News of the Week; August 19, 2020

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Judge Denies Copyright Troll Malibu Media’s Request For A Default Judgment
2. Media Co. Ordered To Stop ‘Cartoon Classics’ DMCA Notices
3. Don’t use my music! Neil Young sues Donald Trump for copyright infringement
4. More Rockin’ In The Free World
5. S.D. Florida Refuses To Toss Artist’s Claims Over Alleged Knock-off Art Installation
6. Copyright in photographs – not such monkey business
7. Copyright Reforms to Better Support the Digital Environment
8. Should Massachusetts extend its right-to-repair law to connected cars?
9. EUIPO joins WIPO DAS for EU registered design applications
10. False Claim of Exclusive Distributorship results in Injunction and Forced Recall of Grey Market Goods
11. Boston University Applies For Trademark On Offensive COVID-19 Awareness Slogan For Some Reason
12. UK High Court rejects Land Rover’s appeal for registration of Defender shape marks
13. Costco Gets Trademark Judgement Overturned, Defeating Tiffany And Co.
14. Second Circuit Overturns Tiffany’s $21M Judgment Against Costco in Trademark Battle
15. Three Keyword Advertising Decisions in a Week, and the Trademark Owners Lost Them All (Eric Goldman)
16. An apple is an apple, a pear is a pear. Don’t Compear!
17. Yes, You CAN Trademark Cannabis Products and Services in Maryland
18. Are Valentino’s Rockstud® Shoes as Distinctive as the Red Soles?
19. If You Coexist, You Need Not Desist (Part One): TTAB Grants Laches Defense After 4 Years Coexistence
20. Atomic Café Trademark Litigation Against LeanBox and Cold Brew Does Not Trigger Travelers Indemnity’s Duty to Defend or Indemnify, Judge Green Rules
21. 3D trade marks: it’s all in the gömböc
22. Supreme Court Lets Booking.com Reserve Its Brand: Generic.com Terms Can Now Be Registered as Trademarks
23. Generic Trademarks in a Digital World
24. General Court refuses registration of ‘XOXO’ mark in relation to fashion goods
25. The conception of a drinks brand – innovation and IP
26. Jurisdictional Toss Gives Sommeliers Reason to Whine
27. Tips for Defendants Litigating Software Disputes at the Intersection of Trade Secret, Copyright and Patent Law
28. Self-Driving to Federal Prison: The Trade Secret Theft Saga of Anthony Levandowski Continues
29. Protecting Trade Secrets: Lessons Learned From the Levandowski Case
30. Not so Pretty: Cosmetic Company Acquisitions Lead to Contentious Trade Secret Spat
31. Keeping up With the Kardashian-[Jenner]’s Trade Secret Battle
32. Appeals court ruling for Qualcomm “a victory of theory over facts”
33. It Was Nice While It Lasted: 9th Circuit Rejects Lower Court Ruling On How Abuse Of Patent Monopolies Can Violate Antitrust
34. New Federal Court Decision Provides for Greater Protection of Combination Drugs Under CETA
35. Glass Half Empty: Patent Reciting “Half Liquid” Is Indefinite
36. “Method of Preparation” Claims Still Patent Eligible Under § 101 in Modified Opinion
37. Explain Yourself: “Untethered” Obviousness Determination Reversed
38. Court Upholds Patent Eligibility of “Method of Preparation” Claims in Modified Opinion
39. Lack of inventive step: reading v appreciating
40. Patent Quality, Ranking and Valuation
41. Limiting the Use of Applicant Admitted Prior Art
42. Federal Circuit Directs Transfer Of Patent Suit From Western District Of Texas To Northern District Of California
43. Casting a New Light on Diagnostic Patents: “Methods of Preparation” Patent-Eligible
44. Fighting Counterfeits at the U.S. Border: The Counterfeit Goods Seizure Act of 2019 Would Expand Customs and Border Patrol Enforcement to Design Patents
45. Key Considerations and Tools for IP Protection of Computer Programs in Europe and Beyond
46. The Expanding Scope of Patentability of Computer related Inventions: A Welcome Development
47. Sharp Elbows and Profit-Maximizing Licensing Ruled Insufficient Evidence of Anticompetitive Conduct in FTC v. Qualcomm, Inc.
