Constitutional Law › Intellectual Property

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- May 17, 2013

Righthaven LLC v. Hoehn, USCA, Ninth Circuit, May 9, 2013 - Ninth Circuit affirms district courts’ dismissals of copyright infringement actions holding that entity created solely for purpose of pursuing copyright...more

Congress Conducts Hearings on Section 337 Litigation at the International Trade Commission

On April 16, 2013, the House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, held a hearing on “Abusive Patent Litigation: The Issues Impacting American Competitiveness and Job...more

Pre-72 Sound Recordings Not Subject to DMCA

Under New York state law a decision in April 2013 holds pre-1972 sound recordings are not subject to the DMCA safe harbor provisions and Grooveshark is liable for state law copyright infringement of UMG owned pre-1972 sound...more

Jackson Walker's VIA Media Postcard - April 2013

In This Issue: - Steve Fogle's Feature: Out of the Blue - A recent unexpected court order restricting the media from reporting on certain details of a high-profile criminal case serves as a reminder that the...more

Can You Patent Human Genes? ACLU Says No [Video]

April 12 (Bloomberg Law) -- On April 15, 2013, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral arguments for Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc. The case centers on whether patents may be granted on...more

Briefing the Supreme Court in Myriad

March 15, 2013 was a big deadline for patent applicants seeking to secure first-to-invent filing dates for U.S. patent applications, but April 15 will be a big day for the biotechnology industry, when the Supreme Court hears...more

Boarding School Review, LLC v. Delta Career Education Corp.

Order GRANTING Plaintiff's Motion to Dismiss Pursuant to FRCP 12(b)(6)

Plaintiff operates a website called Community College Review. It received multiple cease and desist letters, which escalated in the severity of their threats, from counsel for certain institutions about which routine,...more

Supreme Court Refuses to Hear File-Sharing Appeal

Jammie Thomas-Rasset, the woman whom the recording industry martyred with a $222,000 damages award after several trials for stealing music online, has reached the end of her legal rope. The U.S. Supreme Court on Mar. 18...more

Why Did Godzilla & James Bond Need Congress' Protection? [Video]

March 18 (Bloomberg Law) -- The Constitution lays it out. "To promote the progress of science and useful arts" we give creators an incentive; an opportunity to profit from their work for "limited times." After that, the...more

Nevada Gaming Commission NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR COMMENTS AND/OR LANGUAGE ON REGULATIONS CONCERNING INTERSTATE AGREEMENTS FOR...

Nevada Gaming Commission NOTICE OF REQUEST FOR COMMENTS AND/OR LANGUAGE ON REGULATIONS CONCERNING INTERSTATE AGREEMENTS FOR INTERACTIVE GAMING. --- Section 6 of Assembly Bill 114 from the 2013 Legislative Session...more

A Cure For Antitrust Standing?

Recently, the Third Circuit reexamined the test for antitrust standing in Ethypharm S. A. France v. Abbott Laboratories. The importance of the opinion, however, lies not just in the court’s affirmation of the multifactor test...more

WLF Submits Comments on Abbott's Citizen Petition on Biosimilars

Last April, Abbott Laboratories filed a Citizen Petition with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, asking the agency to refrain from accepting biosimilar applications under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act...more

Federal Circuit Review - Volume 3 | Issue 2 February 2013

In This Issue: • Licensing to Foreign Manufacturers Satisfies Domestic Industry • Appeal Found to Be Moot in Light of “Side Bet” • Mere Design Choice Leads to Obviousness Finding • Design Patent Infringement...more

Supreme Court Rules that a State Court Has Jurisdiction over a Legal Malpractice Claim Involving a Federal Patent Issue

The Supreme Court of the United States, in Gunn v. Minton, determined that a Texas state court had jurisdiction over a legal malpractice claim, even though resolving the claim required the state court to address an issue of...more

Malpractice Cases Against Patent Lawyers Stay in State Court, as Supreme Court Continues to Refine Reach of Grable

In the course of deciding that malpractice cases against patent lawyers belong in state courts (when there is no diversity of citizenship), the United States Supreme Court has issued an important ruling on the scope of...more

Supreme Court Holds That Patent Legal Malpractice Claims Do Not “Arise Under” The Patent Laws and May Be Heard in State Court

On February 20, 2013, the Supreme Court issued a decision addressing the critical question of where plaintiffs can or must sue when their claims implicate patent law but are not traditional patent law claims. See Gunn v....more

Supreme Court Hears Argument on States’ Ability to Exclude Public Records Access for Non-Citizens

On February 20, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in McBurney v. Young, No. 12-17, a case with potentially major implications for businesses that use state freedom of information acts (FOIAs) to obtain...more

Gunn v. Minton (2013)

A patent issue exerted its Circe-like effect on the Supreme Court again today in Gunn v. Minton, a decision overruling the Texas Supreme Court on the question of whether the existence of a patent issue in a legal malpractice...more

In re Simon Shiao Tam

Ex Parte Appeal Brief of Simon Tam of the PTO's Refusal to Register THE SLANTS Trademark

From the Preliminary Statement: This is not yet another case of a member of an ethnic group seeking registration of a supposedly offensive slur on the ground that group members, or he in particular, have “embraced” the...more

Federal Circuit Potential for Indirect Infringement Liability Provides a Justiciable Controversy for Declaratory Judgment...

In Arkema Inc. v. Honeywell Int’l, Inc., the Federal Circuit reversed a District Court’s finding of no justiciable controversy under Article III for a declaratory judgment suit over indirect infringement liability. Arkema...more

Antitrust and Competition Newsletter - February 2013

In This Issue: - A Modern Look at the Nine ‘No-Nos’ of Patent Licensing Under U.S. Antitrust Law: The First Four ‘No-Nos’ - Supreme Court Grants Cert. in Watson Reverse Payment Settlement Case - 7th Circuit...more

Geolocational Privacy Law Evolved Slowly in 2012

The law of geolocational privacy continued to evolve in 2012 even though the Supreme Court sidestepped the issue in a potential landmark case. Despite the lack of clarity from the Supreme Court, there will be more...more

Pictometry Int'l Corp. v. Freedom of Information Commission et al.

Connecticut Supreme Court Decision

Connecticut Supreme Court Decision...more

Indiana Sex Offender Social Website Ban Law Is Unconstitutional

An Indiana statute prohibiting most registered sex offenders from using social networking websites is unconstitutional because it is an overly broad infringement of First Amendment rights. The Indiana law prohibited...more

2012 Media Year in Review Media Law Bulletin - January 2013

Now that 2013 has arrived, we look forward to a new year of media cases. However, in order to orient ourselves for 2013, it is important to stop and take a look back at some of the relevant entertainment and media cases of...more