14 Friday Jun 2013
Posted in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation
Court Case Number: 6:13-cv-00986-TC
File Date: Thursday, June 13, 2013
Plaintiff: EGO Originals, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Leonard D DuBoff of The DuBoff Law Group, LLC
Defendant: Chico’s FAS, Inc.
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: District of Oregon
Judge: Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Coffin
23 Thursday May 2013
Posted in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon
Court Case Number: 3:13-cv-00867-SI
File Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell, Jonathan T. van Heel of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe Adult Son
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Oregon District Court
Judge: Judge Michael H. Simon
See other Oregon Download Cases.
22 Wednesday May 2013
Posted in District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon, Trademark
Tags
Common Law Passing Off, ORS 20.080 and 20.082, Thomas M. Coffin, Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition
This is related to the Slep-Tone v. Denny’s lawsuit filed 1/11/13. Defendant is this case, Shea Family Corp, requested to be severed from the original lawsuit.
Court Case Number: 6:13-cv-00862-TC
File Date: Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Plaintiff: Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell, Jonathan T. van Heel of Crowell Law
Defendant: Shea Family Corp.
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, Common Law Passing Off, ORS 20.080 and 20.082
Court: Oregon District Court
Judge: Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Coffin
22 Wednesday May 2013
Posted in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon
Court Case Number: 3:13-cv-00855-MO
File Date: Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell, Jonathan T. van Heel of Crowell Law
Defendant: Jim Choi
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: Oregon District Court
Judge: Judge Michael W. Mosman
See other Oregon Download Cases.
21 Tuesday May 2013
Posted in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Portland
Two months ago, Lake Oswego-based Crave Bake Shop filed a Declaratory Judgment of Non-Infringement action to preserve the right to use the “Crave” trademark in connection with gluten-free baked goods. A settlement has apparently been reached with San Francisco-based Crave bakery and Crave Bake Shop will now become Kyra’s Bake Shop.
More information, including background on the parties, is available from the Portland Tribune. While the terms of the settlement are undisclosed, Kyra Bussanich, owner of Crave Bake Shop, provides some insight into her future naming plans.
“The new name will start transitioning this summer…With my cookbook about to be released and our new line of dry mixes and the expansion plans on the horizon, I want to funnel all the goodwill I have built up to be associated with my new Kyra’s Bake Shop name as I move forward. Of course, I will retain the trademark on Crave Bake Shop and the website until people are used to KBS.”
Notice of Dismissal:
20 Monday May 2013
Posted in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon
Apparently undaunted by the previous mass dismissals, Voltage Pictures has moved forward with their BitTorrent litigation strategy by filing a copyright infringement action against a single IP address. I’m reluctant to forecast Voltage Pictures’ next move, but I suspect this is a test case that, if financially successful, will result in hundreds of individual filings.
[Update: A commenter has informed that the Defendant in this case was one of the first to respond with a Motion to Quash in one of the original Voltage Pictures cases, 3:13-cv-00295-AC. The Defendant, represented by Swider Medeiros Haver LLP, was released from that case as a part of the mass dismissals undertaken last week by Judge Aiken.]
Court Case Number: 3:13-cv-00836-BR
File Date: Friday, May 17, 2013
Plaintiff: Voltage Pictures, LLC
Plaintiff Counsel: Carl D. Crowell, Jonathan T. van Heel of Crowell Law
Defendant: Doe IP 76.115.46.230
Cause: Copyright Infringement
Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
Judge: Judge Anna J. Brown
See other Oregon Download Cases.
13 Monday May 2013
Posted in Copyright, District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Portland
Tags
Ann L. Aiken, BitTorrent, Contributory Infringement, Copyright Infringement, Indirect Infringement of Copyright
For all but the one unlucky individual designated as Doe #1 in each case, the Voltage Pictures BitTorrent download cases have been dismissed. Voltage Pictures is permitted to refile against each of the defendants individually, but will now be required to pay the $400 court filing fee for each defendant rather than one lump payment. The Oregonian does some nice reporting on the dismissal.
Here is the full Order of Dismissal. It’s worth a read.
It’s doubtful that this is the last Oregon will see of these BitTorrent cases so stay tuned for updates.
