Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Maybe I can Use My Trip to Jamaica to Ween Myself... More bad news for my Crackberry. Reuters reports in "Judge deals RIM blow in BlackBerry case." From the article: "U.S. District Judge James Spencer rejected RIM's request to delay the case and refused to enforce a disputed, $450 million settlement with patent holder NTP Inc."
Sounds Like Patent Lawyers May be Happy With the Decision. Law.com reports on oral arguments in Illinois Tool Works v. Independent Ink in "Justices Hear Key Antitrust Case on 'Tying' Patented Products." From the article: "A judge in the Central District of California ruled that Independent Ink had to prove that Trident had excessive market power, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed. The federal circuit, which handles patent appeals, said it was bound by Supreme Court precedent that created a presumption that Trident's patent gave it market power, without any need for Independent Ink to prove it. But the federal circuit described the precedents as 'wobbly and moth-eaten,' virtually inviting the Supreme Court to reverse them."

Monday, November 28, 2005

Sure to be CLE Fodder in the Fall. Reuters reports that "Supreme court will hear eBay appeal." From the article: "At issue for the justices is whether an appeals court erred in finding that a permanent injunction barring use of a technology must generally be issued once infringement of a valid patent has been determined."

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Moving Out of the Archives. Reuters reports that "Library of Congress plans world digital library." From the article: "By contrast, the World Digital Library will focus on creating records of global cultures. The Library of Congress will contribute its own body of works to a blended collection with other countries. More than half of the printed volumes in the Library of Congress are in languages other than English."

Friday, November 18, 2005

Never too Early to Start Thinking About INTA. Marty points out that the brochure for the INTA 128th Annual Meeting, Toronto, Ontario, Canada is up. Already looking forward to my room in the SoHo Metropolitan (heated marble floors in the bathroom - what more can a girl ask for?).
When Trademarks and Blogging Collide. Looks like there's a bit of a dustup over Open Source Media, or OSM, or Whoever-they-are's new name. From Open Source's blog: "The question is whether their use of the phrase 'open source' could create confusion in our current and not insignificant web and radio audience. Or our partners. Or our sponsors. Or our future sponsors. Their product sounds strikingly similar to ours, and many of the bloggers listed on their site have appeared on our show; it seems like confusion would be hard to avoid. We wish them well with their portal, but we maintain our request - already articulated in an overnighted letter - that they stop referring to themselves in any way as 'Open Source.'"
I Wonder How Widely Released it Was. E!Online reports that "Songwriter Ices Madonna in Court." From the article: "Composer Salvatore Acquaviva sued the Material Girl in May, claiming the singer had engaged in some unauthorized borrowing from his 1993 song 'Ma Vie Fout L'camp (My Life's Getting Nowhere)' to augment her 1998 hit 'Frozen,' off her album Ray of Light."

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Guess They're Not Worried About an Injunction. How Appealing reports in "All your Berry are belong to us" that RIM is suing third party users of "Berry" trademarks.
Microsoft May Get Some Help. Internetnews.com reports that "PubPat Claims 'Prior Art' on JPEG Patent." From the article: "Ravicher's re-examination requests compare each of the elements of the '672 Patent with those of the Tescher Patent, showing the relationships to prove that the tech covered by the latter should have been obvious, given the former. Such a process typically takes 40 to 80 hours of work by an expert, often with the help of other experts."
Definite Case of Foot-in-Mouth Disease. Reuters reports that "Harvard president faces new criticism." From the article: "'We think it is highly improper if, as reported, the president of Harvard has been expressing to members of the faculty his 'deep dissatisfaction' with the dean of arts and sciences,' it added."

