Infringement

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For years, copyright owners have faced uncertainty as to when they could file a copyright infringement claim. Title 17 U.S.C. § 411(a) states that “no civil action for infringement of the copyright in any United States work shall be instituted until … registration of the copyright claim has been made in accordance with this title.”…

In 2015, a California jury decided that the mega-hit “Blurred Lines” by Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke, and Clifford Harris (a/k/a “T.I.”) infringed the copyright in Marvin Gaye’s song, “Got To Give It Up.”  The jury awarded Gaye’s heirs $7.4 million.  Last week, a panel of the federal court of appeals in San Francisco affirmed the…

For a number of years, patent owners have had broad discretion to bring patent infringement lawsuits in court locations, or “venues,” based on perceived strategic advantages and their own convenience.  A federal district court in eastern Texas, for example, has – for several reasons – been one of the favorite venues for patent owners.  Another…

In what some perceive as a major shift from decades of precedent, the United States Supreme Court held last week that laches – unreasonable delay – is no longer a valid defense against a claim for patent infringement so long as the patent owner brings suit  within the 6-year look-back limitation period prescribed in 35…