Court Finds That Use Of Registered Trademark to Identify Public Domain Cartoon Character is Not Infringement

In the latest phase of a long litigation, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, following a remand from an amended Ninth Circuit opinion, held that a company that claimed to have acquired the intellectual property rights in the cartoon character “Betty Boop” could not maintain a claim for trademark infringement against

Eleanor M. Lackman Joins “IP Licensing Issues” Panel at PLI

Eleanor M. Lackman joins the “IP Licensing Issues” panel, part of Practising Law Institute’s IP Issues in Business Transactions 2013 program. The program runs for two full days, Thursday, January 3 and Friday, January 4, 2013, beginning at 9:00am, in New York City. Ms. Lackman’s panel, “IP Licensing Issues,” is on Thursday, January 3 at

Eleanor M. Lackman Joins 2012 Copyright & Technology Conference Panel

Eleanor M. Lackman joins the panel “TV or Not TV: Legal Challenges for Internet Video Services,” part of the day-long 2012 Copyright and Technology Conference – the conference examines the latest developments in copyright and content security – on Wednesday, December 5, 2012 at the Manhattan Penthouse, 80 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY. “TV or

CDAS at DOC NYC 2012!

CDAS returns to the DOC NYC Film Festival, (Thursday, November 8 through Thursday, November 15 at the IFC Center, and also at the SVA Theatre, please click links below for venue), once again representing a number of clients and their acclaimed films. CDAS is proud to co-sponsor this exciting festival again as it returns for

CDAS at AFM (The American Film Market)

Susan H. Bodine, Marc H. Simon and Janis C. Nelson are in attendance at the American Film Market in Santa Monica, California, which runs from Wednesday, October 31 through Wednesday, November 7. Over 8000 industry leaders from over 70 countries converge for eight days of deal-making, screenings of over 400 films, seminars and networking. Ms.

Zappos’ Focus on Fashion, and Not on Terms of Use, Leads to Contractual Faux Pas

A recent case brought against the online retailer Zappos demonstrates the importance of thought-out drafting when constructing website policies. While it may be tempting to leave terms of use as an inconspicuous hyperlink rather than put them right up front, the consequences can be that those terms are not enforceable at all.

“Born to Rock” Trademark Lawsuit Plays On Against Cafepress.com

The popular online marketplace cafepress.com (“CafePress”) is known for allowing users to upload graphic designs to its website, which then allows users to choose that design or others and have CafePress print it on a wide array of merchandise, including t-shirts, mugs, stickers, buttons, iPhone cases and Halloween accessories. The case discussed here looks at

Einstein Publicity Rights Deemed Expired By California Federal Court

On October 15, 2012, a California federal judge dismissed Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s (“Hebrew University”) lawsuit against General Motors LLC (“GM”) over the use of Albert Einstein’s image as part of a GM advertisement, holding that Einstein’s publicity rights have expired and now fall in the public domain. Hebrew University of Jerusalem v. General Motors