Partial decision in Geico. According to one of my colleagues on the ABA/IPL Committee 254, today "the court dismissed a key element of GEICO's case, ruling that there was not enough evidence of trademark violation to bar Google from displaying rival insurers when computer users search the word 'Geico.'" More info from the same individual:

Geico claimed that Google's AdWords program, which displays the rival ads under a "Sponsored Links" heading next to a user's search results, causes confusion. "There is no evidence that that activity alone causes confusion," Brinkema said, in granting Google's motion for summary judgment on that issue.

But Brinkema said the case would continue to move forward on one remaining issue, whether ads that pop up and actually use Geico in their text violate trademark law. Google contends that its policies expressly forbid advertisers from using trademark names in the text of their ads.

The search engine says it does its best to prevent ads that violate the policy from sneaking in, and that the advertisers would liable for any trademark violation, not Google.

Brinkema said she would halt the trial at this point to put a decision in writing and she encouraged both parties to try and settle the remaining issues.

Reuters has this report.

If You Use BitTorrent, Read Up. The AP reports that "Source: Hollywood to Sue Server Operators." From the article: "The U.S. film industry is preparing to sue computer server operators in the United States and Europe who help relay digitized movie files across online file-sharing networks, a source familiar with the movie studios' plans said Tuesday."

Get Your Grokster Fill. Slate takes on Grokster in "You Say Napster, I Say Grokster - What do you do when technology outpaces the law?." From the article: "Supreme Court justices, who are not exactly charter members of the download generation, could have an awkward time connecting with all of this and may have been tempted to throw their hands above their robes and just give up. The genius pace of modern techno-ingenuity is enough to make some judges balk at imposing any legal blockades, for fear the law will act as a drag on invention and creativity."

This is an Interesting Idea. The AP reports that "Google to Scan Books From 5 Big Libraries." From the article: "Material from the New York public library as well as libraries at four universities — Harvard, Stanford, Michigan and Oxford — will be indexed on Mountain View, Calif.-based Google under the ambitious initiative announced late Monday." Reuters has this report.

Tilting at Windmills. Another case that doesn't have a chance in court. Reuters reports that "Software Should Not Be Copyrighted -- Lawsuit." From the article: "Aharonian argues in his complaint that software copyright laws violate the right to due process enshrined in the U.S. Constitution because they do not provide clear boundaries for appropriate use. That means industry players and courts do not have a clear idea of the rules."

Coming Soon to an Internet Near You. The AP reports that "ICANN Gives Preliminary OK to 2 Domains." From the article: "Sponsored by leading mobile phone and technology companies, including Nokia Corp., Microsoft Corp. and T-Mobile, the '.mobi' domain would set apart Web sites and other services that are specially designed to work around the limitations of cell phones, including their smaller screen size and data capacity... The '.jobs' suffix, meanwhile, would go to members of the human resources community."

Keyword Sales in Court. The AP reports that "Judge Hears Geico, Google Trademark Case." From the article: "Attorneys for auto insurance giant Geico told U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema that Google should not be allowed to sell ads to rival insurance companies that are triggered whenever Geico's name is typed into the Google search box."

More Grokster. Law.com reports that "Supreme Court Takes On Emerging Issues in Copyright, International Law." From the article: "'The Grokster case presents the most important copyright issue to land before the Supreme Court in the Internet age,' said Gregory Garre of Washington, D.C.'s Hogan & Hartson, who heads the firm's Supreme Court and appellate practice and has represented IP clients before the justices. Garre has no involvement in this case." Reuters has more here.

Grokster Goes a Courtin'. The AP reports that "High Court to Hear File-Sharing Dispute." From the article: "Justices will review a lower ruling in favor of Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc., which came as a blow to recording companies and movie studios seeking to stop the illegal distribution of their works."

Phishing Strikes the Far East. Reuters reports that "Two China Banks Uncover Fake Web Sites." From the article: "Two of China's leading banks have identified fake Web sites in recent days and reported them to the country's public security organs, bank officials said on Thursday."

