District Court Will Not Require Ebay to Make Greater Effort to Police Trademark Infringers By Jeff Gritton — Edited by Joshua Gruenspecht Tiffany, Inc. v. eBay, Inc. S.D.N.Y., July 14, 2008, No. 04 Civ. 4607 First Circuit, June 18th, 2008, Nos. 07-2078, 07-2246 Slip Opinion On July 14, the Southern District of New York denied Tiffany’s claims of direct and contributory trademark infringement against eBay. The court agreed with eBay that, as a legitimate seller of Tiffany goods, the online ... Read More...

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 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 Leaves in Place Eighth Circuit Test Favoring First Amendment Protection for Fantasy Sports By Dmitriy Tishyevich — Edited by Evie Breithaupt Major League Baseball Advanced Media v. C.B.C. Distribution and Marketing 8th Circuit, Oct 16, 2007, cert. denied June 2, 2008 Eighth Circuit Opinion, Supreme Court Order On June 2, the Supreme Court denied petition for a writ of certiorari from Major League Baseball Advanced Media (“MLB”). MLB had sought to appeal the Eighth Circuit’s decision, which held ... Read More...