Intellectual Property Law

Suit Claims Foley & Lardner Disclosed Confidential Patent Information

A patent holding company has sued Foley & Lardner, claiming that the law firm disclosed confidential patent information learned during settlement talks. The suit claims Foley & Lardner used the information to file a lawsuit on behalf of its client, Japanese electronics manufacturer Kyocera, according to The BLT: The Blog…

Aug 25, 2009 4:29 PM CDT

Music Industry Takes Aim at Publishers of Online Lyrics

Two online publishers of music lyrics are facing a copyright infringement suit. The defendants, LiveUniverse Inc. and Motive Force, are for-profit companies, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. LiveUniverse is owned by MySpace co-founder Brad Greenspan. One of the plaintiffs in the suits is a unit of Warner Music,…

Aug 25, 2009 11:31 AM CDT

Microsoft Gets Expedited Appeal of Judge’s Ban on Some Word Product Sales

Attorneys for Microsoft are presumably busy this weekend, following a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to grant the computer goliath’s request for an expedited schedule of a federal trial court judge’s order that will potentially ban sales of some Word products in less than…

Aug 21, 2009 11:23 PM CDT

Microsoft Judge Chastises Weil Lawyer for ‘Bailout’ Dig

The Texas judge who ordered Microsoft to pay $290 million for infringing a patent included a $40 million enhancement that he said was partly justified because of alleged trial misconduct by a lawyer from Weil, Gotshal & Manges. U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis tacked on the $40 million penalty because…

Aug 18, 2009 4:30 PM CDT

Judge’s Order Could Force Microsoft to Stop Selling Some Word Products

After Microsoft lost two big jury verdicts in patent infringement cases this spring, many observers expressed doubt that the computer goliath would ever have to ante up. However, the potential cost to Microsoft got a lot bigger this week. A federal judge in Texas not only added an additional $90…

Aug 13, 2009 5:45 PM CDT

IP Firm Owes Me $92K in ‘Working Capital,’ Ex-Darby Lawyer Says in Suit

A New York-based intellectual property boutique allegedly agreed that Raj Davé would be repaid the $92,000 in “working capital” he gave Darby & Darby while practicing there as a nonequity partner, if he ever moved to another law firm, reports the Blog of Legal Times. But now that Davé is…

Aug 12, 2009 7:28 PM CDT

Paul Hastings Swipes 3-Lawyer Skadden Patent Team

A three-lawyer group led by the former head of patent litigation in the Boston, Palo Alto, Calif., and Washington, D.C., offices of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom started work today at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker. Partner Jeffrey Randall will now co-chair his new firm’s global intellectual property practice,…

Aug 10, 2009 8:36 PM CDT

Stanford Law Prof Dies from Bike Accident Injuries

A professor emeritus who taught at Stanford Law School since 1969 has died from injuries he suffered in a July 14 bike accident. John Barton wrote the undergraduate textbook International Arms Control, considered the standard, the Mercury News reports. He died at the age of 72 from brain injuries suffered…

Aug 7, 2009 3:05 PM CDT

9th Circuit Allows Law Firm’s Infringement Suit for Website Copying

A federal appeals court has refused to toss a lawsuit by a 50-lawyer personal injury law firm that claims another two-lawyer law firm used its copyrighted website content. The defendant law firm, San Diego-based Recordon & Recordon, had claimed the Northern District of California was the improper venue for the…

Aug 6, 2009 12:28 PM CDT

Ex-Government Lawyer Earns as Much Money as ‘Romantica’ Publisher

A former government lawyer has a new—and successful—career writing and editing erotic romance books that are published on the Internet. Irene Daisy Williams—whose pen name is Treva Harte—says she makes as much money now as she did while working at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Washington Post reports.…

Aug 4, 2009 6:31 PM CDT

Tenenbaum Must Pay $675K, Jury Says, But Judge Will Consider Reduction

A graduate student in physics who illegally—and willfully—downloaded 30 songs on the Internet must pay $675,000 in damages, a federal jury in Boston decided today. That amounts to $22,500 per song, notes Ars Technica. The maximum the jury could have awarded reportedly was $4.5 million. Charles Nesson, a Harvard Law…

Aug 1, 2009 12:20 AM CDT

Directed Verdict Against Tenenbaum; Jury to Decide Music Download Damages

A federal judge last night granted the directed verdict sought by the plaintiffs in a high-profile music downloading case against a Boston University physics graduate student. But the jury still has a role: It will determine whether the copyright violations Joel Tenenbaum admitted during his trial testimony yesterday were willful…

Jul 31, 2009 4:43 PM CDT

Tenenbaum Admits Music Downloading, RIAA Plaintiffs Move for Directed Verdict

After years of high-profile litigation, Joel Tenenbaum came clean today in his testimony in an ongoing federal trial over illegal music downloading. “I used the computer. I uploaded and downloaded music. This is how it is. I did it,” he told a packed courtroom. It included as spectators copyright scholars…

Jul 30, 2009 11:42 PM CDT

Closed Firm Jenkens & Gilchrist Awarded $3M in Suit Against Ex-Client

The dissolved Dallas law firm Jenkens & Gilchrist has been awarded $3.14 million in a fee suit against a former client. The firm was also awarded $1.15 million in attorney fees and $300,000 in prejudgment interest, bringing the value of the verdict to more than $4 million, according to Texas…

Jul 30, 2009 11:24 AM CDT

Fair Use Nixed in Music Download Case, So Defense Team to Focus on Damages

The defense team in a high-profile illegal music downloading case against physics graduate student Joel Tenenbaum had hoped to rely on a fair-use doctrine defense. But after that plan was nixed by U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner, who said interpreting fair use in this manner would eviscerate copyright law, the…

Jul 29, 2009 8:12 PM CDT