Jones Day Talks Intellectual Property: Blurrier Lines and Narrow Grounds—Implications of the Ninth Circuit’s Blurred Lines Decision
Did Nintendo finally release a Pokémon videogame with guns? Oh, wait, it’s not Pokémon at all – it’s Palworld, a game released by Pocket Pair, a different Japanese videogame company. If you missed it, Palworld was released...more
Dear Retail Clients and Friends: Starting January 1, 2023, a new law in California will prohibit higher prices for products marketed to a particular gender. The law specifically takes aim at higher prices on products...more
Continuing the trend that we analyzed in May 2020, petitions to the US Patent and Trademark Office Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) requesting inter partes review or post-grant review for design patents maintained an...more
The Second Circuit recently held that artist Andy Warhol’s use of Lynn Goldsmith’s photograph of the musician Prince (the “Goldsmith Photograph”) to create fifteen new unauthorized silkscreen and pencil artworks (the “Prince...more
For nearly two decades, the “transformative use test” has been a staple of fair use analysis, and particularly in the Second Circuit. The Copyright Act, however, uses the word “transformative” not in the section on fair use...more
The Second Circuit recently decided whether artist Andy Warhol’s series of silkscreen prints and pencil illustrations titled “Prince Series” was a fair use of photographer Lynn Goldsmith’s copyrighted photograph of musical...more
In the 1970s, William DuBay created the comic book character, Restin Dane, also known by his superhero alter ego, “The Rook.” Dane, a wealthy scientist and inventor residing in an Arizona house shaped like a rook chess piece,...more
The March 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses fair use cases for photographs and three recent developments in the cannabis space. We also highlight recent accolades earned by Sterne Kessler's...more
In response to a copyright claim that the Netflix series “Stranger Things” infringed the plaintiff’s unpublished screenplays, Netflix and the other defendants filed a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, arguing that the works...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s grant of judgment as a matter of law finding that the musical Jersey Boys did not infringe a copyright held in an autobiography of band member Tommy...more
In Kirk Kara Corp. v. Western Stone & Metal Corp. et al, 2-20-cv-01931 (CDCA 2020-08-14, Order) (Dolly M. Gee), the Central District of California denied Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s claims for copyright...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s pleadings-stage determination that certain Star Trek: Discovery characters and plotlines did not infringe copyrighted elements of a video game because...more
Interpreting Bristol-Myers : Are Unnamed Members of Nationwide Class Actions ‘Parties’? If So, When? In 2017, the Supreme Court decided Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California (BMS), holding that a...more
Introduction - The admissibility of evidence of “other similar incidents” (“OSI”) frequently arises in product liability cases. Both plaintiffs and defendants may seek to admit such evidence in order to demonstrate or...more
Ruling en banc, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reinstated a 2016 jury verdict, finding that the rock band Led Zeppelin and the opening notes of its hit song “Stairway to Heaven” did not infringe the 1967 song...more
White & Case Technology Newsflash - Intellectual property litigants may be increasingly addressing design patents. Design patent litigation may be getting lengthier, and this may result in the filing of more design patent...more
On the day that New York State honored the U.S. women’s soccer team for their World Cup victory – a team whose members have publicly demanded pay equity with the U.S. men’s soccer team – Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation...more
The Central District of California recently sank a copyright infringement lawsuit against the Walt Disney Company’s Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise, finding that numerous elements of the Plaintiffs’ allegedly similar...more
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) has denied a petitioner’s request for inter partes review (IPR) finding that petitioner failed to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood of prevailing with respect to at least one...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal with prejudice where a lace textile manufacture pleaded that a popular fashion retailer and other defendants infringed on the manufacturer’s...more
As we have previously discussed, the owner of the copyright in a work has certain exclusive rights in that work. Anyone who violates the exclusive rights of the copyright owner is an infringer of that copyright. To...more
Eliya Inc., known for its BERNIE MEV® shoes, filed a declaratory judgment action against Skechers on January 29, 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Skechers had sent a cease and desist...more
A recent decision from a Pennsylvania federal court underscores that there is generally no copyright protection in an actual building or a skyline of buildings; instead, the protection is in the particular photograph or...more
Federal Circuit Summary - Before O’Malley, Reyna, and Hughes. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: Courts should not give too much weight to evidence purporting to show a lack of actual confusion...more
On April 24, 2018, newly-elected Governor Phil Murphy signed into law the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act, which amends the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD) by significantly expanding existing pay equity protections...more