Kazaa Case Draws to a Close. Reuters reports in "Kazaa Talked to Record Firms About Music Swaps." From the article: "Philip Morle, Sharman's director of technology, told the federal court in Sydney the Distributed Computing Industry Association had hosted and coordinated a number of discussions between Sharman Networks and various U.S. record companies about the issue of unauthorized file sharing."

Yet Another Reason to Steer Your Clients Away from Descriptive Trademarks. Law.com reports in "Both Sides Take Comfort From High Court's Ruling in Closely Watched Trademark Case." From the article: "The Court's unanimous ruling in KP Permanent Make-Up v. Lasting Impression said that the law tolerates 'a certain degree of confusion on the part of consumers,' a view favoring alleged trademark infringers. But it also gave trademark holders a partial victory when it said that evidence of likely consumer confusion is relevant and can be introduced by trademark holders in suing infringers." Marty has more here.

Just a Coincidence? Apple's IP counsel must be busy these days. Reuters reports that "Apple in Cybersquatting Fight Over ITunes Website." From the article: "Benjamin Cohen, who joined the Internet's millionaires club after founding the Web Site Sojewish when he was just 17, said on Wednesday he registered itunes.co.uk during the dotcom boom in November, 2000, and wouldn't give it up without a fight."

One to Watch. Law.com reports that "High-Stakes File-Sharing Case Seeks Supreme Court's Ears." From the article: "The intensely watched copyright infringement case Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. v. Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc., No. 04-480, is on the agenda for the Court's private conference Friday, along with dozens of other cases in which the Court may grant or deny review. "

You'd Think Companies Would Have Learned Better By Now. Law.com reports that "Biopharm Company Alleges Rival Used Trademark in Web Site Metatags." From the article: "In an attempt to lure Internet traffic away from competitors, a Coral Gables, Fla., biopharmaceutical company allegedly embedded trademarked names of five other biopharmaceutical companies in the coding of its Web site, a South Carolina company alleges in a suit filed in Miami."

Three's a Crowd? Mergers are in the air. Law.com reports that :DLA and Piper (and Gray) Make Merger Official. From the article: "London's DLA and the partners of Piper Rudnick voted to merge the firms Saturday, creating what on Jan. 1 will be the world's third-largest law firm measured by lawyers and fifth-largest measured by revenues."

Time to Start Collecting for the Legal Fund. This is just asking for trouble: Unauthorized iPod U2 vs. Negativland Special Edition on eBay.

Careful What You Say. Law.com reports on the growing trend of suing on-line "gripe" sites under trademark law in "Trademark Lawsuits: The Price of Online Griping." From the article: "Scores of disgruntled customers who criticize businesses on Internet 'gripe sites' are finding themselves entangled in costly court battles with companies charging trademark infringement."

If a Tree Falls in the Forest... Reuters reports that "Film Studios Win $24 Million Against Web Site." From the article: "The award was handed down earlier this week in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles as a default judgment, meaning the defendants never responded, according to the MPAA."

Kazaa Battle Down Under. The AP reports that "Recording Industry, Kazaa Square Off." From the article: "The record company lawyers will try to have Kazaa's owners declared liable for copyright breach and loss of earnings in the civil case. If they succeed, a case next year would likely set the damages the owners have to pay."

Thankful for Small Favors? The Washington Post reports that "U.S. Senate Passes Scaled-Back Copyright Measure." From the article: "A section that would have made it illegal to edit out commercials was removed."

'Major Label Retardation' - Is That in the Next DSM? Via BoingBoing: Indie label Positron! Records offers CC licenses to its artists.

If at First You Don't Succeed... Hot on the heels of its loss to Visa in a copyright infringement lawsuit, Perfect 10 has brought suit against Google. The AP reports that "Adult Site Sues Google for Infringment." From the article: "A Web site that sells photos of naked women is suing Google Inc., alleging that the online search engine leader is destroying its business by distributing links and passwords that provide free glimpses of the nude models." Marty has more.

