license
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The Winnie the Pooh Case is Really, Really Over
I’ve written in the past about a dispute over ownership of the Winnie the Pooh intellectual property rights. The original state court case was a claim by Stephen Slesinger Inc. (SSI), the successor to the rights from A.A. Milne, that Disney had underpaid royalties. A subsequent infringement case was brought in federal court, and Disney… Continue reading
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Of Course There is Copyright in Tattoos
From Tattoo Art Inc. website There is an unpublished decision out of the 4th Circuit that doesn’t cover any new ground legally but is timely, given the recent brouhaha over copyright in tattoos. Unremarkably, because I’m not sure how anyone could think differently, there is no discussion on the copyrightability of tattoos; that is assumed.… Continue reading
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Lack of Control as a Shield
You are undoubtedly familiar with the concept that the lack of control over the quality of the goods and services with which a mark is used can mean that the trademark is abandoned (recursive link alert) by the trademark owner. But in East West, LLC v. Rahman, the lack of control was instead used to… Continue reading
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You Really Need It Signed
If you snoozed through biz org class in law school thinking that you weren’t going to be a transactional lawyer, perhaps you better go back and brush up on the law of agency. That’s what snagged Universal Music Group and its related company, UMG Recordings. That, and the pressure to get the deal done. Artists… Continue reading
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Salba United
I previously blogged about a case, Salba Corp. v. Ralston, where there were two different owners of SALBA-formative marks. Salba Corp. owned the trademark SALBA (a varietal of chia seed) and the Ralstons then assigned their SALBASMART and SALBA BALANCE marks to Salba Corp. with a license back and a reversion if Salba Corp. breached… Continue reading
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I Learned What “Dubitante” Means
For purposes of patent standing, there are generally three categories of ownership described: patent owner, exclusive licensee, and non-exclusive licensee. The first has the right to sue, an exclusive licensee must join the assignee in any patent infringement suit, and the non-exclusive licensee has no standing at all. But the first category can be subdivided.… Continue reading
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The Missing Inventor
I love cases where the defendant goes back and finds another potential inventor. Stemcells, Inc. v. Neuralstem, Inc. shows some of the ways this can play out – in this case, standing, and the rarely-invoked bona fide purchaser in good faith defense. The patents in dispute are 7,115,418entitled “Methods of proliferating undifferentiated neural cells” and… Continue reading
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Who Owns the Mark Used by a Bunch of People?
Like life, trademark ownership can get complicated. About a year and a half ago I reported on a brewing dispute over the ownership of the trademark YOGI TEA. Golden Temple of Oregon (GTO) sued Wai Lana Productions for trademark infringement of its YOGI and YOGI TEA mark. Wai Lana defended itself on the basis that… Continue reading
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It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
Popeye vs. Popeyes: the owner of Popeyes “quick service” restaurants, AFC Enterprises, Inc., has filed a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment asking the court to declare that it, not the Hearst Corporation, owner of the Popeye cartoon character, is the owner of the trademark POPEYES for restaurant services. The dispute exists because AFC Enterprises originally licensed… Continue reading
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Litigation Strategy
Here’s a TTAB case that I think presents an interesting procedural question. The situation: Bello Fitness Ltda, petitioner, is a Brazilian clothing manufacturer. It owns the BODY UP mark in Brazil and had a relationship with non-party Body Up, LLC to distribute the BODY UP clothing in the U.S. Fernando Homem da Costa Filho was… Continue reading
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