Intellectual Property Law

No free lunch. But those prices?

Posted on April 16, 2010
“Information wants to be free.”  I must have mocked those words dozens of times here.  Or a few.  I might be counting the times I just thought that.  Either way, that expression is not an argument.  It’s a statement of ideological faith...

Watch that blawg!

Posted on April 13, 2010
Legal Blog Watch, uniquely qualified for the job, hosts this week’s Blawg Review! Watch that blawg! ©, .

The Heinz® of Knockoff Newses

Posted on April 13, 2010
Originally posted 2007-05-05 22:01:14. Republished by Blog Post PromoterCounterfeit Chic’s Knockoff News #57, of course! The Heinz® of Knockoff Newses ©, .

Patent trolls (NB: this is not about patent lawyers)

Posted on April 13, 2010
Originally posted 2006-03-20 15:27:12. Republished by Blog Post PromoterDean Esmay has a link, and then some, on patent trolling, including an ethnic angle of interest. Patent trolls (NB: this is not about patent lawyers) ©, .

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Missing Link in Constitutional Devolution

Posted on April 13, 2010
Originally posted 2005-03-10 16:37:00. Republished by Old Post PromoterMike Bates,who should know, links to a story involving yet another cease and desist letter — this time sent by Fox News Channel, according to the story, demanding the “delinkage” of an “unauthorized link” to a Bill O’Reilly column on line...

Moral rights in Massachusetts

Posted on April 12, 2010
Lee Gesmer reported last month on a pretty important decision in copyright law:  A First Circuit ruling applying the Visual Rights Act, which–well, Lee says it very well himself, actually: Mass MoCA is the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art Foundation a contemporary art museum in North Adams, MA...

Whitewashed

Posted on April 12, 2010
Originally posted 2007-08-12 22:41:36. Republished by Blog Post PromoterAm I missing something here? Did you know that the terms “Black Power,” “Black Supremacy,” and “La Raza” (The Race) are all trademarks that have long been approved by the U...

Settlement in Google click advertising case; website inaccessible

Posted on April 12, 2010
Originally posted 2006-05-21 11:00:55. Republished by Blog Post PromoterI got this notice by email regarding the settlement by Google of the click advertising lawsuit: This court-ordered notice may affect your legal rights. Please read it carefully...

How generic is your cupcakery? Or is it CUPCAKERY? after all?

Posted on April 09, 2010
From Ryan Gile:  Is CUPCAKERY a generic term for a cupcake bakery? At first, the word ?cupcakery? seems somewhat suggestive–a unique play on the words cupcake and bakery. However, with the explosive growth of these specialty ?cupcake? stores, several other ?cupcakeries? have opened up in different parts of the country...

Patry and “The Copyright Wars”

Posted on April 08, 2010
The Copyright Clearance Center?s Beyond the Book feature just uploaded a podcast featuring Bill Patry, Senior Copyright Counsel at Google, copyright treatiste and, of course, on-again blogger.  Bill talks about his new book Moral Panics and The Copyright Wars, which is what you’d expect him to do...

Major League Baseball – SDNY Balks?

Posted on April 08, 2010
Originally posted 2005-11-28 11:48:08. Republished by Blog Post PromoterA potentially troubling (from the teams’ point of view) thought from the Southern District of New York in a case brought by Major League Baseball against a company selling beanbags with team names, colors and logos on them, reported by the NY Law Journal (subscription required): The [...

Targeting your discriminatory website

Posted on April 08, 2010
Originally posted 2006-10-10 11:22:57. Republished by Blog Post PromoterEvan Brown reports about National Federation of the Blind v. Target Corporation, a suit brought against Target in a California federal court claiming that Target’s website violates the ADA: Target asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit for failure to state a claim, and presented three arguments [...

Tubby-Tonic in Titanic Trademark Tussle

Posted on April 08, 2010
Originally posted 2005-07-03 09:39:28. Republished by Blog Post PromoterI’m almost starting to like the EFF. They just filed a lawsuit in California seeking a ruling that an independent online newsletter called AccompliaReport.com devoted to reporting news about Accomplia, a Sanofi-Aventis drug intended to combat obesity and smoking addiction, can continue to use the [...

My ox, gored

Posted on April 07, 2010
Originally posted 2006-02-20 21:35:29. Republished by Blog Post PromoterNazi sympathizer David Irving just got three years in the slammer in Austria for various aspects of his Holocaust denial career. Do we think hate-speech laws which would be patently unconstitutional in the U...

What’s new up North

Posted on April 07, 2010
Originally posted 2007-05-25 13:26:36. Republished by Blog Post PromoterThe Canadian Trademark Blog writes about three recent trademark decisions from the Canadian courts that readers may find of interest. What’s new up North ©, .

