Pamela Chestek
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The Hard Rock Hotel Fires Back
Photo by David Herrera Things are getting more interesting in Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc. v. Hard Rock Hotel Holdings, LLC. As previously blogged, this is a spat between a trademark licensor and licensee where the licensor claims a breach of the license agreement. Hard Rock Hotel has fired back in its answer: The… Continue reading
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Things I Don’t Write About
John Steinbeck and Bob Marley copyright ownership disputes. They are complicated and make my head hurt. Luckily, others take on the task. Eddy Ventose, of the law faculty of the University of the West Indies, has taken on the Bob Marley story. Citation: Journal of Intellectual Property Law & Practice (2010) doi: 10.1093/jiplp/jpq166, first published… Continue reading
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The Heebie Jeebies
As former counsel for Reebok, my eye caught on “reabok.com”; it was a clear typosquat. I looked more carefully at the list of domain names in dispute and it wasn’t the only typosquat or cybersquat: belis.com, daffy.com, epsun.com, fivebars.com, gunit.com, helmsley.com, livs.com, mascaron.com, oncologics.com, pirreli.com, profesia.com, reabok.com, remolacha.com, satz.com, sunlet.com, vespas.com, vitallium.com, zire.com, and redroof.org. … Continue reading
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The Difference Between a First Name and a Trademark
“Zoe” may indeed be used as a trademark by Renault, which means, according to the lawyer for two plaintiffs named Zoe Renault, that they will “now be subject to a lifetime of ribbing and that, as they grew older, would be prey to such quips as ‘Can I see your airbags?’ or ‘Can I shine… Continue reading
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When an Assignor is Not Estopped
Assignor estoppel is an equitable doctrine that precludes the assignor of a patent from later challenging the validity of the patent. The reach of the doctrine is limited, though, as explained in Borgwarner, Inc. v. Honeywell International, Inc. The patents-in-suit are for a titanium compressor wheel made by investment casting. In mid-2000, Plaintiff BorgWarner engaged… Continue reading
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The Supreme Court and Ownership of Patents
The Supreme Court recently granted certiorari to decide a question of patent ownership. The case is Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University v. Roche Molecular Systems, Inc. and involves interpretation of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1990. The Bayh-Dole Act discusses, in the case of federally-funded research, the relative rights of patent ownership… Continue reading
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Unintended Consequences
It may make business sense to put ownership of related trademarks in different subsidiaries. Under In re Wella, one can generally register similar marks owned by sibling companies, as long as it’s done properly. But In re Koolatron Corp. discloses a risk I hadn’t thought about before, that is, that the registrations won’t serve the… Continue reading
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The Things You Need a License For
Yesterday I visited the Penland Gallery, an outstanding craft gallery associated with the Penland School of Crafts. There were several large moving mechanical sculptures that the viewer was invited to activate. Except this one: “PLEASE DO NOT HANDLE. THE ARTIST IS THE ONLY ONE LICENSED TO OPERATE THE BUBBLE MAKER.” There was no commercial bubble… Continue reading
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Learn more about me at my website, Chestek Legal
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