by W. Scott Cameron

Section 505 of the Copyright Act provides that the court may, in its discretion, award full costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, to the prevailing party in a claim arising under the Copyright Act.  17 U.S.C. § 505.  In 1941, the Ninth Circuit ruled that when a party voluntarily dismisses her claim without prejudice after the court ordered a more definite statement, the defendant is the prevailing party, and therefore entitled to attorneys’ fees.  Corcoran v. Columbia Broadcasting System, Inc., 121 F.2d 575, 576 (9th Cir. 1941).  The Corcoran court expressly rejected the plaintiff’s contention that the dismissal without prejudice does not confer prevailing party status on the defendants. 

Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Changes Its Definition of “Prevailing Party” In Copyright Cases

by Audrey Millemann

Patent law is a complicated area of law governed by a confusing set of statutes and regulations that are interpreted by Patent and Trademark Office examiners and federal courts.  Patents themselves are often almost unintelligible and, if intelligible, require many hours of reading and comparing drawings in order to understand.  It is no wonder that clients (and non-patent attorneys) have a lot of misconceptions about patents.  Here are a few of the most common ones.

Continue Reading Patent Misconceptions

by Dale Campbell and Emily Hirsekorn

State rules concerning electronic discovery just got clearer. On June 29, 2009, Governor Schwarzenegger signed the Electronic Discovery Act (the “Act”), which became effective immediately. Just last year, the Governor vetoed an almost identical version of the Act in order to focus more attention on the budget crisis. Of course, we see how well that plan worked. The Act is modeled after the 2006 amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The new rules govern the discovery procedure for electronically stored information (“ESI”) in California civil actions.

Continue Reading Updating California’s Discovery Rules with the Electronic Discovery Act

by Zachary J. Wadlé

J.D. Salinger, author of the seminal teen angst novel “The Catcher in the Rye,” recently filed a lawsuit in United States District Court in Manhattan for copyright infringement against the author of a purported “sequel” to Salinger’s classic work entitled “60 Years Later: Coming Through the Rye.” Salinger’s lawsuit sought a permanent injunction against publication of the new work in the United States.

Continue Reading Copyrighter in the Rye – J.D. Salinger Stops Publication of Alleged Sequel To Famous Work

by Scott Hervey

A ruling earlier this month by the Ninth Circuit provided three guidelines all marketing experts and their counsel should take note of.   These guidelines address the extent to which the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) (and most likely other Federal regulations on telemarketing) impacts texting as part of a marketing campaign. 

In the case at issue, Simon & Schuster hired a third party to manage the promotional campaign for a new Stephen King book, including securing a list of 100,000 cell phone numbers from the licensing agent for Nextones. Nextones offers consumers free cell phone ring tones in exchange for the consumer providing various information, including a cell phone number, and agreeing to receive promotions from Nextone, its “affiliates and brands.”

Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Ruling on Texting Provides Guidelines For The Marketing Industry