The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is currently under vigorous debate in Congress and may be headed for passage in 2012. SOPA permits a trademark or copyright owner to send a notification of alleged infringement of its intellectual property right(s) on a web site to an “Internet Advertising Service” or “Payment Network Provider” which are Continue Reading …
About John R. Yates
John R. Yates is an associate with Greenberg & Bass LLP. A litigator and trial lawyer, Mr. Yates focuses his practice on matters involving copyright, trademark, trade secret, and business competition law. He can be reached at 818-382-6200.
Kardashian Lawsuit Asserts Brand Infringement
August 17, 2011 By
In July 2011, Old Navy aired a music video-style advertisement featuring actress Melissa Molinaro singing and dancing homage to Old Navy “Super Cuties” brand jeans. Ms. Molinaro happens to have some resemblance to celebrity Kim Kardashian, whose signature “brand” characteristic is her statuesque figure, and especially her ample and shapely buttocks. Along with sisters Khloe Continue Reading …
Copyright Protection for Clothing – Are You Insured?
May 13, 2011 By
The Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prohibition Act will likely be enacted in 2011. The Act will provide three years of copyright protection to designs for apparel and accessories that in some manner are unique compared with their predecessor designs. One part of the Act provides that “[a]n infringing article is not an illustration or Continue Reading …
Copyright Protection for Clothes – Coming Soon
April 14, 2011 By
The “Innovative Design Protection and Piracy Prohibition Act,” will likely be enacted in 2011 thanks to New York Senator Charles Schuman and designer Diane von Furstenberg, supposedly a close friend of the Senator’s wife. The purpose of the law is to keep lower-priced interpretations of haute couture out of popularly priced retail stores until New Continue Reading …
Fraudulent Transfer Claims Defeated and Plaintiff Pays Fees
November 16, 2010 By
Situation G&B wholesale watch distributor client was sued by a Michigan company in 2009, based on alleged non-payment under a marketing agreement to sell watches in bulk to K-Mart. The agreement was signed in 2001 by the client’s current CEO, but on behalf of the company for which the CEO then was employed. The Michigan Continue Reading …
Is Copyright Registration a “Do It Yourself” Job?
October 13, 2010 By
Should you prepare and submit your own application for a copyright registration, or spend a few hundred dollars for a lawyer to handle the job? Do you expect your copyrighted work to have significant commercial value? If your answer is yes, hire a lawyer to prepare or at least review your application for registration. One Continue Reading …
Internet Copyright Protection Clarified By Landmark YouTube Decision
September 16, 2010 By
The application of copyright laws to copyright protection on the internet has been slowly emerging as a result of twelve years of litigation concerning the scope and effect of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, enacted by Congress in 1998. In the first major ruling interpreting copyright law in the billion dollar copyright infringement damages case Continue Reading …
California Courts Lag in Going Green
August 10, 2010 By
Civil business litigation is notorious for producing mountains of court filings. Software exists that permits the easy cataloging and saving of electronic documents, as well as the ability to rapidly retrieve them. It is only a matter of time before more and more courts “go green.” Instead of leading the charge, California courts appear to be lagging in the effort to reduce and reuse.
Protecting Your Domain Name
August 6, 2010 By
Tired of cybersquatters, typosquatters and Internet pirates confusing your potential customers and diverting traffic away from your web site? You can protect your domain, using one of the three principal legal strategies currently available. The odds of success are often good, and the cost is usually manageable. The UDRP Arbitration Suppose your successful high-traffic Internet Continue Reading …
The Sea of IP
April 28, 2010 By
Some people may believe that they don’t have much contact with intellectual property. In fact, our daily lives are saturated with constant contacts with intellectual property. Consider for example one recent event — the national college basketball championship game. CBS Sports broadcast the game. The network’s distinctive “eyeball” trademark appeared at all times in the Continue Reading …
