library_.jpgIPNews® – Google Inc. announced Thursday that it has put to rest the Association of American Publishers’ long-running copyright infringement case over Google’s scanning and digitization of copyrighted material for its online book archive project.

Under the deal, publishers will be able to choose whether to make their scanned books available digitally through Google if they so desire. The specific publishers who filed and settled the lawsuit include The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., Pearson Education Inc., Penguin Group USA Inc., John Wiley & Sons Inc. and Simon & Schuster Inc. To continue reading, click: Google, Publishers Settle Book-Scanning Copyright Lawsuit

microphone.jpgIPNews® – Kanye West is facing new copyright infringement claims filed last week by a record label alleging he licensed the Eddie Bo song “Hook & Sling” for use on one single song on last year’s album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” but then used the sample in a number of unauthorized ways.

While the sample was to be used solely in the song “Lost In The World,” West also used it in another album track and two music videos, TufAmerica Inc. said in its complaint in Manhattan federal court against West’s labels Roc-A-Fella Records LC and UMG Recordings Inc. West has either settled or prevailed over numerous copyright claims in the past, including a Seventh Circuit ruling in August that shut down a lawsuit over the lyrics to his song “Stronger.” To continue reading, click: Record Label Says Kanye West Violated Copyright By Sampling Eddie Bo

whiskey-in-glasses.jpgIPNews® – Cointreau Corp. successfully persuaded a Texas federal judge on Tuesday to block all U.S. sales of a Mexican competitor’s rival orange liqueur that it claims dilutes its trademark for the Cointreau brand.

La Madrileña SA de CV has made and sold Controy orange liqueur in Mexico since the 1930s, and Pura Vida Tequila Co. LLC recently started importing it into the U.S. Cointreau, meanwhile, has been selling its orange liqueur since 1875 and has owned registered trademarks for the name in the U.S. since 1935. To continue reading, click: Cointreau Gets Rival Orange Liqueur Banned In Trademark Fight

wireless router.jpgIPNews® – The Federal Circuit ruled on Tuesday that Belkin International Inc. is barred from appealing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s refusal to consider its additional submissions of prior art in an attempt to have a rival’s wireless router patent invalidated on reexamination.

Belkin and fellow router makers Cisco Linksys LLC, D-Link Systems Inc. and Netgear Inc. had requested the inter partes reexamination after OptimumPath accused them of infringement. The PTO’s Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences was correct to refuse to consider the issues that the PTO director said did not raise a substantial new question of patentability, the appeals court ruled. To continue reading, click: Belkin Loses Federal Circuit Appeal Of Wireless Router Patent Ruling

iPad.jpgIPNews® – Samsung Electronics Co. demanded a new trial on Tuesday in the patent infringement case that resulted in a $1 billion jury verdict in Apple Inc.’s favor in August, claiming the jury foreman lied to the court during jury selection and engaged in misconduct during deliberations.

Jury foreman Velvin Hogan failed to disclose to the court his prior involvement in litigation involving his former employer Seagate Technology Inc., which has major business ties to Samsung, and did not mention that a lawyer involved in that case is married to a partner at the law firm currently representing Samsung, the company says. The request for a new trial and allegations against Hogan come a day after Samsung accused the iPhone 5 of infringing the same patents as Apple’s other devices, and after the judge overseeing the case lifted an injunction banning Samsung from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. To continue reading, click: Samsung Says Juror Misconduct Merits New Apple Patent Trial

apple-logo-gray.jpgIPNews® – Motorola Mobility LLC this week elected not to proceed with its Section 337 allegations in the U.S. International Trade Commission that Apple Inc. is importing Mac computers, iPads and iPhones into the U.S. that infringe the Google Inc. subsidiary’s patents.

The company also decided to dismiss a related case in Delaware federal court. Motorola’s actions come just a few weeks after the ITC announced it would take up the case and investigate Apple. To continue reading, click: Motorola Calls Off ITC Apple iPad, iPhone Patent Infringement Action

chewing_gum_wrigley.jpgIPNews® – An Illinois federal judge said Friday that a preliminary injunction may possibly be warranted to ban William Wrigley Jr. Co. from using the name Swerve for a flavor of its “5” sugar-free gum, based on another company’s trademark for the name for artificial sweeteners.

The judge put off deciding the final merits of Swerve IP LLC’s preliminary injunction motion until he can hold a hearing, but ruled that certain factors tip enough in Swerve IP’s favor to consider it. Wrigley is fighting for a declaratory judgment that it does not infringe Swerve IP’s trademark. To continue reading, click: Wrigley At Risk Of Sugar-Free Gum Trademark Infringement

candy-easter-cadbury.jpgIPNews® – Cadbury PLC succeeded on Monday in its attempts to obtain valid United Kingdom trademark protection for the shade of purple it uses to package its chocolate products, according to news reports.

The shade Pantone 2865C has acquired enough distinctiveness in its association with Cadbury’s milk chocolate and chocolate beverages to deserve trademark rights, a U.K. judge reportedly ruled. The judge’s ruling came in response to a challenge to the trademark from Nestle, which claimed that it was too broad and not distinctive enough. To continue reading, click: UK Court Upholds Cadbury Purple Packaging Trademark Protection

samsung.jpgIPNews® – Samsung Electronics Co. asked a California federal judge Monday to allow it to accuse Apple Inc.’s newly introduced iPhone 5 of infringing its patents in addition to the other Apple devices listed in its counterclaims to Apple’s infringement lawsuit.

Samsung submitted its original claims in June, several months before the iPhone 5’s rollout. The company has diligently investigated the new device’s functionality and concluded that it infringes the same patents in the same ways, Samsung says. To continue reading, click: Samsung Wants To Drag iPhone 5 Into Apple Patent Lawsuit

bombs.jpgIPNews® – Lockheed Martin Corp. has unlawfully seized upon Raytheon Co.’s Paveway trademark for laser guided bombs to promote its own products and wrongly profit off of Raytheon’s goodwill, Raytheon claimed in a new trademark infringement lawsuit Thursday.

Raytheon and its predecessor Texas Instruments have exclusively made and marketed LGBs under the Paveway name since the company introduced them 40 years ago, the complaint says. Lockheed, meanwhile, entered the LGB market in 2002, started calling its own bombs by the Paveway name in 2005, and has since managed to convince the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that the name is generic, Raytheon says. To continue reading, click: Raytheon Sues Lockheed For Laser Guided Bomb Trademark Infringement