Pamela Chestek
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The Coup de Grâce for Pooh?
One opposed mark The TTABlog brings us the last (?) chapter in the Winnie the Pooh story – well, it’s the last pending action at least, after a state court litigation, an appeal of it, a federal court litigation, and an appeal of it, all of which SSI lost. But never say never. The parties,… Continue reading
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When Are You a “Distributor”?
There’s a presumption in manufacturer-distributor cases that the manufacturer owns the mark. Is the presumption deserved? What is fundamentally different between a manufacturer-distributor relationship and one where a company contracts for the manufacture of its product (an OEM relationship), when there isn’t the same presumption? Does it fall into one category or the other just… Continue reading
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Righthaven’s Failed Assignment Agreement
I haven’t been blogging about the Righthaven case because there are many other bloggers doing a great job. You know, Righthaven, who is going around finding bloggers reproducing articles from the Denver Post and the Las Vegas Review-Journal and suing them for copyright infringement. But I thought that I’d show you how miserably Righthaven screwed… Continue reading
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Important New Patent Ownership Decision!
Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior Univ. v. Roche Molecular Sys., Inc. In an important new decision, the Supreme Court held that Congress did not change one of the fundamental precepts of patent law – that the individual inventor is the original owner of invention – obliquely, through an ambiguous definition of “subject… Continue reading
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Abandoned, No Surprise
Some cases make you wonder more about the lawyers. Did they come in to the situation too late and just have a mess to clean up? Have they counseled their clients about their odds? Original Rex, LLC v. Beautiful Brands International, LLC just looks like such a long shot, but some clients can’t be deterred.… Continue reading
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Surprise – Wittmann Can’t Call His Product “Wittmann”
This is kind of a no-brainer of an ownership case. I’m blogging it more for the sake of completeness than anything else.Defendant Dietmar Wittmann, an employee of the Medical College of Wisconsin, invented a surgical patch for abdominal surgery. He assigned the rights to the patch (the case doesn’t say exactly what rights, but we’ll… Continue reading
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There Has to Be Confusion
Plaintiff DeliverMed transferred its marks for pharmaceutical delivery – “DeliverMed,” “Right at Home” and this logo to defendant Medicate Pharmacy as part of a joint business venture. The venture failed, but Medicate Pharmacy continued to use the marks to promote its own business, enclosing a card bearing the marks with every prescription and using the… Continue reading
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Moral Rights versus Economic Rights
Fahmy v. Jay-Z is a cautionary story about music sampling. Not the usual one, about to what extent sampling may be a fair use or may require a license, but rather what kind of rights sampling implicates. Fahmy was the successor in interest to the copyright in the composition and music recording of an Egyptian… Continue reading
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Rejected Trademark License
Photo by doortoriver Borders Group had contracted with Seattle’s Best, an acquisition/ subsidiary of Starbucks, for in-store coffee shops. In February, 2011 Borders filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 and filed a motion to reject the Seattle’s Best license, claiming it will save $10 million a year operating the stores independently. Seattle’s Best objected, asking… Continue reading
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Think of the Trademark Too
“Lingo v Lingo,” so you know where this is going. In this case brother versus sister, arguing over ownership of the trademark for “Lingo’s Market” in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The opinion isn’t terribly clear on the facts, so I’ve put the story together from the pleadings and the decision. Lingo’s Market was opened in Rehoboth… Continue reading
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