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The Supreme Court on Monday let stand a jury’s conclusion that Jammie Thomas-Rasset pay the recording industry $222,000 for downloading and sharing two dozen copyrighted songs on the now-defunct file-sharing service Kazaa. Without comment, the justices declined (.pdf) to review a petition from the Minnesota woman who claimed the damages award was unconstitutionally excessive and was not rationally related to the harm she caused the music labels.
Even a Pope has trademark issues. The Vatican owns trademarks, while there are rumors that the Pope Emeritus himself may be put to the test of trademark infringement.
The Washington Redskins have made clear that they have no interest in changing their team name, no matter how many people say they’re offended by it. But they’re now facing a renewed legal challenge that could change their way of thinking.
Home Depot was sued by PayOne Corp. over claims the largest U.S. home-improvement retailer is infringing patents by offering PayPal’s In-Store Checkout System as a payment option. In a release, San Jose-based PayOne says the PayPal checkout process “infringes on multiple PayOne patents including the use of a mobile phone number and a PIN (personal identification number) to complete the checkout process and payment at point of sale.”
Fort Lauderdale attorney Michael I. Santucci recently helped family members of Bob Marley settle a federal lawsuit regarding intellectual property rights relating to the reggae music legend, his mother Cedella Marley Booker and Miami’s Nine Mile Music Festival.
Formal intellectual property rights are only as good as your ability to enforce them against infringers.
The law offices of Santucci Priore, P.L., together with The Florida Bar Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section and the Broward County Bar Association, will host a conference discussing various types of intellectual property law. Michael Santucci and Allison Sinclair Lovelady will discuss and compare trademark and copyright law. Scott Smiley of The Smiley IP Law Group, P.A. will lend his expert opinion and address the recent changes to patent law.
CLE credits are available. Contact Daniel Devine to RSVP. Though the event is free to attend, seating will be limited.
Further details are below:
The Florida Bar Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section presents
DEMYSTIFYING COPYRIGHTS, TRADEMARKS,
AND PATENTS (Course No. 84821)
Norma B. Howard Center Conference
BCBA Offices
1051 SE 3rd Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33316
Monday, April 30, 2012
12 noon – 1:30 p.m.
Demystifying Copyrights, Trademarks, and Patents
The speakers will be discussing common misconceptions between the different types of intellectual property, namely copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Mr. Scott Smiley will also briefly discuss some of the recent changes to the patent laws.
Moderator: Daniel Devine, Esq., Santucci Priore, P.L., Ft. Lauderdale
Panelists: Michael I. Santucci, Esq., Santucci Priore, P.L., Ft. Lauderdale
Scott Smiley, Esq., The Smiley IP Law Group, P.A. Ft. Lauderdale
Allison Sinclair Lovelady, Esq., Santucci Priore, P.L., Ft. Lauderdale
Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
Registration is complimentary and seats are limited to the first 50 persons who RSVP.
Please RSVP to: Daniel Devine at ddevine@500law.com
For questions call (954) 351-7474
CLE CREDITS
General: 2.0 hours
Ethics: 0 hours
CERTIFICATION PROGRAM
(Maximum Credit: 2.0 hours)
Intellectual Property: 2.0 hours
Corporate EASL Sponsors ($1,000):
Greenberg Traurig P.A.
Individual EASL Sponsors ($100):
Daniel Devine
Steven E. Eisenberg
Joseph Z. Fleming
Allison Sinclair Lovelady
Michael I. Santucci
Joseph V. Priore
Elliot Zimmerman
People love March Madness. There’s no other competition in the United States so open ended. More than 60 of the nation’s premier college basketball teams compete with triumphs, upsets, and finish with an undisputed champion. Diehard and casual fans of college basketball fill out more than 40 million brackets each year trying and predict the winner. Even the president is in on it, and he’s no slouch. His bracket is currently ranked in the 98th percentile. March Madness lives up to its name. But it’s more than pure sports entertainment, there’s a fascinating legal aspect to its existence as well. The trademark “March Madness” was settled more than fifteen years ago when the courts decided the moniker was so important it deserved to be reclassified. Papers labeled it “case of the year” in trademark law.
The phrase march Madness actually began use as early as in 1939 when the term was included in a poem about the March tournament. The Illinois High School Association (“IHSA”) later applied it to their annual basketball tournament. It was billed as the premier high school tournament of the United States. It was even broadcast on national television. The IHSA filed for federal registration in the early 1990s, and received protection a few years later.
As they included more teams, the event grew in notoriety. In the early 1980s a Chicago sports caster began referring to the event as “March Madness” and it stuck. Importantly, the term was widely applied to the event by the public before the NCAA ever used it themselves. So when the IHSA filed for trademark of the phrase March Madness, the NCAA objected under their common law usage. The IHSA then filed suit against GTE Vantage, Inc., which was developing a basketball sport video game, licensed by the NCAA, called “NCAA Championship Basketball”. The words ‘March Madness’ were included on the cover and in the game itself.
