Features
Matthew D. Schneller
&
Erin S. Hennessy
The following article takes a general intellectual-property approach to trademark infringement from the perspectives of both trademark holders and product importers, while providing much useful, technical information for entertainment industry professionals.
Stan Soocher
The Tennessee Court of Appeals, at Nashville, reversed and remanded a trial court ruling against Clint Black in the country artist's suit against his former business manager. This case is notable not only for statute-of-limitations issues, but also involves business-management partnership liability, as well as the line between accounting and business management services.
Stan Soocher
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decided that actor Emmanuel "Sunshine" Logro'o and a TV production in which he was a principal infringed on the copyright for the plaintiff production company's TV situation comedy.
Features
Stan Soocher
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently reconfirmed the long-established principle that, under California law, an implied-in-fact contract claim over an alleged promise to pay for use of an idea or concept isn't preempted by federal copyright law.
Marcelo Halpern, Amanda Weare
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Lauren Matecki
Illinois Gov. Patrick Quinn signed the Main Street Fairness Act into law to collect sales tax revenues from a retail market traditionally beyond the states' reach ' the world of online commerce ' by focusing on the role of local online marketing affiliates. But the measure has been harshly criticized by online merchants who contend it is an unconstitutional intrusion on interstate commerce, and by policy analysts who question its ability to raise tax revenues.
Features
Jonathan Bick
The same technology that provides the means for customers in various market sectors to truly interact with merchants also allows a similar force multiplication for Internet criminals, including charlatans and other rogues who prey on some of the most vulnerable among us ' the elderly.
Stanley P. Jaskiewicz
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Matthew I. Cohen
The prospect of "free" software, through the open source movement, seems like a CFO's dream come true. After all, why shouldn't a firm get a critical asset at no cost? In other words, why pay a monthly licensing or maintenance fee when something that appears to work well can possibly be had at no cost online? Unfortunately, the real world has taught us all that "free" can be very expensive.
Howard J. Shire
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Joseph Mercadante
Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.
Features
Judith Grubner
The Cuban trade embargo has been at issue for more than a decade in the long-running case between Bacardi and Pernod Ricard over the U.S. rights to the HAVANA CLUB trademark for rum.
R. David Donoghue
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and Anna Krasinski
On April 20, 2011, the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in the <i>TiVo Inc. v. EchoStar Corp.</i> case. No. 2009-1374 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 20, 2011). The decision marks a sea change for evaluating contempt of an injunction in a patent case, significantly limiting an infringer's ability to challenge an injunction on the grounds that it is vague or overbroad.
