Samsung Sanctioned in Big-Bucks Patent Case for Not Turning Off Company Email Auto-Delete System

A federal magistrate judge in California who is overseeing part of a big-bucks patent infringement case concerning Apple Inc.’s smartphones has sanctioned Samsung Electronics Co. over its use of its own proprietary email system. Finding that the Samsung system, which automatically deletes email after two weeks unless employees save them,…

Jul 26, 2012 4:48 PM CDT

Jack Daniel’s Cease-and-Desist Letter Goes Viral for Being Exceedingly Polite

Updated: Lawyers sometimes land in the news for mean-spirited or excessively antagonistic cease-and-desist letters dispatched to individuals who have little clue about intellectual property law. But a lawyer who defends trademarks for Jack Daniel’s whiskey is in the news for writing a cease-and-desist letter that is exceedingly polite. The Atlantic…

Jul 26, 2012 2:38 PM CDT

Bilingual Lawyers in Demand, But Jobs Are Temporary; Apple Hires Korean Speakers in Samsung Spat

Lawyers who speak a second language are a hot commodity, though the jobs they are snagging are usually temporary. Apple’s law firms, for example, hired dozens of Korean speaking temporary lawyers in its patent litigation with Samsung Electronics over smartphone design, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. Patent and…

Jul 24, 2012 1:44 PM CDT

Apple Ordered to Say on Its UK Site, in British Papers That Samsung Didn’t Copy iPad; Appeal Planned

Unhappy about the prospect of having to post material on its own United Kingdom website and in newspapers there saying that a competitor didn’t copy its iPad design, Apple Inc. is planning to appeal a British judge’s ruling that imposes the penalty, for a six-month period, in a copyright infringement…

Jul 18, 2012 7:48 PM CDT

Playwright Says He Can’t Afford ‘Fancy Lawyer’ to Fight ‘Three’s Company’ Copyright Claim

A playwright who re-imagined Three’s Company for an Off Broadway play says he gave in to a cease and desist demand, promising at the end of the run that he won’t produce the play again or circulate the script. David Adjmi told the New York Times that he feared the…

Jul 18, 2012 1:55 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Bar Associations Too Cautious on Ethics of Cloud Computing, Blogger Writes

Clouded Judgment At My Shingle, Washington, D.C., solo Carolyn Elefant takes various state bar associations to task for their uniformly similar recommendations that lawyers get their clients’ express consent when they store clients’ data in cloud platforms. “Not only does this kind of requirement throw up a red flag that…

Jul 13, 2012 1:30 PM CDT

Obama Campaign Wins Round in Fight to Stop Website’s Sales of ‘O’ Logo Items

A federal judge has handed the Obama campaign a partial victory in its effort to stop a website’s sales of merchandise with a rising sun “O” logo. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan granted a preliminary injunction barring Demstore.com from selling items with an “O” logo trademarked in 2008, report the…

Jul 11, 2012 3:42 PM CDT

Federal Judge Says Kosher Deli Can Keep ‘Heart Attack’ Items On Menu, Add Triple Bypass Sandwich

A federal judge in Manhattan has sided with a New York delicatessen that filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a ruling that it could continue to offer a menu of “heart attack” themed high-calorie selections without violating the Lanham Act. Although the Arizona-based Heart Attack Grill has trademarked both its…

Jul 9, 2012 3:32 PM CDT

Obama Campaign Lawyers Go to Court Today in Effort to Bar Website’s ‘O’ Logo Sales

Lawyers for President Obama’s re-election campaign go to court today seeking a preliminary injunction to stop a website from selling merchandise with an “O” logo. The suit (PDF) filed in June claims the website Demstore.com is violating the trademark on the rising sun ‘O’ logo, report the Associated Press and…

Jul 9, 2012 12:06 PM CDT

Judge Posner Critic of ‘Goofy’ Trend in GOP, Says He’s Becoming Less Conservative

Judge Richard Posner is a big fan of two conservative icons: President Ronald Reagan and economist Milton Friedman. Posner owes his job on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to an appointment by Reagan. But he tells National Public Radio he’s becoming less enamored with the Republican Party.…

Jul 9, 2012 11:00 AM CDT

Letters: Copyright Conundrums

Jul 1, 2012 9:40 AM CDT

New Laws of Nature Law: Ruling Questions Scientific Patents

Jul 1, 2012 8:10 AM CDT

Posner Takes a Swipe at Lawyers in Smartphone Patent Dispute; Will Other Judges Cite His Reasoning?

Sitting as a trial judge in a patent dispute between Apple and Motorola, Judge Richard Posner dismissed the case Friday, saying neither company is entitled to an injunction. His opinion also criticized the lawyers who, in his view, failed to garner adequate proof of damages. Posner, a judge on the…

Jun 26, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Law Firm Sues Over Doppelganger Domain Name, Says Infringing Website Is Intercepting Attorney Email

A New York intellectual property boutique has filed suit against a self-proclaimed cybersecurity developer who allegedly has gained access to some law firm email through a “typosquatter” website with an almost identical name. Defendant Arthur Wesley Kenzie not only registered a doppelganger domain name intended to be mistaken for the…

Jun 25, 2012 9:42 PM CDT

5th Circuit OKs $30K Sanction for Law Firm’s Accidental Distribution of Opposing Side’s Secret Info

A federal appeals court has upheld a sanction of nearly $30,000 against a plaintiff’s firm in a products liability case for accidentally distributing material it was required to keep secret under a protective order. The $29,667.71 covers fees and costs to the defendant, Cooper Tire & Rubber Co., as it…

Jun 21, 2012 9:52 PM CDT