General Business Counsel
An interesting 1st Circuit opinion extended a hotel’s common law trademark into territory encroaching upon an incontestable junior registered mark of a competing hotel. In the case of Dorpan, S.L. v. Hotel Melià, Inc., Dorpan, a European hotel chain using the brand, Sol Melia, as a registered trademark faced off with the Hotel Melia “HMI” located … More Extending Use Under Trademark Law
For those of you who enjoy a fun case, the saga of Starbucks v. Wolfe’s Borough Coffee “WBC” is for you. During the course of this epic ten year battle pitting the famous international coffee purveyor against the small New England roaster, the law of trademark dilution has been analyzed, argued and then revised by … More Starbucks Charred Again
A long simmering feud between Authors and Google resulting from its library scanning project was resolved when the US District Court in New York decided in Google’s favor dismissing the authors’ lawsuit. The scanning involved whole materials, but only made snippets available to the public through Google search. The Court found this mechanism to be … More Google Scans Win Court Approval
Trademark law allows for filing an application for federal registration of a mark based on a good faith intent to use the mark in commerce. After examination by the USPTO, a Notice of Allowance is issued. The applicant then has an initial 6 month period in which to file a Statement of Use attesting to … More Trademark Intent to Use
Apparently not according to the Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit. In the case of Unclaimed Property Recovery Service et al v. Kaplan, former Plaintiffs in a Class Action lawsuit who had registered the Complaint and supporting documentation with the Copyright Register, sued their former lawyer for copyright infringement upon his use of the pleadings in filing … More Copyrighted Legal Pleadings?
In the recent IRS vs. Worldcom decision, the Court of Appeals Second Circuit reversed the denial of a $38 Million communications excise tax the IRS previously collected. In Worldcom’s bankruptcy proceeding, the IRS had been ordered to refund the excise tax to Worldcom’s bankruptcy estate. The issue for the Court of Appeals: Whether Worldcom’s purchase … More Cyberlaw: 2nd Circuit Oks IRS Modem Excise Tax
The two iconic brands faced off recently in the Court of Appeals Federal Circuit over stitching. The appeal resulted from the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board “TTAB’s” decision to throw out Levi’s Opposition and Cancellation Proceedings against Abercrombie & Fitch “A&F” based upon “been there, done that” litigation at the District Court for the Northern … More S“Tit”ch for Tat Trademark War Pits Levi vs. A&F
This week the US Court of Appeals Second Circuit issued Google a reprieve from class action certification. Google was alleged by the Authors Guild to have committed copyright infringement by copying and displaying “snippets” of millions of books in the Library Project of its Google Books search tool. The parties had reached an earlier settlement … More Google Wins Class Action Reprieve
Ambiguity in a contract never favors the drafting party. This basic principle of contract law came back to bite Marvel Comics in a recent Court of Appeals Second Circuit decision, Friedrich v. Marvel, regarding copyright renewal. Gary Friedrich, Plaintiff, allegedly authored or at least co-authored a series of stories and screenplay depicting the fictional Ghost … More When “Forever” Is Not Forever
Clients of my practice usually either have a website or are planning to get one. From an intellectual property “IP” standpoint, the developer agreement is critical to ensure the right content and code necessary for your business to attract clients and customers. There are many terms to consider including project scope, testing, hosting, ownership, payment … More Essential Points of Web Developer Agreements
William Tennant 
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