Insights

IP Litigation

IP litigation insights on copyright, trademark, domain name, and trade secret disputes.

Anatomy of a Copyright Infringement Case: Defenses to Allegations of Copyright Infringement

Below is the third excerpt from a presentation I gave at the State Bar of Texas' 16th Annual Entertainment Law Institute entitled "Legal & Business Aspects of Music, Film and Digital Entertainment" in October 2006. Again, this was written for a court in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and other circuits treat some of these defenses differently.

Anatomy of a Copyright Infringement Case: Elements of a Copyright Infringement Claim

I thought I'd post some excerpts from a paper that I co-wrote for a presentation I gave with a friend of mine, Buck McKinney, at the State Bar of Texas' 16th Annual Entertainment Law Institute entitled "Legal & Business Aspects of Music, Film and Digital Entertainment" in October 2006. The first excerpt is entitled "Elements of a Copyright Infringement Claim" and is one of my contributions to the paper.

Anatomy of a Copyright Infringement Case: Theories of Secondary Liability

Below is the second excerpt from a presentation I gave at the State Bar of Texas' 16th Annual Entertainment Law Institute entitled "Legal & Business Aspects of Music, Film and Digital Entertainment" in October 2006 on the topic of copyright infringement. This was written for a court in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, and other circuits may treat some of these issues differently.

Copyright Infringement Litigation and the Proof Required

Copyright protects original expression once an author fixes it in a tangible medium. A lawsuit requires more. A copyright owner must prove ownership of a valid copyright and copying of protectable expression, then connect the requested remedy to admissible evidence and the Copyright Act.

Damages and Remedies in Intellectual Property Litigation

Copyright, Lanham Act, patent, trade secret, cybersquatting, and state rights of publicity claims follow different rules for damages, attorney fees, injunctions, and enhanced relief.

Trade Dress Protection for Product Design, Packaging, and Business Interiors

Trade dress protects the visual appearance of a product, its packaging, or a business environment when that appearance identifies source. A protectable claim can concern a bottle configuration, a product line, a restaurant interior, packaging graphics, or a combination of visual elements that consumers associate with one business.

Trade Secret Protection Starts Before the Lawsuit

Texas law protects trade secrets, but only when the owner protects them first. Courts decide many misappropriation cases on that requirement alone. Companies that ignore it find out in litigation that a court will refuse to protect information the company itself treated as casual, no matter how valuable that information was to the business.

Trademark Infringement and Likelihood of Confusion

Trademark infringement occurs when someone uses a mark in commerce in a way that's likely to confuse consumers about the source, sponsorship, approval, or affiliation of goods or services. The dispute concerns the commercial impression created by the challenged use, with isolated similarities supplying only part of the evidence.

Unfair Competition Under the Lanham Act and Texas Law

Section 43(a) provides separate federal causes of action for false association and false advertising. Texas law supplements those claims through trademark infringement, unfair competition, business disparagement, contract claims, and other causes of action supported by the conduct at issue.