Intellectual Property Law

Should I Copyright my Website?

Posted on January 23, 2008
Website owners may spend countless hours getting their content just right and then leave themselves vulnerable to having that content used by others without authorization. A business or individual that wants to protect the substantial investment made in a website should consider spending a little money to gain a lot of protection by having the website copyrighted...

Qualcomm Attorneys Hit With Multi-Million Dollar Sanctions for E-Discovery Violations

Posted on January 23, 2008
In the latest chapter of the ongoing Qualcomm litigation, a federal judge has levied more than $8 million dollars in sanctions and referred attorney?s representing Qualcomm to the State Bar of California for e-discovery abuses. The sanctions are the culmination of a discovery dispute where, according to the court, counsel for Qualcomm tried to fend off allegations of noncompliance with the discovery rules by claiming that the client kept counsel ?in the dark? about the existence of more than 200,000 pages of critical e-mails and electronic documents that were not produced in discovery...

A Business Owner?s Guide to Trademarks: Trademark Registration

Posted on January 11, 2008
A trademark is the most valuable asset owned by many businesses. The design, features, source code, or formulation of a product or service may change regularly and even predictably. Without a concise representation of the source, history or reputation of that product or service, such changes would make it immeasurably difficult, if not impossible, for a business to maintain demand...

Responding to Autodesk Audits

Posted on January 11, 2008
The BSA and SIIA are not the only organizations pursuing business for software copyright infringement. Though it is a member of both the BSA and SIIA, Autodesk, which manufactures the popular design software AutoCAD, often pursues audit targets on its own...

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Mortgage Company Settles With FTC For FACTA Violations

Posted on January 11, 2008
The FTC recently announced its first settlement regarding FACTA document disposal rule, 16 C.F.R. 682, which requires any company collecting consumer information for a business purpose to dispose of that information in a way that prevents unauthorized access and misuse of the data...

Scott & Scott, LLP Selected for On-line Copyright Registration System

Posted on January 11, 2008
The American copyright registration system, currently an entirely paper-based operation, is on the verge of going electronic, and Scott & Scott, LLP has been selected to be part of that revolution. The United States Copyright Office is testing a new on-line web-based copyright registration system...

Supreme Court Clarifies Texas Post-Trial Motion Practice

Posted on January 11, 2008
Business with pending Texas litigation should be aware of a recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court clarifying when a trial court loses plenary power to order a new trial. In In re Brookshire Grocery Company,2008 WL 53702 (Tex. 2008), the court held that an amended motion for new trial does not extend a trial court?s plenary power to grant a new trial unless it has been filed before any prior motion for new trial was overruled and it is filed within 30 days of judgment...

Retaining New York Attorney Sufficient to Establish Personal Jurisdiction

Posted on January 04, 2008
Businesses located outside New York that retain attorneys in the state to perform legal services should review a recent decision from the New York Court of Appeals establishing that having an attorney-client relationship with a New York attorney can subject the business to personal jurisdiction in a New York court...

Ninth Circuit Clarifies Contributory Copyright Liability

Posted on January 04, 2008
A recent decision from the Ninth Circuit clarifies the circumstances under which a company may be held liable for contributory copyright infringement. In Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 2007 WL 4225819 (9th Cir. 2007), Perfect 10, a website selling copyrighted images of nude celebrities, sued Google and other entities for copyright infringement...

Trademark Infringement Plaintiffs Seeking Statutory Damages Cannot Also Recover Attorney?s Fees

Posted on January 04, 2008
A recent decision by the Ninth Circuit will affect the ability of companies seeking to recover for trademark infringement and counterfeiting to also be awarded their attorney?s fees. In K&N Engineering, Inc. v. Bulat, 2007 WL 4394416 (9th Cir. 2007), the court held that when a business chooses an award of statutory damages under the federal trademark laws instead of seeking actual damages, attorney?s fees cannot be recovered...

No FTC Opposition for Google?s Acquisition of DoubleClick

Posted on January 04, 2008
Despite the opposition posed by consumer advocacy and privacy groups, the Federal Trade Commission recently voted to close its investigation of Google?s proposed acquisition of DoubleClick. Opponents argued that combination of Google and DoubleClick?s data could be exploited and used to invade consumers? privacy...

Eight Predictions for 2008

Posted on January 04, 2008
2007 was an exciting and dynamic year for the software asset management industry. As we enter a new year, the software industry will continue to evolve. Here are my predictions for what will happen in 2008. 1. BSA expands its ?no-fine? self-audit program I will remember 2007 as the year that the BSA increased its reward program for ?anti-piracy? leads to up to $1,000,000...

Protection of Website Content ?The Potential of Trademark

Posted on January 04, 2008
Websites have, in the past, relied primarily on textual or photographic elements to convey their messages. This fact has made it historically difficult for a business to support a claim that a competitor?s uncomfortably close emulation of its Internet content constituted trade dress infringement, in violation of U...

Attorney?s Duty When Receiving Inadvertently Disclosed Privileged Documents

Posted on January 02, 2008
Business and attorneys involved in California litigation may be affected by a recent ruling by the California Supreme Court regarding an attorney?s obligations when receiving inadvertently disclosed information that is protected by the attorney-client privilege or the work product doctrine...

No ?Famous? or ?Well-Known? Marks Doctrine in New York

Posted on January 02, 2008
The New York Court of Appeals has rejected the application of the ?famous? or ?well known? marks doctrine under New York law. Companies concerned about infringement of unregistered marks in New York state should be aware that claiming their mark is ?famous? or ?well-known? will not be sufficient to state a common law claim for unfair competition when a competitor uses the mark in New York...

Texas Workforce Commission Decisions Have Res Judicata Effect

Posted on January 02, 2008
Texas employers should review a recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court that will affect the resolution of wage claims made under the Texas Payday law. In a case of first impression, the Texas Supreme Court has held that a final adjudication of a wage claim by the Texas Workforce Commission denying the claim precludes the subsequent filing of a common law wage claim in state court...

Even in a Class Action, Registration is a Jurisdictional Prerequisite to Copyright Infringement Claim

Posted on January 02, 2008
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has rejected an attempt to certify a class action by copyright holders for the unauthorized electronic reproduction of their works. In In re Literary Works in Electronic Databases Copyright Litigation, 2007 WL 4197413 (2d Cir...

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