On May 8, 2015, I have the pleasure of speaking at Bridgeport Continuing Education’s “Trade Secret and Employee Mobility” seminar. For a list of the distinguished speakers and topics, click here . I will be speaking about the intersection of trade secrets with other forms of intellectual property, including patents, trademarks, and copyrights. To register for the seminar, click here.
TI Beverage Group and its attorney, trademark licensor, and co-plaintiff Michael Machat are not drinking at the Yard House and nothing seems to be merry despite the consumption of tacos and alcohol. Plaintiffs appear to have more of an affinity for Vampires than Bram Stoker himself, having registered numerous Vampire related trademarks for beverages, bars, and restaurant services, including Vampire® and Dracula® for wines and Vampire Lounge & Tasting Room® for restaurant and Bar Services. Even Bella Swan doesn’t think this amount of vampire love is healthy, said the star of the Twilight saga. Moreover, Sookie Stackhouse is upstaged by Plaintiffs’ undying love of vampires because Plaintiffs previously sued HBO for trademark infringement for selling TruBlood beverages.
Plaintiffs claim to have recently sniffed out Yard House’s sale of “VAMPIRE TACO” and use of “VAMPIRE STYLE” to excite potential customers about its food and/or beverage offerings. Yard House has also file trademark applications for Vampire Taco and Vampire Style, which are both pending. Plaintiff alleges that if Yard House “is not stopped from marketing food products and restaurants using Plaintiffs’ Vampire Mark or a mark confusingly similar to Vampire, then consumers will likely be confused about the source and origin of defendant’s products and services and mistakenly conclude that defendant’s products or services are produced by, or associated with Plaintiffs…As a result, Plaintiffs’ reputation and goodwill will be impaired.” The complaint seeks unspecified damages, but Plaintiffs intend to disgorge Yard House’s profits, request an award of attorneys’ fees in addition to an injunction prohibiting Yard House’s use of the Vampire trademark.
Every year the NFL’s trademark attorneys aggressively send cease and desist letters to business using the term “Super Bowl,” threatening them with the trademark law equivalent of traumatic brain injury. Even churches are not granted sanctuary from NFL’s trademark and copyright infringement tentacles. Instead of battling for immunity under trademark fair-use laws, many businesses and advertisers engage in vocabulary gymnastics, e.g. Big Game, Super Sunday, to avoid the NFL’s trademark onslaught. The NFL even tried to prevent use of “The Big Game” by filing a USPTO trademark application, but the NFL was forced to abandon its trick-play when numerous colleges and businesses opposed the application. Thus, to avoid legal expenses, many businesses choose to forego the battle. But not Stephen Colbert, whose Superb Owl moniker flies below the NFL’s trademark radar:
This is not your ordinary trademark infringement case. It involves Grammy Awards ceremony tickets, allegedly sold by now ex-Recording Academy member and trademark attorney – Matthew Blakely – to alleged swindler and trademark infringer Craig Banaszewski.
The dispute stretches back to 2012 when the Academy informed defendants that tickets to the Grammy awards were private, invitation only events and any unauthorized transfer or sale of the tickets was unlawful, would automatically void the tickets, and the ticket-holders would be deemed trespassers. Defendants complied with the Academy’s take-down requests and the issue appeared resolved.
In 2013, however, attorney Blakely reportedly sold his non-transferable tickets for between $65,000 and $89,500. But when the purchasers were denied entry, they sued Blakely after he refused to refund their money. Blakely informed the Hollywood Reporter that Banaszewski claimed he was obtaining tickets to revive 80’s and 90’s rock bands’ careers and Grammy appearances would be helpful. According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Blakely says he initially declined but then reconsidered after the guy ‘reiterated interest in potentially funding the film projects for Blakely Legal clients.'”
Sam Smith’s hit song “Stay With Me” was reportedly the subject of a copyright dispute with Tom Petty claiming that it infringed his “I Won’t Back Down” hit song. Here’s a third party’s analysis and comparison of the two songs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkcZV97O3pw
The Rolling Stone reports that the parties have “quietly and amicably settled” the copyright dispute and Tom Petty and co-author Jeff Lynne will now be credited as songwriters on Smith’s “Stay With Me.” As for copyright royalties, Rolling Stone reports that it’s “unclear whether Petty and Lynne were retroactively compensated for their songwriting credit or if they’ll receive future earnings on the track.”
The U.S. music sub-publisher of Korean music publishers has filed copyright infringement lawsuits against several karaoke bars in Los Angeles and Korea town. I’m not sure how popular the 80’s glam-metal-hair-band Ratt is in Korean karaoke bars, but it is also suing for infringement of its “Round and Round” song. The complaints allege that Defendants charge customers money for access to the karaoke machines, the primary feature of the bars for which customers pay Defendants, and illegally publicly perform the copyrighted musical compositions embodied in the karaoke recordings.
Ratt’s single composition pales in comparison to Elohim’s assertion that 3,341 musical compositions have been infringed by the karaoke bars, but as explained below Ratt is afforded more remedies under the Copyright Act. Both plaintiffs allege that the bars have not been granted public performance licenses for the compositions under 17 U.S.C. § 106(4) of the Copyright Act.
