Intellectual Property Law

Know what IP stands for? Then you’re ahead of a ‘Jeopardy’ contestant in recent show focused on law

Questions about law firms on a recent Jeopardy show brought in big bucks in the Double Jeopardy round of the television game program, for those who could correctly answer them. The fourth item, which was for $1,600, was: “Tops for patent litigation per U.S. News & World Report, Fish &…

May 12, 2016 12:05 PM CDT

Copyright settlement could be reached over nanny’s photographs purchased in storage unit auction

A settlement regarding who has rights to the work of the late street photographer Vivian Maier is near, the Chicago Tribune reports. A former Chicago nanny who died at a nursing home in 2009, Maier’s photography was purchased at a storage-locker auction in 2008, the New York Times reported. The…

May 4, 2016 10:00 AM CDT

SCOTUS takes cheerleader uniform case that would also affect ‘cosplayers’ at comic conventions

Nominally, a federal appeals court decision that the nation’s top court agreed Monday to review is about whether the design elements and color blocks in a cheerleading uniform can be copyrighted. But a U.S. Supreme Court decision could affect a broad array of costumes, including those made and worn by…

May 3, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

SCOTUS to mull Federal Circuit refusal to apply top court’s copyright laches ruling in patent case

Does the same laches standard recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 2014 copyright infringement case also apply in a patent infringement case? In an en banc decision last year, a divided 6-5 panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit crafted its own hybrid…

May 2, 2016 2:00 PM CDT

Two reluctant entrepreneurs tackle challenge of copyright duration

Elizabeth Townsend Gard was researching British literature when it became clear that she would have to learn something about copyrights. It was 1994, and Gard was trying to start her dissertation on the author Vera Brittain, who is best known for her work set during World War I. She didn't know much about copyrights; she wanted to be a history professor. But she needed Brittain's writing to do her work, and it wasn't clear whether she could use it legally.

May 1, 2016 4:00 AM CDT

Did litigation kill the Beatles?

As the most successful band in history, the Beatles generated not only a record number of music hits but probably more legal disputes than any other music group before or since. As the first international rock band brand in a still nascent music business – and guided by a neophyte personal manager – the Beatles became entangled in a distracting series of legal problems nearly from the start of their career.

May 1, 2016 12:10 AM CDT

IP litigator says she was startled to find that her art forgery article had been plagiarized online

When intellectual property litigator Leila Amineddoleh read a recent online article about fake and falsely attributed art works, she was startled. The Tehelka Blog article, “The Rise Of Fakes And False Attributions In The Art World,” was substantially the same as her own “Purchasing Art in a Market Full of…

Apr 28, 2016 12:40 PM CDT

The Examiner isn’t liable for infringing content posted by its independent contractors, court says

The company that owns Examiner.com is shielded from liability for copyright infringement by independent contractors who posted celebrity photographs, a federal appeals court has ruled. Examiner.com is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which protects online and Internet service providers from liability for copyrighted content posted at the direction…

Apr 28, 2016 10:36 AM CDT

Those in charge of Prince estate face ‘horribly speculative’ task of valuing publicity rights

As a special administrator appointed Wednesday to oversee the business affairs of Prince begins tallying up the late superstar musician’s assets, the Internal Revenue Service will be among those awaiting the results with keen interest. That’s because the future marketing of his name, likeness and image may be his most…

Apr 28, 2016 9:45 AM CDT

Law firm claims its First Amendment rights were violated when judge banned its nursing home ad

A Mississippi-based law firm is asking the Georgia Supreme Court to overturn an injunction banning an ad that sought clients who suspected their loved ones were neglected or abused at a Moultrie, Georgia, nursing home. The McHugh Fuller Law Group argues the injunction was overbroad and violated its First Amendment…

Apr 28, 2016 8:45 AM CDT

Does Dentons’ verein structure shield it from conflict claim? Malpractice suit says the answer is no

Are law firms that operate under a Swiss verein structure considered one law firm when determining conflicts of interest? The world’s largest law firm by head count, Dentons, avoided an answer to that question when a case settled before the U.S. International Trade Commission, the ABA BNA Lawyers’ Manual on…

Apr 27, 2016 5:45 AM CDT

Demand letter claims ‘Bernie is my comrade’ T-shirt is a trademark violation

A T-shirt maker has received a letter claiming its “Bernie is my comrade” merchandise violates trademark and copyright rights of the Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. Daniel McCall’s company Liberty Maniacs is selling the T-shirt and other merchandise, which includes photos of Bernie Sanders and “a rogues’ gallery of Socialist figures…

Apr 19, 2016 8:06 AM CDT

Kenyon & Kenyon is neither canceling nor guaranteeing its summer associate program

Is intellectual property law firm Kenyon & Kenyon canceling its summer associate program this year? Not officially, the law firm says in an equivocal statement. The law firm responded to Above the Law after tipsters told the blog the summer associate program has been canceled. “This is not the case,”…

Apr 14, 2016 9:20 AM CDT

Suit claims ‘We Shall Overcome’ isn’t entitled to copyright protection

The lawyers who succeeded in putting the “Happy Birthday” song into the public domain are hoping their new lawsuit will do the same for “We Shall Overcome.” Ludlow Music Inc. and the Richmond Organization filed copyrights for the song in 1960, but the song had been in the public domain…

Apr 14, 2016 5:45 AM CDT

Judge allows infringement claim over Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway to Heaven’

A federal judge in Los Angeles has refused to toss a lawsuit claiming Led Zeppelin copied part of another band’s song in “Stairway to Heaven.” U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner allowed the copyright claim in a ruling on Friday, report Reuters, the Washington Post, the Associated Press and Bloomberg…

Apr 12, 2016 8:32 AM CDT