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before. The AP reports that "Recording Cos. Sue 761 for Music Swapping." From the article: "In all, recording companies have sued 6,952 computer users since September 2003. To date, 1,300 defendants have settled their cases out of court, the RIAA said."

Good for You Video Games? What Will They Think of Next? Reuters reports that "Hollywood Writer Sues Microsoft Over Yoga Game." From the article: "According to his lawsuit, Avary met several times with the Microsoft team, and in 2003, pitched them a detailed concept for a video game designed to lead players through yoga poses using Microsoft's Xbox game console."

Court Rejects Expansion of Contributory Infringement. Law.com reports that "Federal Judge Tosses Porn Purveyor's Copyright Suit Against Credit Card Companies." From the article: "Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Perfect 10 claims credit card companies have a 'special relationship' with the infringing Web site operators since they have enhanced requirements for processing the transactions of such high-risk merchants and impose higher fees for disputed charges on them."

Anti-INDUCE Coalition Forms. Reuters reports that "Anti-Copyright Bill Groups Unite to Fight." From the article: "Opponents of the legislation, from consumer electronics makers to fair-use advocates, contend that the bill goes too far, arguing that provisions in the bill will hamstring technological development, turn normal people into copyright criminals and force the federal government to pay Hollywood's legal bills."

Another Reason to Take Care With Your Copyright Registrations. Law.com reports that "Gallup Mistake Invalidates Copyright." From the article: "In his 17-page opinion in Gallup Inc. v. Kenexa Corp., U.S. District Judge Lawrence F. Stengel found that Gallup's copyright registration of its 'Gallup Q-12' employee survey was flawed because the company 'failed to deposit a copy of the work to be copyrighted as it existed when it was allegedly first published.'"

Firms Go A Courtin'. The Trademark Blog reports that "Ropes and Gray To Acquire Fish and Neave."

Amicus Weigh in on Grokster Cert Petition. The AP reports that "Court Urged to Hear File-Sharing Case." From the article: "The filings are designed to support a petition made last month by a coalition of major recording companies and Hollywood movie studios who asked the court to reverse lower court decisions clearing Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. of liability for their customers' online swapping of movies and music."

SPRAY ON SIDING Sounds Generic to Me. I'd be interested to see if the court actually upholds trademark rights in the term. The AP reports that "Web Site for Complaints Sparks Lawsuit." From the article: "The complaint filed by Alvis alleges that the name of the Townsends' Web site, spraysiding.com, 'is confusingly similar' to the official Alvis site, sprayonsiding.com, as well as its trademark 'Spray on Siding.'"

The Nonbillable Hour Asks... "What five things would you change about IP law and/or practice?"

MPAA Getting in on the Act. The AP reports in "Source: Movie industry to sue file-sharers." From the article: "The lawsuits will target movie fans who share digitized versions of films over peer-to-peer networks, with the first wave of litigation planned for as early as Thursday, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity."

Amazon Part 2? A reader pointed me to a recent article in Business Week entitled "A Patent Challenge for Dell." From the article: "On Oct. 27, Dell (DELL ) was sued in a U.S. District Court by tiny Virginia outfit DE Technologies, which alleges that the PC giant has infringed on its patent covering a system for 'facilitating international computer-to-computer commercial transactions,' according to the complaint. In plain English: global e-commerce." This is likely one to watch.

GO SOX! 3-0 baby!

DMCA Injunction Overturned. Bag and Baggage reports in "Lexmark Injunction Reversed."

Sure, Blame it on the Lawyers. Reuters reports in "Grokster Officials Settle Separate Copyright Case." From the article: "Officials with the Grokster file-trading network have agreed to pay $500,000 to settle charges they operated a separate music download service without permission, a recording-industry trade group said on Monday."

Harvard's Own Redford Look-Alike. Terry Fisher will be guest blogging over at Larry's next week.

That's One Way to Easily Prove a Copy is Fake. Reuters reports that "Garcia Marquez Has Last Laugh on Book Pirates." From the article: "Latin American literary giant Gabriel Garcia Marquez has unintentionally won the last laugh on copyright pirates by changing the ending of his latest book, the Nobel laureate's first novel in 10 years."

