• Combining Trademarks in a Jointly Owned Holdco

    by  • July 15, 2008

    The May-June 2008 Trademark Reporter has an article entitled “Combining Trademarks in a Jointly Owned IP Holding Company,” by Lanning Bryer and Matthew Asbell. It discusses the risks and advantages of using jointly-owned trademark holding companies for management of “combined” trademarks, i.e., where one trademark is used by unrelated entities (like Volvo) or the...

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    Lassie Speaks!

    by  • July 14, 2008

    Professor Patry‘s primer on the termination provisions of copyright (straightforward to him, convoluted to the rest of us). Don’t miss his “About Me” portrait on this one – Updated August 5, 2008: Here is a link to the decision in Classic Media, Inc. v. Winifred Mewborn that I have posted since it is no...

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    Works Are Never Made for Hire

    by  • July 12, 2008

    Malibu Textiles, Inc. v. Carol Anderson, Inc. is a good demonstration of the confusion that, almost 20 years after CCNV, still surrounds whether a work is a “work made for hire.” In Malibu, designs for lace were created by an independent party but Malibu filed copyright applications for the lace designs listing ownership as...

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    Ownership of Music in Snow White

    by  • July 12, 2008

    The Los Angeles Intellectual Property Trademark Attorney Blog reports here that there is an ownership dispute over the music in a 1987 live-action version of Snow White. The blog reports: MGM asserts that defendant, Arik Rudich, is an individual now residing in Israel, who composed certain music and/or songs included in the picture, which...

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    Warner/Chappell Still Happy on Birthdays

    by  • July 12, 2008

    I’m a little late to the game, but I just got around to reading Robert Brauneis’ “Copyright and the World’s Most Popular Song,” available here, blogged here, here, and here. It’s an interesting and thorough investigation into whether “Happy Birthday” is still protected by copyright. The telling of the story covers initial ownership of...

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    Summer Reading

    by  • July 7, 2008

    A friend reminded me to read Paul Goldstein’s “Errors and Omissions” (he was reminded by the publication of Professor Goldstein’s new book, “A Patent Lie“). I brought it for my summer beach reading and was highly entertained to read a novel about the topic of the blog, ownership of IP. The premise is that...

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    Hot N’ Ready For All

    by  • July 4, 2008

    Pinnacle Pizza Co. v. Little Caesar Enterprises, Inc., does some contract interpretation on ownership of trademarks in a franchise relationship – not the trademarks originally licensed, but a trademark created by a franchisee. Pinnacle Pizza was a franchisee for Little Caesar Enterprises pizza (I’ll use “Little Caesar” to refer to the company; the trademark...

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    Devil in the Details

    by  • July 2, 2008

    In Angel Flight of Georgia, Inc. v. Angel Flight America, Inc., the 11th Circuit decision left open more questions than it answered. Two entities with an admirable purpose, providing free transportation for donated organs and medical patients, were using the same trademark, ANGEL FLIGHT, in the same territory – plaintiff Angel Flight Georgia (AF-GA)...

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    Shifting IP

    by  • June 30, 2008

    Update: See more recent post on related case here. In large corporate entities, intellectual property is often placed and moved around to improve the company’s tax position. The IP department may not be consulted on the shift, finding out only at the last minute when it is asked to execute the assignments that the...

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