Federal Circuit Rejects Point of Novelty Test for Design Patent Infringement By Anna Lamut — Edited by Stephanie Weiner Egyptian Goddess v. Swisa CAFC, September 22, 2008, Slip Opinion The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the decision of the District Court for the Northern District of Texas, which had granted summary judgment in favor of Swisa, Inc, finding that no jury could reasonably find Swisa’s nail-buffer design infringed Egyptian Goddess’s design patent. A panel of the ... Read More...

Virginia State Supreme Court Holds Anti-Spam Statute Unconstitutionally Overbroad By Jay Gill — Edited by Nicola Carah Jaynes v. Commonwealth of Virginia Supreme Court of Virginia, September 12, 2008, No. 062388 Slip Opinion The Supreme Court of Virginia overturned the conviction of prolific spammer Jeremy Jaynes, unanimously reversing not only the Virginia state court of appeals, but its own earlier holding in the case. In doing so, the court held that the Virginia anti-spam statute under which Jaynes was convicted ... Read More...

Harry Potter Lexicon Found to Infringe J.K. Rowling’s Copyright By Miriam Weiler – Edited by Evie Breithaupt Warner Bros. Entertainment v. RDR Books S.D.N.Y, September 8th 2008, No. 07 Civ. 09667  Slip Opinion (hosted by Justia.com)   This week, Judge Robert P.  Patterson of Southern District of New York, granted a permanent injunction against Defendant RDR Books (“RDR”) and awarded statutory damages to Plaintiffs Warner Brothers Entertainment, Inc.  and J.K.  Rowling (“Warner Bros.” and “J.K.  Rowling”) for the infringement of ... Read More...

Website Finds Safe Harbor from Copyright Infringement Damages for User-Provided Videos By Debbie Rosenbaum – Edited by Andrew Ungberg Io Group, Inc. v. Veoh Networks, Inc. N.D. Cal., August 27, 2008, No. C06-03926 HRL Slip Opinion (hosted by Electronic Frontier Foundation) Last week, a federal judge in San Jose, U.S. District Judge Howard Lloyd, ruled that Veoh Networks, Inc. (“Veoh”), is not liable for copyright infringement for material that was uploaded to its site. Veho provides software and a website ... Read More...

District Court Rules Virginia Law Protecting Social Security Numbers Unconstitutional As Applied to Watchdog Website By Jon Choate — Edited by Daniel Ray Ostergren v. McDonnell E.D. Va. No. 3:08cv362 Slip Opinion (hosted by the ACLU) On August 22, 2008, Judge Robert E. Payne of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia found § 59.1-443.2 of the Virginia Code to violate the First Amendment as applied to Betty J. Ostergren’s website The Virginia Watchdog. The court granted ... Read More...