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A Less than Iron Clad Theory
In the past few years John Welch at the TTABlog has organized a Boston road trip for the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. They’re great events and I highly recommend that anyone nearby make it there. This past October, the TTAB held an inter partes hearing in Iron Man Magazine versus the Ironman Triathalon for… Continue reading
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File Your Annual Report
IP suits occasionally get sidetracked when there are problems with the corporation’s authority to act, like here. Attacking the authority looks like a quick way out of the suit for the defendant, so worth a try. The Exclusive Rights blog brings us the story of a lawsuit almost foiled by the failure of a corporation… Continue reading
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Dilbert on Company Time
Dilbert has been running a series for all of you who aspire to be you own boss but on company time, a lesson that Carter Bryant has learned. Sorry about the formatting, but click on the strip to see the full image: © 2009 Pamela Chestek Continue reading
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Only Registrants Get Statutory Damages for Counterfeiting
The modern corporate enterprise with specialized subsidiaries may have its benefits, but it can also cause some unintended consequences on the intellectual property front. I’ve previously reported on a Mars intra-company assignment of patents that created havoc in at least two suits. Now, oil company Shell has run into a wrinkle in a routine litigation… Continue reading
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I Own It When I See It
How many people can own knowledge? Banks give merchants a line of credit for credit card transactions. The banks use independent service organizations (ISOs) to sign up merchants for the bank’s services and to provide the equipment needed to process the transactions. Merchants submit their sales to a payment processor, which transmits the information to… Continue reading
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Motherless IP Children
The IPKat has a great post on acquiring trademarks that escheat to the Crown. The comments section gives some tips on how to go about it, and promises an update. © 2009 Pamela Chestek Continue reading
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Bratz To Remain On Sale For At Least a Year
The fallout from the Mattel win continues – MGA filed a motion under seal for a stay pending appeal; Mattel filed a motion asking for the appointment of a receiver: Mattel makes this Application on the grounds that MGA has filed, both in this Court and in the Ninth Circuit, stay applications based on MGA’s… Continue reading
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In Service of the Government
Wired reports about a prisoner who sued the government for copyright infringement for its sale of desk-blotter calendars he created as part of his assigned work duties while incarcerated. Suits for copyright infringement against the government are controlled by 28 U.S.C. § 1498(b): Hereafter, whenever the copyright in any work protected under the copyright laws… Continue reading
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They’re Not Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cats
Although styled as a likelihood of confusion case, Kuklachev v. Gelfman International Enterprises, Inc. is really just a description of a bald-faced attempt at a trademark grab, driven by a largely untold story of a business falling out. It’s a no-brainer as a trademark ownership case; while the court dealt with a lot of theories… Continue reading
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Mars Gets at Least One Do-Over
The June, 2008 decision in Mars, Inc. v. Coin Acceptors, Inc., blogged here, was a tale of what happens when companies move IP assets around for tax purposes. In Coin Acceptors, Mars sued Coin Acceptors, then assigned the patents to a subsidiary, MEI, Inc. The assignment created a standing problem for Mars, which lost its… Continue reading