There is some belief in the open source community that a patent license and a covenant not to sue have different legal effect. The theory is that a license runs with the patent but that a covenant not to sue may not — in other words, if a company that has covenanted not to...
Read more →A company assigned the same copyright in a film to two different companies. Who owns it? The film is Italian classic La Dolce Vita: The parties agree that a a company called Cinemat S.A. was the owner of the copyright, by assignment from original producer Riama Films S.p.A. The problem arises with the next...
Read more →The Patently-O blog has a thoughtful post on patent ownership and licensing, advocating for a stricter recording requirement: Because of an inadequate system for recordation, prospective purchasers, licensees, lenders, and even defendants in a lawsuit may have to take it on faith that the seller, licensor, borrower, or plaintiff truly owns, and has not...
Read more →For starters, so you have standing. Particularly if your assignment record is a hot mess. There are two statutory bases for trademark infringement, § 32 (15 U.S.C. § 1114) for infringement of registered marks and § 43(a) (15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)), a broader provision that can also encompass trademark infringement. Section 32 provides a...
Read more →The U.S. patent, trademark and copyright statutes all have recording provisions (“race-notice,” if my property law recollection is correct) that provide a bona fide purchaser in good faith defense to the second purchaser. I don’t remember the last time I read a case that dealt with the assignment of the same intellectual property to...
Read more →Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
© 2013-2022 Pamela S. Chestek. All rights reserved.