exclusive licensee
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Even an Exclusive Licensee Can’t Sue the Trademark Owner for Infringement
This might strike you as odd. An exclusive licensee of a copyright can sue the copyright owner for infringement, Essex Music, Inc. v. ABKCO Music & Recs., Inc., 743 F. Supp. 237, 241 (S.D.N.Y. 1990), and a exclusive licensee of a patent can sue the patent owner for infringement, Ortho Pharm. Corp. v. Genetics Inst.,… Continue reading
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The Standing of an Exclusive Trademark Licensee (or not)
July 7, 2020: Updated to add footnote 2. Section 32 of the Lanham Act is for infringement of registered trademarks. The section says that the liability for infringement is to the “registrant.” That category undisputedly includes a successor-in-interest, such as an assignee. A minority of courts have also held that “registrant” encompasses an exclusive licensee,… Continue reading
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When Is It a License?
When reviewing a settlement agreement, I often ponder the parts where it says something like “Party B agrees not to infringe the trademark in the future.” The agreement doesn’t need it; whether you say it or not Party B isn’t allowed to break the law. I suppose adding the language gives you a breach of… Continue reading
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I Think This One Is Wrong
Moreno v. Pro Boxing Supplies, Inc. is a precedential decision and, IMHO, clearly contrary to the Board’s controlling precedent. Opposer and petitioner Julie Moreno is the exclusive US licensee of the unregistered trademark CASANOVA for boxing equipment: Applicant and Registrant Pro Boxing Supplies is the owner of a registration for CASANOVA in standard character form… Continue reading
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Suing the Patent Owner
As we all know, standing is difficult in patent cases. There are two types of “exclusive” licensees (in my view, making jurisprudence very confusing). First is the “virtual assignee” who has essentially all of the rights of the patent owner and can sue for infringement without having to join the patent owner. Second is an… Continue reading
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It Doesn’t Work That Way
When we last visited Florida VirtualSchool v. K12, Inc., the Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit certified a question to the Supreme Court of Florida. As a refresher, in Florida VirtualSchool we have a state entity, FVS, enforcing a trademark. The defendants argued, successfully at the trial court stage, that FVS did not have… Continue reading
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You Are Not the Only One Confused by the Law of Patent Standing
Here are the musings of a bewildered district court judge trying to figure out the difference between a patent owner, an exclusive licensee, and a “de facto” patent owner. The patent owner, a professor named Morris, had exclusively licensed just about everything to plaintiff BRK and the court had to figure out if BRK had… Continue reading
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A Patent Owner Who Doesn’t Own the Patent
I’ve often written about the various categories of potential plaintiffs in patent infringement suits. Depending on what rights a licensee acquired, it may or may not have constitutional standing to bring a patent infringement lawsuit. A new case, CopyTele, Inc. v. E Ink Holdings, Inc., comes at it from a somewhat different angle — here,… Continue reading
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When “Exclusive Licensee” Equals “Registrant”
Heraeus Germany makes dental products and distributes them in the United States through a sister company, plaintiff Heraeus Kulzer LLC (Heraeus America). Defendant Omni Dental Supply imports gray market products it claims are made by Heraeus Germany but intended for distribution in other countries, primarily China. In order to stop Omni, Heraeus Germany made Heraeus… Continue reading
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Neither Fish Nor Fowl
Ah, here’s an interesting one. The plaintiff claims to be an exclusive patent licensee, the defendant is the United States, the case properly filed in the Court of Federal Claims, and the defendant has challenged standing. But rather than the usual situation where the court is examining whether enough rights were transferred for the license… Continue reading
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