On April 5, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States held that Google’s use of certain Java Application Programming Interfaces (API) in its Android operating system was not copyright infringement and instead constituted...more
4/8/2021
/ Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Fair Use ,
Google ,
Google LLC v Oracle America Inc ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Java ,
Oracle ,
SCOTUS ,
Transformative Use
On June 30, 2020, The Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion in United States Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com B. V., holding that a mark consisting of a generic term combined with “.com” is not...more
7/21/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
On May 14, 2020, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its opinion in the latest round of a 20-year long trademark dispute between Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc. and Marcel Fashion Group, Inc. over the use of “Lucky.” ...more
5/20/2020
/ Claim Preclusion ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Counterclaims ,
Defense Preclusion ,
Fashion Branding ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Lucky Brand Dungarees v Marcel Fashion Group ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Release Agreements ,
Res Judicata ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Subsequent Litigation ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
On Monday, March 4, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that stands as an important reminder to owners of copyrightable works: registration of a copyright is a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit for copyright...more
3/13/2019
/ Appeals ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Exhaustion ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Copyright Registration ,
Damages ,
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp v Wall-Street.com LLC ,
SCOTUS ,
Solicitor General ,
Split of Authority ,
The Copyright Act ,
Uniformity
For years, patent assertion entities have filed patent lawsuits against retailers in federal court in Texas. The Supreme Court’s recent decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC may give retailers the...more
11/30/2017
/ Forum Shopping ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Principal Place of Business ,
Retail Market ,
Retailers ,
SCOTUS ,
State of Incorporation ,
TC Heartland LLC v Kraft Foods ,
Venue
A recent U.S. Supreme Court copyright decision analyzing cheerleader uniforms may have a profound impact on retailers, and on the fashion industry in particular. On March 22, 2017, the Supreme Court held in Star Athletica,...more
4/19/2017
/ Cheerleaders ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyrightable Subject Matter ,
Fashion Design ,
Graphic Designs ,
Retail Market ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 101 ,
Star Athletica v Varsity Brands ,
Uniforms
On June 19, 2014, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank International, clarifying what it means to be patentable subject matter. With one stroke of the pen, the Supreme Court...more