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Copyright Headline Intellectual Property

Oracle Scores The Biggest Software Piracy Verdict Ever

$1.3 billion is now the largest amount ever awarded to a plaintiff in a software piracy case, and the 23rd largest jury verdict.  The plaintiff was Oracle and the defendant was SAP, a leader in business management software.  Oracle claimed that SAP stole thousands of copies of Oracle software for over three years and then […]

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Headline Intellectual Property Sports Law Trademarks

The NFL Cares About Who Wins The Souper Bowl

Trademark bullying watch!  My first post on trademark bullying discussed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) interest in eliciting suggestions to address these problematic litigation tactics.  Legit claims are one thing; trademark bullying ties up the courts, costs people money that would be better spent on innovation, and takes up unnecessary time litigating. My […]

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Headline Intellectual Property Right of Publicity Sports Law

Sam Keller Seeks To Protect Athletes’ Right of Publicity

Here is a sample definition of likeness – name, silhouette, personality, appearance, performance, depiction, portrayal, photograph and voice.  It is an integral definition in many licensing agreements where one party hopes to be able to exploit the other party, usually for a hefty fee.  What if you were not entitled to just compensation for the […]

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Cyberspace Headline Intellectual Property Trademarks

Twitter Files Its First UDRP Complaint Against TwitterSearch.com

On October 24, 1999, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) approved the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy (UDRP).  The UDRP incorporated by contract into registration agreements for .com, .org, .net and some other domain names.  The focus was on regulating bad faith cybersquatting on trademarks. Clause 4 of the UDRP discusses the Mandatory […]

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Cyberspace Headline Intellectual Property Trademarks

Google Not Pleased With YouTubeSocial.com

If you have an idea (a great idea) to create a website that allows visitors to watch and share YouTube videos together with their friends, you should consult an attorney to figure out how to embark on the venture without stepping on anyone’s toes.  The last thing you want to worry about in a start-up […]

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Copyright Cyberspace Headline Intellectual Property

The Pirate Bay’s Founders Go Down For Contributory Infringement Of Copyrighted Works

On its “About” page, The Pirate Bay describes itself as follows: The Pirate Bay is the worlds largest bittorrent tracker. Bittorrent is a filesharing protocol that in a reliable way enables big and fast file transfers. The website was founded by a Swedish anti-copyright organization and has gone through a few changes of ownership before […]

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Cyberspace Headline Intellectual Property Trademarks

Not A Lame Lawsuit Involving Facebook

Is Facebook being a trademark bully, or is it really just trying to protect its intellectual property? In March 2010, Facebook sent small scale parody website Lamebook (some of the stuff on there is really funny) a cease and desist letter.  Facebook had a problem with Lamebook’s name, mark, and look and feel of its […]

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Copyright Headline Intellectual Property

But Do You Really Know About Copyright Laws?

Imagine spending your time writing an article with the hope that it will be published on a popular website.  Imagine the thrill when you find out the the website is going to publish your article.  You are becoming a trusted source for that particular information.  Perhaps you will be able to earn money by granting […]

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Headline Intellectual Property Right of Publicity Sports Law

New Right Of Publicity Legislation Could Negatively Impact Athletes

Very talented athletes stand to make more money from off field/court/ice/etc. activities than what they earn based on performing in the trade that they are truly qualified.  Agents, attorneys, and marketers attempt to find and negotiate these deals for their athlete clients.  Often times, those deals are licensing agreements, or at least contain provisions that […]

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Headline Intellectual Property Trademarks

These Burgers Are Not Made By The Dodgers

Earlier this week, I talked about trademark bullies, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) concern that the practice of bullying is getting out of hand.  Would you file the following lawsuit into the category of bullying? The Los Angeles Dodgers is giving Brooklyn Burger a hard time about its use of the classic […]