June 23, 2015 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark / NFL

From Football to Cheerleading: Washington Redskins Voice Support for Band’s Trademark Case

By now, most people are aware that last summer, the United States Patent and Trademark Office canceled the Washington Redskins’ trademark registration after finding the team’s name and logo to be disparaging to American Indians. Last week, however, the team took a serious interest in a lower-profile case involving a band called the Slants.

Previously, the USPTO refused the band’s two trademark applications, declaring that “slants” is disparaging to people of Asian descent. On Thursday, June 18, the team threw its support behind the band, …

June 18, 2015 Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark

WWE Takes A Jab At Data Transfer Efficiency Claim

A patent infringement suit was filed in Texas federal court in February by Orostream LLC against several companies including Fox News Network LLC, NFL Enterprises LLC, Target Corp., and World Wrestling Entertainment. The suit alleges that defendant companies infringed upon Patent No. 5,828,837, titled “Computer Network System and Method for Efficient Information Transfer.”

WWE recently filed for the invalidation of the part of the patent that Orostream LLC is claiming sports and entertainment companies are infringing upon through the use of their mobile content …

June 18, 2015 Copyright

Stuffed: Photographer’s Claim Against Nike Dismissed

Oregon District Judge Michael W. Mosman issued a ruling on Tuesday dismissing a lawsuit alleging that Nike Inc.’s “Jumpman” logo was an improper reproduction of a picture taken of Michael Jordan by the plaintiff photographer in 1984.

The judge wrote:

“[a]lthough at first glance there are certainly similarities between the two expressions of the pose, a closer examination reveals several material differences … In the context of thin or very close to thin copyright protection, these differences lead me to find that the

June 8, 2015 Copyright / Intellectual Property, Copyright, and Trademark / Litigation

Mixing Up Trouble: Sir Mix-A-Lot Argues Tardiness on DJ’s Copyright Claim

On Tuesday, June 2, Sir Mix-A-Lot spoke out against a lawsuit over copyright authorship brought by his former partner, declaring that the suit comes roughly two decades too late. David Ford, Mix-A-Lot’s former partner and DJ, filed suit in March in Washington federal court, claiming that he had no idea until recently that Mix-A-Lot had filed copyright registration for several songs as the sole author. Mix-A-Lot is moving to dismiss the suit, arguing that it is impossible that twenty years went by before Ford realized …

June 3, 2015 Antitrust / Copyright / NFL

Flag on the Play: NFL, AP Urge Court to Close Book on Photographers’ Antitrust Suit

On Friday, May 29, the National Football League and the Associated Press told a New York federal court that the seven photographers bringing a copyright and antitrust suit had lost their right to file a revised complaint. In March, U.S. District Judge Robert Sweet dismissed the photographers’ claims, but gave them twenty days to file a new complaint. The parties then agreed to a three-week extension for the amended pleadings to be filed, but the photographers failed to meet the May 11 deadline.

Rather …

June 1, 2015 Copyright / Litigation

Jay-Z Sanctioned as “Big Pimpin’” Copyright Trial Date Approaches

On Thursday, May 28, a federal judge in California sanctioned Jay-Z for his failure to properly comply with a discovery request in the current litigation regarding Jay Z’s sampling of the Egyptian song “Khosara, Khosara” for use in his hit single “Big Pimpin’.” Jay Z was ordered to pay plaintiff Osama Ahmed Fahmy $3,000 for the expenses and attorneys’ fees Fahmy incurred while compelling the production of an unredacted agreement between Jay Z and concert-promotion company Live Nation.

Fahmy had originally requested $15,000 in attorneys’ …

May 1, 2015 Music / Trademark

Katy Perry’s “Left Shark” Design Fails to Overcome Trademark Hurdles

The U.S. Trademark Office blocked Katy Perry’s attempt to capitalize on a “Left Shark” design. According to David Collier, the trademark examiner, to be able to register a trademark, a mark or design must “function as a service mark to identify and distinguish applicant’s services from those of others and to indicate the source of applicant’s services.” Based on evidence submitted by Perry, the Office found that the shark design failed to sufficiently conjure up Katy Perry or her music performance. Collier also noted that …

Disney Fails on Attempt to Dismiss “Frozen” Teaser-Trailer Lawsuit

Federal Judge Vince Chhabria for the Northern District of California denied Disney’s attempt to dismiss a copyright lawsuit brought against it alleging ideas used in a teaser trailer for the hit film “Frozen” was stolen.

The lawsuit, brought by animator Kelly Wilson in March of 2014, claims the trailer was ripped off from her 2-D short film “The Snowman.” Arguing the trailer has many similarities to the short film, Wilson must also prove that Disney was aware of it and had seen it. Disney brought …

Lionsgate and Joss Whedon Face $10M Copyright Suit Over “The Cabin in the Woods”

Peter Gallagher, not the actor but an author of a 2006 novel, has filed a lawsuit against Lionsgate and Joss Whedon who produced and co-wrote the 2012 horror movie “The Cabin in the Woods” with Drew Goddard who was also named in the suit.

Gallagher in the complaint alleges that Whedon and Goddard stole the idea, plots, characters, and more from his novel “The Little White Trip: A Night in the Pines” without his consent in. According to Gallagher, he registered the book with the …

Former San Diego Chargers Wants $18M For “Lights Out” Trademark Infringement

On April 6, Shawne Merriman, former San Diego Chargers linebacker, filed a motion for summary judgment to ask the judge to resolve the trademark infringement dispute that began last year against Nike over “Lights Out” mark.

Claiming the ownership of the mark, Merriman said, “After I was given the nickname ‘Lights Out’ ® in high school, I decided to create a brand while I was at the University of Maryland. From 2002-2005 I sold approximately 2000 t-shirts printed with the Lights Out …