Summary Judgment Entered Against Chuck DeVore on Copyright Claims By Harry Zhou – Edited by Helen He Henley v. DeVore, No. 8:09-cv-00481-JVS-RNB (C.D. Cal. Jun. 10, 2010) Order The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California issued a formal ruling on Musician Don Henley’s copyright and Lanham Act claims against California Assemblyman Chuck DeVore. Rejecting DeVore’s fair use defense, the court entered summary judgment in favor of Henley on all claims of copyright infringement. Henley’s false endorsement claim ... Read More...

By Kassity Liu Judge Orders Copyright Plaintiff to Justify Joining Thousands of Defendants in a Single Lawsuit Ars Technica reports that Federal Judge Rosemary Collyer ordered the US Copyright Group to explain why joining thousands of anonymous “John Does” into one lawsuit is permissible under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP). The judge, after encountering one case that was filed against 4,577 anonymous P2P defendants, issued the order requiring the Group to “convince [her] within two weeks that jamming ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Holds that Solo’s Marking of Lids after Patent Expiration Did Not Violate False Marking Statute By Ian B. Brooks – Edited by Matt Gelfand Pequignot v. Solo Cup Co., No. 2009-1547 (Fed. Cir. June 10, 2010) Slip Opinion On June 10, 2010, the Federal Circuit affirmed the judgment of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, which had entered summary judgment in favor of Solo for “false marking” related to Solo’s practice of marking expired ... Read More...

Stored Communications Act Protects Facebook and MySpace Users’ Private Communications By Kathryn Freund – Edited by Jad Mills Crispin v. Christian Audigier, Inc., CV 09-09509-MMM-JEMx (C.D. Cal. May 26, 2010) Order The Central District of California reversed and quashed Magistrate Judge McDermott’s order granting a subpoena to obtain private Facebook and MySpace messages and vacated and remanded his order granting a subpoena to obtain Facebook wall postings and MySpace  comments. Judge Morrow held that private messages sent using Facebook and ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Chooses Absurdity Over Judicial Claim Redrafting By Chinh Vo – Edited by Jad Mills Haemonetics Corp. v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., No. 2009-1557 (Fed. Cir. June 2, 2010) Slip Opinion On June 2, 2010, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the claim construction of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts and vacated a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff in a patent infringement suit. Haemonetics Corp. (“Haemonetics”) had filed a patent infringement lawsuit ... Read More...