Intellectual Property Law

Recording Industry Seeks to Regain Groove with New File-Sharing Approach

Note: This month’s CLE, “Seeking Harmony in Music Distribution,” is Wednesday, June 16. Recession or no, the music industry has been hitting a high note lately. Reports indicate that, on average, revenues are on the rise for musical artists. Income from concerts and ancillary merchandise (such as souvenir T-shirts) has…

Jun 4, 2010 11:20 PM CDT

Republican Candidate Infringed Henley’s Songs in YouTube Ads, Judge Says

California senatorial candidate Chuck DeVore violated rocker Don Henley’s copyrights on two songs when he used them as the basis for YouTube campaign commercials, a federal judge tentatively ruled this week. Although DeVore claimed that the First Amendment protects political speech and he had a fair use right to Henley’s…

Jun 4, 2010 2:31 PM CDT

No Permission, No Problem: Gary, Ind., Plans Michael Jackson Museum

You might think Indiana officials would have learned a lawsuit lesson from the Dillinger Museum. After a seven-year litigation saga, tourism officials in Hammond reached an undisclosed settlement with the great-nephew of notorious gangster John Dillinger that permitted the facility to reopen to the public. But now their Gary counterparts…

Jun 3, 2010 10:57 PM CDT

Law Firm Poised to Bank Millions on Peer-to-Peer Prosecution

In the past five months, Virginia-based law firm Dunlap, Grubb, & Weaver has filed suits against thousands of individuals accused of illegally downloading independent films—an operation that could yield the firm and its clients more than $19 million in damages. The enterprising lawyers, under the operative the U.S. Copyright Group,…

Jun 3, 2010 7:18 PM CDT

Chinese Law Firm Opens Silicon Valley Office With 2 Perkins Coie Partners

A leading Chinese law firm has opened a Silicon Valley office staffed by the former managing partners of the Perkins Coie law offices in Beijing and Shanghai. In addition to James Zhu and Zhaohui “Zoe” Wang, the Beijing-based Jun He Law Offices has also hired former Jones Day counsel Steven…

Jun 3, 2010 1:55 PM CDT

Perkins Coie Opens New San Diego Office With 4 IP Lawyers, Plans 50 Lawyers There in 3 Years

Perkins Coie has opened a new office in San Diego with four lawyers, in the first step of a planned expansion of both its California presence and its intellectual property practice. The firm hopes to have 20 lawyers in San Diego by the end of the year and 50 attorneys…

Jun 2, 2010 7:35 PM CDT

Ex-Kirkland Partner Buys 4,500 Patents, Forms New Firm to Sue Infringers

A former patent litigation partner of Kirkland & Ellis has purchased 4,500 patents and is establishing a new law firm that will sue to enforce both his own patents and those of other clients. John Desmarais, 46, is opening his new firm, Desmarais, today in New York City, Bloomberg reports.…

Jun 1, 2010 1:20 PM CDT

The Record Business Blues

Note: This month’s CLE, “Seeking Harmony in Music Distribution,” is Wednesday, June 16.

Jun 1, 2010 9:20 AM CDT

After Firestorm of Criticism, New Facebook Privacy Policy Is Unveiled

After a firestorm of criticism by individuals and regulators, the CEO of Facebook today announced new privacy settings that will make it easier for users of the social networking website to restrict access to personal information, if they wish, to those they know well. In a Facebook blog post, Mark…

May 26, 2010 8:39 PM CDT

Talking Heads Singer Sues Fla. Gov, Seeks $1M for Song Use in Attack Ad

A former lead singer for Talking Heads has sued Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, contending that he used the group’s 1985 “Road to Nowhere” song in an online attack ad against Marco Rubio without permission, reports the County Grind blog of the Broward-Palm Beach New Times. He is represented by attorney…

May 25, 2010 11:18 PM CDT

Chadbourne & Parke Continues Its In-House Hiring Spree

Chadbourne & Parke has hired two more in-house executives for its intellectual property division, the latest in a series of such hires. The National Law Journal and a press release identify the two hires as: • Stephen Manetta, an electrical engineer and lawyer who is the former head of the…

May 21, 2010 3:22 PM CDT

6th Circuit Rules Against Victor’s Little Secret in Trademark Case

A federal appeals court has upheld an injunction barring the owner of a lingerie and sex-toy shop from calling his business “Victor’s Secret” or “Victor’s Little Secret.” The 2-1 ruling (PDF) by the Cincinnati-based 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is one of the first tests of a new law…

May 20, 2010 2:54 PM CDT

In Rush to Create New ‘48 HR’ Mag in a Weekend, No One Focused on Legal Issues

In an impressive demonstration of the power of online social media and journalists’ devotion to their work, a conversation among three friends in a San Francisco bar earlier this month morphed into an actual 60-page magazine created over the weekend after a call for help was put out on Twitter.…

May 19, 2010 6:31 PM CDT

Hershey Sues, Says Williams-Sonoma Brownie Pan Copied Iconic Chocolate Bar

Hershey Co. has filed a Lanham Act claim against a well-known supplier of upscale kitchen accoutrements, contending that a brownie pan being marketed by Williams-Sonoma Inc. violates trademark law by copying the design of its iconic chocolate bar. The brownie pan is shaped in twelve rectangles, just like a Hershey…

May 18, 2010 8:58 PM CDT

Trial Begins for Arent Fox Ex-Partner Accused in Cover-Up in Lawyer’s Murder at His Home

No one has ever been charged in the apparent sexual assault and murder of attorney Robert Wone, a former attorney for Covington & Burling who worked as general counsel for Radio Free Asia at the time of his death. But a bench trial begins today in Washington, D.C., Superior Court…

May 17, 2010 5:03 PM CDT