By: Zach Schroeder
The U.S. Supreme Court held the Copyright Act’s three-year statute of limitations does not equate to a three-year limit on damages when plaintiffs bring claims under the Act using the discovery rule doctrine. In doing so, the
SWIPLit Blog
The SWIPLit Blog, published by Snell & Wilmer, covers a broad range of legal topics with a focus on intellectual property law, including copyright and trademark issues. It discusses recent court decisions and legal developments affecting copyright damages, personal jurisdiction in trademark disputes, and the evolving role of artificial intelligence in copyright law. The blog also addresses litigation strategies, statutory interpretation, and the intersection of First Amendment rights with trademark law. It serves as a resource for updates on federal and state legal matters, regulatory compliance, and emerging legal challenges in technology and business contexts.
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Supreme Court Asked to Clarify Activities that Give Rise to Specific Personal Jurisdiction
In Impossible X LLC v. Impossible Foods Inc., Impossible Foods recently filed an opposition to Impossible X’s petition for certiorari, which asks the Supreme Court to decide (1) whether some disputes should require so-called “rough causality” before finding…
D.C. Circuit to Opine on Whether AI May Be Author of Copyrightable Work in Thaler v. Perlmutter
The D.C. Circuit is set to decide whether a work generated “autonomously” by an artificial intelligence (“AI”) computer system was properly denied copyright registration by the United States Copyright Office. The work at issue, titled “A Recent Entrance to Paradise,”…
Jack Daniels’ Limitation of the Rogers Shield Prompts the Ninth Circuit to Reverse Itself
In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Jack Daniels Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, 599 U.S. 140 (2023), the Ninth Circuit reversed its earlier decision affirming that a publication called Punchbowl News did not infringe a trademark…
U.S. Supreme Court Grants Certiorari to Decide Damages Period Under Copyright Act
The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted certiorari to consider whether a copyright plaintiff’s timely claim under the discovery rule is subject to retrospective relief for infringement occurring more than three years before the suit was filed.
Musician Sherman Nealy and…
Supreme Court Holds International Use Not Trademark Infringement
By: Bailey Hopkins* and David G. Barker
The Supreme Court recently held Abitron Austria GmbH not liable for using Hetronic International, Inc.’s trademarks outside of the United States. Reversing the Tenth Circuit and resolving a circuit split, the Court held that…
Ninth Circuit Concludes Direct Copying Can Be Evidence of “Secondary Meaning” for Trade Dress Infringement
By Tbruyere
By: Zach Schroeder and Courtney Moore*
The Ninth Circuit recently upheld a district court’s decision in favor of furniture designer Jason Scott Collection, Inc. (“JSC”) against Trendily Furniture, LLC, Trendily Home Collection, and Raul Malhotra (collectively, “Trendily”) finding Trendily liable…
Supreme Court Unanimously Sides with Jack Daniel’s in Dog Toy Trademark Dispute
The Supreme Court issued its ruling yesterday in a trademark lawsuit between Jack Daniel’s and the seller of a dog toy resembling a bottle of Jack Daniel’s famous whiskey. In a unanimous decision, the Court reversed the Ninth Circuit and…
Supreme Court Holds Patents Must Enable Full Scope of Invention
The Supreme Court unanimously held last week in Amgen v. Sanofi that a patent’s specification must enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the full scope of the invention as defined by its claims.
Amgen sued…
Supreme Court Holds Specific Use of Warhol’s “Orange Prince” Not Fair Use
Yesterday, the Supreme Court held 7-2 that a specific use of Andy Warhol’s “Orange Prince” silk screen—based on a copyrighted photograph of Prince—was not fair use. In doing so the Court focused not solely on the “transformative use” aspect of…