This was a case of reverse confusion. The NCAA was the more recognizable establishment than the IHSA so the trademark became associated with them by the public. Even though the IHSA used the term far longer than the NCAA, they worried that their trademark would suffer brand confusion, or their tournaments would be misinterpreted as sponsored by the NCAA. Normally the senior user of a mark would stop the junior from applying it. But when the case came to court, the judge ruled otherwise. The Central District of Illinois judge decided the IHSA’s brand had become diluted by the NCAA. Its connotation created by the public sphere made a ‘dual-use term’ that applied to both users equally. The IHSA couldn’t control what the public applied the term ‘March Madness’ to, no matter how much it might damage their brand.
Forced to share the mark, the two organizations eventually created a limited liability corporation, the Match Madness Athletic Association (“MMAA”), to control the trademark. Both partners were made permanent licensors. The MMAA has protected the term “March Madness” since in court cases against other prospective sporting events, car sales, and website name infringement. In latter cases they found from their focus group that 83.7% of people had heard of March Madness and 70% associated the term with basketball.
Though the mark is strong in popular culture, it’s important to remember how it can serve as a wider lesson. Do not let your trademark lose its public significance, and take all efforts to make sure the public is aware of its real intention and application. Allowing your trademark to become public domain or synonymous with another product is self-defeating. Just like how picking teams for your bracket based on the ferocity of their mascots doesn’t do you any good and is self-defeating. Or ‘self-defeating’ like Florida State. Or Duke. You get the picture.
The luxury goods brand Coach has recently sued South Florida’s Swap Shop for damages, alleging that the “Coach” merchandise sold at the Shop are knockoffs.
According to reports, the federal suit additionally targets the Swap Shop landlord and principal company for turning a “blind eye” to the vendors selling knockoff goods.
Just last year, the Broward Sheriff’s Office and Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement completed an undercover operation which ended in the seizing of thousands of counterfeit goods from the Swap Shop.
Coach is generally known for aggressive policing of its brand and Trademark and for filing hundreds of lawsuits against alleged counterfeit sellers and manufacturers. The past few years have also shown a surge in couterfeit crackdowns by many luxury brands.
The National Mortgage Settlement Agreement was announced on February 9th by President Obama and various involved banks. It guarantees a sum of $25 billion dollars for “immediate aid to homeowners needing loan modifications now.” The amount could rise to $32 and $40 billion dollars if more banks decide to endorse the agreement. But what does the settlement mean for persons in Florida, and how can they receive aid?
The National Mortgage Settlement Agreement set funds aside to benefit qualifying homeowners. There are different ways for homeowners to qualify, and various terms of benefit. More than $8 billion in relief is available in Florida, in the form of loan modifications, refinancing, and restitutions for foreclosed homes. Only mortgages with Citi, Bank of America, Ally/GMAC, JP Morgan Chase, and Wells Fargo will qualify. No mortgages backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac will be accepted. This may change from five banks to nine banks at a later undecided date, which would raise the amount available to states and homeowners. All states except for Oklahoma qualify.
Out of Florida’s $8.4 billion, $7.6 billion will be paid as loan modifications, including principal reductions. $309 million promised for refinancing underwater mortgages. Lenders will pay $170 million to people who lost their homes due to foreclosure from Jan. 1st 2008 through Dec. 31st, 2011, if they qualify. These payments will range from $1,500 to $2,000 on average.
The settlement promises immediate aid to homeowners needing loan modifications now but until more details are released, it isn’t clear how much banks will really help homeowners and when the help will come through.
People who lost their homes to foreclosure will be contacted by a national settlement administrator. They can receive up to $2,000. The exact amount will vary by qualifications and number of payments filed for. Over 750,000 are expected to file. These restitution payments will not require the person filing to waive the right to other possible claims against the servicer or lender.
The OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency) supplies an independent review for foreclosures dated from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2010. The exact amount of money borrowers can receive has not yet been determined. Again, it is possible to seek restitution from both the National Mortgage Settlement Agreement and the program described above through OCC. If you’d like to learn more, visit their website at here, or speak with your attorney.
Homeowners behind on mortgage payments may qualify for a principle reduction to their mortgages. They must owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth and be behind on payments or at risk of imminent default due to impending circumstances. The average payout for principle reduction is estimated to be around $20,000 per household.
Homeowners who are current, but struggling to make payments, may also qualify for a refinance if their home value is exceeded by the mortgage amount.
The first step has been completed, which was to choose an administrator for the settlement. President Obama selected Joseph Smith, formerly North Carolina’s bank commissioner. Over the next six to nine months he will work along with the various attorneys general and mortgage services to identify homeowners eligible for the immediate cash payments, principal reductions, and refinancing. Those eligible will receive letters. The settlement will be executed over the next three years, with penalties for banks who do not meet certain checkpoints.
Sadly, borrowers will still have to wait and see if they qualify. If they have not received a letter in the next year, their lending bank should be contacted and asked why they do not qualify. Anyone experiencing hardship and troubles with their mortgage should contact their attorney for expert advice. Losing one’s home to foreclosure is a traumatic
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