On August 18, 2023, in Thaler v. Perlmutter, Judge Beryl A. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted the U.S. Copyright Office's motion for summary judgment, affirming the Copyright Office's...more
4. The degree of originality influences copyright protection of device trademark - The device elements in a trademark can be divided into decorative device, device as the background of words, prominent device, pure device...more
It’s hard to be a fashion innovator. It’s far easier to be an imitator. Success requires enormous investment in creating and marketing new designs, with no certainty that the designs will succeed. The imitator merely needs to...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a jury verdict in favor of a copyright owner in a lawsuit alleging infringement of the copyright in a home-services training manual, finding that the jury was correctly...more
In March, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a copyright lawsuit that alleged Pixar’s 2015 film “Inside Out” was based on Denise Daniels, a child development expert, who had pitched her idea to Walt Disney Co... ...more
The Ninth Circuit recently reversed the dismissal of copyright infringement claims in Hall v. Taylor Swift finding a lack of sufficient facts or evidence of record to justify a summary conclusion of lack of originality for...more
Knock-offs and ‘copycat’ designs are nothing new to the fashion world. The rising demand for “fast fashion” and bargain hunting alike make knock-offs particularly attractive to the consumer’s insatiable appetite. This trend...more
Live broadcasts of football games failed to reach the fixation and originality requirements for copyright protection, held by the Beijing IP Court in its recent judgment...more
Prior to a recent change in the law, copyright protection in an artistic work expired after 25 years if articles embodying the work had been applied industrially (defined as making more than fifty articles). This kept the...more