48. Ninth Circuit Reverses FTC Win in FTC v. Qualcomm, Finding No Antitrust Violations from Qualcomm’s Licensing of its Standard-Essential Patents
49. Google Warns Australians That The Government’s Plan To Tax Google To Give Money To Newspapers Will Harm Search & YouTube
50. Devin Nunes Is Still Suing A Satirical Cow & A Political Consultant, But Judge Rejects Attempt To Bring Twitter Back
51. TikTok Integrates With Music Distributor UnitedMasters, Will Let Artists Boost Their Songs From Its App To Spotify, Apple Music, More
52. Indiana Cities File Doomed Lawsuit Against Disney, Netflix, Demand 5% of Gross Revenues
53. People Spend 25% Of Their TV Time Streaming Netflix, YouTube, Disney+ (Report)
54. Cities sue Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, claim they owe cable “franchise fees”
55. YouTube Comes Out Swinging Against Proposed Australian Law Requiring It To Pay News Publishers
56. Google Defeats Account Termination Case on Section 230 Grounds (Mostly)–Enhanced Athlete v. YouTube (Eric Goldman)
57. It Doesn’t Make Sense To Treat Ads The Same As User Generated Content
58. Confused Critic Of Section 230 Now In Charge Of NTIA
59. If Oracle Buys TikTok, Would It Suddenly Change Its Tune On Section 230?
60. Why Keep Section 230? Because People Need To Be Able To Complain About The Police
61. Evaluating Patentability of AI Inventions
62. US Patent Office Sued For Requiring Human Inventor on Patent Applications
63. LinkedIn Seeks Supreme Court Review of Data Harvesting Dispute
64. “Moralistic Preening” and Broken Commitments Under the Washington Principles—Ninth Circuit Chastises Spain for Keeping Nazi-looted Pissarro but Rules Painting Will not Return to Cassirer Family
65. ‘Fortnite’ Battles Big Tech: Why Epic Games Is Suing Apple, Google Over Their App Store ‘Monopolies’
66. Epic Games v. Apple Inc. (Complaint for Injunctive Relief, August 13, 2020, United States District Court Northern District of California)
67. Epic’s Nineteen Eighty-Fortnite video is an irresponsible piece of corporate propaganda | Opinion: Fortnite’s operator is demonstrating it’s fully prepared to weaponize its young audience of millions for its own monetary gain
68. Insights: The Teachable Moments In The TikTok/’Fortnite’ Teenpocalypse 
69. Epic Games sues Apple to end what Epic calls ‘unfair and anti-competitive actions’
70. Fortnite takes on Apple’s App Store in Epic antitrust battle royale
71. The Fortnite App Store Battle: A Real Antitrust Conundrum, Or Just A Carefully Planned Out Contract Negotiation?
72. Epic files suit against Apple after Fortnite pulled from iOS App Store
73. Apple to revoke Epic’s dev tools, including those used for Unreal Engine 
74. Apple terminating Epic developer accounts, tools access: Epic files motion in US courts for a temporary restraining order in response 
75. Apple threatens to boot Epic and Unreal Engine off Mac and iOS 
76. Epic asks court to block Apple’s ‘retaliation’ as Fortnite, Unreal Engine face consequences 
77. Epic offers discount to Fortnite players on mobile, but only if they dodge platform fees
78. Apple, Google pull Fortnite from App Store over Epic’s new in-app payment option 
79. Fortnite removed from App Store after it dodges Apple’s rule on direct payments: Epic Games has filed a legal complaint against Apple, taking the fight over the 30% cut to US courts 
80. Sensor Tower: Apple’s removal of Fortnite cuts off $1.2b in player spending – Data firm’s estimates show huge disparity in monthly spending between iOS and Android versions of Epic’s game 
81. Epic Games Deploys Viral #FreeFortnite Campaign As It Sues Apple, Google For Removing Game From App Stores
82. Epic, Creator of Fortnite, sues Apple and Google Over App Store Altercation 
83. Florida landmark Coral Castle suing Epic Games: Company behind the tourist attraction demands damages and removal of in-game castle 
84. Fortnite has also been kicked off of Google Play: And, as with Apple, Epic Games is now also suing Google for anti-competitive practices 
85. Epic Games is now also suing Google over ‘anti-competitive’ Android policies
86. Epic’s battle for “open platforms” ignores consoles’ massive closed market
87. Ex-Rocksteady writer asks for name to be left off Suicide Squad credits: Senior scriptwriter says she wrote the original 2018 letter alerting management to sexual harassment problems and was pushed out for it 
88. Gree is suing Supercell for patent infringement in Clash Royale and Brawl Stars 
89. Infernal Technology and Terminal Reality Sue Ubisoft, Epic Games, Take-Two, Sony, Crytek, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, and Electronic Arts for Patent Infringement
90. Valve forbids developers to promote other platforms on Steam: Valve clarified that the new language on the FAQ was just a “reminder of existing rules for developers exploring the boundaries of the existing policies”
91. How EA turned The Sims into a reality TV show: During GamesIndustry.biz digital conference Changing Channels, EA talked about how to evolve a brand into a concept for another medium 
92. Licensing lessons from Hello Neighbor’s success: During GamesIndustry.biz’s Changing Channels, Alex Nichiporchik gave pieces of advice and words of warning for developers tempted by a licensing adventure 
93. Investment platform pays record $140,000 for sealed Super Mario Bros.
94. U.S. Patent no. 9,526,995: Video game recording and playback with visual display of game controller manipulation

Jon