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It Doesn’t Work That Way
When we last visited Florida VirtualSchool v. K12, Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit certified a question to the Supreme Court of Florida. As a refresher, in Florida VirtualSchool we have a state entity, FVS, enforcing a trademark. The defendants argued, successfully at the trial court stage, that FVS did not have… Continue reading
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The Year Is the Key
I previously asked readers to “Name the Owner” of a copyrighted work. And the answer is: Urbont does not own the copyright* and the case is dismissed. The key is that the work was created in 1966, so whether the Iron Man Theme was a work for hire is decided under the Copyright Act of… Continue reading
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Not What I Would Have Guessed …
Plaintiff ZipSleeve, LLC had registered its ZIPSLEEVE trademark* but the registration lapsed for failure to file a declaration under Section 8 of the Trademark Act. ZipSleeve filed a new application, which hasn’t registered yet. ZipSleeve sued West Marine Inc. for trademark infringement under 15 U.S.C. § 1114, which is for infringement of a registered trademark.… Continue reading
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Name the Owner
Below are the facts, and here’s the question—who owns the copyright? Answer in a later post. In 1966, songwriter and plaintiff Jack Urbont was aspiring. A friend introduced him to Stan Lee of Marvel Comics fame who was developing a television show called “Marvel Super Heroes.” Urbont wasn’t familiar with the Marvel superheroes, so Marvel… Continue reading
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Check the Clock
Mr. Hillyar was the the former director of Gems TV (UK). Gems TV (UK) was owned by Gem TV Holdings Ltd. Gems TV (UK) owned the ‘211 Patent and intended to assign it to Gem TV Holdings Ltd. but didn’t. Gem TV Holdings Ltd. then sold Gems TV (UK) in a stock purchase agreement to… Continue reading
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A Trademark Cause of Action Absent Confusion
Sometimes it’s difficult to state a claim for a trademark ownership dispute. There is no cause of action per se for declaring or correcting ownership of a trademark.* Resolution of the ownership issue is almost always subsumed into the infringement claim, because the two warring parties are both trying to use the trademark and so… Continue reading
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Assent Versus Signature
I asked whether the below “Submit” page, used when one posts a review on Rip-Off Report (owned by defendant Xcentric), transferred an exclusive license in the submitter’s copyright: If you were to use the scrollbar on the right, you would find this grant: “By posting information or content to any public area of www.RipoffReport.com, you… Continue reading
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STC.UNM v. Intel Stands
I’ve written in the past about a patent ownership stand-off, where, because of a mix-up in assignments and a disinterested possible co-owner, the interested owner cannot enforce the patent (original decision here and en banc decision here). The Supreme Court has refused to review the decision, so Ethicon, Inc. v. United States Surgical Corp., 135… Continue reading
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Sometimes It’s That Easy
Legal doctrine has developed a manufacturer-distributor paradigm, but that is too simplistic in today’s commercial world. What we have in ACRO Biosystems v. Acrobiosystems USA LLC, an opposition, is manufacturer versus branch office. The opposer is a Chinese manufacturer of biochemical reagents sold in the US under the mark ACROBIOSYSTEMS. The applicants are a US… Continue reading
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Was It Licensed?
Below is a portion of the “Submit” page when one posts a review on Rip-Off Report, owned by defendant Xcentric. (Click on the image for the full page.) If you were to use the scrollbar on the right, you would find this grant: “By posting information or content to any public area of www.RipoffReport.com, you… Continue reading