June 2011

The sober reader may remember from our recent blog post (see: No Little Matter) that Jim Beam Co. (the bourbon people) is locked in trademark combat with Tequila Cuervo La Rojena SA de CV (the tequila folks).

As famously said by Kenny Rogers, “ya gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away…”. (Righthaven, LLC. V. Buzzfeed Inc. et al.)

As any true aficionado knows, a “Chicago-style” hot dog is served on a poppy-seed bun, garnished with mustard, green-relish, a pickle spear, chopped onions, tomato wedges, sports peppers, and celery salt. Chicago may no longer be the “hog butcher to the world,” but Chicagoans still take their hot dogs quite seriously, as evidenced by a recently filed lawsuit. (Vienna Beef, Ltd. V. Red Hot Chicago, Inc. and Scott D. Ladany)

Some weeks ago, we wrote (see Waving the Flag) of the sterling efforts of Thompson/Center Arms Company to protect American jobs and America’s technological lead in the critical field of muzzle-loading firearms by suing foreign companies which had the temerity to infringe Thompson/Center’s patents.

Some time ago we wrote about a tiff concerning “Never Ending Shrimp” (see Bon Appétit). The argument concerned not the shrimp, but trademark rights in the term. The owners of the Olive Garden and Red Lobster restaurant chains alleged that use of the term by a T.G.I. Friday’s franchisee would cause confusion with the Olive Garden’s “Never Ending Pasta Bowl” and Red Lobster’s occasional all-you-can-eat shrimp promotions.

Some time ago, we wrote of Lawrence Lockwood and his tireless efforts to convince a court – any court – that two attorneys formerly at the law firm of Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLC are racketeers who filed and prosecuted “sham” re-examinations of two of his patents, thereby causing a four-year delay in his patent enforcement campaign and diminishing the value of his intellectual property (see Still A Potent Weapon).

We have, from time to time, written about ethically-challenged lawyers, but a recent case from Illinois reaches a new low. (In the Matter of Ellen Frances Lang)

While most dishonest lawyers defraud strangers, Ms. Lang preyed on her own family. When handling a real estate closing for her mother – yes, her own mother – who was purchasing a suburban Chicago home, Ms. Lang put the title in her own name. She then took out a mortgage on the property, pocketing $150,000.

In the last, suspense-filled episode of this long-running (7 years) daytime legal soap opera, the jury had returned a verdict in favor of MGA, awarding it custody of the little Bratz and $88.4 million in damages (see previous blog posts Pass the Popcorn and Soap Opera Summary). In the closing moments of the show, Mattel, professing “disappointment” with the verdict, vowed to appeal.

There was a time when the Eastern District of Texas was the preferred venue of plaintiffs in patent infringement cases. Well, as the song says, “the times they are a ‘changin” – at least with respect to so-called “patent trolls.”

One of the most profitable – if not culturally elevating – new movie releases this season is “The Hangover Part II,” which includes a character, played by actor Ed Helms, who wakes or sobers up to find that he has a tattoo on his face identical to the one on the face of boxer Mike Tyson. While movie-goers may consider this hilarious, “tattoo artist” S. Victor Whitmill, the creator of Tyson’s tattoo, has failed to see the humor in it. Indeed, he sued Warner Brothers for copyright infringement and filed a motion seeking a preliminary injunction barring the release of the movie.