Intellectual Property Law

MoFo Litigator Backroads through Texas after $59M Plasma TV Patent Win

Morrison & Foerster partner Harold McElhinny of San Francisco says he is “backroadsing” through Texas after a big $59.3 million win yesterday in a suit that claimed Samsung Electronics infringed a plasma TV patent. McElhinny spoke to Legal Pad about his road trip to wind down from the trial while…

Oct 30, 2008 4:05 PM CDT

$125M Google Settlement Paves Way for Online Book Publishing

Google Inc. is proclaiming victory over its agreement to pay $125 million to settle copyright litigation by publishers and authors. The settlement, the Internet search engine giant says, will allow it to expand a book-scanning project and provide greater online access to tomes once available only in hard copy format,…

Oct 28, 2008 4:02 PM CDT

‘Hedge Fund Wives’ Sparks Sisters’ Copyright Spat

A society wife and her sister are gearing up for a court battle over who actually wrote the upcoming book, Hedge Fund Wives. Tatiana Boncompagni Hoover, a published author who is married to an heir to the vacuum cleaner fortune, says she did. But her sister, Natasha, who lives in…

Oct 27, 2008 9:58 PM CDT

Fish & Richardson Latest Law Firm to Give Houston a Second Chance

Fish & Richardson has opened an office in Houston, one of several law firms that are seeing opportunity once again in the city. Fish & Richardson was one of several firms that set up shop in Houston during the 1980s and 1990s only to close their doors as the city…

Oct 27, 2008 1:25 PM CDT

Nike Sues Wal-Mart, Claiming Cushioned Shoe Design is Copied

Nike claims in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Chicago that Wal-Mart is selling shoes that infringe on its patented design. The suit claims Wal-Mart’s Detra shoes infringe on two patents related to its Shox brand cushioning system, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.). It’s not the first…

Oct 17, 2008 5:47 PM CDT

5th Circuit Ruling Likely to Nix IP Rocket Docket in Texas

An en banc ruling by a federal appeals court in a case involving a car crash is likely to put a crimp in the intellectual property “rocket docket” in the Eastern District of Texas. The ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Volkswagen was entitled…

Oct 14, 2008 11:51 AM CDT

Does Kentucky Have Power to Regulate Internet Gambling?

A court order that requires domain names for 141 websites that offer online gambling to be turned over to government officials should be reversed, counsel for the defendants and trade associations argued yesterday in an unusual Kentucky case. The domain names have been treated by the court as though they’re…

Oct 8, 2008 11:20 PM CDT

Dog Breeder Sues Movie Studio Over Famous Canine Name: Rin Tin Tin

A Texas dog breeder whose family has been protecting the legacy of Rin Tin Tin for more than 50 years says in a lawsuit that a new movie has sullied it. Daphne Hereford contends that Finding Rin Tin Tin, a foreign movie that was released on DVD in this country…

Oct 7, 2008 8:38 PM CDT

‘Project Runway’ Didn’t Violate Copyright

Miramax Film Corp. and supermodel Heidi Klum did not violate the copyright of fashion designer Cynthia Rodriguez and buyer and merchandiser Elizabeth Zwiebach with their reality TV show “Project Runway,” a Manhattan federal judge has found. The pair claimed they developed a treatment for a reality show entitled “American Runway”…

Oct 3, 2008 1:34 PM CDT

McDermott’s Shared Tab for ‘Abuse of Advocacy’ is $4.3M in Attorney Fees

McDermott, Will & Emery and its client Medtronic Inc. have been ordered to pay $4.3 million in attorney fees for “abuse of advocacy” in a patent case. U.S. District Judge Richard Matsch of Denver imposed the sanction Tuesday for attorney fees incurred by Medtronic’s trial opponent BrainLAB, the Recorder reports.…

Oct 2, 2008 12:53 PM CDT

Pennsylvania Law Firm Claims Websites Free-Ride on Its Name

A Pennsylvania law firm has sued a Canadian domain name registry, claiming that it helped create websites that free-ride on the Hourigan, Kluger & Quinn name. The Kingston personal injury firm, which is also known by its HKQ acronym, alleges in the federal suit that Domain Discreet registered website names…

Sep 26, 2008 3:35 PM CDT

RIAA Seeks Sanctions for N.Y. Lawyer’s ‘Vexatious’ Blog Posts of Case Filings

A lawyer who is known for defending individuals accused of peer-to-peer sharing of copyrighted works over the Internet is now on the hot seat himself. The Recording Industry Association of America is seeking sanctions against attorney Ray Beckerman in a federal court case in New York, claiming that he has…

Sep 25, 2008 3:47 PM CDT

Judge Grants New Trial in Music Piracy Case, Requires Proof of Copying

A federal judge in Minneapolis has granted a new trial for a woman ordered to pay $222,000 in damages for illegally sharing 24 copyrighted songs on Kazaa. U.S. District Judge Michael Davis ruled he made an error when his jury instructions failed to require proof that the music was actually…

Sep 25, 2008 2:47 PM CDT

Appeals Ruling Strengthens Design Patents

Patent lawyers say a rare en banc ruling this week by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit strengthens design patents. The decision (PDF) holds that in design infringement suits, courts should use the “ordinary observer” test, which asks whether the designs are substantially the same in the…

Sep 24, 2008 2:18 PM CDT

New ABA Magazine Offers IP Articles Written By IP Lawyers

A new bimonthly magazine has been launched by the ABA Section of Intellectual Property. Entitled Landslide,it features articles written by IP lawyers, for IP lawyers, the section reports in an e-mailed press release. The new magazine “is dedicated to the sharing of IP knowledge and experience acquired on the frontlines…

Sep 23, 2008 10:22 PM CDT