Intellectual Property and Tech Law Reports

JCW Invs., Inc. v. Novelty, Inc.

Tekky Toys won a jury verdict for $575,099.82 on its claim that Novelty, Inc., infringed Tekky’s copyright and trademark on “Pull My Finger Fred,” a farting plush doll; this court affirmed that judgment. See JCW Invs., Inc. v. Novelty, Inc., 482 F.3d 910, 921 (7th Cir. 2007). Thirty days after we entered judgment in Tekky’s favor, it filed a petition for attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs in the district court. What is presently before us is the petition Tekky filed in this court for an award of appellate attorneys’ fees, expenses, and costs in the amount of $78,037.76.

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Bridgeport Music, Inc. v. WB Music Corp.

Plaintiff-appellant Bridgeport Music, Inc. (“Bridgeport”) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee Universal-MCA Music Publishing (“Universal”) in this copyright infringement case alleging that Universal interpolated the lyrics to the recording Pumpin’ It Up in the recording Change Gone Come. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Universal.

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Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A. v. Haute Diggity Dog, LLC

Louis Vuitton Malletier S.A., a French corporation located in Paris, that manufactures luxury luggage, handbags, and accessories, commenced this action against Haute Diggity Dog, LLC, a Nevada corporation that manufactures and sells pet products nationally, alleging trademark infringement under 15 U.S.C. § 1114(1)(a), trademark dilution under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c), copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501, and related statutory and common law violations. Haute Diggity Dog manufactures, among other things, plush toys on which dogs can chew, which, it claims, parody famous trademarks on luxury products, including those of Louis Vuitton Malletier. The particular Haute Diggity Dog chew toys in question here are small imitations of handbags that are labeled "Chewy Vuiton" and that mimic Louis Vuitton Malletier’s LOUIS VUITTON handbags.

On cross-motions for summary judgment, the district court concluded that Haute Diggity Dog’s "Chewy Vuiton" dog toys were successful parodies of Louis Vuitton Malletier’s trademarks, designs, and products, and on that basis, entered judgment in favor of Haute Diggity Dog on all of Louis Vuitton Malletier’s claims.

On appeal, we agree with the district court that Haute Diggity Dog’s products are not likely to cause confusion with those of Louis Vuitton Malletier and that Louis Vuitton Malletier’s copyright was not infringed. On the trademark dilution claim, however, we reject the district court’s reasoning but reach the same conclusion through a different analysis. Accordingly, we affirm.

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Golan v. Gonzales

Plaintiffs in this case range from orchestra conductors, educators, performers, and publishers to film archivists and motion picture distributors. They challenge two acts of Congress, the Copyright Term Extension Act (“CTEA”), Pub. L. No. 105-298, §§ 102(b) and (d), 112 Stat. 2827-28 (1998) (amending 17 U.S.C. §§ 302, 304), and § 514 of the Uruguay Round Agreements Act (“URAA”), Pub. L. No. 103-465, 108 Stat. 4809, 4976-80 (1994), codified at 17 U.S.C. §§ 104A, 109.

Also known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act, the CTEA increased the duration of existing and future copyrights from life-plus-50-years to life-plus-70-years. Section 514 of the URAA implements Article 18 of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic works. Ushered into being in 1886 at the behest of Association Littéraire et Artistique Internationale, an organization founded by Victor Hugo and dedicated to obtaining protection for literary and artistic works, the Berne Convention requires member countries to afford the same copyright protection to foreign authors as they provide their own authors. In this case, congressional compliance with the Berne Convention meant copyrighting some foreign works in the public domain.

Plaintiffs argue the CTEA extends existing copyrights in violation of the “limited Times” provision of the Constitution’s Copyright Clause. With regard to the URAA, plaintiffs contend § 514 shrinks the public domain and thereby violates the limitations on congressional power inherent in the Copyright Clause. In addition, plaintiffs argue that § 514’s removal of works from the public domain interferes with their First Amendment right to free expression. The district court dismissed plaintiffs’ CTEA claim and granted summary judgment for the government on plaintiffs’ URAA challenges. We exercise jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1291 and affirm the district court’s dismissal of the CTEA claim as foreclosed by the Supreme Court’s decision in Eldred v. Ashcroft, 537 U.S. 186 (2003). We also agree with the district court that § 514 of the URAA has not exceeded the limitations inherent in the Copyright Clause.

Nevertheless, we hold that plaintiffs have shown sufficient free expression interests in works removed from the public domain to require First Amendment scrutiny of § 514. On this limited basis, we remand for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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New York Mercantile Exch., Inc. v. IntercontinentalExchange, Inc.

Appeal from a judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Koeltl, J.) granting defendant’s motion for summary judgment, denying plaintiff’s cross-motion for partial summary judgment, and declining to exercise supplemental jurisdiction. Affirmed.

