21
/ July
2011
News, Views and Muse
Protecting the value of IP is not a strategy reserved for headliner tech companies
Clearly Candace Nelson is a master of promotion. The California company she founded, Sprinkles Cupcakes, Inc., has been featured on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The Martha Stewart Show,” and “Entertainment Tonight,” and she is one of the judges on the “Cupcake Wars” reality television show.It’s no surprise that such an investment in brand will be coupled with a willingness to defend it, and now Sprinkles has sued Pink Sprinkles LLC for infringement in federal court in New Haven, Connecticut, claiming to be harmed by the Connecticut baker’s name and Internet domain name. Sprinkles is asking for an injunction barring the use of “Pink Sprinkles,” transfer of ownership of Pink Sprinkles’ domain name, damages, costs, and destruction of infringing products and marketing collateral.
Trial on Verizon’s alleged VOD infringement begins
Opening arguments began in Norfolk, VA, in the video-on-demand infringement suit brought by ActiveVideo (and inventor Leo Hoarty) against Verizon. ActiveVideo is seeking $200M in damages.Spain and Italy file nearly identical challenges to the EU unitary patent movement
In March the European Parliament and Council decided to create (or at least to keep moving towards the creation of) a unitary patent for the EU. Theoretically, the EU patent will make patents granted in one country valid in all participating EU member states, cutting the cost of patent protection.On July 5, the governments of Spain and Italy filed nearly identical complaints with the European Court of Justice calling for the annulment the March decision, essentially saying the EU does not have the competence to pull it off.