Google Back in Court. Reuters reports that "Google set to defend challenge to US subpoena." From the article: "Analysts said the Google case shows it is only a matter of time before the U.S. government may seek access to individual Internet records, just as federal agencies already can do for library or medical records." The AP has more.

This Could be an Interesting Development... Slate.com reports in "Copycatfight - The rag trade's fashionably late arrival to the copyright party." From the article: "The Council of Fashion Designers of America is meeting with members of Congress tomorrow to gather support for a bill to offer copyrightlike protection to clothing designs. While European Union law already contains similar provisions, the CFDA proposal would be a substantial change to the existing American framework. The proposed bill would, for the first time, prevent anyone from copying an original clothing design in the United States and give designers the exclusive right to make, import, distribute, and sell clothes based on their designs."

Tales from the Sandbox. Reuters reports in "Verbal fireworks as Da Vinci Code case nears end." From the article:

After Leigh's cross-examination ended surprisingly quickly, Judge Peter Smith closed the second week of the case by pointing out that a character in The Da Vinci Code actually refers to the 1982 book.

The name of the character, Sir Leigh Teabing, is in fact an anagram of the names of the two claimants.

'In the first place it damns us with faint praise,' said Leigh, adding he found Teabing's reference to the book 'patronising.'

Smith countered that an explanation for this may be that Teabing was a patronising character in the book.

Da Vinci Code Copyright Case Underway. Reuters reports in "Author Brown back in court for Da Vinci Code case." From the article: "As Brown's side concedes, the name of one character in The Da Vinci Code, Sir Leigh Teabing, is an anagram of Leigh and Baigent, and Teabing refers to their work in the narrative. But it adds that Brown took his research from a number of sources."

Didn't Expect that One to be Unanimous. Reuters reports that "Court upholds campus military recruiting law." From the article: "A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that universities that get federal funds must allow military recruiters on campus, even if their law schools oppose the Pentagon's policy prohibiting openly gays and lesbians from serving."

Surely Playboy's Lawyers Knew Better than This. E!Online reports that "Alba Plays Hardball with 'Playboy'." From the article: "Despite Alba's flat-out rejection, her lawyer alleges that Playboy went ahead and obtained a publicity photo of the Into the Blue star under false pretenses by telling Columbia Pictures that the actress had approved the use of the photo, which then wound up on the cover of the bunny-eared publication."

8-0. Law.com reports that "High Court Patent Ruling a Victory for Big Business." From the article: "The decision Wednesday said that a patent on a product does not automatically mean that the patent holder has market power of the type that would trigger an antitrust 'tying' violation. Tying occurs when a seller conditions its sale of one product on the purchase of another product."

Temporary Reprieve? CNNMoney.com reports that "Injunction hearing wraps up in BlackBerry patent case." From the article: "But Judge Spencer said there was no escaping that RIM had been found to be infringing on NTP Inc.'s patents and he would issue a decision on an injunction 'as soon as reasonably possible,' according to Reuters." The Washington Post has more.

Lion Sleeps Tonight Case Settled. Reuters reports that "US firm pays SAfrican heirs of Lion song composer." From the article: "Lawyers acting for the family of Zulu migrant worker Solomon Linda, the song's original composer, said Abilene Music -- which administered its copyright in the United States -- had agreed to settle the dispute for an undisclosed sum."

This is One I didn't Expect. I know I'm out of the loop when it takes me a day to learn about the Perfect 10 decision. Marty has his take on the court's opinion in "Perfect 10 Obtains Injunction Against Google's Use of Thumbnail Images." From the post: "An essential fact here is that P10 now sells thumbnail images of its photos for the cellphone market. Thus, Google making such images available for download made its use 'consumptive' (in addition to transformative), with a negative effect on P10's market."

Dykes on Bikes Redux. Wired.com reports that "Actor Tries to Trademark 'N' Word." From the article: "The actor Damon Wayans has been engaged in a 14-month fight to trademark the term 'Nigga' for a clothing line and retail store, a search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's online database reveals."

