Ninth Circuit: Karaoke is audiovisual work, so not fully covered by – 115 compulsory license In a decision yesterday, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's dismissal of a complaint for declaratory judgment by a karaoke device manufacturer without leave to amend for failure to state a claim. The complaint sought a declaration that a compulsory license under § 115 of the Copyright Act was a sufficient license for a […] Continue Reading →
AUTM releases 2006 annual licensing survey The Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) has released its summary report for the 2006 AUTM U.S. Licensing Activity Survey. The yearly survey is an ongoing effort of the organization to assist in informing the public about academic technology transfer professionals in order to improve public understanding of their activities. The 2006 Annual Report reflects […] Continue Reading →
Sixth Circuit: Internet downloads not “manufactured,” so logo placement agreement inapplicable In a recent decision, the Sixth Circuit held that several agreements relating to logo placement on media incorporating songs by Meat Loaf did not encompass internet downloads. The court reached this decision based on a key paragraph in the most recent agreement: Sony Music will continue to place the Cleveland logo (in the design currently […] Continue Reading →
First wave of amicus briefs filed in Quanta v. LG, argument set for January 16 Earlier this month, amicus briefs either supporting the Petitioner or neither party were filed with the Supreme Court in connection with Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc (No. 06-937). Our previous coverage of the case can be found in these three posts. The Court also set oral argument for January 16, 2008. Some discussion […] Continue Reading →
Eighth Circuit: Fantasy Baseball service need not pay for use of athletes’ names and stats In a decision today, the Eighth Circuit held that a provider of a fantasy baseball service did not need to pay either Major League Baseball or the Major League Baseball Players Association for the right to use the names and statistics of professional baseball players in connection with its service. While this usage met the […] Continue Reading →
Second Circuit: retroactive assignment cannot cure past infringement claim by co-author The Second Circuit yesterday issued a decision regarding whether an action for infringement brought by one co-author of a song can be defeated by the grant of a "retroactive" transfer of ownership to the infringer from a co-author who is not party to the infringement action. The case involved licensing and litigation regarding authorship of […] Continue Reading →
Supreme Court to hear patent exhaustion case In its first conference of this Term, the Supreme Court today granted certiorari in Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc. (No. 06-937). Our previous coverage of the case can be found in these two posts. The question presented is: Whether the Federal Circuit erred by holding, in conflict with decisions of this Court and […] Continue Reading →
If you just have the right to sue under a patent, don’t expect to actually be able to sue anyone Yesterday, the Federal Circuit clarified the requirements for a party to attain standing to bring a patent infringement suit when the party does not hold all substantial rights in the patent. In defining what constitutes an "injury in fact" under the constitutional standing requirement, the court held that, when a party does not have all […] Continue Reading →
Seventh Circuit: Noncompete provision in license agreement reasonable, not patent misuse In what the court described as "one of those non-patent patent cases," the Seventh Circuit yesterday affirmed a grant of summary judgment to a patentee who, in its license agreement, included a noncompete provision. The licensee had terminated the license, and argued the noncompete constituted patent misuse, and was therefore void. The court rejected this […] Continue Reading →
Government recommends Supreme Court hear patent exhaustion case In a filing on August 24 (that got put on the back burner with the hubbub about the new continuation and claim limit rules), the government has recommended that the Supreme Court grant certiorari in Quanta Computer, Inc. v. LG Electronics, Inc. (No. 06-937). Detail about the Federal Circuit's decision may be found in this […] Continue Reading →