Intellectual Property Law

Suit Tests Theory that Halloween Costumes Can Be Copyrighted

A lawsuit filed against a website that sells Halloween costumes contends the online marketer is selling attire that violates the Power Rangers copyrights and trademarks. The suit targets Underdog Endeavors, operators of MyPartyShirt.com, according to the Hollywood Reporter’s Hollywood, Esq. column. At issue is whether costumes can violate copyrights if…

Oct 31, 2011 1:18 PM CDT

Suit Claims ‘Hangover II’ Is Based on Actor’s Script About Real-Life Incident

A pro se lawsuit filed by a Bollywood actor claims The Hangover Part II was based on his difficult honeymoon in Asia. Michael Alan Rubin says the script was based on his honeymoon with a Japanese woman who refused to share a room with him after they argued about finances,…

Oct 18, 2011 1:12 PM CDT

Lawsuit Over ‘Hurt Locker’ Story Is Tossed

A federal court judge in Los Angeles has dismissed a lawsuit against the makers of the Oscar-winning film “The Hurt Locker” by an Iraqi bomb disposal expert who alleged that he was the basis for the movie’s main character. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Nguyen also ordered the plaintiff, Sgt. Jeffrey…

Oct 14, 2011 6:34 PM CDT

Job Hunting Is Easy—If You Are an Experienced Patent Lawyer with a High-Tech Degree

There’s a lucky subset of lawyers who don’t have to worry about unemployment, according to one recruiting expert. Patent lawyers are in big demand because of the recent patent overhaul, and those with technical expertise are in even bigger demand, Bloomberg News reports. T.J. Duane, a principal at legal recruitment…

Oct 11, 2011 10:30 AM CDT

Astrology Software Maker Files Infringement Suit over Time Zone Database Used in Computers

An astrology company has filed a copyright infringement suit against two computer experts who maintain time zone databases used to set local times on computers using UNIX operating systems. Software maker Astrolabe says in its complaint (PDF), filed on Sept. 30 in federal court in Massachusetts, that it owns the…

Oct 7, 2011 5:10 PM CDT

Lawyer Sues Facebook, Says Tracking Cookie Violates Wiretap Laws, Seeks Class Action Status

A lawyer and Facebook user has sued the social networking site in federal court in Kansas, contending that a tracking cookie violates wiretap laws. Lead plaintiff John Graham, a 42-year-old attorney in Leawood, Kan., also alleges in the suit that the cookie violates state consumer-protection law, reports the Associated Press.…

Oct 6, 2011 10:44 PM CDT

Chief Justice Roberts Wants to Know: ‘What About Jimi Hendrix?’

Move over, Bob Dylan. You’re not the only rock star cropping up in the legal arguments of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. Roberts quoted Dylan in a 2008 opinion. On Wednesday, he used Jimi Hendrix in a hypothetical during oral arguments on the constitutionality of a recopyright law, report…

Oct 6, 2011 1:35 PM CDT

Free CLE Course on Elvis Presley Law Is ‘Bait and Switch’ to Get Lawyers to Listen to Pro Bono Pitch

A legal aid group in Tennessee is trying a clever and unusual tactic to drum up an audience of attorneys to listen to a pro bono pitch: Elvis Presley. Legal Aid of East Tennessee will be offering a free continuing legal education course on Tuesday on Elvis Law. The state…

Sep 29, 2011 3:35 PM CDT

Cheesehead Owner Threatens Suit re Grim Reaper’s Headgear on Billboard Warning of Dairy Food Danger

The owner of the rights to the infamous Foamation triangular cheesehead worn by fans of the Green Bay Packers is demanding that a group of physicians rethink a planned billboard in which the Grim Reaper, wearing an apparent cheesehead, warns of the danger of eating the dairy food. “Warning: Cheese…

Sep 26, 2011 11:54 PM CDT

Kramer Levin Opens Silicon Valley Office, Its 3rd, with 2 IP Partners from King & Spalding

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel today announced that it is opening a Silicon Valley office with two partners from King & Spalding. Paul J. Andre and Lisa Kobialka focus their practice on high-tech and life sciences litigation. The new office they will establish is the New York City-based firm’s third…

Sep 19, 2011 10:27 PM CDT

Patent Overhaul Sent to Obama; WilmerHale Gets $214M Clarification

The U.S. Senate has approved patent legislation that adopts a “first to file” system and gives WilmerHale protection from $214 million in malpractice damages. The legislation, the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, is the most sweeping patent overhaul in decades, the National Law Journal reports. Small business groups had criticized the…

Sep 9, 2011 11:31 AM CDT

WilmerHale Could Save $214M Due to a Deadline Provision in the Patent Bill

Critics are labeling a patent reform bill “The Dog Ate My Homework Act” for the protection it gives WilmerHale and its client the Medicines Company. The bill would award patents to inventors who are “first to file” with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, rather than those who are “first…

Sep 8, 2011 12:08 PM CDT

Rehearing Nixes Sanctions in Unusual Ethics Case Over Claim of Intemperate Remarks By Federal Judge

Three lawyers and a client will not be sanctioned for claiming that a federal judge hearing a trade secrets case made intemperate remarks. Initially sanctioned by U.S. District Judge John McBryde, who sits in Ft. Worth, the four were given another trial by a different judge after the 5th U.S.…

Sep 1, 2011 11:00 PM CDT

3 Alston & Bird IP Partners Will Be Opening New DC Office for Quinn Emanuel

A major West Coast business litigation boutique today announced that it is opening a Washington, D.C., office. It will initially be staffed largely by two practice leaders and another partner from Alston & Bird’s office there. Paul Brinkman, Alex Lasher and Alan Whitehurst will be joining Quinn Emanuel Urquhart &…

Sep 1, 2011 8:46 PM CDT

Letters: Be Like Linc

Be Like Linc Regarding “Paradigm Shift,” July, consider this: 1. “The biggest problem,” says Fred Ury, “is that ordinary citizens cannot afford to hire a lawyer.” 2. There are a heck of a lot of attorneys out there looking for a job. 3. The obvious answer: hanging a shingle and…

Sep 1, 2011 8:59 AM CDT