internet.jpgIPNews® – A U.S. federal judge denied Aereo, Inc.’s bid for a temporary restraining order against FilmOn.com, Inc. that would have prohibited FilmOn from using the AERO trademark or the Aero.tv domain name until the trademark infringement lawsuit between the two concluded.

Aereo alleged that FilmOn purposely chose Aero as the name of its online television streaming service in order to confuse consumers and benefit from the goodwill that Aereo has built over the years.  However, U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins apparently sided with FilmOn’s argument that a temporary restraining order was a drastic move, as she denied Aereo’s request without comment.

To continue reading, click: Aereo Loses Bid for TRO in AERO Trademark Infringement Lawsuit

dvd-blue.jpgIPNews® – Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 and at least one of its Blu-ray players infringes four of TV Interactive’s patents, according to an expert witness’s testimony in front of a San Francisco jury last Wednesday. 

TV Interactive filed a lawsuit against Sony alleging that the company’s PlayStation 3 and BDP-S500 Blu-ray disc player infringe on patents owned by TV Interactive that cover technologies that allow discs to be played automatically, rather than requiring the user to press a play button.  Sony argued against the allegations, saying that TV Interactive knew about Sony’s infringing technology since at least 1996, but chose not to do anything about it.

To continue reading, click: Expert says Sony Infringed TV Interactive’s Automatic DVD Playback Patents

books shelf.jpgIPNews® – Penguin Group USA, Inc.’s copyright infringement lawsuit against a small nonprofit online library was dismissed by a New York federal judge last week, after the publishing company was unable to satisfy jurisdictional requirements.

Penguin filed a complaint against the nonprofit online library American Buddha in 2009, after the publishing giant discovered the website was offering unauthorized copies of books it publishes.  Despite the alleged infringement, a New York federal judge said the court did not have jurisdiction over the case because the Arizona-based company’s profits were not substantial enough for the court to employ the long-arm statute.

To continue reading, click: Penguin’s Copyright Claims Dismissed over Rivals Miniscule Profits

football.jpgIPNews® – A group of Native Americans are attempting to have six Washington Redskins’ trademarks cancelled, claiming that the team’s name is disparaging to Native Americans.

In a hearing in front of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board last week, a group of Native Americans argued that because the team’s name is an ethnic slur and is disparaging toward the Native American population, the team should not be entitled to trademark protection of the name under the Lanham Act.  The Redskins fired back claiming that the petitions to cancel are barred by latches and that the group has no evidence that the term is considered offensive to a substantial number of Native Americans.

To continue reading, click: Redskins Defend Name to Protect Trademark Rights

eye.jpgIPNews® – Allergan, Inc. was granted partial summary judgment against Cosmetic Alchemy, LLC for inducing its customers to infringe Allergan’s patents that cover its popular eyelash growth drug Latisse.

U.S. District Judge James V. Selna of the Central District of California ruled that Cosmetic Alchemy had induced its customers to infringe Allergan’s patent by marketing and selling its products as a cosmetic that would induce hair growth and instructing its customers to apply the product using Allergan’s patented methods.

To continue reading, click: Allergan Wins Partial Summary Judgment on Latisse Patent Infringement Lawsuit

facebook.jpgIPNews® – Facebook, Inc. is tangled in another round of litigation, this time for the website’s timeline feature, which a rival claims infringes its trademarks.

Timelines, Inc. alleges that Facebook’s timeline feature infringes its TIMELINES trademark, but Facebook claims the trademark should never have been granted because the term is generic.  Timelines countered that just because a word appears in a dictionary does not mean it can’t be protected, citing Facebook’s 14 trademark registrations for LIKE.

To continue reading, click: Facebook Argues TIMELINES is a Generic Trademark, Rival Disagrees

chips-guacamole.jpgIPNews® – A Texas jury found that Medallion Foods, Inc.’s BOWLZ chips do not infringe on Frito-Lay’s patent or trade dress for its SCOOPS! bowl-shaped tortilla chips.

Frito-Lay accused Medallion Foods of trying to piggy-back on the success of its SCOOPS! tortilla chips, which the company says it has put a substantial amount of time and money into branding.  The jury, however, found that Medallion’s process for making its bowl-shaped chip is sufficiently different from Frito-Lay’s process and that the packaging of Medallion’s chips is not confusingly similar to Frito-Lay’s packaging.

To continue reading, click: Frito-Lay Loses SCOOPS! Tortilla Chip Patent Fight

peppermint.jpgIPNews® – The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board denied a drug company’s application to trademark the peppermint scent and taste of its nitroglycerin spray used to treat chest pain.

The board ruled that because the peppermint oil increases the effectiveness of the nitroglycerin spray, it is a functional aspect of the drug and therefore cannot be trademarked.  The board also ruled that the scent and flavor of the spray are not distinct enough to warrant trademark protection.

To continue reading, click: Drug Maker Cannot Trademark Peppermint Flavor and Scent

touchscreen.jpgIPNews® – A Texas federal judge denied Apple’s bid to have the $368 million patent infringement judgment against it eliminated or reduced after its FaceTime application was found to have infringed four patents owned by VirnetX Holding Corp.

In addition to denying Apple’s post-trial bid, U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis also denied VirnetX’s request for a permanent injunction that could have forced Apple to remove its FaceTime app from every previoiusly sold iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.  Judge Davis ruled that an injunction would be too drastic and instead ordered the two companies into mediation to determine a royalty rate for Apple to pay in order to use the technology.

To continue reading, click: Judge Upholds $368 Million FaceTime Patent Infringement Judgment against Apple 

download.jpgIPNews® – Interest groups for the film, television and music industries have teamed up with Internet service providers to instate a new program to help prevent unauthorized downloading of copyrighted material.

Under the new program, which began February 26th, copyright owners will seek out the IP addresses of users sharing copyrighted material without authorization and report the IP addresses to the appropriate Internet service provider.  The Internet service provider will then issue consequences up to and including reducing a user’s Internet speed for an unspecified amount of days.

To continue reading, click: Downloading Copyrighted Material Could Slow Your Internet Speed