Saturday, November 12, 2005

I Wonder If They're Really That Broad... Internetnews.com reports that "Amazon Gets Patents on Consumer Reviews." From the article: "The online retailer of books and just about everything else was awarded three new patents, covering its purchase circles, search and consumer reviews. While Amazon.com's patent police would go after Web publishers, not consumers, the review patent could put the kibosh on the social networking components of many search services."
Interesting New Keyword Case. The Technology & Marketing Law Blog covers a new suit filed by Office Depot against Staples in "Keyword Lawsuit Between Office Depot and Staples." From the post: "Staples bought the keyword 'viking' at Google and made various announcements at its website about the brand retirement and the ability of Viking's customers to migrate to Quill. Office Depot characterizes these announcements as misrepresentations that were designed to confuse Viking's customers into thinking that Quill had acquired Viking. Staples characterizes these announcements as lawful comparative advertising/fair use statements, and Staples said it purchased the Viking keyword because it sells some Viking-branded products. On that front, I did a search today and found 1 product, a 'Viking 16MB Flash 5.0V Disk.'" Via Marty.
Using Copyright to Wage Political Battles... Wired.com has an essay entitled "Evolutionists Are Wrong!" From the article: "Last week, the National Academy of Sciences, or NAS, joined with the National Science Teachers Association, or NSTA, to tell the Kansas State Board of Education that it would not grant the state copyright permission to incorporate its science education standards manuals into the state's public school science curriculum because Kansas plans to teach students that 'intelligent design' is a viable alternative theory to evolution. Kansas is scrambling to rewrite its proposal to win over the NAS and NSTA."
Sounds Like a New Defense Strategy. Just make a lot of anonymous postings about a plaintiff, and then claim that they're a public figure. Wired.com reports in "Are You a 'Public Figure'?" From the article: "Among other things, Cole said plaintiff Eliza Thomas had become a public figure because there had been 'substantial public debate' regarding her and her husband on the internet."
What About the Rest of Us? The AP reports that "U.S. Enters BlackBerry Patent Fight." From the article: "If the judge issues an injunction, iit is imperative that some mechanism be incorporated that permits continuity of the federal government's use of BlackBerry devices,' the filing said."

Friday, November 11, 2005

This Time We Really, Really, Really Mean it. Reuters reports that "Justice Dept. proposes tougher copyright laws." From the article: "The bill, outlined by U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at an anti-piracy summit, would widen intellectual-property protections to cover those who try but fail to make illicit copies of music, movies, software or other copyrighted material."
Interesting Look at Fair Use in Film. Reuters reports that "Documentary makers rally for fair use." From the article: "In their initial study, Aufderheide and Jaszi found that for many filmmakers, licensing rights has become not just an expensive proposition but also an inhibiting one. Citing dozens of examples, they contend, for instance, that the budget of Jonathan Caouette's homemade 2004 documentary 'Tarnation' ballooned from $218 to $400,000, 'using most of the eventual budget to clear rights.'"

Thursday, November 10, 2005

Registration is Only $30. And it provides so many more protections... E!Online reports that "Judge Spears Britney Song Flap." From the article: "In court papers, the 34-year-old musician claimed that weeks after composing his version of 'Sometimes,' he executed a 'poor man's copyright'--that is, he sealed the song in an envelope and mailed it to himself in order to obtain a postmark."
This Raises the Question: Why is Sony's software hidden? Reuters reports that "Hackers use Sony anti-copy software to hide in PCs." From the article: "When recipients click on an attachment, they install malware, which may tear down the firewall and gives hackers access to a PC. The malware hides by using Sony software that is also hidden -- the software would have been installed on a computer when consumers played Sony's copy-protected music CDs."
Interesting Twist on a Patent Pool. Reuters reports that "Linux backers form patent-sharing firm." From the article: "Patents owned by OIN will be available without payment of royalties to any company, institution or individual that agrees not to assert its patents against others who have signed a license with OIN, when using certain Linux-related software."

Monday, November 07, 2005

Cell Phone Squabble. Reuters reports that "Qualcomm sues Nokia over patents." From the article: "Qualcomm said on Monday it wanted Nokia, the world's No. 1 mobile phone maker, to stop selling or producing products in the United States designed for GSM mobile phone networks and that it was demanding financial damages from the Finnish mobile firm."

Friday, November 04, 2005

At Least They Avoided a "Smile" Pun in the Headline. The AP reports that "No day at the beach: Love sues Wilson." From the article: "Love filed the lawsuit in federal court Thursday accusing Wilson of promoting his 2004 album, 'Smile,' in a manner that 'shamelessly misappropriated Mike Love's songs, likeness and the Beach Boys trademark, as well as the 'Smile' album itself.'"

Thursday, November 03, 2005

That's Just... Wow. The Washington Post reports in "Weighing Webcasters' Rights to Content." From the article: "If television broadcasters and webcasters have their way in international treaty talks, they would gain new, 50-year rights to virtually any video they beam out, even if no one owns the rights to the content."
It's Heeeere. Reuters reports that "Google, libraries post first batch of books online." From the article: "Sidestepping lawsuits by the U.S. publishing industry that seek to derail a related effort by Google to scan copyrighted books, the company and its library partners said they will put up their first large collection of public domain works."

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Fairly Run-of-the-Mill UDRP Decision. Reuters reports in "Lance Armstrong wins cybersquatting case." From the article: "The Lance Armstrong Foundation, a Texas-based charity set up by the American cycling champion to raise funds for cancer research, on Tuesday won the right to evict cybersquatters from websites selling LIVESTRONG bracelets."