Christou v. Beatport
Christou owned night clubs, and Bradley was his employee. Bradley's primary role was to find good DJs and organize events at Christou's night clubs. By virtue of his role, Bradley had access to the MySpace account of Christou's night club group. While working with Christou, Bradley founded Beatport and later left his job.
Subsequently, Bradley started a competing night club after a few days. Aggrieved by his actions, Christou sued for trade secret misappropriation among other grounds.…
When an individual comes up with an idea followed by an invention drawn from that idea, it is wise on his part to monopolize his right over the invention. In such a scenario one has to seek protection for his invention with the respective authorities. This write up briefly summaries the essentials of patent filing.
Any invention or technology which has not been anticipated by publication in any document or used in the country or anywhere in the world before…
Earlier this year, the USPTO published a patent application, filed by the American automaker Ford, for a new car that would give users an option to remove certain car parts and reassemble them into a bicycle. The invention titled as “Collapsible Bicycle” could become an important innovation in the field of future mobility. The publication discloses a bicycle that can be stored in the body of a vehicle. With the new proposal, the automobile giant is trying to solve the…
Rejections under 35 U.S.C. 101
Rejections under this clause are based on the fact that claims do not fall within one of the four statutory categories of acceptable subject matter: process, machine, article of manufacture or composition of matter.
One of the ways to overcome this rejection is by claiming an invention by properly citing the subject matter.
In telecom patents, ‘signals’ cannot be claimed even though they are a part of the telecom industry.
For example : A method…
Conventional IC engines generally use diesel or petrol as a mode of fuel in the combustion chamber for generating power. A major problem with this is that the IC engine emits harmful gases into the atmosphere resulting in adverse effects on living things and environment. Another problem that the IC engines faces is the lack of fuel efficiency.
Caterpillar is a leader in manufacturing heavy duty vehicles and earth movers like bulldozers, articulated trucks, excavators, compactors, harvesters, etc. The firm…
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently passed a decision against an order of the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) which sought to block the import of digital data that violated patents. The decision was passed on 10th November this year, in the case of ClearCorrect Operating, LLC, ClearCorrect Pakistan (Private), Ltd., v. International Trade Commission and Align Technology, Inc.
Align Technology is a multinational medical device company based out of San Jose, California. Align Technology…
Patent trolls are organizations that aggressively defend patent libraries without manufacturing products of their own, which is why they are often referred to as Non Practicing Entities (NPEs) or Patent Assertion Entities (PAEs). These NPEs hardly contribute to research and development through innovation since they are rarely the original innovators. Moreover, the NPEs own patent libraries by buying inventions and patents cheaply from individual inventors and small entities who are not seeking to enforce them and licence the acquired patent…
Yahoo V. Facebook
In 2012, Yahoo sued Facebook claiming infringement of ten of its patents relating to methods and systems of advertising on Social Media. The suit was filed after Facebook announced its plans to go for IPO. Yahoo did the same thing to Google and acquired substantial amount of shares in the bargain. In response, Facebook countersued Yahoo for infringement of its patents.
The suit was settled within four months of its initial filing, in July, 2012. As a…
The Copyright Act, 1957 went through a major change in 2012. The amendment harmonised the copyright law with the “Internet Treaties”- the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) and WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT), making it capable of facing challenges posed by digital technologies.
The Copyright Act, 2012 (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Act’) added new Sections, 65A and 65B, for protection against dodging of technological measures and protection of rights management information respectively. The provision under Section 65A sets out…
This post will discuss another trademark infringement case in the ecommerce market in India.
Recently, in October this year, Eicher Motors Ltd, which manufactures and sells the Royal Enfield bike, filed an infringement suit against Saurabh Katar and Kuldeep Singh, for infringing their trademark ENFIELD, ROYAL ENFIELD and BULLET. The suit filed before the Delhi High Court, also claimed infringement of copyright of the logos and the website of Eicher Motors Ltd. Eicher alleged that Saurabh Katar and Kuldeep Singh were…