Don't Mess with Adu. Reuters reports that "U.S. Teen Soccer Prodigy Adu Wins Cybersquatter Case." From the article: "Fushille had contacted Adu's agent seeking majority ownership of the disputed site, participation in corporate advertising negotiations and admission to all matches."

Commercialization Creates Fiduciary Duty? Law.com reports on a recent state appeals court decision in "Calif. Court: Genentech Owes $500M in Royalties."

I Wonder Where They're Registered? Law.com reports that "Gray Cary Ties Knot With Piper Rudnick."

Let There Be Music. Reuters reports that "Music Publishers Sign $1.7 Bln Deal on Web Radio." From the article: "The settlement, which was approved by U.S. District Court Judge William Conner in New York on Oct. 15, provides stations with the right to perform ASCAP music over the air and as part of a simultaneous stream on radio Web sites, the parties said." (Not that it does me any good now that the firm has blocked all streaming music.)

Disney in Trouble Again. BoingBoing reports that "Disney's own copyright law bites it on the ass."

Here We Go Again. Law.com reports that "Some Big Firms Kick Up Pay, the Rest Watch and Wait."

RIAA Not Going to Court. Reuters reports that "Top Court Won't Weigh Net Music Lawsuit Tactics." From the article: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to examine a lower-court ruling that forces music-industry investigators to file a lawsuit to uncover the identities of people who may be copying their songs online."

P2P Users Public Enemy Number One? BoingBoing reports that "Ashcroft declares "most aggressive assault" on piracy in US history."

Read Up if You're in Maryland. I just got pointed to the Maryland-based Campaign for Verifiable Voting, which is tackling issues of electronic voting in Maryland.

The Copyright Hydra. Reuters reports that "Copyright Bill Dies in Senate as Others Advance." From the article: "Peer-to-peer users who share more than 1,000 songs or other copyrighted works would face up to three years in prison under the bill. U.S. copyright investigators would be able to file civil suits, which require a lower standard of proof than criminal cases, echoing tactics already used by the recording industry."

Creative Commons Hits the Mainstream. The AP reports in "Movement Seeks Copyright Alternatives."

Was There Any Question They Were Seeking Cert? The AP reports that "Court Asked to Settle File-Sharing Dispute." Reuters has this report. Via How Appealing.

The Last Paragraph... seems to show the limitations of having your staff report about a case to which you're a party. Did the argument really to "nowhere in court"? "Freelance battle far from over, Globe executive says."

He May be the Last DJ, but Video Killed the Radio Star. E! Online reports that "Petty Running Down a Lawsuit." From the article: "A California songwriter has filed a $4.5 million breach of oral contract lawsuit against Tom Petty and Los Angeles-based disc jockey Jim Ladd, claiming they swiped his concepts for the basis of Petty's 2002 title track and album, The Last DJ."

So I Guess We Now Know What "More" Means. Law.com reports that "Verizon-Yellow Book Case Ends With Both Parties Claiming Victory." From the article: "Judge Weinstein found that Yellow Book 'violated the Lanham Act by falsely claiming, as to national and some specific geographic areas, that the usage of Yellow Book's yellow pages was substantially greater than it actually was, as compared to the usage of Verizon's SuperPages.' Verizon's directories were used more heavily than Yellow Book's, Weinstein found."

It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady Sings. Internetnews.com reports that "Appeals Court Re-Opens E-Mail Snooping Case." From the article: "This time, seven federal judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston will determine whether Bradford Councilman, former vice president of bookseller and e-mail provider Interloc, Inc. (now Alibris), violated the federal Wiretap Act when he copied inbound e-mails from Amazon.com to gain a competitive advantage."

Time to Start a Pool... on where we'll see them next? Reuters reports that "Music Industry Sues 459 European Net Song-Swappers." Reuters has more here.

Your Man Bites Dog Story for the Day. The AP reports that "Court gives go-ahead to $25 million Franklin Mint lawsuit against Princess Diana fund."

