In a recent copyright case in the District of Oregon, Judge Simon granted the defendant’s motion for summary judgment that the plaintiff lacked standing to sue for copyright infringement because plaintiff had granted others most of the exclusive rights under its copyright. The plaintiff, Fathers & Daughters (“F&D”), is the author and owner of the copyright […]
Crayola announced the arrival of the new crayon color “Bluetiful,” which will soon appear in the company’s classic 24-count box. The name was selected by Crayola fans via an online vote that originally had more than 90,000 entries, and it beat out other finalists, “Dreams Come Blue,” “Blue Moon Bliss,” “Reach for the Stars,” and […]
Frances Gabe, an Oregon inventor and former Klarquist client, was profiled in a New York Times article earlier this week. Ms. Gabe passed away on December 26, 2016 at the age of 101. The Times article is a fascinating profile of a truly unique woman that invented and constructed a self-cleaning house. Ms. Gabe’s invention […]
The Advantage Accelerator program at Oregon State University is designed to help new startups turn into viable companies. This year, the Advantage Accelerator program hosted its inaugural “Next Great Startup” competition, a competition in which companies and teams compete for a grand total of $30,000. Klarquist was proud to be a sponsor of this event. The competition took […]
The United States Supreme Court heard arguments this Wednesday in a case involving a federal trademark application filed by the Oregon band “The Slants.” As discussed in an earlier post, The Slants’ application for a trademark registration for the name of their band was denied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) because […]
On November 16, 2016, the Federal Circuit affirmed a finding of summary judgment by the U.S. District Court of Oregon that all claims of two patents owned by Tranxition Inc. are invalid under 35 U.S.C. § 101. Tranxition is a Portland-based company that develops software for migrating personal data and settings from one computer system […]
The Oregon band “The Slants” has been trying to obtain a federal trademark registration for their name since 2011. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) has repeatedly denied that registration, finding the name disparaging to persons of Asian descent. By statute, the PTO refuses trademark registrations that: Consists of or comprises immoral, deceptive, […]
The owner of the Coppola wine trademarks, GMYL, L.P., has sued Oregon winemaker Copa Di Vino in the Central District of California. The Complaint alleges trademark and trade dress infringement and unfair competition based on Copa’s wine labels and packaging for some of its products, including its “Winemaker’s Cut” product. The Complaint asserts that the […]
On August 10, 2016, Magistrate Judge Beckerman denied a prevailing plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees in a copyright infringement suit against an unnamed defendant for illegally downloading an Adam Sandler movie (The Cobbler) using the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing protocol. Among the reasons given for denying plaintiff’s motion for attorney fees was the Court’s finding […]
Think twice before throwing out that old painting in your garage: you could face damages for violating Copyright Law. But what if that art isn’t just in your garage, but parked in your front yard, or painted on a wall of your building? That all depends. Under the 1990 Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA), an […]