Intellectual Property Law

Philip Morris Sues Over Fake Marlboro Cigarettes

Philip Morris USA filed lawsuits on Monday against eight retailers it says is selling counterfeit versions of the company’s popular Marlboro brand cigarettes in New York and New Jersey. In a news release about the filings, Philip Morris says New York and New Jersey are particularly vulnerable to counterfeit cigarette…

Mar 2, 2010 5:33 PM CST

Mom Scores Small Win Over Music Label in YouTube Toddler Video Case

A mom who whose home video of her toddler dancing to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” got her in trouble with Universal Music Group has won a partial summary judgment against the music label. Four months after the video went up, the music label ordered YouTube to take the video down,…

Mar 1, 2010 5:25 PM CST

A Patent on Problems

New PTO chief has strong backing—and a huge backlog of work

Mar 1, 2010 11:40 AM CST

Ring-a-Ding

We’ve all gotten a chuckle when a cell phone blares a ringtone at a meeting or in a quiet elevator, but does that scenario constitute a public performance?

Mar 1, 2010 10:20 AM CST

Global White & Case IT Chair Joins Latham; 16th Partner to Depart This Month

Updated: The global information technology practice group chair at White & Case is leaving to join Latham & Watkins, his soon-to-be former firm has confirmed in an e-mailed statement to the ABA Journal. Steven Betensky “is an excellent lawyer,” says Dimitrios Drivas, the head of White & Case’s global intellectual…

Feb 25, 2010 7:57 PM CST

Noted Wilson Sonsini Patent Lawyer Dies in Plane Crash

A Silicon Valley patent lawyer who focused on cutting edge biotechnology died Friday evening when the single-engine plane he was flying crashed and burst into flames. The lawyer, Albert Halluin, was an experienced pilot who commuted by plane to his job in Palo Alto, Calif., the San Jose Mercury News…

Feb 22, 2010 12:44 PM CST

Injured Luger Considers Suit, While Father of Killed Olympian Dismisses the Idea

The father of the Olympic luge athlete killed in an accident last week is dismissing the idea of a lawsuit. But a luger injured in a November accident is considering the possibility. Georgian athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a training accident Feb. 12. His father, David Kumaritashvili, bristled when a…

Feb 19, 2010 2:46 PM CST

‘Harry Potter’ Author Accused of Plagiarism in ‘Billion-Dollar Case’

The estate of the deceased author of a children’s book has accused the author of the stunningly successful “Harry Potter” books of plagiarizing concepts and themes from Adrian Jacobs’ The Adventures of Willy the Wizard: No 1 Livid Land, which was published in 1987. J.K. Rowling, who became the world’s…

Feb 19, 2010 1:04 AM CST

Salt Lake Airport Wins Trademark Battle with US Over ‘Simpli-Fly’ Motto

Two U.S. agencies have backed away from a battle over rights to the term “Simpli-Fly.” Salt Lake City International Airport uses the term, trademarked in 2005, to describe its traveler information service, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Salt Lake sued when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation…

Feb 18, 2010 4:19 PM CST

Fewer Good Band Names Available, Causing Trademark Rifts

There aren’t many good band names left, according to Led Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones. He told the Wall Street Journal about the difficulties he had finding a name for his new band. An online search showed at least seven other bands had the name of his first choice—Caligula. His…

Feb 17, 2010 2:55 PM CST

Can Patent Holders Buy Off Infringers? Courts Take Another Look

For the second time in three years a case about “reverse payments” is before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. And this time the New York City-based court may ignore its own binding precedent and do a sharp about-face on the issue. The last time the 2nd Circuit considered…

Feb 15, 2010 2:01 PM CST

It’s Airstream v. Airstream in This Cross-Country Cupcake Battle

In the “burgeoning local trailer-food market” in Austin, Texas, Hey Cupcake is an early pioneer, having established its presence in 2007, operating out of an airstream trailer topped with a giant iced cupcake. Hey Cupcake hopes to expand nationally at some point. So when it discovered the existence of the…

Feb 12, 2010 4:15 PM CST

Can Plagiarism Be the New Authenticity? Best-Selling Author, 17, Seems to Think So

Once upon a time, authors were expected to craft their own fiction, word-for-word. But a best-sellling German novel is casting doubt on that standard, winning selection as a finalist for a $20,000 Leipzig Book Fair prize even though the judges reportedly were aware of a charge of plagiarism against the…

Feb 11, 2010 11:59 PM CST

Judge’s order vacates up to $312K in bad-faith sanctions at parties’ request

Updated: After a federal district judge’s opinion blasting a law firm and its corporate client over what he describes as their bad-faith litigation tactics, a federal magistrate judge made a sanctions recommendation and later vacated it. U.S. Magistrate Judge Walter Johnson said in a Jan. 29, 2010, report two lawyers…

Feb 10, 2010 7:03 PM CST

‘Pants on the Ground’ Breakout Star Hires Lawyer

The man whose offbeat “Pants on the Ground” audition during American Idol’s recruiting session in Atlanta became an overnight sensation has hired a lawyer to claim royalty rights from those eager to profit from his performance. “General” Larry Platt’s performance quickly went viral, showing up on YouTube and spurring a…

Feb 10, 2010 12:04 PM CST