Intellectual Property News and Reports

The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s partial summary judgment and partial judgment after a bench trial in an action under the Copyright Act. Denice Halicki and others alleged that Carroll Shelby Licensing, Inc., and... Read more →

We understand that the parties would like us to answer the question the Supreme Court avoided in Unicolors. But given the factual dispute we see in the record, our holding would be only advisory. See Preiser v. Newkirk, 422 U.S.... Read more →

Plaintiff Jana Romanova appeals from the judgment of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (Caproni, J.) dismissing Romanova’s claim of willful copyright infringement against Defendant Amilus Inc. pursuant to Section 501 of the Copyright... Read more →

The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of an action for copyright infringement brought by Rodney Woodland against Montero Lamar Hill. Woodland alleged that Hill, also known as Lil Nas X, posted photos of himself on his Instagram page that... Read more →

This consolidated appeal stems from a conflict involving a family and its businesses that has now been litigated in both state and federal courts. See TooBaRoo, LLC v. W. Robidoux, Inc., 614 S.W.3d 29 (Mo. Ct. App. 2020); TooBaRoo, LLC... Read more →

This case presents a question made salient by recent advances in artificial intelligence: Can a non-human machine be an author under the Copyright Act of 1976? The use of artificial intelligence to produce original work is rapidly increasing across industries... Read more →

This appeal involves a bevy of challenges to an arbitration award. Traditionally, such challenges would confront what our recently retired colleague Judge Motz1 described as “a herculean task.” Warfield v. Icon Advisers, Inc, 26 F.4th 666, 669 (4th Cir. 2022).... Read more →

The panel affirmed in part and reversed in part the district court’s judgment in favor of defendant Bruce Lowndes after a bench trial in a copyright action brought by Aquarian Foundation, Inc. Aquarian, a non-profit religious organization, alleged infringement of... Read more →

The panel affirmed the district court’s dismissal of a claim of trade dress infringement, reversed the district court’s dismissal of a claim of infringement of copyright in kinetic and manipulable sculptures, and remanded. As to the copyright claim, the panel... Read more →

Considering the market benefits to Designworks from unrestricted and widespread use of floorplans in home resale listings and the absence of nonspeculative market harms to Designworks from such use, we conclude that the effect of such use on the market... Read more →