Apple-Samsung, Google, Georgia-Pacific, Disney: Intellectual Property

Apple Inc. (AAPL)?s patent complaint that
seeks to block imports of Samsung Electronics Co.?s Galaxy S
mobile phone and Galaxy Tab computer will be reviewed by the
U.S. International Trade Commission.

The ITC, a quasi-judicial agency in Washington that
arbitrates trade disputes, said in a notice yesterday it
instituted the investigation. The commission, which typically
takes 15 to 18 months to complete the review, has the power to
block imports of products that infringe U.S. patents.

Apple and Samsung have each lodged patent-infringement
cases against each other in the U.S., Europe, Asia and
Australia. The ITC last week said it would investigate a
complaint Suwon, South Korea-based Samsung filed to block
imports of Cupertino, California-based Apple?s iPhone and iPad.

Apple, which has accused competitors of ?widespread
imitation,? has taken particular aim at Samsung, which had been
a supplier of chips for some Apple devices. Apple contends that
the Galaxy phone and tablet ?slavishly? copy the iPhone and
iPad.

The new case is In the Matter of Certain Electronic Digital
Media Devices, 337-796, and Samsung?s case is In the Matter of
Mobile Electronic Devices, including Wireless Communication
Devices, Portable Music and Data Processing Devices, and Tablet
Computer, 337-794, both U.S. International Trade Commission
(Washington.)

Google Loses Bid to Seal Records in Patent Case With Oracle

Google Inc., the world?s largest Internet search company,
lost a bid to seal papers in a patent-infringement lawsuit filed
last year by a unit of software maker Oracle Corp. (ORCL)

Claiming attorney-client privilege, Google sought to
protect parts of a transcript of a hearing about expert
witnesses containing references to a company document, U.S.
District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco said in an order
Aug. 1.

The document is ?an incomplete draft of an e-mail
message? and ?never was sent to anyone,? Alsup wrote in
denying Mountain View, California-based Google?s request.
?Thus, the document is not a communication of any type, much
less a communication protected by the attorney-client
privilege.?

Oracle America Inc., based in Redwood City, California,
sued Google, alleging patent infringement over the use of Java
technology in Google?s Android operating system in an Oct. 27
amended complaint.

Alsup wrote in a July 22 filing that the passage in
question was from an internal e-mail in 2010 to Google executive
Andy Rubin saying ?the technical alternatives to using Java for
Android ?all suck? and stating, ?we conclude that we need to
negotiate a license for Java under the terms we need.??

?We aren?t commenting on this,? Katelin Todhunter-
Gerberg, a Google spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed message.

The case is Oracle America Inc. v. Google Inc. (GOOG), 3:10-cv-
03561, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California (San
Francisco).

For more patent news, click here.

Trademark

Georgia-Pacific Loses Appeal in Toilet Paper Trademark Case

Koch Industries Inc.?s Georgia-Pacific unit lost its appeal
of a lower court?s trademark decision involving a pattern used
on its toilet paper.

Georgia-Pacific sued Kimberly-Clark Corp. in federal court
in Chicago in April 2009, accusing the Dallas-based company of
infringing trademarks associated with a quilted diamond design
it used on its Quilted Northern toilet paper.

The Atlanta-based Koch unit objected to the design
Kimberly-Clark was using on its Cottonelle Ultra and Scott
Kimberly-Clark Professional brands of toilet paper.

A trial court judge agreed with Kimberly-Clark that the
design was functional and therefore not eligible for protection
as a trademark. Georgia-Pacific then filed its appeal to a
Chicago-based federal appeals court.

In an opinion released by the court July 28, a three-judge
panel affirmed the lower court ruling. Senior Judge Terrence
Thomas Evans noted in the decision that 675,000 pages of
documents were produced in connection with the case and more
than a dozen witnesses were deposed.

?That?s quite a record considering, again, that this case
is about toilet paper,? Evans said in the ruling.

?Who really pays attention to the design on a roll of
toilet paper?? Evans wrote. ?The parties are quick to inform us
that in a $4 billion industry, designs are very important.
Market share and significant profits are at stake.?

The appeals court found that Kimberly-Clark ?produced
strong evidence of functionality, and Georgia-Pacific has failed
to prove that the design is incidental.?

The court also rejected Georgia-Pacific?s contention that
the depiction of the quilted design on the Kimberly-Clark toilet
paper?s packaging infringed. Because the design is functional
and not protectable under trademark law, the court said the
accurate depiction of that design also isn?t capable of
infringement.

The lower court case is Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products
LP v. Kimberly-Clark Corp. (KMB), 1:09-cv-02263, U.S. District Court,
Northern District of Illinois (Chicago).

