Features
<i>adidas v. Payless</i>
After almost seven years since inception, the lawsuit by adidas against Payless ShoeSource, Inc. ended at the trial level with a jury verdict against Payless in the amount of $305 million. Payless was found guilty of willful federal trademark and trade dress infringement, trademark and trade dress dilution, and state-law unfair and deceptive trade practices as a result of its sale of footwear bearing confusingly similar imitations of adidas's famous Three-Stripe Mark and Superstar Trade Dress.
Features
<i>Quanta Computer, Inc., et al. v. LG Electronics, Inc.</i>
In <i>Quanta Computer</i>, many observers believed that the Court would address whether, and to what extent, a party can contractually restrict application of the patent exhaustion doctrine, under which patent rights covering a product are extinguished when the product is sold without restriction. Instead, the Court's decision in <i>Quanta</i> appears to be relatively narrow, confirming that the sale of unpatented components can exhaust a system patent that is substantially, but not completely, embodied by those components, but leaving open the broader question of whether parties can contractually limit application of the patent exhaustion doctrine to the detriment of downstream good faith purchasers.
Features
Production Lawyer's Guide to Obtaining E&O Insurance, Preventing Litigation
Part One discussed what is and isn't covered by errors and omissions (E&O) insurance and examined general clearance guidelines for film and TV. Part Two continues the discussion with specific clearance procedures for production counsel to consider.
Features
<b><i>Decision of Note:</b></i> Artists Bid for Half Of Digital Income Is Dismissed
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed a breach-of-contract, class-action suit by recording artists seeking 50% of net income from the licensing of their recordings for digital uses like downloads and ringtones.
Features
Legislation to Fight Global IP Piracy
To paraphrase a line from a favorite song, you don't always get what you want, but sometimes, you get what you need. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) almost certainly did not get all that it wanted when the House of Representatives passed the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (Pro IP Act), H.R. 4279, in May. What remains to be seen is whether the RIAA and other proponents of the legislation will get what they claim to need ' or anything at all.
Features
<i><b>Commentary:</b></i> Should the Music Stop for iTunes?
Debates over intellectual property rights often heat up around confrontations between those wanting more protection and those wanting less. But perhaps more attention should be paid to the detailed structure of legal rules governing these assets as they are actually used in real-world transactions.
Features
<i>Tiffany v. eBay</i>
The recent decision in <i>Tiffany v. eBay</i> represents a thorough and well-considered exploration of the basis for finding secondary liability in the electronic marketplace for those who facilitate the sale of infringing goods without even selling a product and, conversely, the way for the maker of the marketplace to avoid liability for infringements by those who sell on its site.
Features
Internet Auctions
Business is always a battlefield, but few e-commerce proponents have fought campaigns as fierce as those to keep Internet auctioning license-free. So intense have been skirmishes between online sellers and state legislators that only one state has a law specifically requiring online auctioneer licensing.
Features
Virtualization and Law Office Computer Systems
Virtualization has been getting a significant amount of coverage in the IT press. Open almost any IT trade publication in the last six months and there are numerous articles about virtualization. It brings to mind the movie 'Multiplicity,' or the scientists that are currently involved in 'cloning.' So what is the entire buzz about? And what does it mean to us, the legal community?
Features
<b><i>Software Review:</b></i> The Buzz on Buzzword
The livelihood of a lawyer involves a lot of words, which is why practically every lawyer uses a word processor. Traditionally, this means installing and using a software copy of Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect. Over the last few years, however, we've seen the emergence of a new delivery method for software.
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