The Ninth Circuit recently addressed the issue of whether parties can contractually agree to shorten the statute of limitations period for bringing a copyright infringement claim. In an unpublished opinion in the case, Evox Productions, LLC v. Chrome Data Solutions, LP (filed Feb. 10, 2023), the Ninth Circuit held that the trial court had properly enforced contractual provisions to find that the Plaintiff’s copyright infringement claims were barred by the agreed-to shortened, statute of limitations period.

Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Reaffirms That Parties Can Contractually Shorten Statute of Limitations Period for Copyright Infringement Claims

Singer Rick Astley is suing rapper Yung Gravy for vocal imitation in his smash hit, Betty (Get Money). Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo talk about this case on this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog.

Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Rick Astley Sues Yung Gravy for Use of Imitation Voice in “Betty (Get Money)”

I recently wrote about the patent infringement lawsuit filed by Moderna against Pfizer/BioNTech over the COVID-19 vaccine. In its complaint filed in federal district court in Boston last August, Moderna alleged that Pfizer/BioNTech infringed three of Moderna’s patents in developing the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Moderna seeks damages only for the time period after March 8, 2022, when Moderna announced that it would begin to enforce its patents after holding off doing so for 15 months while the pandemic was raging. The amount of money at stake is high. Pfizer/BioNTech sold over $26.4 billion of the vaccine in the first nine months of 2022; Moderna sold over $13.5 billion of its vaccine during the same time.

Continue Reading The Battle Over the COVID-19 Vaccine Continues

Getty Images filed a lawsuit against startup tech company Stability AI for allegedly scraping more than 12 million photographs from Getty Images’ portfolio without consent. Scott Hervey and Josh Escovedo discuss this case on this episode of The Briefing by the IP Law Blog.

Continue Reading The Briefing by the IP Law Blog: Getty Images Sues Stability AI for Copyright Infringement

In Bell Semiconductor, LLC v. Omnivision Technologies, Inc., 8-22-cv-01979 (CDCA Mar. 1, 2023)( John A. Kronstadt), the Court granted the Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s indirect patent infringement claims for failure to sufficiently allege Defendant “made” the accused product. Plaintiff had argued that using the patented methods in the design process, which guides the subsequent manufacturing process, is sufficient to state a claim. However, the Court held the Plaintiff provides no authority supporting the contention that the use of a method to design a product is the same as the use of a method to manufacture the product, as contemplated by the statute. 

Continue Reading District Court Finds Use of a Method to Manufacture a Product Does Not Indirectly Infringe a Patented Method to Design A Product