exclusive license
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I Called It (Sort of)
I previously wrote about a case, Uptown Grill, L.L.C. v. Shwartz, with some boobery in the sale of a single-locale restaurant. There were two relevant documents, a Bill of Sale and a trademark license agreement, entered into 16 days apart. The Bill of Sale was between seller Shwartz and Uptown Grill LLC in exchange for […] Continue reading
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The Copyright License As a Property Right
There are a slew of lawsuits against textbook publishers alleging use of stock photography beyond the scope of the original license (recursive link). Whether one characterizes it as massive intentional infringement, or a simple failure of the publishers to track their use and true-up on their licenses, it looks like it is a pervasive practice […] Continue reading
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Common Law Rights and the Geographic Scope of Registration
Oh no, I don’t think so. The Camellia Grill was a New Orleans restaurant that closed in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina. Various aspects of the business were owned by various entities owned by Michael Shwartz; for our purposes we’ll just refer to them all as “Shwartz.” In August, 2007, Shwartz entered into several agreements with […] Continue reading
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Tax Structuring Strikes Again
Oh, adidas. adidas AG is a large multinational conglomerate headquartered in Germany. It reported that at the close of 2014 it had 154 subsidiaries, one of which is co-plaintiff adidas America, Inc. A few years ago adidas developed “miCoach,” an “interactive personal coaching and training system.” Parent adidas AG owns the company’s US patents but, […] Continue reading
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Was It Licensed?
Below is a portion of the “Submit” page when one posts a review on Rip-Off Report, owned by defendant Xcentric. (Click on the image for the full page.) If you were to use the scrollbar on the right, you would find this grant: “By posting information or content to any public area of www.RipoffReport.com, you […] Continue reading
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The Photography Suits In a Nutshell
I’ve been writing for some time (recursive link) about numerous lawsuits between photographers, or their agencies, and textbook publishers that have used photographs in excess of what they originally licensed for their books. Mostly I’ve been writing about challenges to standing, which are early in the cases on a motion to dismiss. But some of […] Continue reading
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Who Can Enforce the Mark?
I previously wrote about an unusual case in Florida, where a state agency alleged infringement of registered trademarks. The lawsuit was dismissed for lack of standing, with the district court reaching the conclusion that the enabling statute for the agency didn’t grant it the right to enforce its trademarks. According to the statute, Florida VirtualSchool is […] Continue reading
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What Doesn’t Work for Copyright Standing
Screen Media Ventures filed a copyright infringement suit against BitTorrent downloaders of the movie “Infected” and sought leave to subpoena internet service providers for subscriber information. Screen Media claimed this language gave it enough ownership interest to have standing for the claim: [Screen Media is authorized] by itself, or in the name of Infected LLC […] Continue reading
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Do Your Homework
Since the Acacia Research Group‘s business model is based on acquiring patents, you would expect them to be fairly diligent about ensuring that the chain of title is solid. But it wasn’t in Endotach LLC v. Cook Medical Inc. Endotach claimed to be an exclusive licensee of two patents, having acquired its rights from Acacia. […] Continue reading
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