Each of the Elohim Compositions constitutes copyrightable material and is protected under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (the “Berne Convention”). The Berne Convention affords the Elohim Compositions, which were published in Korea and are owned by Korean citizens, automatic copyright protection in the United States; in this regard, there is no requirement that the Elohim Compositions be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office prior to the initiation of this lawsuit.
Kendrick Lamar’s hit song “Rigamortus” may be DOA because he is accused of blatantly copying the music from “The Thorn.” Composer, musician, and recording artist Eric S. Reed composed “The Thorn” in 2009 for Willie Jones III’s 2010 recording The Next Phase (WJ3). Reed is the owner of U.S. Copyright Registration No. Pau 3-682-265 in the composition and Jones is the owner of U.S. Copyright Registration No. SR0721860 in the sound recording.
Plaintiffs deny granting Kendrick Lamar permission to use “The Thorn” in any manner, including the numerous versions and remixes which also incorporate Plaintiffs’ original sound recordings.
“The Thorn” is not merely a part of “Rigamortus” or even the heart of “Rigamortus”; it is “Rigamortus”. The distinctive and catchy refrain from “The Thorn” sound recording, sped up a bit, repeats as a continuous loop throughout the entire “Rigamortus” song while Lamar raps over it. The clever melodic triplets, infectious rhythm, and commanding horns from “The Thorn” are copied to “Rigamortus” directly from Jones’ sound recording. Defendants did not play any instruments or contribute any original musical performance to the “Rigamortus” sound recording. The instrumental element of “Rigamortus” and the composition that it embodies are owned and authored entirely by Jones and Reed respectively.
Levi Strauss & Co. has been making jeans forever and owns some of the earliest trademarks registered at the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office. The trademarks at issue involve Levi’s two-horses pulling on a pair of jeans design, one of which (pictured to the right) Levi’s began using in 1886 and registered in 1980. Levi’s contends that its two-horse design trademarks are famous and recognized around the world based on Levi’s extensive marketing and volume of sales for over one-hundred years.
Stussy is accused of using a two-horse design trademark on a leather patch affixed to jeans and shirts that is confusingly similar to Levi’s registered trademarks. Based on the similarity of the two design trademarks, it’s not surprising that Levi’s is steaming up Stussy’s tail. Levi’s alleges the striking similarity of the trademarks can only lead to one conclusion: that Stussy’s infringement is will and intentional, thereby warranting trebling the amount of Levi’s damages and Stussy’s profits. Levi’s seeks unspecified damages, but requests an award of its attorneys’ fees in addition to an injunction prohibiting Stussy’s use of the two-horse design trademark.
Although there appear to be no opposed decisions involving Levi’s two-horse design trademark, Levi’s has successfully litigated and prevailed on its back-pocket stitching design trademarks. See e.g. Lois Sportswear, USA, Inc. v. Levi Strauss & Co., 799 F.2d 867, 871 (2d Cir.1986). This should be an extremely quick horse race to the finish, i.e. settlement.
Seeking at least $3 million in damages, songwriters Lee Oskar Levitin, Greg Errico, and Keri Oskar are suing Sony Music and Pitbull’s company for copyright infringement over his smash hit “Timber,” featuring Kesha. The duo’s popular song with a country twang is accused of unabashedly sampling the melody and harmonica riff from Plaintiffs’ 1978 hit “San Francisco Bay.”
Listen to the songs below and you be the judge.
San Francisco Bay
In a trademark infringement and counterfeiting lawsuit, Manolo Blahnik is asking the court to transfer control of websites selling counterfeit Manolo Blahnik shoes and accessories and to freeze Defendants’ assets and bank accounts. The identities of the defendants and the websites are currently sealed to prevent advanced notice to the accused defendants, who may use the information to transfer or conceal assets. The complaint alleges that Defendants create internet stores by the hundreds and design them to appear to be selling genuine products, while actually selling low-quality counterfeit Manolo Blahnik products to unknowing consumers. “Internet websites like the Defendant Internet Stores are estimated to receive tens of millions of visits per year and to generate over $135 billion in annual online sales.” Manolo Blahnik claims it is forced to file these actions to combat Defendants’ counterfeiting of its numerous USPTO registered trademarks, as well as to protect unknowing consumers from purchasing counterfeit products over the Internet.
Manolo Blahnik asserts that its trademarks are so famous that it has become a fabric of pop culture, whereby its shoes have been featured on many television shows including Sex and the City where Carrie Bradshaw begged a mugger to “take my Fendi handbag, my ring and my watch, but please don’t take my Manolo Blahniks!” Accordingly, Plaintiff does not wish defendants’ websites to steal Manolo Blahnik’s goodwill created over the years with its consumers and requests the Court – without prior notice to defendants – to issue:
(1) a temporary restraining order against Defendants temporarily enjoining the manufacture, importation, distribution, offer for sale and sale of Counterfeit Manolo Blahnik Products; (2) an order temporarily transferring Defendants’ Domain Names to Manolo Blahnik so they can be disabled; (3) an order temporarily restricting transfer of Defendants’ assets to preserve Manolo Blahnik’s rights to an equitable accounting; (4) an order for expedited discovery allowing Manolo Blahnik to inspect and copy Defendants’ records relating to the manufacture, distribution, offer for sale and sale of Counterfeit Manolo Blahnik Products and Defendants’ financial accounts; and (5) an order allowing service by electronic mail and electronic publication at the Defendant Domain Names.
Los Angeles Intellectual Property Trademark Attorney Blog