By Scott Cameron

The Ninth Circuit just doesn’t like karaoke. At least, that’s what plaintiffs, manufacturers of karaoke machines, in two recent opinions involving copyright law would likely say. In both decisions, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the district courts’ dismissal of the complaints without leave to amend. Both of these decisions discussed the various copyrights that are implicated in a karaoke device, including the copyright of the performance of the song itself, the song lyrics, and the synchronization of the two. Both decisions also involved the licenses required by karaoke device manufacturers.

Continue Reading The Ninth Circuit Just Doesn’t Like Karaoke

By Audrey A. Millemann

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals recently reversed a district court’s dismissal of a declaratory judgment action, relying on the Supreme Court’s decision in MedImmune Inc. v. Genentech Inc., 127 S.Ct. 764 (2007). See Micron Technology, Inc. v. MOSAID Technologies, Inc., 2008 WL 540182 (Feb. 29, 2008)

Micron was one of the four largest manufacturers of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips. Micron, together with Samsung Electronics Company, Ltd, Hynix Semiconductor, Inc., and Infineon Technologies of North America, controlled seventy-five percent of the worldwide market for these chips.

Continue Reading Federal Circuit Applies Supreme Court’s New Test for Declaratory Judgment Jurisdiction

By Scott Hervey

Last October I had the good fortune of being invited to attend my friend’s “man shower” in Las Vegas. What made this trip interesting was the fact that this all guy’s version of a baby shower would be the subject of an episode of the VH1 reality TV show “Scott Baio is 46 and Pregnant.” While there are a number of interesting stories that came out of this first and only man style baby shower, the “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” rule prohibits me from telling you any. However, the tales fit for this article comes from my observations of the numerous, IP issues that came up during our two days of shooting.

As regular readers of my articles may know, part of my practice includes representing independent motion picture and reality television producers. While I have been production counsel for a number of movies and reality television shows, most of my work occurs before the cameras ever roll. Part of this work involves working with the production staff and preparing them to deal with those issues that may arrive when shooting in an environment you don’t entirely control. However, being on set and having to identify issues on the fly (especially when the person identifying the issues is not a lawyer) is very different from engaging in theoretical and hypothetical discussions.

Continue Reading Lights, Camera, IP Issues…

By Scott Hervey

As 2008 gets underway, its time for companies to take a fresh look at how they manage intellectual property assets. This applies to companies that have never taken serious steps to protect intellectual property, and those companies that have an understanding of the value of intellectual property and take active steps to secure and protect these assets.   The three steps below are a good starting point for companies addressing this issue for a first time, and are a well needed refresher for companies that already have IP management protocols in place.

Continue Reading A Fresh Look At Managing Intellectual Property

By Jeff Pietsch

Last week, the Second Circuit affirmed a summary judgment against an advertising consultant in a suit against American Express. The consultant, Stephen Goetz, sued American Express for misappropriation and trademark infringement for the slogan “My Life, My Card” that Goetz claimed to have introduced to American Express. The court affirmed the summary judgment stating that Goetz never actually used the slogan in commerce. Since Goetz never used the slogan in commerce, he had no trademark rights in the mark.

In the summer of 2004, Goetz worked as a consultant for Mez Design. While at Mez Design, Goetz formulated an idea to allow credit card customers to personalize their credit cards by choosing a photograph to be displayed on the face of the card. Goetz then developed software to produce these cards with the idea of selling or licensing the software to credit card companies. After developing the software, Goetz mailed proposals to large credit card companies, including American Express. In these proposals, Goetz prominently displayed the slogan “My Life, My Card.” On July 30, 2004, Goetz mailed a proposal to American Express.

Continue Reading American Express Wins Trademark Battle Over “My life. My Card.”