books-stack.jpgIPNews® – Four textbook publishers settled claims Tuesday against five companies they accused of selling and distributing counterfeit copies of their copyrighted and trademarked work.

The settlements include a total of $2.6 million in payments to publishers Cengage Learning Inc., John Wiley and Sons Inc., Pearson Education Inc. and McGraw-Hill Education, as well as agreements

shoes-redsoles.jpgIPNews® – Luxury shoemaker Christian Louboutin won a victory in the Second Circuit on Wednesday upholding his trademark protection for his signature red-soled shoes, in a setback for rival Yves Saint Laurent in its efforts to evade Louboutin’s infringement suit.

The appeals court reversed a New York district judge’s denial of a preliminary injunction against

disney.jpgIPNews® – A Southern California party costume business is facing copyright and trademark infringement claims from Disney Enterprises Inc., DC Comics and Sanrio Inc.

The entertainment companies claim The Party Animals LLC is selling, renting and distributing costumes featuring trademarked and copyrighted characters including Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Superman, Batman and Hello Kitty. To continue

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IPNews® – The Ninth Circuit ruled Thursday that Marilyn Monroe’s estate cannot claim a posthumous California state law right of publicity for the famed actress’s likeness.

The estate has argued for decades in various other proceedings that Monroe was living in New York when she died, not California, so New York law must govern based

old-navy.jpgIPNews® – A California federal judge on Tuesday dismissed Kim Kardashian’s right of publicity lawsuit against The Gap Inc. for allegedly using a Kardashian lookalike in an Old Navy television commercial.

Kardashian’s attorneys notified the court on Friday that the matter had been settled. The reality television star alleged in 2011 that the commercial starring

film.jpgIPNews® – Filmmaker Sam Raimi’s Renaissance Pictures Ltd. won a permanent injunction last week barring a rival film production company from trading on the name of Raimi’s cult classic Evil Dead films.

The default judgment in California federal court last Friday shut down Award Pictures LLC’s stated plans to make unauthorized sequels to Raimi’s original

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IPNews® – A federal judge on Thursday shot down Ashley Furniture Industries Inc.’s bid to defeat the estate of Humphrey Bogart’s claims that the furniture maker had violated the late actor’s trademark rights.

Ashley sold a line of furniture called “Bogart Ocean” without authorization from 2008 to 2009, according to the estate. The judge found

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IPNews® – The maker of Thermador ovens preemptively sued the Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts on Friday, claiming its use of Child’s image in its promotional materials did not infringe any of the foundation’s copyrights or trademark rights.

The company, BSH Home Appliances Inc., alleges that the foundation sent it a

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IPNews® – Starbucks and its Evolution Fresh subsidiary are facing a new trademark infringement suit filed by a San Diego vegan restaurant.

The restaurant, Evolution Fast Foods, claims Starbucks is planning to open a new chain of restaurants under the Evolution Fresh name that will violate its trademarks for the phrase “Evolution” in connection with