Twice the Remedy? Dual Recovery in Copyright and Trademark Law
June 27, 2008
In another Ninth Circuit case involving Microsoft Corporation, a district court ruled last fall that a software company is entitled to recover statutory damages under both the Copyright and Lanham Acts against those who sell and distribute counterfeit software, where the software maker suffers distinct injuries to different interests as a result of the infringement. <i>Microsoft v. Evans</i>. This Eastern District of California decision reflects what may be a growing trend regarding the issue of awarding statutory damages under both copyright and trademark law for a single act that violates aspects of both statutes.
Marketplace
June 27, 2008
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Movers & Shakers
June 26, 2008
Brian Short, a real estate finance attorney, has joined Texas law firm Winstead PC as a shareholder. He will be located in the firm's Dallas office, working with the Real Estate Structured Finance Practice Group in the Business & Transactions Department. Short returns to Winstead after a short tenure at Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP, where he was a partner in the firm's capital financial markets, commercial lending and real estate development and finance groups.…
Landlord Liability For Tenants Trading In Counterfeit Goods
June 26, 2008
In addition to targeting counterfeiters, copyright and trademark holders have started going after commercial landlords whose tenants deal in fake merchandise. It is felt that this new strategy is needed in part because the counterfeiting retailers possess very few assets that can be seized and liquidated to compensate the copyright or trademark holder.
Did 'Roommates.com' Nix Consumer-Generated Content?
June 26, 2008
Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act essentially gives Internet service providers immunity from liability for publishing false or defamatory material as long as that material was provided by another party. In <i>Fair Housing Council of San Fernando Valley v. Roommates.com LLC</i>, an en banc panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed an earlier ruling that a commercial roommate-matching service may be liable for violations of the Fair Housing Act because of the manner in which the site elicits information from prospective roommates.
Online Pharmacy Ordered to Pay FTC $15.8 Million
June 26, 2008
Saying they 'dispensed deception,' a federal judge in Atlanta has ordered the founders and operators of a now-defunct online pharmacy business to pay the FTC $15.8 million for fraudulent claims associated with the drugs they peddled. In his order, issued June 4, U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell also found Dr. Terrill Mark Wright, a physician associated with the online pharmacies, liable for $15.4 million to compensate consumers for false advertising claims.
Malpractice Suit over The Source Comments Proceeds
June 26, 2008
A Manhattan federal magistrate judge ruled that a client may proceed with a legal-malpractice claim against a law firm for failing to bring defamation claims on behalf of the client in a highprofile sexual harassment and discrimination case against hip-hop magazine The Source.
Court of Appeals Affirms Owner Occupancy Rights Under Rent Stabilization
June 26, 2008
In its June 3, 2008, decision in <i>Pultz v. Economakis</i>, the New York State Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that there is no limit on the number of rent-stabilized units an owner can attempt to recover for owner occupancy. The ruling was a major victory for rent stabilized landlords, and a sharp rebuke to tenant advocates who claimed that multiple recovery for owner occupancy violated the letter and spirit of the Rent Stabilization Law. Indeed, the case continues a recent trend of favorable Court of Appeals decisions for landlords.
FTC Releases Franchise Rule Compliance Guides
June 26, 2008
Perhaps you've heard: On Jan. 23, 2007, the Federal Trade Commission adopted the comprehensively revised FTC Franchise Rule ('The Amended Rule') and released the 'Statement of Basis and Purpose' ('SBP'), which clarified the Amended Rule's requirements and prohibitions. Compliance with the Amended Rule has been optional since July 1, 2007, and became mandatory on July 1, 2008.
<i><b>Product Review</b></i> JD Supra Seeks to Revolutionize Online Content for Lawyers
June 26, 2008
As summer associates struggle to answer obscure research questions over the next couple of months, and when their predecessors start full time this fall, they may find an answer to their late-night prayers in JD Supra, a new online service that offers completely free access (with registration) to a variety of documents, including legal memoranda, briefs and unpublished court decisions.
