Fish & Richardson Settles Suit Against Ex-Partner Over Patent Sale

Fish & Richardson has settled its lawsuit against ex-partner Scott Harris that claims he breached his duties to the firm by selling his inventions to patent trolls, one of which sued a firm client. Fish & Richardson had claimed an ownership interest in the patents Harris sold and alleged he…

Aug 15, 2008 12:42 PM CDT

Jackson Browne Sues John McCain Over Song Use in Campaign Advertising

People may need a reason to believe in Republican John McCain as the country’s next president, but singer, songwriter and liberal activist Jackson Browne doesn’t want it to be his signature late 1970s song “Running on Empty.” Browne has sued the presumptive Republican nominee, along with the Ohio Republican Party,…

Aug 14, 2008 10:42 PM CDT

Cybersex Client’s Fee Claim Doesn’t Prevail in Keker Withdrawal Motion

Miles Monroe, the character in the Woody Allen movie Sleeper, knows something about sex machines and the travails of a very modern life. Now, it seems, he has something in common with the law firm of Keker & Van Nest. The law firm has won permission to withdraw from litigation…

Aug 14, 2008 1:35 PM CDT

Bush Signs Bill to Fix Flaw in Appointment of Patent Judges

President Bush has signed a bill giving the secretary of commerce the authority to appoint judges who decide patent disputes. The legislation is intended to fix a possible constitutional flaw in a 1999 law that gave the appointment authority to the director of the Patent and Trademark Office, the New…

Aug 14, 2008 11:56 AM CDT

Marshals Service Investigates Video Rants Against YouTube Judge

Someone who goes by the name Cap’n Awesome isn’t happy with the Manhattan judge handling Viacom’s $1 billion infringement lawsuit against YouTube. The Cap’n has posted a YouTube video, rated five stars, that features liberal use of the F-word and a crude name for U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton. InsaneClownPerv,…

Aug 11, 2008 12:27 PM CDT

Music Is Here To Stay, But Change Is Needed, Insiders Say

In what may be an ABA Annual Meeting first, presenters at the Section of Science & Technology Law’s session on the future of music and technology digitally recorded, remixed, replayed and then uploaded their version of the Rolling Stones’ “Last Time” before a rapt audience of music aficionados, recording industry…

Aug 7, 2008 8:26 PM CDT

Bratz Judge Refuses to Grant Mistrial for Juror’s Ethnic Remarks

A federal judge in California has refused to grant a mistrial because of a juror’s disparaging comments about a CEO’s Iranian ethnicity in a copyright dispute over Bratz dolls. U.S. District Judge Stephen Larson said the remarks about the chief executive officer for MGA Entertainment didn’t taint the jury panel…

Aug 5, 2008 1:54 PM CDT

Appeals Court Vacates Ruling for Duane Morris in Malpractice Case

A ruling by a federal appeals court clears the way for a plaintiff to pursue a malpractice suit against Duane Morris in state court. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a federal judge lacked jurisdiction to grant summary judgment to the law firm, since a…

Aug 1, 2008 6:12 PM CDT

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 of the Youth Olympic Games in Singapore in 2010 and the London summer team in 2012.

But Crabb isn’t an athlete.

“I wish I was,” laughs the Los Angeles-based partner at Morrison & Foerster. Crabb and his Beijing-based partner, Steven Toronto, act as international counsel to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games. In that capacity, Crabb and Toronto oversee legal work at Morrison & Foerster offices around the globe on issues such as venue construction, ticketing, broadcasting and intellectual property protection.

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 the Chinese government will treat unauthorized activities at the games.

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