Intellectual Property Law

Why the Rat Olympics Became the Xtreme Rat Challenge

The U.S. Olympic Committee has pursued 1,000 violations of its trademark since the last Olympics, prompting some awkward-sounding substitutes. The committee has the exclusive right to use the word under legislation adopted in 1978 and upheld nine years later in a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the Wall Street Journal reports.…

Aug 1, 2008 1:58 PM CDT

Legal Threat Results in One Less Billy Goat

A billy goat curse may be extending beyond the Chicago Cubs. It’s also apparently afflicting the owner of a California tavern who says he’ll change his establishment’s name to avoid a legal fight. Billy Truby, owner of Billy Goat’s Tavern in Mount Shasta, says he decided to change the name…

Aug 1, 2008 1:31 PM CDT

U.S. Lawyers Go for the Gold!

See related story “Best Be Behavin’ in Beijing.” Kelly Crabb made his first Olympics at the 2002 Salt Lake City winter games. Now he’s a member of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics team. And though he has no shot at making Vancouver in 2010, he’s pushing to be a part…

Aug 1, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Best Be Behavin’ in Beijing

See related feature “U.S. Lawyers Go for the Gold!” China’s human rights record has prompted concerns for both Olympic participants and spectators, including people who plan to protest the policies of the Chinese government. Though many organizations are strategizing how to protect visitors to China, none can confidently predict how…

Aug 1, 2008 1:00 PM CDT

Wordscraper is Facebook’s New Scrabulous, Testing IP Law

There is Scrabulous news today for some 500,000 aficionados of the popular computerized word game that was played on the Internet by some 450,000 Facebook users each day. Although Scrabulous can no longer be played via the social networking site, a remarkably similar game by the same software developers is…

Jul 31, 2008 7:23 PM CDT

Alston & Bird Merges with L.A. Firm, Opens Office With Akin Gump Lawyers

Rumors of a potential merger between Atlanta-based Alston & Bird and an 83-lawyer Los Angeles law firm have proven true. The 800-lawyer Alston & Bird announced today (PDF) its acquisition of Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava & MacCuish. At the same time, Alston said it is opening a 12-lawyer office in…

Jul 30, 2008 3:24 PM CDT

Game Over for Scrabulous Players on Facebook

One of Facebook’s most popular features is now kaput. Users of the social networking site in the U.S. and Canada can no longer play Scrabulous; the two individual developers of the Internet version of the classic Scrabble board game decided to take it down after they were sued by Hasbro,…

Jul 29, 2008 9:57 PM CDT

Bratz Doll Maker Says Juror’s Insensitive Remarks Justify Mistrial

Lawyers for Bratz doll manufacturer MGA Entertainment are seeking a mistrial because of a juror’s insensitive remarks about the ethnicity of the company’s chief executive officer. The jury ruled against MGA in the first phase of the copyright infringement case, finding that the Bratz designer had created the doll while…

Jul 28, 2008 6:16 PM CDT

Perry Mason Moment in Patent Trial: Inventor Died, Then Signed Application

Oops. As a witness was testifying earlier this week in a patent infringement case in California, a slight discrepancy between documents came to light. Testifying for tiny MultiMetrixs, one of the inventors said that another of the inventors, David Margulis, had signed the relevant patent office declarations in 2003 and…

Jul 25, 2008 11:02 PM CDT

Baker & McKenzie Prevails Over Preteen in Narnia Domain Name Lawsuit

Initially fighting a losing battle, seemingly, in the court of public opinion, Baker & McKenzie has notched a victory over an 11-year-old opponent in the World Intellectual Property Organization. It held Wednesday that the estate of author C.S. Lewis, who wrote the Narnia children’s books, rather than Comrie Saville-Smith is…

Jul 25, 2008 8:28 PM CDT

Hasbro Sues Scrabulous Creators, Asks Facebook for Takedown

One of the most popular features on Facebook could soon be gone, if the social networking site’s operators comply with a takedown request from a U.S. toymaker. The Scrabulous game that users play online infringes on its own Scrabble game, Hasbro says in a lawsuit filed in federal court in…

Jul 25, 2008 7:43 PM CDT

Online Video Clipping Service is Sued, Suspends Service

An Internet company that served as a platform for individuals interested in searching television and radio broadcasts, creating video clips, embedding them on websites and sharing them with others has closed down that portion of its services, after being sued by two major media organizations. Although Redlasso is shutting down…

Jul 25, 2008 5:38 PM CDT

Suit Claims Thelen Helped Siphon IP from One Client to Another

A technology company once represented by Thelen Reid Brown Raysman & Steiner claims in a lawsuit that the firm helped transfer its intellectual property to another client. The June lawsuit filed by IVI Smart Technologies Inc. and two subsidiaries claims actions by the law firm and San Jose, Calif., partner…

Jul 25, 2008 11:04 AM CDT

Willie Gary Gives Up Dream of $10B in Damages in Motorola Suit

Trial lawyer Willie Gary had sought $10 billion in a suit that claimed Motorola stole his client’s idea for a vehicle tracking system, but he has settled for considerably less. Sources told the AmLaw Daily that Gary’s confidential settlement in the case for his client SPS Technologies was in the…

Jul 24, 2008 2:38 PM CDT

Judge Holds Lawyers Accountable for ‘Tissue of Lies’ Patent Claim

A federal judge in Manhattan says a patent holder’s infringement suit was “based on “nothing more than a tissue of lies” and the lawyers who helped him sue should be held accountable. U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty said patent holder Irving Bauer and his lawyers are jointly responsible for paying…

Jul 23, 2008 2:06 PM CDT