal level. Before that, trade secret law was available only at the state level, meaning a patchwork of different standards and no federal jurisdiction for claims. The Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”), changed that. Like trademark law, the federal trade secret law does...
Read more →I was going to blog Sinclair v. Ziff Davis, LLC, but @MarkJKings explained everything you need to know in a Twitter thread. So, by virtue of the license granted to me by Twitter, I present Sinclair. Plaintiff Sinclair is a professional photographer. Mashable approached her about including one of her photographs in an article...
Read more →Liger6, LLC v. Sarto is right in my wheelhouse, two claimants to the same mark. I passed on it at the district court level, though, because it wasn’t particularly remarkable. However, there is a decision on appeal now, and it’s a slow news week for non-Covid news. The district court opinion is marked “Not...
Read more →Burbank High School has show choirs, which are choirs that combine choral singing with some choreographed steps. If you watched the TV show Glee you’ve seen it; in fact the court says that Burbank High School inspired the TV show. Brett Carroll is the vocal music director at the school and the Burbank show...
Read more →Plaintiff Photographic Illustrators Corp. (PIC) did beauty shots of lightbulbs for Osram Sylvania. The parties had a falling out and in 2006 entered into a settlement agreement. The agreement settled all past claims and set forth the terms of the parties’ future relationship. Relevant to the case, Sylvania had a broad license to use...
Read more →Oh, just ugh. This is in a software development agreement: 14. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY The Parties agree that no new Intellectual Property will be created under this agreement. That’s sort of like agreeing in a contract that the sun won’t rise. The sun is going to rise, so what happens then? Plaintiff Decisionq hired defendant...
Read more →Do you need to own a trademark to succeed in an infringement claim? Not necessarily. The plaintiff, I&I Hair Corporation, now owns the registration for the trademark EZBRAID. Except that it originally didn’t; the registration was owned by Eunja Son, a principal of the plaintiff. I&I Hair sued the defendant, Beauty Plus Trading Co.,...
Read more →You’ve seen “integration” clauses (also called “merger” clauses) like this: Entire Agreement. This Agreement is an integrated Agreement and constitutes the entire agreement and understanding between and among the Parties with regard to the matters set forth herein and shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the administrators, agents, personal representatives,...
Read more →Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
© 2013-2022 Pamela S. Chestek. All rights reserved.