Property, intangible

When we file trademark applications electronically, there is a form declaration for the signatory. At the time Slep-Tone Entertainment filed its applications, this was the language: The undersigned, being hereby warned that willful false statements and the like so made are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both, under 18 U.S.C. Section 1001, and that… Continue reading

Patent law heavily involves interpretation of language. In addition to the construction of the claims themselves, it has an almost unintelligible set of rules for distinguishing licenses from assignments and special rules for the language one must use to assign a patent. But in Fort. v. Innegra Technologies, LLC, we have a more interesting situation,… Continue reading

In 1992, plaintiff Oleg Pogrebnoy began publishing a Russian language newspaper in New York titled in Cyrillic “KYPbEP,” which translates as “courier”; Pogrebnoy also later used the word “Kurier.” Pogrebnoy claimed ownership of the unregistered trademarks through a chain of transactions, starting with his own use in 1992, through five different companies (probably all companies… Continue reading

Lawyers are wordy. Often the wordiness doesn’t matter that much, “I hereby demand that you cease and desist” instead of “you must stop now” both get the point across. But never, ever write a contract that is wordy without a good reason, because that can put you into litigation hell. Defendant 4EverYoung, Ltd., a UK… Continue reading

According to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit: The popular song Whoomp! (There It Is) was released in 1993. For more than half of the song’s existence—since 2002—the parties to this action have been litigating the question of who owns the composition copyright to the song. And at least part of the reason… Continue reading

The USPTO has a number of different databases with information about trademarks—one for basic trademark registration data, searched by using the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS), assignment records at Assignments on the Web (AOTW), and ex parte appeal, opposition and cancellation proceedings in the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board Inquiry System (TTABVUE). Two older databases,… Continue reading

Section 411 of the Copyright Act says that “no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title.” In Reed Elsevier, Inc. v. Muchnick, the Supreme Court held that § 411 is a “claim… Continue reading

The patent, copyright and trademark statutes are not paragons of clarity when it comes to assignment. They all require that assignments be in writing, which is fine as far as it goes. What seems to befuddle lawyers is what to do when the transfer is by operation of law. The Copyright Act acknowledges implicitly that… Continue reading

Oh those patent trolls, cleverer and cleverer. To try to keep their cases in Texas, NPEs have rented empty office space in Texas and Continue reading

Successful movies always seem to be accompanied by copyright infringement lawsuits, generally an optimistic author who believes his or her story was stolen and made into a movie. But in Gomba Music, Inc. v. Avant we have a very different twist, two different claimants to ownership of the copyright in music written by the subject… Continue reading