Pamela Chestek
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Only Owners (Or Licensees) Can Bring a Claim Under the Federal Trade Secrets Act
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 not […] Continue reading
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Foreign Manufacturer Continues to Own Its Mark
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 for […] Continue reading
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Don’t Sue a High School Choir for Copyright Infringement in the Ninth Circuit
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 choirs […] Continue reading
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The Implied Sublicense
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 PIC […] Continue reading
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This Is Why You Don’t Call It “Intellectual Property”
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 GigaM […] Continue reading
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“Concerning the Subject Matter Hereof”
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, successors, […] Continue reading
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There’s The Episcopal Church and Then There Are Episcopal Churches
In 2012, the South Carolina Diocese of The Episcopal Church declared that it disassociated from parent The Episcopal Church, a hierarchical church. The common understanding is that it was because of the ordination of gay clergy and acceptance of same-sex unions, although the disassociating diocese differs with that characterization. As a result there are two […] Continue reading
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Think of the Name
In transactional work, don’t think just about what you’re getting, but also what you don’t want the target to do in the future. Three family members with the surname Traeger had a business in wood pellet grills. They sold the business to plaintiff Traeger Pellet Grills. At least one of the Traeger family later joined […] Continue reading
About Me
Learn more about me at my website, Chestek Legal
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Categories
- copyright
- domain name
- moral rights
- patent
- right of publicity
- social media
- trade dress
- trade libel
- trade secret
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