Legal News
Bob Marley’s Heirs Take on Intellectual Property Infringers
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Intellectual Property on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Celebrity product endorsements can create a number of interesting intellectual property issues. Take, for example, the common image of Bob Marley on T-shirts and other merchandise, many of which are printed without permission of the owners of Bob Marley's likeness - his children. Tired of their father's over-exposure, and wanting to protect their father's image, the children of Bob Marley and their licensee (one company is licensed to use the image and likeness of the famous Rastafarian) have sued various companies for using Mr. Marley's image on clothing and merchandise without their permission. The children successfully sued offenders for "false endorsement." This cause of action is created by a section of an intellectual property statute, the Lanham Act, whereby any person who uses any name, symbol, or device in commerce that is likely to cause confusion regarding [...]
Downloading Images to Your Website and Potential Copyright Infringement
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Thursday, April 23, 2015. You're updating your website and find a few nice photos on Google Images. No harm in downloading them and putting them on your website, right? Wrong. And a Washington, D.C. patent lawyer has just learned the hard way that using stock photos without permission can be costly. Masterfile Corp., a photo supplier, alleged that the lawyer illegally used two files of people dressed in suits on his website. The licensing company sought $150,000 in damages for using the photos without permission. The suit settled for a small sum. While it may make sense that using material (such as images and photos) that you do not own can create a significant risk of copyright infringement, the Internet is rife with the illegal use of copyrighted images. Nevertheless, it may also come as a surprise to the infringer when they [...]
Can an Heir Sue for Copyright Infringement?
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Copyright on Tuesday, April 21, 2015. A new case involving the intellectual property rights of the heirs of the composer of a popular television show may test the limits of who may sue for copyright infringement. In late March 2015, the children of Morton Stevens, the award-winning TV and film music composer who created the theme music for the show Hawaii Five-0, sued CBS for copyright infringement in federal court in Los Angeles. The original Hawaii Five-0 television show ran from 1968 to 1980. Mr. Stevens created an iconic theme song, and he created it prior to 1978. This is the magic date that provides that when an author dies before the original term of a copyright grant expires, the rights in that material revert to the heirs. CBS nonetheless filed a "renewal registration" for the Hawaii Five-0 theme song in 1997. CBS will [...]
What are Trade Secrets?
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trade Secrets on Friday, April 17, 2015. Trade secrets are information of any kind, including a formula, pattern, method, technique, or process, with two specific qualities. First, the information must have "independent economic value from not being generally known to the public." Second, the trade secret's owner must take "reasonable steps to maintain the secrecy of the information." A judge or jury would likely analyze this information, examining such factors as sensitivity, who needs access to the information, and whether employees of the company with the trade secrets were actually following internal procedures for protecting information. For more on what makes a trade secret, click here. Sometimes, a disgruntled employee or former employee will 'steal' a company's trade secrets, referred to as trade secret misappropriation. Typically, former employees and direct competitors are the most likely misappropriators of trade secrets. Companies can protect themselves from [...]
Innovation Act: Congress To Stand Up to Patent Trolls?
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Patents on Thursday, April 9, 2015. Patent law in the U.S. might change once again: as of February 2015, Congress is reconsidering the "Innovation Act," a bill that could implement several changes, including making it difficult for non-practicing entities (also known as "patent trolls") to claim their patents have been infringed upon. Patent trolls usually buy up patents and then use them against unsuspecting businesses, without contributing anything to the economy themselves. Often, defendants will simply settle the case as a way to avoid further costly litigation. It is easy to see, then, why many argue that patent trolls engage in abusive litigation tactics, which harms the economy and wastes resources. The Innovation Act would create a number of changes to the existing framework. For instance, the Act would force patent trolls to meet a heightened pleading requirement. That is, if a patent holder [...]
Bull vs. Ox: Red Bull Takes on Beer Company to Protect Its Intellectual Property
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. A small Virginia-based beer manufacturer called Old Ox Brewery is defending itself in a trademark challenge against energy drink company Red Bull - all because Red Bull argues that the word "ox" could cause consumer confusion. Trademark infringement occurs when there is an unauthorized use of a trademark or service mark in connection with goods or services in a way that is likely to cause confusion, deception, or mistake about the source of the goods or services. Here, Red Bull is concerned that consumers who know and purchase their energy drink will purchase Old Ox beer and become confused, thinking Red Bull actually made the beer. If you are faced with a potential trademark issue, consulting an intellectual property lawyer can help you clarify your rights and options moving forward. Red Bull is an Austrian company that sold [...]
Patent Infringement Claims and Attorney Fees
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Patents on Tuesday, March 31, 2015. If you bring a claim for patent infringement, a recent case from the U.S. Supreme Court has made recovery of attorneys' fees easier than ever before. Typically, the party that wins the lawsuit in a patent infringement case has a right to seek attorneys' fees if a case is considered "exceptional" under a particular statute. These types of fee arrangements are meant to serve as a deterrent to parties who want to bring unwarranted suits on invalid or unenforceable patents. In this case, the Supreme Court re-examined the statute that allows trial courts to award attorneys' fees, as well as the relevant case law, and reversed the lower court's decision. The Court held that the framework for granting attorney's fees was "overly rigid." Under the old test, a party could seek fees if there was "litigation misconduct," meaning [...]
Ssshhh . . . Trade Secrets
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trade Secrets on Thursday, March 19, 2015. If you have developed a product, add another duty to your list of obligations: examining other similar products, patent filings, etc. to determine whether a competitor is misappropriating trade secret information. If you do not monitor the filings or if you do and fail to prosecute trade secret misappropriation claims, you may lose the right to sue for trade secret misappropriation. A trade secret is secret information that gives the owner a competitive business advantage simply because the competitors do not know this information. A trade secret can be anything that the owner derives value from based upon its secrecy such as a formula, pattern, physical device, idea, process or compilation of information. Trade secrets can include recipes, pricing information, and client lists, all dependent upon maintaining their secrecy. For example, it is claimed that only a [...]
Taylor Swift Seeks to Trademark Signature Catchphrases
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Tuesday, March 17, 2015. Recent news that pop sensation Taylor Swift has applied to trademark "catchphrases" from her "1989" album (such as "This Sick Beat," "Nice to Meet You. Where You Been?" and "Party Like It's 1989") has appeared to open the floodgates in terms oftrademark questions. Can anyone trademark any phrase that pops into their minds, for use in the sale of certain products? The answer is yes, as long as you follow a few basic guidelines, according to NYU Law School professor Christopher Sprigman, who spoke to Money magazine about this topic. First, the trademark cannot be "generic," meaning it cannot include a commonly used name of the product that you're trying to sell. He provided the example that seeking a trademark for the phrase "salt" to sell salt shakers probably wouldn't work because "salt" is a generic word when [...]
Trademark Oppositions: Your Chance to Protect Your Trademark
On behalf of The Myers Law Group posted in Trademarks on Saturday, March 14, 2015. Many people assume that if they file a trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") and the Examining Attorney at the USPTO does not find any conflicting trademarks, that they are entitled to registration. However, there is another step along the way. Federal law provides a way for a party to challenge the registration of a trademark during what is known as the publication period. The publication period occurs after the Examining Attorney's preliminary approval and is intended to allow any person or entity who believes that they will be harmed by the registration an opportunity to oppose the mark. The publication period lasts for thirty days and commences on the day that the USPTO publishes the mark in the Official Gazette. If someone believes that their trademark will be harmed, then they can initiate [...]