by Scott Cameron

 

eBay describes itself on its website as: “The World’s Online Marketplace®, enabling trade on a local, national and international basis. With a diverse and passionate community of individuals and small businesses, eBay offers an online platform where millions of items are traded each day.” Nearly anything can be bought and sold on eBay. However, the Ninth Circuit recently announced that one thing you do not buy on eBay is personal jurisdiction.

 

The decision, Boschetto v. Hansing, 539 F.3d 1011 (9th Cir. 2008), begins by stating that the “appeal presents a question that remains surprisingly unanswered by the circuit courts: Does the sale of an item via the eBay Internet auction site provide sufficient ‘minimum contacts’ to support personal jurisdiction over a nonresident defendant in the buyer’s forum state?” In the Ninth Circuit it does not.

Continue Reading You Can’t Buy Personal Jurisdiction On eBay

By Audrey A. Millemann

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has redefined the test for the patentability of business methods and computer software. In In re Bilski, 545 F. 3d 943 (Fed. Cir. 2008), an en banc decision, the court discarded the current test, which it established in its 1998 decision in State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group, Inc., 149 F.3d 1368 (Fed. Cir. 1998) for a test set forth in a Supreme Court case decided in 1972, Gottschalk v. Benson, 409 U.S. 63 (1972).

 

Bilski sought to patent a method for hedging risks in commodities trading. Claim 1 required three steps, the essence of which were: (1) initiating a series of transactions between a commodity provider and consumers; (2) identifying market participants for the commodity; and (3) initiating a series of transactions the between the commodity provider and the market participants. The U.S.P.T.O. rejected Bilski’s claims on the grounds that they were not a patentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. 

Continue Reading New Test for Business Methods Patents

 

Answer – a trademark dispute.

The on-line entertainment news site, TMZ.com, reported on a brewing dispute between World Wrestling Entertainment and Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling  television program which airs on CMT.  IP Law Bloger Scott Hervey is counsel for the program. 

 Click this link to the TMZ news posting:  >>>>To TMZ Posting on WWE/CCW Article<<<<

 

James Kachmar

The Grand Theft Auto (“GTA”) video game series is one of the most successful video games of all time. In April 2005, the maker of GTA was sued for trademark infringement as a result of its inclusion of a fictional strip club in its game that bore a resemblance to a real strip club in East Los Angeles. On November 5, 2008, the Ninth Circuit in the case E.S.S. Entertainment 20002, Inc. v. Rockstar Videos, Inc., et al. issued its opinion in this case involving video games and virtual strip clubs and reaffirmed the protections of the First Amendment as a defense to trademark infringement claims.

 

Rockstar Games, Inc. (“Rockstar”) manufactures the GTA video game series, which includes Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The games take place in fictional cities resembling actual American urban areas. Each game is accompanied by a disclaimer stating that the locations depicted are fictional. GTA: San Andreas was created to emulate the West Coast “gangster” culture and depicts the virtual city of Los Santos, which is intended to imitate actual Los Angeles neighborhoods. 

Continue Reading Grand Theft Auto: Trademark Infringement and the First Amendment

By Dale C. Campbell

The 2008 presidential election is just two weeks away. The candidates have discussed everything from foreign policy, the economy, the war in Iraq, washed-up homeland terrorists, and where you find the “real” America. But where do the candidates stand with respect to intellectual property protection?

 

For those of you who are interested, and the mere fact that you are continuing to read this article means that you are, a little-publicized conference sponsored by the IP section of the Colorado Bar was held in August 2008, during which two surrogates for Senator McCain and two circuits for Senator Obama discussed their respective candidates’ positions on topics of interest to the IP bar. A video presentation of the discussion can be if you search: IP Policy and the Presidential Debate Video Replay.

Continue Reading PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS AND IP