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Mag Jewelry Co., Inc. v. Cherokee, Inc.

In December 2001, plaintiff Mag Jewelry Company ("Mag") purchased some costume jewelry at a Target
store in Rhode Island. The necklaces, whose pendants were comprised of four crystal stones in the shape of an angel, were of interest to Mag because it holds a copyright on that "crystal angel" design, and Target was not one of Mag's customers. Mag subsequently filed this copyright infringement action against Target Corporation and its supplier, Style Accessories, Inc. ("Style").1 The defendants denied copying Mag's angel, claiming that their jewelry was based on an identical design independently created by someone else. Following presentation of Mag's case to a jury, the district court granted defendants' motion for judgment as a matter of law. Mag appeals that ruling, and, in a crossappeal, defendants challenge the district court's refusal to award attorney's fees. After careful review of the record, we affirm the judgment for defendants on the merits but reverse the fees ruling.

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Brown v. Latin Am. Music Co.

This appeal is taken from the district court's dismissal with prejudice of the declaratory defendants'
counterclaim for copyright infringement. The counterclaimants are the Latin American Music Company and the Asociación de Compositores y Editores de Música Latino Americana (collectively herein "LAMCO"), who claim that they own valid copyrights for eleven poems that were written by Juan Antonio Corretjer and "musicalized" by Roy Brown, a music composer and performer.

Mr. Brown brought a declaratory judgment action in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico, requesting the declaration that poet Corretjer's work "En la Vida Todo es Ir" is in the public domain because it was first published in 1957 without the requisite copyright notice. LAMCO's counterclaim named ten additional poems for which LAMCO charged Mr. Brown with infringement, based on his musical adaptations, of a copyright registered by LAMCO in February 2000. The parties filed statements of undisputed and disputed fact, depositions were taken, and Mr.Brown presented documentary evidence concerning the poems, their first publication, and his musicalizations as recorded on phonorecords. Mr. Brown moved for summary judgment on the ground that LAMCO did not possess a valid copyright for the poems, that ten of the poems were in the public domain, and that the musical
composition as to the eleventh was authorized by the poet. Mr. Brown also requested summary judgment on the ground that the claim  of infringement was time barred because the three-year statute of
limitations had run if the phonorecords are viewed as derivative works.

The district court denied Mr. Brown's motion for summary judgment, stating that some material facts were unresolved. However, the court dismissed the infringement counterclaim with prejudice, ruling that LAMCO had not established the elements required to proceed in a copyright infringement suit. On LAMCO's appeal, we affirm the judgment of the district court.

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Phillips v. Audio Active Ltd.

Accordingly, for the foregoing reasons, we affirm the dismissal of Phillips' breach of contract claim, reverse the dismissal of his remaining claims, and remand the case to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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Tiseo Architects, Inc v. B & B Pools Serv. & Supply Co.

Tiseo Architects, Inc., alleged that another architect, Gary Olson, copied a design and site plan drawings that Tiseo Architects had prepared for B&B Pools Service and Supply Company. After a bench trial, the district court ruled in favor of the defendants, B&B Pools and Olson. Tiseo Architects now appeals, arguing that the district court applied the wrong legal standard in reaching its conclusion that Olson’s design and construction drawings were not substantially similar to Tiseo Architects’ design and site plan drawings. Because the district court properly analyzed the similarity of the works after filtering out the unprotectable elements of Tiseo Architects’ drawings, the judgment of the district court is affirmed.

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Hutchins v. Zoll Med. Corp.

This appeal arises from charges of patent and copyright infringement based on a computer-assisted system of administering emergency procedures, primarily cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Mr. Donald C. Hutchins charged Zoll Medical Corporation with infringement of Hutchins' United States Patent No. 5,913,685 (the '685 patent) entitled "CPR Computer Aiding." Mr. Hutchins also charged Zoll with copyright infringement and with breach of a contract between Hutchins and Zoll. The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted Zoll's motions for summary judgment of non-infringement on the patent and copyright counts, and that there was no breach of contract. Hutchins appeals the non-infringement rulings and assigns error to various procedural rulings; he also seeks to reopen the case based on charges of fraudulent non-disclosure by Zoll of relevant information.
The grant of summary judgment receives plenary appellate review, reapplying the standard applied by the district court. Thus we review whether there is a genuine issue of material fact, or if there can be but one reasonable verdict. Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242 (1986). To grant a motion for summary judgment there must be no reasonable view of material facts, with cognizance of the substantive evidentiary standards, whereby a reasonable jury could find for the non-movant. Id. at 255; see, e.g., De Jesus-Rentas v. Baxter Pharm. Servs. Corp., 400 F.3d 72, 73-74 (1st Cir. 2005); Depuy Spine, Inc. v. Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc., 469 F.3d 1005, 1013 (Fed. Cir. 2006).

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