EFF: 1 Outta 2. BoingBoing reports in "EFF kicks Diebold's ass" and "Court trashes fair use."

ACLU: 1 The New York Times reports that "Judge Strikes Down Section of Patriot Act." From the article:

The ruling invalidated one piece of the law, finding that it violated both free speech guarantees and protection against unreasonable searches. It is thought likely to provide fuel for other court challenges.

The ruling came in a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union against a kind of subpoena created under the act, known as a national security letter. Such letters could be used in terrorism investigations to require Internet service companies to provide personal information about subscribers and would bar them from disclosing to anyone that they had received a subpoena.

Just Like the Energizer Bunny. Reuters reports that "Recording Industry Sues 762 for Net Music Swaps."

Is it Just Me? Or does 8 years to examine a patent seem like a long time? The AP reports that "Microsoft Vows Fight on Patent Rejection." From the article: "In a preliminary ruling, the government rejected Microsoft Corp.'s 1996 patent on technology for saving files on computers using easy-to-remember names." Update This BoingBoing post answers my question above (it was a reexamination of the patent) and confirms my belief that much of the legal reporting by the major news outlets suffers from a woeful lack of context...

Should Have Known. Of course Larry provided pro bono services in the bootlegging case I discussed below. You can read Lessig's comments on the case here.

So "Limited Times" Means Something Less than "Forever." Reuters reports that "US Judge Anti-Bootlegging Law Is Unconstitutional." From the article: "U.S. District Judge Harold Baer ruled that the statute banning boot-legging was unconstitutional because it says that copyrights on live performances are protected forever. This, he said, conflicts with the 'limited time' requirements of copyright law."

That Play Sounds Awfully Familiar... The AP reports in "Playwright Lavery Accused of Plagiarism." From the article: "English playwright Bryony Lavery has been accused of plagiarizing passages from a criminal psychiatrist and a magazine writer in her Tony Award-nominated play about a serial killer and his psychiatrist."

More on the Parks Case. E!Online reports that "Parks' Dementia Can't Stop Rap Suit."

Never Thought You'd See the Word "Star" Used to Refer to a Patent Lawyer, Did You? Law.com reports that "Bar Stars Shine in $82 Million Patent Case." From the article: "A case pitting two of the biggest names in IP law against each other came to a head Tuesday, when an Oakland, Calif., jury awarded $82 million to a San Jose, Calif., company, finding that Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. infringed two patents."

When Old Agreements Attack. Sounds rather like the Apple/Beatles case... Law.com reports in "Putting a Legal Lock on 'Kryptonite'." From the article:

DC Comics filed suit alleging infringement, unfair competition and dilution of the trademark, as well as state law claims that Kryptonite Corp. was using kryptonite and other words containing "krypto" to confuse consumers into believing there was a connection between its products and the Superman legend.

The lock company counterclaimed for recision of its agreement with DC Comics, saying the purposes of the agreement had been "substantially frustrated."

Derrivative Work? CNN reports in "Artists sue O'Donnell over sketches." From the article: "Two courtroom artists are suing former TV talk show host Rosie O'Donnell for copyright infringement, accusing her of trying to pass off photographs of their sketches of her as work she produced."

New Revelation in the Rosa Parks Trial. The AP reports in "Lawyer: Rosa Parks has dementia, can't testify."

Not My Twinkies! Actually, I'm more of a HoHos fan. CNN reports that "Interstate Bakeries files for bankruptcy." From the article: "It said in a statement the filing was brought on by liquidity issues, resulting from declining sales, a high fixed-cost structure, excess industry capacity, rising employee healthcare and pension costs and higher costs for ingredients and energy."

Took Him A While... Law.com reports that "Calif. Man Claims 'Apprentice' Producer Stole Show Idea." From the article: "Bethea, who claims he registered his show idea with the Writers Guild of America in August 2000, is seeking damages for copyright infringement, breach of implied contract and unfair competition."

