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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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. […]
Dear Doc: What do an elephant, a monkey, and the United States Federal Government have in common? Signed, The Riddler Dear Riddler: The answer to your query is: none of them can own copyrights! (Bet you didn’t see that one coming! BIFF! POW! BAM!!) Under federal copyright law (17 U.S.C. §101 et seq.) works created […]
You may have heard about the Discovery channel’s popular TV series, Amish Mafia. The Discovery Channel describes the show: Untrusting of outside law enforcement, some Amish in Lancaster County, PA have for many years regularly turned to a small organized group of men for protection and justice. Discovery’s new series Amish Mafia provides a first-ever […]
Patent infringement litigation usually is high stakes and very expensive. The cost of the litigation can easily reach seven figures or more. In the United States, each party to litigation generally bears its own costs, with exceptions. Section 285 of the patent statute contains the exception for patent litigation. The statute is short and sweet: The […]
Dear Doc: Seems to me that us vegetarians don’t get no respect in court. I heard that “Lettuce Turnip the Beet” got ripped off by that infamous pirate and parachute flapping no-good Gymboree Corporation, and the judge wouldn’t lift a finger to help. What gives? Signed, Rootin’ for the Little Guy Dear Little Root: Since […]
A client recently asked whether he could apply to register his personal name as a trademark. Of course, just ask Lebron James, Sarah Palin, Arnold Schwarzeneggr, or Elvis (if you catch sight of him), all of whom registered their names as trademarks. Does that mean if your name is “Joe,” you can register “Joe’s Bar” […]
Last month the Supreme Court decided the case of Alice v. CLS Bank and wandered around once again in wonderland. Let me explain. The U.S. Supreme Court, as judge made law, has grafted onto patent law the concepts that one cannot obtain a patent on a law of nature, a natural phenomenon, or an abstract […]
