First Circuit Lifts Trademark Injunction to Make Way for Super Duck By Miriam Weiler — Edited by Evie Breithaupt Boston Duck Tours v. Super Duck Tours First Circuit, June 18th, 2008, Nos. 07-2078, 07-2246 Slip Opinion On June 18, the First Circuit lifted a preliminary injunction granted by the District Court of Massachusetts, which had enjoined Super Duck Tours, LLC (“Super Duck”) from using the phrase “duck tours” in its trade name and the cartoon of a duck in its ... Read More...

Ninth Circuit Applies Fourth Amendment to Text Messages at Work By Anna Volftsun — Edited by Evie Breithaupt Quon v. Arch Wireless Operating Company, Inc. Ninth Circuit, June 18, 2008, No. 07-55282 Slip Opinion On June 18, 2008, the Ninth Circuit held that the City of Ontario, California violated the Fourth Amendment when Ontario Police Department officials viewed text messages sent by a department employee. The court also held that Arch Wireless, the city’s service provider, had violated the Stored ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Affirms Award of Attorney Fees for Inequitable Conduct and Litigation Misconduct By Christina Hayes — Edited by Stephanie Weiner Nilssen v. Osram Sylvania, Inc. Federal Circuit, June 17, 2008, No. 2007-1198 Slip Opinion The Federal Circuit affirmed the judgment of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granting a motion for attorney fees to Osram Sylvania, Inc. and Osram Sylvania Products, Inc. (collectively, “Osram”) due to the inequitable conduct and litigation misconduct of the appellants ... Read More...

Ninth Circuit Assesses Copyright Damage Awards By Debbie Rosenbaum — Edited by Stephanie Weiner  Derek Andrew, Inc. v. Poof Apparel Corp. 9th Circuit, June 11, 2007 Slip Opinion  The Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded in part the decision of the District Court for the Western District of Washington, which had awarded statutory damages under the Copyright Act for a copyright infringement, as well as attorney’s fees.  Under § 504(a) and (c) of the Copyright Act, a copyright owner can elect ... Read More...

Supreme Court Reinvigorates Patent Exhaustion By Andrew Ungberg — Edited by Joshua Gruenspecht Quanta Computers, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc. Supreme Court of the United States, June 9, 2008, No. 2006-937 Slip Opinion The Supreme Court reversed the Federal Circuit, which had held that patent holders could seek infringement damages from subsequent purchasers further “downstream” provided that the initial transfer had imposed some type of restriction on the initial purchaser. The Federal Circuit’s ruling, had it been upheld, would have ... Read More...