There are two sure-fire ways to maximize the chances that a consumer survey gets bounced out of federal court: (1) surveying the wrong people; and (2) leading them to a desired “correct” answer. Both of these survey maladies...more
We’ve discussed a number of cases lately where flimsy consumer surveys were tossed out as unreliable under Daubert. This latest installment presents a slightly different twist....more
Graham Crackers - the ubiquitous, rectangular-shaped snack crackers with air holes and perforations - occupy a unique niche in American snack food lore. In the 1830s, the Rev. Sylvester Graham, a Presbyterian minister from...more
In trademark infringement cases, consumer survey evidence can be a powerful tool. It can also badly malfunction, as Black & Decker recently experienced. ...more
And just like that, it was over. The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group sun-setted the reign of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas as the country’s busiest (and arguably,...more
Section 411(a) of the Copyright Act provides, in pertinent part, that “no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until preregistration or registration of the copyright...more
In the immortal words of the most recent Nobel Laureate in literature, “the times they are a changin.’” Section 35(a) of the Lanham Act provides that “[t]he court in exceptional cases may award reasonable attorney fees to...more
11/1/2016
/ Abuse of Discretion ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Corporate Counsel ,
De Novo Standard of Review ,
Exceptional Case ,
Fee-Shifting ,
Highmark v. Allcare ,
Lanham Act ,
Octane Fitness v. ICON ,
Patent Infringement ,
Popular ,
Prevailing Party ,
Young Lawyers
While many were focused on “The Big Dance” on March 17, 2016, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals did some “dancing” of its own. The Court issued a revised opinion in Lenz v. Universal and thereby amended what has been referred...more
3/18/2016
/ Algorithms ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Corporate Counsel ,
DMCA ,
Fair Use ,
Good Faith ,
Online Videos ,
Takedown Notices ,
Universal ,
Young Lawyers
Many professional athletes these days—particularly those in the National Basketball Association—have their bodies bedecked with all sorts of tattoos. It’s a trend that has steadily caught fire over the last several years...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has just gone where no other court has gone before. In a tour-de-force judicial opinion, the Court emphatically held that a small sliver of the Lanham Act—the “disparaging...more