Forget breakfast — eBay eats Tiffany’s lunch

Posted on April 02, 2010
Something about a judge loves a fence, I guess--and not only fences like eBay.

Winging it

Posted on April 02, 2010
Legal marketing guy Lance Godard hosted Blawg Review this week with a simulated 22-tweet “interview” of 22 different lawyers. You have to click it to see what I mean.  Hey, don’t trouble yourself to scroll up–here’s the link again...

Not a Rookie — Just a Freedom Fighter

Posted on April 02, 2010
Originally posted 2005-10-19 23:57:04. Republished by Blog Post PromoterDoug, you’re right about this: Helen Thomas will, in one capacity or another, outlast Scott McLellan in his role as White House Press Secretary. But are you really telling us that she is respected as “dean” of the White House press corps? Because I find [...

Likelihood of extrusion

Posted on March 29, 2010
Adapting my annual Passover post, scrubbed and cleansed and covered with vinyl shelf paper for this year: This year Passover takes up two weekdays, Tuesday and Wednesday, so I’m “out of pocket” through Wednesday night and essentially on mission-critical-only duty for most of the rest of next week, too...

Counterfeit Chic: Knockoff News 68

Posted on March 29, 2010
Originally posted 2007-09-05 13:44:06. Republished by Blog Post PromoterWho can forget the summer of ‘68?  Check out the latest Knockoff News.  And while you’re there, read about the man who sold away his own name. Counterfeit Chic: Knockoff News 68 ©, .

Two Chinas policy

Posted on March 28, 2010
This item from Focus Taiwan didn’t end quite the way I expected it to: A group of legislators expressed grave concern Thursday about rampant infringements or abuse of Taiwanese trademarks by Chinese companies whose products have not only circulated in China but have also been exported around the world...

Monkeyfishing for Litigation

Posted on March 28, 2010
Originally posted 2005-09-27 11:44:10. Republished by Blog Post PromoterSlate’s Paul Boutin reports: Greasemonkey, a plug-in for the Firefox browser, allows you to run “user scripts”?Javascript programs that tweak other people’s Web pages after you’ve loaded them...

Second Life case settles

Posted on March 28, 2010
Originally posted 2007-10-24 00:09:40. Republished by Blog Post PromoterThe IMPACT® blog reports a settlement in the Second Life dispute. Second Life case settles ©, .

Baseball been very, very good to lawyers

Posted on March 28, 2010
Originally posted 2006-05-17 17:04:25. Republished by Blog Post Promoter Do you remember the lawsuit by Major League Baseball over the use of — well, not statistics, exactly, but the rights of publicity in baseball players and, marginally, the use of “players” (really, though, their statistics in a sense) by fantasy baseball leagues? That foul [...

The Licensing Law Blog

Posted on March 25, 2010
My friend Richard Bergovoy has finally come in from the cold and, since January, has been publishing The Licensing Law Blog. Richard’s smart, he’s funny, and he knows his stuff.  My choice of the day:  The creepy hand of the NCAA as it grips the neck of its means of production–student athletes–and the attempt to pry that [...

More on virtual infringement

Posted on March 25, 2010
Originally posted 2007-06-12 15:02:18. Republished by Blog Post PromoterI’ve already written about what they’re writing about it, and now, so has Victoria Pynchon. More on virtual infringement ©, .

Green with trust

Posted on March 23, 2010
Pamela Chestek:  Property, Intangible: You just can’t trust your readership.  When the City of New York first claimed that it owned the name of the landmark New York City restaurant “Tavern on the Green,” I posted a poll asking readers’ opinion...

A Fruitful Blur

Posted on March 23, 2010
Originally posted 2005-11-02 11:12:49. Republished by Blog Post PromoterSome people like to say the line between information and entertainment is a blur. In fact they will argue it should be a blur, as entertainment is an engaging way to pass along hard information...

Oscarwatch.com a trademark infringement?

Posted on March 23, 2010
Originally posted 2007-05-10 16:42:40. Republished by Blog Post PromoterThe Academy of Motion Pictures is suing a website called Oscarwatch.com. Fair use anybody? The site’s owner, Sasha Stone, has been doing his homework: “I am not trying to exploit the Academy’s trademark to offer competing goods and services,” Oscarwatch...

Defamation and Bloggers, Once and For All

Posted on March 23, 2010
Originally posted 2005-03-22 23:39:00. Republished by Blog Post PromoterQuestion I seem to get every week: What’s with blogs and defamation? Coleman, are you pro? Con? Here’s what appears to be a very well done article, originally published in the New Communications Blogzine, that is far more information than I’m going to give anyone for [...

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