07 Tuesday May 2013
Posted in District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon, Trademark
Tags
Breach of Contract, Declaratory Relief, Litigation Update, Paul Papak, Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition
Despite the termination of a distributorship license, Defendant allegedly continues to market itself as the exclusive United States importer and distributor of Netherlands-based Technivorm’s Moccamaster coffee makers on the internet. This case was transferred from the Northern District of Illinois.
Court Case Number: 3:13-cv-00762-PK
File Date: Monday, May 06, 2013
Plaintiff: Technivorm, B.V.
Plaintiff Counsel: Todd Alan Holleman of Miller, Canfield, Paddock And Stone, PLC
Defendant: Boyd Coffee Company, Boyd Coffee Distribution Company
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Breach of Conract, Unfair Competition, Declaratory Relief
Court: Oregon District Court
Judge: Magistrate Judge Paul Papak
08 Monday Apr 2013
Posted in Copyright, District of Oregon, Litigation, Oregon
Tags
Voltage Pictures, the Plaintiff in several Oregon download cases, has met a roadblock in Ohio federal court in the form of Judge James S. Gwin. Judge Gwin ordered, sua sponte, that Voltage Pictures had improperly joined hundreds of Defendants. The Judge has severed the cases, requiring Voltage to pay appropriate filing fees in order to continue. Here are some highlights and the full Opinion & Order is below:
Because IP addresses are the only identifiers of peers within a BitTorrent system, it is difficult, if not impossible, to learn the true identities of the peers in a swarm.21 To pursue litigation, plaintiffs in BitTorrent suits must attempt to get early discovery to learn of the actual identities of the unnamed defendants.22 The requests have been the subject of much criticism, for the lawsuits are rarely litigated. Rather, plaintiffs seek to take advantage of the resources of federal courts to force small, individual settlements.23
Courts have been troubled by what amounts to be a new business model employed by production companies “misusing the subpoena powers of the court, seeking the identities of the Doe defendants solely to facilitate demand letters and coerce settlement, rather than ultimately serve process and litigate the claims.”41 This unseemly practice is made worse by the frequent practice of joining hundreds or thousands of defendants in a suit, saving plaintiffs tens of thousands of dollars in filing fees. It is in this environment where courts must take every caution to ensure that the keys to the doors of discovery are not blithely given to parties with other intentions.
Regardless of the dubious practices of others, Plaintiffs may have legitimate claims which deserve litigation. Nevertheless, unnamed Defendants are improperly joined, and in order to continue with their actions, Plaintiffs will need to pay the requisite filing fee per suit.42 Otherwise, Plaintiff has saved over $67,500 by consolidating its claims into four separate actions. If Plaintiffs seek to use the powers of this Court to vindicate its rights, it must pay the requisite fees like every other Plaintiff.
Time will tell if Oregon will make a similar ruling, which essentially shifts some of the financial burden for these download cases from the taxpayer to the Plaintiff.
Opinion & Order, James S. Gwin, United States District Judge:
06 Saturday Apr 2013
Posted in District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Oregon, Trademark
Tags
False Designation of Origin, Litigation Update, Thomas M. Coffin, Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, Unlawful Trade Practices
Plaintiff InsightsNow, Inc. is a Corvallis-based company that has been offering a market research service in the consumer packaged goods industry called “BehaviorLens“. Plaintiff’s claimed date of first use in commerce is August 26, 2011. Defendant SuperPsyched is a Colorado based app-maker with an app for tracking student behavior called “BehaviorLENS“. Defendant’s date of first use in commerce is October 11, 2011. In response to an initial cease and desist letter, Defendant apparently made efforts to distinguish its trademark and services but not to the satisfaction of Plaintiff, resulting in this lawsuit.
Court Case Number: 6:13-cv-00573-TC
File Date: Wednesday, April 03, 2013
Plaintiff: InsightsNow, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: Delfina S. Homen, Hillary S. Brooks of Marger Johnson & McCollom PC
Defendant: SuperPsyched, LLC
Cause: Trademark Infringement, False Designation of Origin and Unfair Competition, Unlawful Trade Practices
Court: Oregon District Court
Judge: Magistrate Judge Thomas M. Coffin
Oregon Intellectual Property Blog 