Tuesday, December 30, 2003

Who Knew There Was a Market for Nude Photos of Barbie Menaced by Kitchen Appliances? Rejecting a trademark and copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Mattel, the Ninth Circuit held the photos to be protected free speech.
UHaul Brought Suit in the Wrong Court... A federal judge in New York has issued an injunction against WhenU.com in a trademark infringement action brought by 1-800 Contacts.

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Friday, December 19, 2003

Dutch Court: Kaaza Not Liable for Copyright Infringement The AP has this report, while Reuters has this report on the ruling.
Set Back for RIAA A federal appeals court has ruled that the RIAA cannot use DMCA subpoenas to obtain the identity of P2P users. The AP has this report on the ruling, and this analysis of the impact.

Wednesday, December 17, 2003

They May Be Infringers, But They Have Damn Good Shakes CNN has a report about a trademark dispute between Chicago's Billy Goat tavern, which uses the slogan "Cheezborger, Cheezborger," and the Florida-based chain Cheeburger Cheeburger. The Cheeburger Cheeburger in Richmond has an excellent Cotton Candy milkshake. Haven't found one of their restaurants up here in DC yet, though.
SCO Wins Battle to Protect Code The judge in SCO's patent infringement case against IBM has ruled that SCO's code will be protected from disclosure to the public.
Phillips to Introduce New DRM System Wired reports in "No, Really, You Can't Copy These."
The Ins and Outs of Buying Foreign Films Wired reports on the intricacies of copyright law for aficionados of foreign martial arts films here.

Tuesday, December 16, 2003

This is What Happens When You Adopt Patented Technology for Industry Standards C-Net reports that "CD-burning software prompts patent suit."
More Copyright News From Our Neighbors to the North C-Net is reporting that "Canada deems P2P downloading legal."

Monday, December 15, 2003

Score One for Microsoft PCWorld.com reports that "Lindows.com Ordered to Change Name."
Copyright Fees in the Great White North The Globe and Mail reports that "Copyright Board freezes music-media levies," while Reuters reports that "Canada Slaps Copyright Levy on MP3 Players."
First it was the Rat Olympics. Now it's the Robolympics. Robolympics founder David Calkins has received a cease and desist letter from the United States Olympic Committee demanding his group stop using the word "olympic" to describe a robotics competition.
Link Earns Kung Fu Fansite Cease and Desist Letter from Miramax Wired has this report.

Saturday, December 13, 2003

Guess There's No First Amendment in Alphaville Salon has an interesting article on Peter Ludlow, real-world academic and Sims Online muckraker, who apparently published one too many criticisms of Electronic Arts in his Alphaville Herald.

Thursday, December 11, 2003

Another One Bites the Dust IP boutique Pennie & Edmonds has announced that it will close, effective December 31, 2003.

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Jackson 4 Reach Copyright Settlement E! Online is reporting that four of the Jackson brothers (minus embattled Michael) have reached a tentative settlement in two copyright infringement cases brought by producer Gordon Keith and R&B group Ripples & Waves.
Say Goodbye Reuters is reporting that "Voyeur Web Site JenniCam to Go Dark After 7 Years."

Friday, December 05, 2003

Trademarks and the Nonprofit The Christian Science Monitor discusses branding and nonprofits in the article "Smaller nonprofits latch on to logos." Would have made a great link to include in my article "What Every Nonprofit Needs to Know About Trademark Law."
Google Brings Trademark Declaratory Judgment Action Reuters is reporting that Google has asked a U.S. District Court judge in San Jose, California to decide whether Google's keyword advertising constitutes trademark infringement.

Tuesday, December 02, 2003

CA Court Transfers RIAA Suit to DC C-Net has this report about a California District Court's decision to transfer the suit filed by SBC against the RIAA to challenge the latter's file-swapping subpoenas to the District of Columbia.
Presidential Candidate Dennis Kucinich Calls for Inquiry into Diebold C-Net has this report.
DeCSS Redux Reuters reports that "DVD 'Hacker' Pleads Not Guilty in Piracy Appeal."

Monday, December 01, 2003

Diebold Sees the Light The AP is reporting that Diebold has promised not to file copyright infringement actions against dozens of students, computer scientists and ISP operators that posted internal company memoranda regarding flaws in Diebold's electronic voting systems.