Ian G. DiBernardo
In <i>TiVo, Inc. v. EchoStar Commc'ns Corp.</i>, the Federal Circuit affirmed TiVo's $74 million judgment against EchoStar and reinstated TiVo's permanent injunction. If the parties could go back in time having the benefit of the Federal Circuit's decision, the patent-in-suit might be drafted differently and the claim construction arguments might be more persuasive. This article explores some of the lessons from the Federal Circuit's decision.
Paul W. Garrity
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Matthew D. Marcotte
Hiring an outside Web designer can be an efficient and effective way of ensuring a high-quality Web site for a company. However, when the relationship with the designer ends, the question of who owns the copyright in the Web site can lead to contentious and costly litigation.
ALM Staff
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Features
Matt Berkowitz
Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.
Julie Holloway
What rights does an employer have in an employee's patent? The short answer is, it depends. The employer may have a right of assignment — that is, a right to outright ownership of the patent. Another possibility is a so-called 'shop right,' in which the employee owns the patent, but the employer has a non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use the invention in its business. There is also a distinct possibility that the employer has no rights whatsoever in the patent.
Features
Michael Epstein
The Federal Circuit recently held that an applicant's failure to disclose material notes to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can result in a finding of inequitable conduct that may render a patent, and even related patents, unenforceable.
Kiran Belur
In <i>Boston Duck Tours, LP v. Super Duck Tours</i>, the District Court of Massachusetts ruled that sponsored linking qualifies as 'use in commerce' for purposes of trademark infringement under the Lanham Act. Although the court ultimately found no likely consumer confusion in this case, in holding that sponsored linking falls within the purview of the Lanham Act, the court joins a growing number of circuits and districts that have failed to take a cue from well-settled, and clearly analogous, offline trademark principles.
Features
ALM Staff
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Recent news of importance to you and your practice.
Judith L. Grubner
Recently, the right of publicity of baseball players featured prominently in a federal appellate decision. <i>C.A.C. Distribution and Marketing, Inc. v. Major League Baseball Advanced Media, L.P.</i> The Eighth Circuit concluded that the First Amendment rights to run a fantasy baseball league by using the names, performance, and biographical data of professional baseball players superseded the players' rights of publicity.
Features
John M. Cone
In a proceeding before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ('TTAB'), if your adversary is a foreign entity with no employees in the United States, can you compel an oral deposition of the entity in this country? 'No,' says the TTAB, through its Manual of Procedure ('TBMP'). 'Yes,' says the Fourth Circuit, relying on '24 of the Patent Act, 35 U.S.C. '24 in <i>Rosenruist-Gestao E Servicos LDA v. Virgin Enterprises Ltd.</i>, 511 F.3d 437 (4th Cir. 2007).
