09 Sunday Oct 2011
Posted in Patent
Stories from the Week that Was – 10/2-10/8/11
Computer Virus Hits U.S. Drone Fleet
Survival Guide for Citizens in a Revolution
Patent Reform without Congress
Patent Troll Says Anyone Using WiFi Infringes; Won’t Sue Individuals ‘At This Stage
First ‘Official’ Statement from the Occupy Wall Street Movement
“A great trademark is appropriate, dynamic, distinctive, memorable and unique.” – Primo Angeli
07 Friday Oct 2011
Posted in District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon, Trademark
Tags
Anna J. Brown, Thomas Freedman, Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, Unfair Trade Practices
Court Case Number: 3:11-cv-01204-BR
File Date: Thursday, October 06, 2011
Plaintiff: Christopher Douglas
Plaintiff Counsel: Thomas Freedman, Jr. of Pearl Law LLC
Defendant: Leigh Keno, Leslie Keno, Theodore Alexendar USA, Inc
Cause: Trademark Infringement (Lanham Act), Unfair Competition, Unfair Trade Practices
Court: District Court of Oregon
Judge: Judge Anna J. Brown
07 Friday Oct 2011
Posted in Trademark
Tags
Michael H. Simon, Robert R. Harrison, Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation, Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, Unlawful Trade Practices
Court Case Number: 3:11-cv-01205-SI
File Date: Thursday, October 06, 2011
Plaintiff: Slep-Tone Entertainment Corporation
Plaintiff Counsel: Robert R. Harrison of Ladenberg Law
Defendant: J&W LLC, Ambassador, Inc., SP1 LLC, Dewar, LLC, Chopsticks Restaurant, Inc., San Hwa Enterprises, Inc., T 88 Inc., Orfal’s Inc., Mobile DJ Karaoke LLC, Jared Ritzer, Stephan Kmetova, Suzanne Kmetova, Jason Taylor, Mike Kunze, Ladd Hill Muzik LLC, Douglas Wyman, Clarice Wyman, Jimmy Lund, Anthony Starkweather, Jody Graen, James Adams, Oscar Colores, Miguel Tapia, Kevin Keller, Kim Keller, Mitch Brown, Bobby Brown, Danny Chavez, Eric Klinger, Roxanne Klinger, Martin Simpson
Cause: Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, Unlawful Trade Practices
Court: District Court of Oregon
Judge: Judge Michael H. Simon
17 Friday Jun 2011
Posted in District of Oregon, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon, Trademark
Zynga has filed Answer and Counterclaims in their lawsuit with The Learning Company, makers of the Oregon Trail. Long story short, Zynga denies everything and asks for a Declaratory Judgement of Non-Infringement. They claim their use of the term “Oregon Trail” was a descriptive and fair use. Take a look for yourself below:
[Update 10/26/11: There’s been no action in the courts on this case since an August 5 conference was cancelled. Stay tuned for updates. Perhaps the Oregon Trail was not a popular Frontierville expansion?]
20 Friday May 2011
Posted in Copyright, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon, Trademark
Interesting IP litigation story from Kotaku:
The May 30 launch of an “Oregon Trail” expansion pack in the popular Facebook game Frontierville has caught notice of the company holding the copyright to the edutainment classic, and it has sued to put a stop to the plans of Frontierville maker Zynga.
The lawsuit, filed by The Learning Company in federal court in Massachusetts, alleges that Zynga cut a trailer for its “Oregon Trail” missions (above) that highlights similarities between them and the The Oregon Trail notably “setting up a wagon, provisioning, hunting, fording rivers, and helping others.” For the record, the trailer refers not to dysentery but “the Rocky Mountain Scoots.”
[Yes, the lawsuit is going on in Massachusetts but I couldn’t avoid mentioning it here.]
Full Complaint:
Check out Gamasutra for more details.
13 Thursday Jan 2011
Posted in Oregon
Be sure to check out Cynthia’s great review of Portland-related iPhone apps. In particular, the Civic apps provide a valuable resource that could be easily adopted by other Oregon urban centers.
Check out Cynthia’s blog for the full story.
11 Tuesday Jan 2011
Posted in Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon, Patent
The Digimarc v. Shazam patent ligitation filed back in November 2009 has been dismissed while the parties discuss ways to work together. The parties recognize they have a number of mutual commercial interests and have agreed it is best not to have the distraction and expense of a lawsuit as they explore possible synergistic opportunities.
Patent litigation gets expensive, eh? I could have told them that from the beginning…
Source: Market Watch
05 Wednesday Jan 2011
Two of Advertising Age’s “Hottest Brands of the Year” are linked to Oregon companies, the industry publication announced recently.
Salem-based Kettle Foods and Nike’s Jordan brand were singled out for the annual acknowledgement, which singled out 40 brands for success in 2009 — everything from Pepto Bismol to airline Jet Blue.
Kettle earned its nod for record growth and marketing innovation, for which the company credited its long-standing public relations firm, Maxwell PR.
“As our primary marketing engine public relations has done the heavy lifting for Kettle Brand,” Michelle Hunt, vice president of marketing for Kettle Foods, said in a statement. “With a limited budget and the bar set high, Maxwell has continued to keep the brand fresh and our fans engaged – and it’s paid off with significant and sustained growth.”
Keith Houlemard, president of Beaverton-based Nike’s Jordan brand, was singled out for his leadership of the business unit.
Since deciding to drop Nike’s trademark Swoosh from its sneakers more than a decade ago, the brand has grown to dominate the high-end basketball market, Ad Age reported.
Source: Portland Business Journal
01 Thursday Apr 2010
Posted in Intellectual Property, Litigation, Oregon, Trademark
Tags
Ancer L. Haggerty, Federal Unfair Competition, Pepsico, Su Casa Imports, Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition
Court Case Number: 3:10-cv-00330-HA
File Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010
Plaintiff: Pepsico, Inc.
Plaintiff Counsel: J. Peter Staples of Chernoff Vilhauer McClung & Stenzel LLP
Defendant: Su Casa Imports, Inc.
Cause(s): Federal Trademark Infringement, Federal Unfair Competition, Oregon Trademark Infringement and Unfair Competition
Court: Oregon District Court
Judge: Judge Ancer L. Haggerty
…
Please leave a comment if you’d like a full copy of the complaint.
19 Friday Mar 2010
Posted in Intellectual Property, Oregon, Trademark
It’s been a rough day for Google’s Android phone, the Nexus One. Initial sales have been far weaker than the iPhone saw when it first came out of the gate. Now it’s being reported that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has rejected its application for a trademark on the name Nexus One.
The name “Nexus One” was ruled too close to Portland, Oregon-based Integra Telecom‘s own registered trademark for its Nexus fixed bandwidth integrated voice and internet T1 product.
For the full story, check out ReadWriteWeb.
Oregon Intellectual Property Blog 