copyright
-
Is It “Spare Time” if Your Employer Owns Your Work?
Microsoft is getting some press for announcing that it is giving its 93,000 employees Windows 7 phones. An email announcing the plan to the employees was posted on TechFlash: I am thrilled to announce that a new Windows Phone 7 will be made available to every Microsoft employee as we launch in each market around… Continue reading
-
“Who Owns Bratz?”
Be still my heart, my title is the opening line in the 9th Circuit decision about the long-standing dispute over the Bratz dolls, a title I have somehow thus far missed using. More background than you could ever want on the case is here. As we all know, MGA Entertainment lost in a big way. … Continue reading
-
Not Much Hope Left
Fifty Six Hope Road Music Limited, Inc. is the legal entity that owns the rights to reggae singer Bob Marley’s name, likeness and trademarks. It’s pretty familiar with defending those rights and pretty successful at it. Massachusetts case Jürek Zamoyski v. Fifty-Six Hope Road Music Limited, Inc. gives us some insight into what steps Fifty-Six… Continue reading
-
Claims Left Barely Standing
Commerce Bancorp LLC v. Hill is a meaty enough case on ownership issues alone it’s good for two blog posts. First is a standing problem that cropped up, second an allegation of trademark abandonment. I’ll do standing now and abandonment later. I am always somewhat baffled by changes in ownership of intellectual property when the… Continue reading
-
You Can’t Fire Me, I Own the Copyright
This is an old case I’ve been hanging on to for awhile. It’s a situation where the rights asserted are in lieu of an entirely different claim. Here, the plaintiff was ticked off he was fired and retaliated through copyright law. Pro se plaintiff Joseph Valdez was a real estate salesman working for defendant Coldwell… Continue reading
-
Most Excellent Conference
Yesterday there was a conference devoted to my favorite topic, Ownership and Control of IP Rights. What a shame it was on a different continent so I couldn’t attend. Luckily, the IPKat summarizes it here, here and here. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Continue reading
-
“New Discovered” Doesn’t Mean “I Just Now Went Looking”
American Plastic Equipment, Inc. claimed to own the copyright in toy action figures first manufactured by Louis Marx & Co. Defendant Toytrackerz, LLC made replicas and was sued. In its original decision (blogged here and here), the court found that there were two defects in American Plastic’s chain of title. The first break was in… Continue reading
-
Zorro a Preview to Steamboat Willie?
There’s a somewhat puzzling complaint newly filed in the Northern District of California. Zorro Productions, Inc. (ZPI) filed an unfair competition suit against Mars, Inc., maker of M&M’s candies, and its advertising agency, BBDO Worldwide, Inc. The complaint alleges that ZPI is the owner of all rights, including without limitation, trademarks and trade dress, both… Continue reading
-
It Should Be In the Public Domain
Artist Frank Gaylord created the bronze figures that are part of the Korean War Veterans Memorial. He sued the U.S. Postal Service when a photo of the sculptures was used on a stamp. In take one, the Court of Claims split the baby, deciding that the photo was a fair use of the sculpture, but also… Continue reading
About Me
Learn more about me at my website, Chestek Legal
Recent Posts
Categories
- copyright
- domain name
- moral rights
- patent
- right of publicity
- social media
- trade dress
- trade libel
- trade secret
- trademark
- Uncategorized