Ninth Circuit Holds that Apple did not Engage in Copyright Misuse By Laura Fishwick – Edited by Michael Hoven Apple Inc. v. Psystar Corp., No. 10-15113 (9th Cir. Sept. 28, 2011) Slip Opinion The Ninth Circuit affirmed the Northern District of California’s holding that Psystar infringed Apple’s federal copyrights, and vacated and remanded the district court’s grant of Apple’s motion to seal summary judgment papers. The district court had rejected Psystar’s defense of copyright misuse, in which Psystar had argued ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Reverses Dismissal of Ultramercial Patent Infringement Claim By Amy Rossignol – Edited by Michael Hoven Ultramercial , LLC v. Hulu, LLC, No. 2010-1544 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 15, 2011) Slip Opinion The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California’s dismissal of Ultramercial’s patent infringement claim against Hulu, LLC and Wildtangent, Inc.. The District Court had found that U.S. Patent No. 7,346,545 did not claim ... Read More...

Second Circuit Rules First Sale Doctrine Only Applies to Goods Manufactured Domestically By Heather Whitney – Edited by Chinh Vo John Wiley & Sons v. Kirtsaeng, No. 09-4896-cv (2d Cir. Aug. 15, 2011) Slip Opinion After the Supreme Court’s non-precedential decision in Costco v. Omega, 131 S.Ct. 565 (2010), it is no surprise that the nexus of the first sale doctrine and works manufactured outside of the United States remains in flux.  In Wiley, the Second Circuit affirmed the judgment ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Invalidates Software Patent As Mere Mental Process By Albert Wang – Edited by Chinh Vo CyberSource Corporation v. Retail Decisions, Inc., No. 2009-1358 (Fed. Cir. August 16, 2011) Slip Opinion The Federal Circuit affirmed the United States District Court for the Northern District of California’s grant of summary judgment, agreeing that plaintiff CyberSource’s patents were invalid for ineligible subject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Writing for a unanimous panel, Judge Dyk held that CyberSource’s method of verifying ... Read More...

Despite First Amendment Challenge, Seventh Circuit Allows High School Sports Association to Exclusively License Broadcasting Right By Abby Lauer – Edited by Andrew Segna Wis. Interscholastic Athletic Ass’n v. Gannett Co., Inc., No. 10-2627 (7th Cir. Aug. 24, 2011) Slip Opinion The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, which had granted summary judgment to the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Associate (WIAA) in a declaratory judgment action against local news media company Gannett ... Read More...