I was a big Batman fan when I was a kid. That’s one of the reasons Kaufman v. Warner Brothers caught my attention (the other sharing the correct spelling of the plaintiff’s surname — no relation!). This was a case that did not go well for the plaintiff — and frankly was a bit of a stretch…
Bright Ideas, the New York Bar Association’s I.P. Journal, published an article that Mark Kaufman wrote. It provides a detailed discussion of one of our previous blog articles, Metadata? The Devil (and the Credit) Is in the Details. Be warned, this version for the Bar Association is a bit more lawyerly, so it might be exuberantly…
A case originating in the Southern District of Florida called Allied Lonestar v. Lonestar Distillery recently found itself before the Fifth Circuit. The dispute was over the alleged trademark abandonment of Allied’s Cowboy Little Barrel Whiskey, and whether Lonestar subsidiary Garrison Brothers infringed by selling its Cowboy Bourbon. The evidence Allied presented as proof (pun unintended) of using the mark…
In Frederick L. Allen; Nautilus Productions, LLC v. Roy A. Cooper, III, Governor of North Carolina, the shipwreck of the infamous pirate ship Queen Anne’s Revenge failed to deliver intellectual property riches its explorers had expected. The Queen Anne’s Revenge famously was run aground off the coast of North Carolina in 1717 — some say intentionally — by Edward…
Stevens v. CoreLogic is a copyright case recently decided in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. In the case, several real estate photographers allege that CoreLogic, which provides a service to real estate brokers by providing pictures of homes that are for sale, removed the metadata from their photographs which helped to identify each photographer and…
In a recent case called Viacom v. IJR Capital, the issue centered around defendant’s plan to open a chain of restaurants called Krusty Krab — just like the fictional restaurant in Viacom’s SpongeBob Squarepants franchise. That perennial cash cow spans a wide variety of media outlets, including the original television series, a movie, a musical, and downloadable…
On April 19, Lance Armstrong was in the news again as he reached a settlement with the United States Postal Service for $5 million in a false claims suit that sought $100 million. The case, called Landis v. Armstrong, featured detailed accounts of the doping that professional cyclists take in order to compete at the highest world level —…
Many of my clients have been on the receiving end of misleading notices from companies pretending to be the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). These letters often contain details of the client’s trademark; the registration number; when it was filed; and accurate predictions as to when the next renewal is or what its status…
In the case of GoPro v. 360Heros, GoPro recently moved for summary judgment against the defendant for using their photographs and trademarks in connection with 360Heros’ competing project — one that utilizes GoPro’s technology. The court denied the motion for summary judgment stating that there were too many issues of material fact to determine the case…
The federal Court of Appeals for the Second District of New York rendered an interesting opinion in a case about trade dress. In Diageo North America, Inc. v. W.J. Deutsch & Sons Ltd. et al., the litigants (“Diageo” and “Deutsch,” respectively) are well established players in the spirits business — though Diageo dwarfs Deutsch in size, resources and one…