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Intellectual Property—Posting photo on website to promote film festival was not fair use
A company’s use of a photograph to highlight nearby tourist attractions on a website promoting a for-profit film festival did not constitute fair use because the use was not transformative and was for commercial purposes, the photographer was entitled to thick copyright protection for the photo and allowing such a use could cause considerable damage […]
Intellectual Property – Trademark & Trade Dress Infringement – Civil Practice – Statute of Limitations – Laches – Unfair Trade Practices
Plaintiff’s claims – that defendants copied plaintiff’s marketing scheme, trade dress, and product, and even repackaged plaintiff’s salt-scrub product and sold it as their own – were known to plaintiff, at the latest, by 2012. Plaintiff’s 2017 complaint is therefore time-barred. In any event, plaintiff has failed to adequately allege that its marketing system, […]
Intellectual Property – Booking.com entitled to trademark
Where the government failed to demonstrate that booking.com was a generic term that could not be trademarked, and Booking.com demonstrated that the descriptive term has gained a secondary meaning, the website is entitled to a trademark. Background Booking.com operates a website on which customers can book travel and hotel accommodations. It has used the name […]
Intellectual Property – True statement prompts dismissal of Lanham Act claim
Liberty Counsel, an organization dedicated to advancing Christian causes, sued GuideStar, a nonprofit organization that maintains an extensive online directory of profiles on other nonprofits, after GuideStar reported the Southern Poverty Law Center had designated Liberty as a hate group. Because the statement about the designation was true, the court affirmed dismissal of the Lanham […]
Intellectual Property – Trademark – State & Federal Marks – Episcopal Church – Civil Practice – Statute of Limitations – Claim & Issue Preclusion
In a related state-court case, the South Carolina Supreme Court issued a split decision, with Justices Pleicones and Hearn ruling to reverse the trial court regarding the state registered trademarks, and Chief Justice Beatty, in the controlling opinion, leaving the issue of the rights to service marks to this court. Therefore, the issue of state […]
Intellectual Property – Sovereign-immunity waiver for infringement not valid
The federal Copyright Remedy Clarification Act’s broad abrogation of states’ sovereign immunity for copyright infringement was not a valid exercise of Congressional authority, either under Article I’s Copyright Clause or § 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment. Background In 1717, the pirate Blackbeard captured a French merchant vessel, renamed her Queen Anne’s Revenge, and made her his [&hellip[...]
Intellectual Property – Patent Infringement – Civil Practice – Personal Jurisdiction – Cease & Desist Letters
Because the defendant-patentee took no further actions beyond sending plaintiff letters regarding potential patent infringement, the court cannot assert specific personal jurisdiction over defendant in this declaratory judgment action. The court grants defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. In the context of a declaratory judgment action for non-infringement of a patent[...]
Intellectual Property – Trademark & Trade Dress Infringement – Civil Practice – Statute of Limitations & Laches
Where plaintiff accused defendants of violating plaintiff’s intellectual property rights in plaintiff’s skin care products in July 2012, plaintiff’s Feb. 3, 2017, complaint was filed outside the statute of limitations for plaintiff’s state law claims, and plaintiff’s Lanham Act claims are limited to events after Feb. 3, 2014. The court grants in part and denies […]
Intellectual Property – Trademark Infringement – Karaoke Brand – Consumer Confusion – Civil Practice
Holding: Plaintiff alleges that defendants not only pirated plaintiff’s karaoke recordings, but also copied plaintiff’s trademark and displayed it while playing the pirated songs. The display of plaintiff’s mark on the screen where the karaoke lyrics appear throughout an entire evening of karaoke performances could cause confusion among customers that the holder of the trademark […]
Intellectual Property – Negligence can’t sustain contributory infringement
BMG Rights Mgm’t LLC v. Cox Commc’ns Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-024-18, 37 pp.) (Motz, J.) No. 16-1972, Feb. 1, 2018; EDVA at Alexandria (O’Grady, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: Although an ISP’s “13-strike policy” did not qualify for safe harbor in a music copyright infringement suit, the court of appeals remanded for a new trial […]
Intellectual Property – Copyright Infringement – Pool & Pool House Plans – Tort/Negligence – Conversion
Sinclair & Associates of Greenville, LLC v. CresCom Bank (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-010-18, 23 pp.) (David Norton, J.) 2:16-cv-00465; D.S.C. Holding: Plaintiff’s claim that defendants converted plaintiff’s physical architectural plans to their own use is not preempted by the Copyright Act. The court denies defendants’ motions for summary judgment, denies defendants’ motion in limine, gran[...]
Intellectual Property – Patent Cancellation – Civil Practice – Witness Immunity
Sanfilippo v. Brewerton (Lawyers Weekly No. 002-204-17, 7 pp.) (Richard Mark Gergel, J.) 2:17-cv-00183; D.S.C. Holding: Plaintiff’s claims are based on defendant’s testimony before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but, as a witness, defendant has absolute immunity from plaintiff’s claims. The proper forum for challenging the veracity of defendant’s expert opinion was the proceeding [&hel[...]
Business Law
- Economy forces attorneys to get down to business
- Business Court judges trawl for customers
- Va. company's Web site did not subject business to personal jurisdiction in S.C., appeals panel rules
- Former running back from S.C. wins courtroom victory in contract dispute
- Contract – Government Contract – Qui Tam – False Claims Act
- Tort – Business Tort – Va. Computer Crimes Act – Trade Secrets
- Consumer Protection – FCRA – Auto Loan – Bank Accounting Errors
- Licenses & Permits – Beer & Wine Permit – Restrictive Covenant – Suitable Location
- Licenses & Permits – Veterinarian – Vaccine Maintenance
- State regulators look at car dealer accused of lying to customers
- Textile firm, railroad settle Graniteville train wreck lawsuit
- Subprime mortgage meltdown hits securities law
Commentary
- Virginia Tech student got due process in hearing
- High court justices cross the line of propriety
- High court’s term was rough on big business
- The flip side of generative AI in law and how to address it
- The fight for equal educational opportunity continues
- Letter From The Editor – Working from Home
- NLRB joins FTC in taking aim at non-competes
- Supreme Court leaves key internet protection untouched
- US Supreme Court bites back at parody’s use of the First Amendment
- My goal: Provide the information that you need now
- Case study: North Carolina courts provide guidance on scope, limitations of attorney-client privilege
- A Different Ode to Pro Bono Work
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