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Los Angeles Intellectual Property Law Blog

NSA suspected of stomping on "Little Brother's" Zazzle goods

How many Americans had no idea of the existence of a government organization called the National Security Agency before the last few weeks? An honest show of hands probably would reveal that most Los Angeles residents were unaware of the government's highly-classified, communications protection agency.

The media made the NSA and its super-secret PRISM data-gathering program the subject of nationwide debate about the public's right to privacy. Agency officials contend they are just doing their jobs to protect the nation's communications by mining dangerous data from foreign-based emails, videos, files and chats.

Litigation as a weapon against California copyright infringers

Counterfeiters who steal products or designs from Los Angeles businesses take more than revenue -- they dilute company brands. Copyright and trademark infringers also oblige many businesses to remain in a perpetual defensive position.

Money used to protect intellectual property is an expense that fortifies but does not expand a company. Limited budgets prevent new entrepreneurs from shielding the uniqueness of their products. Startups easily fold without funds to safeguard merchandise.

California reality star loses her shirt over lawsuit threat

A reality television personality and an East Coast governor are at odds over a $35 T-shirt. Gov. Andrew Cuomo spotted a photograph of California fashion entrepreneur Khloe Kardashian wearing a shirt she sells that bore a familiar logo. The emblem on Kardashian's shirt had surprising similarities to the logo for the state's agriculture department.

The state and Rich Soil logos depict the Statue of Liberty highlighted against a farm field. The words on the shirts differ. The state-generated emblem says "Pride of New York" while Kardashian's version states "Rich Soil New York." The fonts appear to be the same.

Defense shields California businesses from cybersquatters

Just when your Los Angeles business takes a step toward profit along comes a cyber-thief to destroy everything you've built. Unless a venture is extremely well funded, California startups can collapse under the weight of online theft.

Businesses are not entirely helpless victims of cybersquatting provided they carry Internet insurance or can support a domain name dispute. Regrettably, many of the individuals who launch online attacks have current or former company connections.

FBI: Wiretap law wouldn't affect most California startups

A modified Federal Bureau of Investigation proposal would expand legal wiretapping capabilities without crippling small, new technology companies. That's an Internet law pitch that skeptics in and out of California tech companies find hard to believe.

The FBI director complains current communication and Internet laws defining the agency's surveillance reach are seriously outdated. The government official says the FBI risks "going dark" without open access to criminal suspects' online activities.

Facebook wins $2.8 million in California cybersquatting case

Facebook lawyers recently walked away from a California courtroom with a $2.8 million dollar victory. All of the named parties in the cybersquatting case were default defendants; they didn't respond to legal actions or show up in court.

The judge in the domain name dispute chided the social media giant's lawyers for failing to sort the 11 defendants' misconduct into bad, worse and egregious categories.

Groupon plays defense with group-buying competitors

Not long after Groupon was battered by a string of patent infringement lawsuits -- including a 2010 action by Mobgob LLC in Los Angeles – the coupon website started investing in patents. Intellectual property experts believe Groupon is following the defensive path other companies take to protect itself from costly, future litigation.

An armory of so-called defensive patents strengthens a company’s position in case of a legal assault for infringement. A hefty patent collection can encourage plaintiffs to settle out of court, saving litigants time and money.

Will Supreme Court limit patents for California biotech firms?

California biotechnology companies are drawn to the outcome of a case recently debated in the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices are considering whether a business that offers predictive cancer testing can retain a patent for a pair of gene sequences, DNA segments that determine heredity.

Justices debated Myriad Genetics' intellectual property rights to hold on to a patent sanctioned by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The company argues the patent led to the development of a vital medical test for women, whose genetic makeup shows ovarian and breast cancer susceptibility.

California celebrity media groups settle "hot news" dispute

Two California news organizations go after the same story. The mad dash for facts is motivated by a desire to "break" the news as quickly as possible. Another incentive is increased viewer or reader credibility which translates to revenue growth.

What if one news group steps on the other's toes, duplicating news material while racing to air or print the story? Is that copyright infringement? According to the "hot news doctrine," the answer is maybe. Intellectual property laws say some parts of a news story are copyright protected while others are not. Word-for-word theft of content is a violation but, even then, legal exceptions still exist.

Donald Trump pushes alleged cybersquatter to court challenge

An ex-Marine has become the legal target of billionaire businessman Donald Trump. Trump wants what probably amounts to pocket change -- $400,000 -- from a self-proclaimed "domainer" who bought up Internet addresses that employ Trump's highly-recognized brand and name.

Los Angeles companies are familiar with the damage illegal cybersquatting can cause. Individuals purchase domain names containing well-known trademarks with the intent of making a profit, frequently by selling the domain to the trademark owner. Trump apparently would rather fund a domain dispute than buy out the website addresses from the current owner.

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