Grandchild of Eldred? Wired reports in "Saving the Artistic Orphans." From the article: "Valuable resources are being lost to students, researchers and historians because of sweeping changes in copyright law, according to digital archivists who are suing the government."

It's That Time of Year Again. Merger season. Law.com reports in "Piper Rudnick in Early Merger Talks With Gray Cary" and "Fish & Neave Flirts With Ropes & Gray."

Just a Little Slow. Law.com reports on the recend Federal Circuit case in "Federal Circuit Overturns Adverse Inference Rule in Patent Cases."

More SCO Contentiousness. The AP reports in "Judge Weighs Evidence in IBM, SCO Case."

Surely This Violates the INDUCE Act. BoingBoing reports that "Earthlink posts P2P app, manifesto."

Spam, Spam, Go Away... Internetnews.com reports in "A Pattern Language For Spam." From the article: "Anti-spam vendor Commtouch said it has acquired a patent covering a method of identifying and eliminating spam."

Taking it to the ... Phones? Wired reports in "Big Anti-Induce Campaign Planned." From the article: "Thousands of people have signed up to call their congressional representatives Tuesday to protest the Induce Act, a controversial copyright bill that many fear would undermine the legal protections that allow consumers to make personal copies of music or movies they've bought."

Patent Litigators, Read Up. How Appealing reports on the recent en banc Federal Circuit ruling here, in which the court held that it is no longer appropriate to draw an adverse inference that an opinion of counsel was or would have been unfavorable from an alleged infringer's failure to produce an exculpatory opinion of counsel.

Eighth Circuit Affirms in Gateway. How Appealing reports here.

The Best Argument For Coming Up With a Distinctive Trademark. The Boston Globe reports in "The John Smith of banks." From the article: "A federal appeals court ruled Thursday that Citizens must take its name off branches in parts of Western Pennsylvania, saying the name conflicted too closely with another Citizens bank, this one called Citizens National Bank of Evans City." Via How Appealing.

He Should Have Just Added "Sucks" to the Domain Name. The Washington Post reports that "AU President Challenges Web Site That Bears His Name." From the article: "Two and a half years after Wetmore started the Web site -- and a year after he graduated -- attorneys for AU President Benjamin Ladner have filed a complaint challenging Wetmore's right to the Web address www.benladner.com, saying the site unfairly trades on 'the goodwill' associated with Ladner's name." (And yes, having quotes around the words "the goodwill," along with the later reference to ICANN, are some of my pet peeves with having non-lawyers write legal analysis pieces. Sigh.)

I Just Might Have to Get One of These. The LA Times has an op-ed about the newest Schwarzenegger bobblehead entitled "Schwarzenegger Is Fair Game." Via How Appealing. More on the previous case here.

Copyright Office Enters INDUCE Act Fray. Wired reports in "Copyright Proposal Induces Worry." From the article: "The copyright office proposed that a company that makes technologies that help individuals digitally transmit copyright materials to the public will be liable if the firm relies on such infringing activities to make money or attract people to its service." You can see Register Peterson's remarks here. What I want to know is what constitutes "rel[ying] on infringement for its commercial viability"? Would Apple's "rip mix burn" ad campaign run afoul of the INDUCE Act? Of course, Copyfight has the complete roundup here.

Fitting Revenge for Sending Us Crocodile Dundee. Wired reports that "U.S. Exports DMCA Down Under." From the article: "Australia appears ready to adopt U.S-style copyright laws, courtesy of a Free Trade Agreement deal negotiated between the two countries."

Nothing New Under the Sun? Check out this interesting post on BoingBoing about the genealogy of Hello Kitty: "Is Hello Kitty a Copycat? Update: Nope, she just shares DNA with a rabbit."

Sounds Like They're Trying to Copyright an Idea. Although, if it means that we on this side of the pond will be spared "The X Factor," I might be all for it. Reuters reports that "'Pop Idol' Creator Sues Cowell Over Rival Show." From the article: "The creator of U.K. talent show 'Pop Idol' and its U.S. spinoff 'American Idol' is suing his former collaborators, including Simon Cowell, claiming that their new project is a rip-off of the global 'Idol' format." Of course, you can count on Page Six for the gossip behind the headlines.

