Do you remember the Turtles? They were the originators of such memorable hits as “Happy Together,” “It Ain’t Me Babe,” and “She’d Rather Be with Me.” The band was formed in 1965 and by 1970 was on the decline. You may think that when the Turtle’s hits were recorded they were protected by U.S. copyright […]
Blog – Adam Garson Law
The Internet-enabled business method patent just clutched its chest and fell over dead.The cause of its demise is theUltramercial v Hulu (Fed. Cir. 2014) case in the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Ultramercial patents address a typical Internet-enabled business method. Under the patents, a consumer agrees to view an advertisement and then […]
Ask Dr. Copyright … Dear Doc: Can you explain what’s protected by copyright when a newspaper or television or radio station reports facts about the news? How can we expect the news to be balanced and fair unless certain broadcasters get to own some of the facts that they investigate and report? After all, running […]
Aero TV Faces Additional Hurdles to Survive
October 30, 2014
Ask Dr. Copyright, Copyright
Ask Dr. Copyright … Dear Doc: Since you wrote about Aereo, that company with the millions of TV antennas that was going to free us from the tyranny of Comcast, Verizon, Time-Warner, Cox, and all of the other blood-sucking video vampires, and the fact that Aereo lost big-time in the Supreme Court, we have been […]
Death Spiral of Software Patents
October 30, 2014
Patent
In the not-so-slow death spiral of software patents in light of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Alice v CLS Bank, another trial court has determined that a patent for software should not have been issued because the software addressed by the patent is not the kind of invention eligible for patenting. In the case of […]
Fixed in a Tangible Medium … Tattoo Art
October 30, 2014
Copyright
Now that sporting a tattoo has gone mainstream, it would only stand to reason – – given that tattoos are creative expressions fixed in a tangible medium (skin) – – that tattoo artists seek protection of their designs under copyright law. To date, few copyright cases involving tattoos have been filed but we’ve learned that […]
Thicke and Tired of Dumb Litigation
September 30, 2014
Copyright
Dear Doc: I read recently that music stars Robin Thicke, Pharrell “Hat” Williams and Clifford “TI” Harris Jr. have sued the late Marvin Gaye’s kids. Thicke and his buddies, according to the news, claim that they did not steal parts of Gaye’s song “Got to Give it Up” in the hit from a year ago […]
LWH Scores Another Success Against Domainer
September 30, 2014
Internet Law
Lipton, Weinberger & Husick (“LWH”) recently scored another success against domainer, Marchex, Inc. Here’s some background. Domainers – those who speculate in domain names – set up web sites for purposes of selling a domain or obtaining pay-per-click revenues. When the domain is identical or similar to another company’s trademark, trademark owners will attempt to […]
Commentary: Queen of Hearts: “Off with His Head!”
September 30, 2014
Patent
Readers may recall that in our July newsletter we reported on the wonderland Supreme Court decision in Alice v. CLS Bank. The offspring of the mischief that decision created have now formed a deluge of cases during the past month and a half (for example, see the above article). To briefly review, the Court has […]
See the Amazing Shrinking Software Patent (Before It’s Gone)
September 30, 2014
Patent
As discussed above, the Alice v CLS Bank decision of the United States Supreme Court has the potential to preclude patent protection for many software and computer-implemented inventions and to invalidate many issued patents for those inventions. The Court gave only the sketchiest guidance on how to determine when a claimed invention is too abstract. […]