D-Day Approaching. Reuters reports that "Judge hears arguments on BlackBerry's fate." From the article: "U.S. District Judge James Spencer opened the hearing without giving any indication of whether he is inclined to impose the injunction against U.S. BlackBerry service that he stayed in 2003 pending RIM's appeals."

Cool New Blog. Counterfeit Chic. Via Marty.

Woohoo! Reuters reports that "RIM unveils plan to keep US BlackBerrys alive." From the article: "RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, said it has filed patent applications for its workaround and will soon begin shipping handsets with the software update in a dormant mode." The AP has more here.

Interesting Right of Publicity Case. Law.com reports that "Use of Woman's Image in HBO Reality Show Prompts Lawsuit." From the article: "A Manhattan woman's violation-of-privacy suit, which alleges that participants in the Home Box Office show 'Family Bonds' made crude comments about 'the effects looking at [her had] on their respective libidos,' highlights the challenges that reality TV shows face under New York state law."

I Have to Disagree. A bit off-topic for this blog, but I just had to respond to the article by Edward Jay Epstein at Slate.com entitled "The End of Originality - Or, why Michael Bay's The Island failed at the box office." In it, Epstein argues: "What really failed here was not the directing, acting, or story (which were all acceptable for a summer movie) but the marketing campaign. Whatever other factors might have worked against audience creation - the midsummer release date, the clutter of competitive action films, the misleading title, etc. - The Island had to overcome the competitive disadvantage of not having the built-in awareness that comes from being a sequel, a remake, a video game, a TV series spinoff, or a comic-book adaptation. Of course, there are many original movies that overcome the awareness handicap - and, in rare cases, such as Universal's Cinderella Man, a box-office flop will be rereleased at a later date - but the lesson for studios from such fiascos is that original movies are a far more perilous enterprise than retreads of past successes."

As one of the few to actually see The Island in the theaters, I can tell you that The Island did not fail because it lacked "the built-in awareness that comes from being a sequel, a remake, a video game, a TV series spinoff, or a comic-book adaptation." It failed because people like me left the theater baffled by the story (complete with wholes large enough to drive a Mack® truck through), and thoroughly p*ssed off at having spent nearly $10 to watch two hours of obnoxious commercial placement. You can find my initial reaction on-line here (and it should say something that I wrote this post before re-reading my earlier comments back in August, and yet chose much of the same wording to describe my annoyance with the movie).

I Think He Feels Strongly About This. Columbia Law School Professor Tim Wu has an article up at Slate.com entitled "Weapons of Business Destruction - How a tiny little 'patent troll' got BlackBerry in a headlock." From the article: "What would happen if a rogue actor managed to get hold of a powerful patent and threatened to detonate it and destroy e-mail as we know it? You'd have the BlackBerry NTP v. RIM case - the tech world's very own Dr. Strangelove. NTP, a one-man Virginia firm, armed with nothing but patents, currently threatens to bring down BlackBerry and with it the sanity of millions of e-mail addicts. A textbook 'patent troll,' he wants a billion dollars to stand down. What to do?"

Chalk One Up for the Public Patent Foundation. The AP reports that "Patent Office to Re-Examine Forgent Claim." From the article: "Technology company Forgent Networks Inc. was served notice Thursday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will re-examine the validity of its patent on a widely used compression method for storing digital photos and images."

Give Me a Break. The AP reports that "Man Sues Apple Over Potential Hearing Loss." From the article: "Patterson does not know if the device has damaged his hearing, said his attorney, Steve W. Berman, of Seattle. But that's beside the point of the lawsuit, which takes issue with the potential the iPod has to cause irreparable hearing loss, Berman said."

What About the Rest of Us, Part 2. Reuters reports that "US has misgivings about BlackBerry shutdown plan." From the article: "The U.S. Justice Department urged a federal judge on Wednesday to refrain from any plans to shut the BlackBerry portable e-mail service over patent infringement until the government gets more assurances its users will be exempted."