Property, intangible

It’s time again for Meet the Bloggers on Monday, May 4th, at 8 PM, recreating the first historic gathering that John Welch and Marty Schwimmer put together at Henry’s Pub and Restaurant, 618 Fifth Avenue, in San Diego. (I was there!, I really was!, but I must have been in the bathroom or something when they… Continue reading

One thing that’s sure to make my eyes roll back into my head is the word “Drifters” in a case caption. Westlaw has 13 cases listed, 8 federal, 3 state and 2 TTAB. Now the TTAB has had another crack at it, including looking at evidence that goes all the way back to the very… Continue reading

I’ve written a lot about trademark ownership disputes under US law, where trademark rights arise through use. The question comes up when two or more formerly cooperating parties have a falling out and each claim to own the same trademark. But the issue can’t arise just in the US, certainly there are failed business relationships… Continue reading

I like to watch Shark Tank. If you haven’t seen it, entrepreneurs come pitch a panel of notable business people asking for an investment in their nascent companies. Often the topic of intangible assets—generally patents and trademarks—comes up, which presumably the sharks are taking into account when valuing a company. The entrepreneurs make representations about… Continue reading

I like the cross-over of different legal disciplines. Ownership issues arise as part of an infringement claim, but also come up in trusts and estates, mergers and acquisitions, taxation, and bankruptcy. These cases can end in an unexpected way, sometimes happening because there is a failure to understand exactly how the various trademark, copyright and… Continue reading

I previously asked whether the below check transferred copyright ownership: It doesn’t, at least not on a motion for summary judgment. If you can’t read it, on the memo line the check says “For rights to song ‘Dos Horas De Vida.” The check was written by defendant Hacienda Records to Jose Guzman, the songwriter of… Continue reading

Does this check transfer copyright ownership? If you can’t see the image, the check (which was cashed) is for $75.00 and on the memo line says “For rights to song ‘Dos Horas De Vida.” What do you think? Leave your comments below. The text of this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative… Continue reading

Hang in with me, we have a bit of a licensing chain to follow here. The lawsuit is about whether a Russian performer, Sergey Lazarev, had a license to record and perform the song “Almost Sorry”: The song was written by Taryn Murphy and Chris Landon. They pitched Lazarev’s manager in 2006 and we have… Continue reading

As I’ve written about before, Sybersound is a 2008 Ninth Circuit decision that was not well-received by copyright authorities. We now have a second Ninth Circuit opinion interpreting Sybersound that undoes the original harm. The decision is Corbello v. DeVito, the case that just keeps on giving for someone who writes about copyright ownership. It… Continue reading

I’ve written about MemoryLink Corp. v. Motorola Solutions, Inc. in the past (recursive link). Peter Strandwitz and Bob Kniskern, owners of plaintiff Memorylink, had collaborated with defendant Motorola Solutions on the development of a handheld camera that could wirelessly transmit and receive video signals. Standwitz and Kniskern trusted Motorola Solutions with filing patent applications on… Continue reading