Federal Circuit Clarifies the Fame Standard for Trade Dilution By Sonal Mittal – Edited by Laura Fishwick Coach Servs., Inc., v. Triumph Learning L.L.C., No. 2011-1129 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 21, 2012) Slip Opinion The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed-in-part the decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”), which had dismissed the notice of opposition filed by Coach Services, Inc. (“CSI”) opposing the registration of the COACH mark by Triumph Learning L.L.C. (“Triumph”). The Federal Circuit ... Read More...
Archive for February, 2012
District court holds that an advertisement-like salute to Michael Jordan is constitutionally protected free speech By Abby Lauer – Edited by Laura Fishwick Jordan v. Jewel Food Stores, Inc., 2012 WL 512584 (N.D. Ill., Feb. 15, 2012) Slip Opinion (hosted by Justia.com) The Northern District of Illinois has ruled that a national grocery store chain’s reference to basketball superstar Michael Jordan in a page published in a commemorative issue of Sports Illustrated is constitutionally protected free speech. The court has ... Read More...
Justice Department Approves Google/Motorola Merger and Other Patent Acquisitions By Jacob Rogers – Edited by Jonathan Allred Investigations of Google Inc.’s Acquisition of Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. and the Acquisitions of Certain Patents by Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Research in Motion Ltd. (Feb. 13 2012). Decision On Monday, February 13, 2012, the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Dept. of Justice approved the merger between Google Inc. and Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. as well as the acquisition of additional patents ... Read More...
Federal Circuit Affirms $371 Million Judgment Against W.L. Gore By Michael Hoven – Edited by Matt Gelfand Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. v. W.L. Gore & Assocs., No. 2010-1050 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2012) Slip opinion The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision from the District of Arizona, which upheld a jury verdict that W.L. Gore & Associates’s employee had not jointly invented a vascular graft patented by Bard Peripheral Vascular, and that Gore had willfully infringed ... Read More...
By Marsha Sukach EU Court Says Social Networks Cannot Be Forced to Monitor Users The European Court of Justice ruled that social networks cannot be required to monitor users solely for the purpose of stopping piracy, reports CNET. The court said that such a requirement created a complicated and costly burden on the sites, and that it might endanger the privacy of user data by forcing sites to identify and analyze information connected to user profiles. According to the Wall ... Read More...
