Recent Articles

Ninth Circuit Upholds Customs' Right to Impose Civil Penalty on Importer of Counterfeit Hilfiger Watches Even Though Hilfiger did not make Watches at Time of Seizure

Leora Herrmann
October 31, 2008 12:23

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected a district court's ruling that U.S. Customs could not impose a civil penalty on an importer of counterfeit Tommy Hilfiger watches because Hilfiger itself did not make watches at the time of the seizure. U.S. v. Able Time, Inc., --- F.3d ----, 2008 WL...

Bush Has Signed Pro-IP Act

Leora Herrmann
October 15, 2008 01:04

President Bush signed the controversial "Pro-IP" Act into law yesterday, almost two weeks after it was first presented to him.  The Act increases statutory damage awards in civil counterfeiting cases to a maximum of $2 million for willful use of a counterfeit trademark, strengthens...

DOJ Weighs Against the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Right Act of 2008

Leora Herrmann
September 27, 2008 05:45

The Department of Justice delivered a letter to Senators Specter and Leahy this week "strongly oppos[ing]" Title I of the  Enforcement of Intellectual Property Act of 2008, S. 3325, which it describes as "not only authorizes the Attorney General to pursue civil remedies for...

EFF Sues USTR Over ACTA and FOIA

Leora Herrmann
September 27, 2008 05:36

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and Public Knowledge filed suit September 18 against the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) asserting that the USTR had failed to comply with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by withholding information regarding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade...

Judge Davis' Decision Throwing Out RIAA Jury Verdict Against Jammie Thomas

Leora Herrmann
September 27, 2008 03:57

Ruling that he had given an incorrect instruction to the jury, U.S. District Judge Michael Davis has granted Jammie Thomas' motion to vacate the $220,00 jury verdict against her in the widely-watched Kazaa file sharing case, Capitol Records Inc. v Thomas.  Click here to read Judge Davis'...

Trademark Selection and Protection Basics

Leora Herrmann
September 03, 2008 19:00

"Too often, businesses, neglect the importance of selecting and protecting 'strong' names to identify their products and services.  Not only can this oversight result in consumer confusion and lost business, but a valuable monetary asset might be lost as well."  So writes my...

Trademark Selection and Protection Basics

Leora Herrmann
September 03, 2008 19:00

"Too often, businesses, neglect the importance of selecting and protecting 'strong' names to identify their products and services.  Not only can this oversight result in consumer confusion and lost business, but a valuable monetary asset might be lost as well."  So writes my...

Update on the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement

Leora Herrmann
August 04, 2008 01:09

The United States Trade Representative spokesman, Scott Elmore, released a vague statement on August 1 addressing the continued negotiation of an Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) at the 34th G8  Summit in July 2008.  Participants in the negotiation included Australia, Canada,...

Tiffany v eBay: Summary of the Ruling Rejecting Tiffany's Contributory Infringement Suit Against eBay

Leora Herrmann
July 31, 2008 04:35

On July 14, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York rejected Tiffany’s bid to invoke the doctrine of contributory infringement to hold eBay liable for the sale of counterfeit Tiffany jewelry by eBay sellers. Tiffany, Inc. v. eBay, Inc., Case No. 04-Civ-4607 (S.D.N.Y....

Counting "Type of Goods" for Statutory Damages -- Function, not Form, Controls

Leora Herrmann
March 28, 2008 13:13

Under the statutory damage provision of the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. 1117(c), the court can award statutory damages of not less than $500 or more than $100,000 per counterfeit mark per "type of goods or services," or not more than $1,000,000 per counterfeit mark "per type of goods or...