Apr 11
Reebok and Nike have reached a settlement in their dispute over sales of Tim Tebow merchandise. Nike had filed suit in March, alleging that Reebok was improperly selling sporting apparel referencing the football superstar’s new team affiliation (Tebow was traded from the Denver Broncos to the New York Jets in March). Nike asserted that it …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/04/reebok-agrees-to-pull-tebow-apparel-from-shelves-in-licensing-dispute/
Feb 22
Contracts are often long and arduous to read, with excruciating detail and numerous defined terms that sometimes bear little resemblance to their “real world” usage. And yet, when a problem arises and each side points to the contract to prove the superiority of their position, many items still become a subject of dispute (even if one side’s current …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/02/specificity-in-contracts-can-avoid-future-disputes/
Jan 02
In Spine Solutions vs. Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Case No. 2:07-02175-JPM-dkv (W.D. Tenn. Nov. 23, 2011), a District Court ordered a new trial on damages based on the Federal Circuit’s ruling in Uniloc USA, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp., 632 F.3d 1292 (Fed. Cir. 2011). In the Uniloc case, the widely-used 25% royalty rule was rejected as …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2012/01/25-reasonable-royalty-rule-is-rejected-even-with-no-objection/
Dec 02
Lost profits are typically understood to yield higher damages than reasonable royalties, but this is not always the case. Higher reasonable royalty damages most frequently occur when the patent holder (inventor) is not in a position to exploit the invention by manufacturing the product himself. In such event, (i) there are no realistic profits to …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/12/federal-circuit-again-redefines-a-reasonable-royalty/
Aug 29
When major entertainment personalities are on top of their game, it is often hard to foresee a time when funds may not be as abundant. When that time comes, one might look back and wonder where all the money went. Or even wonder if they had received all the money they were promised. Unfortunately, the …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/08/dear-licensees-with-audit-rights-time-is-not-your-friend/
Aug 16
Christian Louboutin, the French footwear designer, is currently battling rival Yves Saint Laurent (“YSL”). The battle stems over Louboutin’s signature design element on all his shoes, the scarlet red outsole. Louboutin filed a lawsuit against YSL, which the court recently kicked out. Louboutin claims that its red sole is a trademark and cannot be used …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/08/the-battle-of-red/
Jul 29
The heirs of Jack Kirby, creator/co-creator of the Hulk and many other iconic comic book characters who permeate the movie business such as Iron Man, Spider Man, the Avengers, the X-Men and Thor, have been battling Marvel over the basis for Marvel’s copyright to these characters. The main dispute is as to whether the creation …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/07/who-owns-the-hulk-the-legal-battle-continues/
Jul 19
Nortel’s patent portfolio was recently auctioned. The final cash price is a surprisingly high $4.5 billion for around 6000 patents and patent applications. The auction process and participants are described in this article. Nortel described the package as: … more than 6,000 patents and patent applications [covering] wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, Internet, …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/07/nortel-bankruptcy-patent-auction-is-biggest-technology-patent-sale-ever/
Jul 07
On June 23, 2011, the House of Representatives approved the renamed Leahy–Smith America Invents Act (H.R. 1249) by a bipartisan vote of 304-117. In March, the Senate passed S. 23, “The America Invents Act,” with larger bipartisan approval. Although there are differences between the House and Senate versions, I suspect that these differences will be …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/07/house-passes-patent-changes-without-altering-damages-in-litigation/
Feb 16
It wasn’t long ago that Michael Vick was the highest paid player in the NFL and was frequently tapped for high profile endorsement deals with companies such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Kraft and Hasbro. But when news of his dog fighting activities surfaced, the endorsement deals came to a grinding halt. A prison sentence and a bankruptcy …
Permanent link to this article: https://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/02/michael-vick-and-the-duration-of-reputational-damage/