The appeals court case is Georgia-Pacific Consumer Products
LP v. Kimberly-Clark Corp., 10-3519, 7th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals (Chicago).

Valio Takes on Olvi, Pouttu in Finnish Trademark Disputes

Valio Finnish Co., Finland?s largest dairy, is suing two
companies over the right to use the Finnish words ?olo?
(feeling) and ?onni? (happiness), the Helsingin Sanomat
newspaper reported.

Targets of the suits set to be tried next year are Olvi
Oyj (OLVAS), a beverage producer, and Sponsor Capital Oy?s Pouttu unit,
a meat processor, according to Helsingin Sanomat.

Valio is arguing to the Helsinki District Court that Olvi
hasn?t used its ?Raikas Kevyt Olo? (fresh light feeling) brand
for five years, so the mark should be unlisted, the newspaper
reported.

The dairy made a similar argument with respect to Pouttu?s
Onni trademark, according to the newspaper.

For more trademark news, click here.

Copyright

Abdul-Jabbar?s Film Company Settles Suit with Black Fives

A film company headed by basketball player Kareem Abdul-
Jabbar settled a copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by a
Connecticut company that promotes the history of African-
American participation in basketball, according to a court
filing.

Black Fives Inc., of Greenwich, Connecticut, sued Union
Productions LLC in federal court in Manhattan in March, alleging
the film company infringed its copyright and trademarks. The
suit was occasioned by the release of ?On the Shoulders of
Giants,? a film celebrating the Harlem Renaissance basketball
team.

Union Products was accused of unauthorized use of a photo
of the late John Isaacs, a member of the Renaissance team. The
complaint also alleged that the film infringed trademarks
associated with the team ? also known as the ?Rens? ? and
registered to Black Fives.

In addition to orders seeking the recall and destruction
of all infringing products and promotional materials, Black
Fives had asked the court for awards of money damages,
litigation costs and attorney fees. No terms of the settlement
were disclosed in July 28 court filing ending the case.

Black Fives was represented by Kimberly N. Reddick of
Gibbons PC of Newark, New Jersey. No counsel is listed in the
court file for Long Beach, California-based Union Productions.

The case is Black Fives Inc., v. Union Productions LLC,
1:11-cv-02148-DAB, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New
York (Manhattan).

Disney Wins Dismissal of ?Cars? Copyright-Infringement Suit

The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) persuaded a federal judge in Los
Angeles to throw out a copyright-infringement lawsuit aimed at
its ?Cars? and ?Cars 2? animated films.

British writer Jake Mandeville-Anthony sued Disney in
March, claiming his copyrights for ?Cookie Co.? and
?Cars/Auto Excess/Cars Chaos? were infringed. His works were
based on the true-life adventures of Michael Owen Perkins and
Brian Mullineaux, who won the 1988 London to Sydney Vintage Car
Endurance Rally, Mandeville-Anthony said in his complaint.

In a July 27 order, U.S. District Judge Valerie Baker
Fairbank dismissed the case. She determined that Disney showed
that the protectable elements of plot, sequence of events, pace,
characters, theme, mood and setting ?are not substantially
similar as a matter of law? to Mandeville-Anthony?s.

Mandeville-Anthony was represented by Nicholas Allen Kurtz
of Leesburg, Virginia?s Dunlap Grubb Weaver PLLC. Disney was
represented by in-house counsel Alexander A. Myers and David R.
Singer, and Sanford M. Litvack of Washington?s Hogan Lovells US
LLP. Litvack is Disney?s former general counsel.

The case is Jake Mandeville-Anthony v. The Walt Disney Co.,
2:11-sv-02137-VBF-JEM, U.S. District Court, Central District of
California (Los Angeles).

For more copyright news, click here.

IP Moves

Baker Donelson Hires Bayer CropScience?s Top Patent Counsel

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell Berkotitz PC hired
Richard E.L. Henderson for its intellectual-property practice
group, the Memphis, Tennessee-based firm said in a statement.

Henderson joins from Bayer AG (BAYN)?s Bayer CropScience unit,
where he was senior patent counsel and head of the patent group.
He has also served as patent counsel for Bayer?s Industrial
Chemicals Division. Before that, he was a patent attorney at
Merck Co.

He does patent and trademark acquisition and IP-related
transactional work.

He has an undergraduate degree from the University of North
Carolina, a doctorate in organic chemistry from the University
of Illinois and a law degree from the Chicago-Kent College of
Law.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Victoria Slind-Flor in Oakland, California, at vslindflor@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net.

Article source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-03/apple-samsung-google-georgia-pacific-disney-intellectual-property.html

Source: http://lawyerintellectualproperty.com/apple-samsung-google-georgia-pacific-disney-intellectual-property-2/

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