Property, intangible

A few days ago there was some cryptic news about a trademark dispute over the PUMA marks.  The press release says this: Sportlifestyle Company PUMA herewith declares that the former Spanish license holder Estudio 2000 S.A., which owned several PUMA trademark rights, has been obliged to vest these to PUMA according to the arbitration ruling.… Continue reading

I don’t usually write about abandonment, but Commerce Bancorp LLC v. Hill is a good teaching moment – or maybe a not, since it looks like Commerce Bancorp dodged a bullet.  But it only survived summary judgment in a court that sets a low bar for finding a genuine issue of material fact. The facts… Continue reading

Some cases make you wonder and UFA Holdings, Inc. v. Performance Acquisition Group Company is one of them.  It’s newly filed in Oregon, as reported by local news channel KTMR.com. The first “G.I. Joe’s” store opened in 1947 and ultimately grew to a chain of 27 stores.  As told in the plaintiff’s memorandum in support… Continue reading

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

In suit is what’s styled as a license to use the mark BUTTERNUT for bread in parts of Illinois.  Interstate Bakeries (IBC) is the record owner of the BUTTERNUT mark and Plaintiffs Lewis Brothers Bakeries Inc. and Chicago Baking Company (LBB/CBC) use the BUTTERNUT mark.  Interstate is currently in bankruptcy, which means it can reject… Continue reading

Vergara Hermosilla v. The Coca-Cola Company demonstrates that probably the most significant role of a contract is to make sure that everyone is on the same page.  But business happens fast, so the writings aren’t always in place as fast as they should be.  Here, Coca-Cola was whacked with a preliminary injunction all because of… Continue reading

The Patent Prospector summarizes a Federal Circuit review of a botched effort to claim priority to an earlier-filed application. The child was filed without the first page, so there was no express claim of priority to its parent. Result? Patent invalid because it was anticipated by the factual, but not legal, predecessor. Post here. This… Continue reading

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

So who owns the patent? “On the record presented, the Court concludes that AUO has demonstrated by credible chain of title evidence that it is the assignee of” U.S. Patent No. 6,689,629. Apparently realizing its potential problem, IBM US had also filed assignments from the inventors to IBM US in May 2007 (the lawsuit was… Continue reading

My favorite kind of spat, family. In the plaintiff’s corner we have Robyn Astaire, widow of Fred Astaire. How could I not have a gratuitous embedded video of the master: In the defendant’s corner we have her stepdaughter, Phyllis Ava Astaire McKenzie, along with two other individuals and Career Transition for Dancers, Inc. What is… Continue reading