Today's Funny.

Alas. The link no longer works.
Via BoingBoing.

So Does Filming Emergency Room Patients for a Political Ad Receive More or Less Protection Than Filming for an Emergency Room "Reality" Show? Law.com reports in "Tort Reform Infomercial Sparks Privacy Suit."

Lessig on Sixth Circuit Sampling Ruling. You can read Lessig's comments here.

Your Congress in Action. We can't get them to act on a bill to overturn Mosely, but they're more than willing to further criminalize copyright infringement (frankly, if the punishments provided for by the current Copyright Act aren't enough to deter P2P, I'm not sure this will). Reuters reports in "House Panel OKs Copyright, Spyware Bills."

This Seems to Go Too Far. The AP reports in "Court: Sampling May Violate Copyright Law." From the article: "A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that rap artists should pay for every musical sample included in their work — even minor, unrecognizable snippets of music." Copyright liability for sampling three notes seems to run afowl of the de minimis limitiation on copyright protection. You can access the Sixth Circuit's opinion here, where you will find the following response to my de minimis argument:

This analysis admittedly raises the question of why one should, without infringing, be able to take three notes from a musical composition, for example, but not three notes by way of sampling from a sound recording. Why is there no de minimis taking or why should substantial similarity not enter the equation.(10) Our first answer to this question is what we have earlier indicated. We think this result is dictated by the applicable statute. Second, even when a small part of a sound recording is sampled, the part taken is something of value.(11) No further proof of that is necessary than the fact that the producer of the record or the artist on the record intentionally sampled because it would (1) save costs, or (2) add something to the new recording, or (3) both. For the sound recording copyright holder, it is not the “song” but the sounds that are fixed in the medium of his choice. When those sounds are sampled they are taken directly from that fixed medium. It is a physical taking rather than an intellectual one.

Talk About High Risk Litigation. The AP reports that "Disney May Sell Trademarks Over Suit." From the article: "The trademarks, which include well-known images such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck, could be sold locally to pay Linda's heirs if they win their lawsuit, according to Tuesday's ruling."

Ninth Circuit Tightens Evidentiary Requirements for Receipt of Damages, Profits in Copyright Cases. How Appealing has this report on a recent Ninth Circuit ruling involving Timex and "extreme kayaking."

Is That a Blue Moon I See? Wired reports in "Strange Bedfellows in E-Mail Case." From the article: "Civil liberties groups made common cause today with the Justice Department, a traditional target of their lawsuits, by filing court papers supporting the government's appeal of a court ruling that said internet service providers are allowed to snoop on their customers."

P&G/Coke Back in Court. UPI reports that "P&G sues Coca-Cola for patent violation."

Google Keyword Policy May Support a Claim for Trademark Infringement. Given Google's refusal to cease using trademarks as keywords, even in response to trademark notifications, I'm sure a lot of people will be watching this case closely, including some of my clients. C-Net reports that "Geico gets green light to sue Google, Overture."

I'm Sure There's a Trademark Comment to be Made Somewhere. Sorry for the subscription/daypass only link, but Salon considers which brands voters associate with the two candidates in "The hole in Bush's image." I'm a Krispy Kreme girl, myself. Update. Here's the original article from The Guardian.

I Bet the Going-rate on eBay Just Shot Up. E!Online reports in "Leo and Tobey Still 'Plum' Mad."

"The Hollywood A-listers have joined forces to file a lawsuit seeking to block a former colleague from releasing the 1995 film Don's Plum. Both stars appeared in the ultra-low-budget art flick as a 'favor' to writer-director R.D. Robb and some acting buddies, supposedly under the condition that the film never be released in the U.S. Now, according to their joint lawsuit, one of the film's producers, John Schindler, wants to put out the film in the U.S. against both actors' wishes."

Time for a New Balancing Test. How Appealing has this round-up of coverage about the recent Federal Circuit DMCA opinion in the Skylink case.