In two separate judicial decisions issued within the past month, plaintiffs suing AR/VR developers failed to get the relief they were looking for. While every case rises and falls based on its own facts, these examples are instructive of the type of litigation that AR/VR companies are actively facing right now, and for which others […]
Learn from WNJ Partner Brian Wassom about the amazing potential of augmented / virtual / mixed reality technologies, and the intellectual property concerns and opportunities that come along with them.
The WNJ Emerging Media & Technologies Industry Group has been advising AR/VR companies for years, and knows this industry like few others. Have questions? Give us a call!
I’ve written at length about the potential for customer confusion arising from the association of digital advertisements with physical billboards and other commercial properties via augmented reality. It occurs to me, though, that the Pokemon Go phenomenon that began in July 2016 planted the seeds of a similar issue, albeit in a slightly different form […]
Being the father of a five-year-old son, my first order of business last weekend was to see the new Lego Batman Movie. (Confession: I would have gone anyway.) Also because of the aforementioned son, I’ve seen every trailer for this film that’s been released over the past year. So I noticed when lines of dialogue […]
Good news: the newest nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court gets copyright law, including how it does–and doesn’t–apply to emerging forms of digital media. The 10th Circuit’s 2008 decision in Meshwerks v Toyota Motor Sales USA, Inc.–which Judge Neil Gorsuch wrote–is one I’ve cited in this blog several times. Of course, it’s one that comes to mind […]
Every company whose website or other online service contains any third-party content needs to be aware of a new regulation issued by the U.S. Copyright Office. The new rule, which takes effect December 1, 2016, alters the hoops through which website owners and other internet service providers must jump in order to avoid being held […]
If you’ve been tuned at all to developments in the science fiction or intellectual property fields, you know that Paramount Pictures and CBS have been pursuing copyright infringement litigation against the producers of a Star Trek fan-fiction movie called Axanar. The fan/producers published the 20-minute teaser Prelude to Axanar on YouTube in August 2014 (which as of […]
Today the U.S. Supreme Court issued its unanimous opinion in the Kirtsaeng case, concerning the standards that govern the award of attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party as an element of “costs” under the Copyright Act. The statute itself does not give guidance on when fees should be awarded. Prior Supreme Court case law was […]
In the unlikely event that any West Coast celebrities out there had been considering a move to Minnesota, an article published today on WealthManagement.com will give them pause. It makes the insightful observation that the late artist Prince’s decision to remain domiciled in his home state may have cost his heirs (whoever they turn out to be) the […]
This afternoon I presented to the Michigan IP Law Association on “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Recent Developments in Right of Publicity Law.” Just over 30 minutes long, this speech gives a concise summary of what the Right of Publicity is, and how case law interpreting it has developed over the past few […]