Our colleagues at Employment Law World recently blogged about a recent trade secrets decision from the Northern District of California, Apple v. Rivos. The case involved a common fact pattern: numerous employees were hired away from Apple by Rivos and Apple brought claims for trade secret misappropriation (among others). The court dismissed the claims against … Continue Reading
On September 18, 2023, NetChoice, LLC — a national trade association with members from the tech and social media industry — obtained a preliminary injunction from the District Court for the Northern District of California preventing the State of California from enforcing the California Age-Appropriate Design Code Act (“AADC” or the “Act”). The reason? The … Continue Reading
In Waterdrop Microdrink GmbH v. Qingdao Ecopure Filter Co., Ltd., the District Court for the Central District of California denied a motion to compel compliance with a subpoena relating to a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) proceeding, because the subpoena was never signed by the Clerk of the Court — despite the fact that … Continue Reading
While the enforcement of non-compete clauses (“noncompetes”) varies in jurisdictions across the country, California has a longstanding history of disfavoring them and championing a pro-employee-mobility work environment. Two laws were recently passed – Assembly Bill 1076 and Senate Bill 699 – expanding the scope of California’s prohibition on noncompetes and exposing companies to a heightened … Continue Reading
Last Fall in this space, we discussed the U.S. Copyright Office’s AI Initiative launched in early 2023. Among other things, the Initiative’s portal compiles registration decisions for AI-generated materials. Particularly instructive is a December 11, 2023 decision by the Copyright Review Board affirming the denial of registration to an AI-generated artwork. As detailed below, when … Continue Reading
In Cramer v. Netflix, Inc., 3:22-cv-131 (W.D. Pa. Sep. 18, 2023), the plaintiff brought a lawsuit alleging copyright infringement because a photograph flashed on the screen during the “Tiger King 2” documentary depicted a tattoo of the now famous “Tiger King” (a/k/a “Joe Exotic”), that the plaintiff tattoo artist had inked. Because ownership of original … Continue Reading
Our colleague and leader of the firm’s China Intellectual Property team Paolo Beconcini will be speaking at the upcoming INDICAM event Let’s Take Stock: The Evolution of Counterfeiting In Asia and The Importance of Intelligence and Intelligent Strategies. Paolo will discuss how to protect your IP in China, sharing insights on the new trademark law … Continue Reading
The use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) is growing, but whether AI-generated works can be protected by copyright remains unclear and the position is inconsistent across different jurisdictions including the UK and USA. A recent US case, concerning a comic book which included AI-generated images, offers an opportunity to contrast the two countries’ approaches to AI-generated … Continue Reading
The authors wish to thank Summer Associate Will Baker (Cleveland) for his work on this timely blog. Trademark owners take note: In Abitron Austria GmbH et al. v. Hetronic International, Inc. the Supreme Court definitively ruled that Sections 1114(1)(a) and 1125(a)(1) of the Lanham Act are not extraterritorial and extend only to claims where the … Continue Reading
A plaintiff has always been the “master” of a complaint, but such mastery is not unfettered. Principles of subject matter jurisdiction, proper venue, and personal jurisdiction restrict a plaintiff’s choice of forum. A trend of recent cases from the Supreme Court down through the lower courts continue to narrow that “mastery” that a plaintiff once … Continue Reading
An all too typical fact pattern involves a small-time ne’er-do-well infringing on the rights of a much bigger corporation. When the corporation is forced to bring a lawsuit, the “little guy” infringer cries poverty and seeks a settlement. An oft-used tactic of corporations is to settle the matter quickly (and before too much in attorneys’ … Continue Reading
In Punchbowl, Inc. v. AJ Press, LLC, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a trademark win for upstart news outfit Punchbowl News. In doing so, the court held that First Amendment protection extends to the names of commercial enterprises. This ground-breaking decision heralds the expansion of traditional fair use defenses to any trademark infringement claims where a … Continue Reading
Suing an overseas defendant often forces plaintiffs to go through the expensive and time-consuming process of serving the defendant through the Hague Convention. This requires translating the complaint and related documents, delivering them to the foreign country’s designated “Central Authority,” and then waiting for that Central Authority to actually deliver the documents and confirm delivery … Continue Reading
Last month, in an important ruling for Internet service providers, and anonymous users alike, a new defense is taking shape to subpoenas issued pursuant to the “unmasking” provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Specifically, in In re DMCA § 512(h) Subpoena to Twitter, Inc., N.D. Cal. Case No. 20-mc-80214, district judge Vince Chhabria … Continue Reading
In a potentially industry-changing ruling, Judge Gilliam of the Northern District of California ruled that amendments to click-wrap agreements, like Dropbox’s terms of use, are invalid unless the user had to manifest assent through some act more than continued use of the service: Defendant essentially argues that it contracted for the right to change the … Continue Reading
In the Agricultural Act of 2014 (“2014 Farm Bill”), Congress exempted “industrial hemp” from the Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”) in certain narrow circumstances. Among other things it authorized institutions of higher education and state agriculture departments to grow hemp under a pilot program if consistent with state law, and defined hemp to include up to … Continue Reading
Oklahoma is one of a number of states that allows the sale of medical cannabis. The high consumer demand, combined with relatively low license fees and barriers to entry in the market, has led to reportedly fierce competition among dispensaries. One dispensary, operated by “DOK Corporation,” sought to set itself apart from the competitors by … Continue Reading
On April 10, 2020, 3M Co. sued an unauthorized vendor for attempting to sell an NYC agency $45 million worth of 3M-brand respirator masks at 500% of 3M’s list price, or more. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as government agencies scramble to procure personal protective equipment (PPE), unscrupulous parties are capitalizing on the crisis through price … Continue Reading
On March 26, a federal district court in New York held that the publishers of the popular NBA 2K videogame did not infringe on plaintiff’s tattoo copyrights when the publishers depicted those tattoos on basketball players in NBA 2K. The publishers, 2K Games and Take-Two Interactive Software, were successful in asserting multiple copyright defenses, including … Continue Reading
While the world deals with the growing global pandemic caused by the novel Corona Virus, SARS-CoV-2, and the COVID-19 disease that it causes, some out there are trying to take advantage of the crisis by seeking trademark protection over COVID and/or CORONAVIRUS. These attempts are not only in bad taste but are also unlikely to … Continue Reading
On June 22, an advocate general at the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) issued an opinion indicating that Christian Louboutin S.A.’s signature red sole might be a protectable trademark — or it might not be — depending on whether the protection of the shape in combination with color would afford the mark … Continue Reading
On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its ruling in Star Athletica LLC v. Varsity Brands Inc., which, in the Court’s words “resolve[s] widespread disagreement over the proper test” for determining when “the design of a useful article is eligible for copyright protection.” Slip Op. at 1. Varsity Brands, a cheerleading uniform manufacturer, filed the … Continue Reading
On January 5, the U.S. District Court, District of Colorado ruled that ceramics company CeramTec GmbH is not entitled to trade dress protection for the pink color of its hip implant components. C5Med. Werks, LLC v. CeramTec GmbH, D. Colo., No 14-cv-00643-RBJ, 1517 decision highlights the limits of trade dress protection, which only extends to non-functional … Continue Reading
This morning, the Supreme Court issued its most recent ruling in Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., unanimously holding that the “objective reasonableness” of an unsuccessful litigant’s position should be accorded “substantial weight” when awarding attorneys’ fees in copyright cases. The Court, however, also noted that this factor is not dispositive and district courts … Continue Reading
