Property, intangible

Medtronic Sofamor Danek USA, Inc. v. Globus Medical, Inc. is another effort by a patent-owning enterprise to try to have its cake and eat it too. The problems start when the company that owns the patents isn’t the manufacturing arm, so the patents are licensed to a sister (child, parent, cousin, etc., etc.) company. It’s… Continue reading

The National Law Journal is reporting (free subscription required) that four organizations – the Anti-Defamation League, the Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, the Iranian Americans Jewish Federation and the Iranian American Bar Association – filed an amicus brief in the Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, asking the court to grant a new… Continue reading

News stories are reporting that renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz has used – well, something – as collateral for a $24 million loan that is due in September. The New York Times reports it this way: On July 29, Ms. Leibovitz was sued in State Supreme Court for nonpayment by a company that had lent her… Continue reading

Changes of ownership of intellectual property rights are sometimes done in a series of transactions all executed at generally the same time. For example, when acquiring assets, they might first be assigned to an acquisition company, the acquisition company merged into the purchaser, the seller dissolved, and the purchasing company’s name changed to the name… Continue reading

The IPKat reports on an effort in a Florida court to seize trademarks owned by the Cuban government in order to satisfy a judgment against it. The Miami Herald does a great job of explaining a complicated situation. I can’t improve on it, other than to provide a search query if you’re interested in seeing… Continue reading

Never resisting the urge to be defiant, MGA Entertainment announced that it has a new line of dolls called “Moxie Girlz.” mox⋅ie /ˈmɒksi–noun Slang.1. vigor; verve; pep.2. courage and aggressiveness; nerve.3. skill; know-how. Provocative name for a provocative event. You be the judge whether they infringe the copyright in Bratz. (Moxie Girlz) (Bratz) © 2009… Continue reading

An anonymous commenter to a previous blog post provided a link to today’s opinion finding that the government seizure of the Mongols trademark in United States v. Cavazos was not proper under the RICO statute. You may recall it was widely reported back in October, 2008 that the government had seized the registered trademark of… Continue reading

Knight’s Armament Company and Optical Systems Technology, Inc. (OSTI) collaborated on the production of “clip-on in-line night vision devices” (CNVD), night scopes for use in low light conditions to be placed on a rifle immediately in front of the regular scope. Knight’s Armament contracted to provide the scopes, which were manufactured by OSTI. The contracts… Continue reading

Third Education Group, Inc. v. Phelps is a short, clean, decision on trademark ownership. Richard Phelps wanted to create a web-based journal and asked Thompson to join him in the endeavor. Phelps thought of the name “Third Education Group” and registered the trademark in his own name. The parties had a falling out and ownership… Continue reading

Ryan Gile, the Las Vegas Trademark Attorney, reports on an interesting and complicated new lawsuit revolving around the ownership of the mark TROPICANA – for casinos and hotels, not orange juice. “The Tropicana’s famous roadside sign, a Las Vegas landmark dominating the Strip and welcoming arriving guests for a half-century.” (from the complaint). The complaint… Continue reading