Intellectual Property

Recent Posts

Patents Post-Grant: Republican Candidates Fire Back at Patent Holder
Posted on 19 Mar 2012 by Scott A. McKeown

Candidates Question the Good Faith Basis for Suit Back in February, I noted the "interesting" decision of plaintiff EveryMD to file suit against the Republican presidential candidates . The suit, captioned EveryMD v. Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney... Read More

Patents Post-Grant: Republican Presidential Candidates Accused of Patent Infringement
Posted on 1 Mar 2012 by Scott A. McKeown

Romney, Gingrich and Santorum Named as Defendants in Patent Suit This past Monday, EveryMD filed suit against the Republican presidential candidates for...well..using Facebook. The suit, captioned EveryMD v. Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, and Newt Gingrich... Read More

1998 Web Diary Patents Asserted against Facebook and AddThis
Posted on 12 Feb 2013 by Travis Burchart

Rembrandt Social Media has sued Facebook and bookmarking service, AddThis, accusing them of infringing patents related to the early creation of a web-based personal diary page. The first patent, filed in 1998 and issued in 2002, claimed a novel... Read More

FREE DOWNLOAD: Complaint, Facebook v. Teachbook.com, 10-03654 (ND CA Aug 18, 2010)
Posted on 30 Aug 2010 by Copyright & Trademark Law Community Staff

Facebook has become a worldwide social, cultural and political phenomenon. With fame comes imitation. Here, Defendant Teachbook.com LLC rides on the coattails of the fame and enormous goodwill of the FACEBOOK trademark. Misappropriating the distinctive... Read More

Tags: Facebook

Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selzt: Follow Us (to Learn About Twitter/Facebook Changes)
Posted on 8 Dec 2010 by Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz

Facebook Last week, Facebook published a revised version of its Promotions Guidelines . The most significant change for advertisers is that, under the new guidelines, Facebook no longer requires written approval for an advertiser to administer a promotion... Read More

Update: Fashion Icon vs. Facebook Page vs. 40’s Icon: Burberry and Bogart in Trademark Tussle
Posted on 8 Aug 2012 by Travis Burchart

Update: As reported by Law360 , Burberry and Bogart, LLC have resolved their dispute over Burberry's use of Humphrey Bogart's image. According to a Burberry representative, the dispute was resolved "amicably." I'm a sucker... Read More

The Protectability of "Book” Marks; Facebook Re-Files Trademark Complaint against Teachbook after Jurisdictional Dismissal
Posted on 10 May 2011 by Travis Burchart

Last week, the District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed Facebook's trademark complaint against Teachbook. The dismissal was based on a lack of personal jurisdiction. On May 6 th , Facebook re-filed in the Northern District... Read More

Copyright Trappings of New Media: Megamind Infringement Complaint References Facebook, Blogs and Filmmaker's Commentary in Alleging Accessibility and Copying
Posted on 20 May 2011 by Travis Burchart

Plaintiff Rogue Satellite Comics recently sued DreamWorks Animation for copyright infringement. Rogue owns the copyright to a comic character named "Kingfish" (© 1996). In its complaint, Rogue alleges that the Kingfish character was... Read More

I’d Like to Start a Hunger Games “Book” Club, but I’m Afraid Facebook Might Sue Me for Trademark Infringement
Posted on 26 Mar 2012 by Travis Burchart

Have you read the wonderful "book" The Hunger Games ? OopsI Let me start over. I shouldn't say "book" for fear of trademark infringement. Instead, let me ask: Have you read the arrangement of pages authored by Suzanne Collins... Read More

Copyright Trappings of New Media: Megamind Infringement Complaint References Facebook, Blogs and Filmmaker's Commentary in Alleging Accessibility and Copying
Posted on 20 May 2011 by Travis Burchart

Plaintiff Rogue Satellite Comics recently sued DreamWorks Animation for copyright infringement. Rogue owns the copyright to a comic character named "Kingfish" (© 1996). In its complaint, Rogue alleges that the Kingfish character was... Read More

Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz: NLRB Puts Social Media Policies Under Scrutiny
Posted on 6 Dec 2010 by Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz

While an innovative social media campaign can be a great boon to business, corporate America is becoming increasingly aware of the inherent dangers of social media as well. In particular, employees' statements about employers on personal Facebook... Read More

IP Updates – Facebook/MySpace Messages, Yahoo!’s Social Media, and Google Wi-Fi
Posted on 7 Jun 2010 by Peter S. Vogel

Messages on Facebook & MySpace are Protected Information A Judge ruled that Facebook wall postings and MySpace comments may not be subpoenaed based on the 1986 Stored Communications Act which is the same statute before the US Supreme Court in... Read More

What Advertisers Need to Know About Running Contests and Advertising
Posted on 26 May 2010 by Chansky, Sutin, Fancher, Moore & Chesterman

Recently, both Facebook and Twitter have enhanced their advertising and promotions guidelines. In this Analysis, Ed Chansky, Alan Sutin, Kristen Fancher, Andy Moore and Tracie Chesterman describe the primary features of Facebook's new rules regarding... Read More