Pamela Chestek
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Bar Napkins Aren’t the Best Kind of Contract
You be the judge, and it’s not hard on this one. Dean Bach owned and operated “Dino’s Lounge” in Ferndale, Michigan. A bar in Northville, Michigan was on the blocks and Bach and a guy named Martinez bid against each other for it. Martinez’s bid was accepted, but he didn’t have experience running a bar.… Continue reading
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What Nunc Pro Tunc Means
Patent standing cases are a dime a dozen, so I don’t necessarily blog them. But Epic Sporting Goods, Inc. v. Fungoman LLC gives a really good summary of the legal significance of an assignment nunc pro tunc, so I thought I’d share it. On August 1, 2006 the asserted patent (U.S. Patent 7.082,938 titled “Baseball Fielding Practice… Continue reading
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Who Knows Who Owns Betty Boop
You’d think the recent 9th Circuit decision about Betty Boop would be right up my alley. But really, I’m mostly just mystified by it. It doesn’t add anything to current copyright jurisprudence and takes a decidedly orthogonal direction on current trademark law. The facts that the Court of Appeals cares to discuss are fairly simple.… Continue reading
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Do-Over on the Writing Requirement
Such a short decision, and so many things to think about. We last visited Vergara Hermosilla v. The Coca-Cola Company after a motion for preliminary injunction had been granted in Vergara’s favor. Vergara did a Spanish translation of lyrics for a video for Coca-Cola, but there was a misunderstanding and/or screw up which meant that… Continue reading
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Urban Homesteading
URBAN HOMESTEADINGURBAN HOMESTEADINGURBAN HOMESTEADING Check out EFF to see what it’s about. The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Continue reading
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Slow Blogging
Cases have been slow lately, so instead I updated the look of my blog. Hope you like it. The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Continue reading
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A Garden is Not Copyrightable
The Clannco Art+Law blog gives us a thorough summary of a Visual Artists Rights Act case out of the 7th Circuit. The court, clearly troubled by the fact that most everyone would consider the work in question a “garden,” held that the work was neither “authored” nor “fixed” in the senses required for copyright.… Continue reading
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Assignment of a Patent’s Priority Right
The IPKat explains it. Aye-yigh-yigh. You figure it out. The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Continue reading
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Beware the “Own Name” Defense
Lawsuits in the United States over use of personal names come up occasionally. They happen when someone doing business under his or her own name sells off the rights, then try to compete in the original field using some form of the name (I think this is called “having one’s cake and eating it too”).… Continue reading
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Grateful for Your Help!
If you’re a procrastinator like me, you’ve been planning on sending me an affidavit about the distinctiveness of the trademark for my blog. Now’s the time though! Original post here. Thanks for all those who have sent me something so far, and for those of you who plan to but haven’t gotten around to it… Continue reading
About Me
Learn more about me at my website, Chestek Legal
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