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July 24 (Reuters) - Billionaire Elon Musk's decision to rebrand Twitter as X could be complicated legally: companies including Meta (META.O) and Microsoft (MSFT.O) already have intellectual property rights to the same letter. X is so widely used and cited in trademarks that it is a candidate for legal challenges - and the company formerly known as Twitter could face its own issues defending its X brand in the future. Microsoft since 2003 has owned an X trademark related to communications about its Xbox video-game system. Meta and Microsoft likely would not sue unless they feel threatened that Twitter's X encroaches on brand equity they built in the letter, Gerben said. Insider reported earlier that Meta had an X trademark, and lawyer Ed Timberlake tweeted that Microsoft had one as well.

Persons: Elon, Josh Gerben, Gerben, Meta, Douglas Masters, Loeb, Ed Timberlake, Blake Brittain, Sheila Dang, Peter Henderson, Sonali Paul Organizations: Twitter, Meta, Microsoft, Facebook, Thomson Locations: Washington

July 24 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) violated a software developer's patent rights with its remote-streaming technology and must pay $338.7 million in damages, a federal jury in Waco, Texas decided on Friday. The jury found that Google's Chromecast and other devices infringe patents owned by Touchstream Technologies related to streaming videos from one screen to another, a court representative said on Monday. According to the complaint, Google met with Touchstream about its technology in December 2011 but said it was not interested two months later. Touchstream said that Google's Chromecast copied its innovations and infringed three of its patents. It also said its patents were infringed by Google's Home and Nest smart speakers and third-party televisions and speakers with Chromecast capabilities.

Persons: Jose Castaneda, Touchstream, David Strober, Blake Brittain, David Bario, Grant McCool Organizations: Google, Touchstream Technologies, New, Google's, Comcast, Thomson Locations: Waco , Texas, New York, Altice, Texas, Washington

July 18 (Reuters) - Yum Brands' (YUM.N) Taco Bell prevailed on Tuesday in its self-described bid to "liberate" the phrase "Taco Tuesday," as competing fast-food chain Taco John's told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) it would abandon its federal "Taco Tuesday" trademark. Taco Bell had asked the USPTO in May to cancel the trademark, calling it a common phrase that Taco John's had monopolized unfairly in the restaurant industry. Representatives for Taco Bell did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Tuesday filing. A separate Taco Bell challenge to that trademark is still pending. Taco John's told the USPTO last month that Taco Bell was only seeking to sell more tacos, and that its mark did not prohibit anyone "from advertising and selling tacos on Tuesday."

Persons: Taco Bell, John's, Taco John, Jim Creel, Taco John's, Gregory Gregory, Taco, Blake Brittain, David Bario, David Holmes Organizations: Brands, U.S . Patent, Office, Yum Brands, Taco, Gregory's, Bell, Reuters, Taco Bell, USPTO, Thomson Locations: Taco, Cheyenne , Wyoming, U.S, New Jersey, Somers Point, Washington ,

Tesla CEO Elon Musk pledged in 2014 not to "initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology." The company says the legal action comes in response to a lawsuit that Cap-XX originally filed against Tesla subsidiary Maxwell Technologies in 2019 for patent infringement. Like Cap-XX, Maxwell makes capacitors for electric vehicles that increase their energy-storage capabilities. The patents that Cap-XX allegedly infringed relate to electrodes used in supercapacitors, which Tesla called the "primary source of the device's power capabilities." Tesla said the electrodes used in Cap-XX's supercapacitors work in the same way as Maxwell's patented technology.

Persons: Elon Musk, Maxwell, Tesla, Blake Brittain, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Australian, Tesla, Maxwell Technologies, Eastern, Eastern District of Texas, Thomson Locations: Texas, U.S, Eastern District, supercapacitors, Delaware, Washington

The producers and a licensing company co-owned by L.M. Montgomery wrote "Anne of Green Gables," about the title character's childhood in a fictional town on Prince Edward Island, in 1908. New York-based Anne With An E LLC produces "Anne of Green Gables: A New Musical." The licensing company countersued the producers for trademark infringement in May and said the new musical would confuse consumers. The case is Anne With An E LLC v. Anne of Green Gables Licensing Authority Inc, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No.

Persons: Producers, Anne, Montgomery's, Prince Edward Island, Montgomery, Anne of, Cameron Reuber, Peter Sloane, Leason Ellis, Marc Rachman, Davis, Gilbert Read, Anne of Green, author's, Blake Brittain Organizations: Gables, L.M, Green, Broadway, Authority, Southern, of, Anne of Green Gables, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, Canadian, Prince, Gables, . New York, Green Gables, Connecticut, of New York, Washington

The decision overturned a lower court's ruling that Abitron Germany GmbH was liable in the United States for trademark infringement that occurred abroad. Hetronic Germany, which was later bought by Abitron Germany GmbH, distributed its products in Europe. A jury found in favor of Hetronic and awarded more than $115 million in damages, $96 million of which was for violating federal trademark law. That $96 million was the subject of the appeal to the Supreme Court. President Joe Biden's administration told the Supreme Court that Abitron should be liable only for its acts abroad that were likely to confuse consumers in the United States.

Persons: Abitron, Hetronic, Joe Biden's, Blake Brittain, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Methode Electronics, Hetronic, Abitron, Circuit, Appeals, Thomson Locations: Abitron Germany, United States, Denver, Appeals . Oklahoma, Germany, Europe, Oklahoma, Washington

Massachusetts-based writers Paul Tremblay and Mona Awad said ChatGPT mined data copied from thousands of books without permission, infringing the authors' copyrights. Several legal challenges have been filed over material used to train cutting-edge AI systems. ChatGPT and other generative AI systems create content using large amounts of data scraped from the internet. Tremblay and Awad's lawsuit said books are a "key ingredient" because they offer the "best examples of high-quality longform writing." The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of money damages on behalf of a nationwide class of copyright owners whose works OpenAI allegedly misused.

Persons: OpenAI, Paul Tremblay, Mona Awad, Matthew Butterick, Microsoft's, ChatGPT, Tremblay, Awad, Blake Brittain, David Bario, Richard Chang Organizations: OpenAI, Microsoft Corp, Stability, Thomson Locations: San Francisco federal, . Massachusetts, Washington

Genius, formerly known as Rap Genius, maintains a vast database of song lyrics. "We license lyrics on Google Search from third parties, and we do not crawl or scrape websites to source lyrics," Castaneda added. The Genius lawsuit stated that one of the first Google posts it suspected as copying involved the lyrics for the song "Panda" by the rapper Desiigner. "I got broads in Atlanta," part of the song's lyrics read. Genius said in its appeal to the Supreme Court that the 2nd Circuit's ruling would give "behemoths like Google" a free pass to "vacuum up content and increase their internet dominance."

Persons: Alphabet's, Genius, Jose Castaneda, " Castaneda, Hittin, bando, Kendrick Lamar, Selena Gomez, Alessia Cara, Joe Biden's, Blake Brittain, Will Dunham Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Supreme, Alphabet's Google, Google, eBay, Genius, The, Circuit, Thomson Locations: New York, Atlanta, The New York, Washington

Representatives for Hermes and Rothschild did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the decision. Hermes said in a filing in March that Rothschild continued to market his NFTs after the jury's verdict. Rothschild told the court that Hermes' request went "far beyond what is appropriate in a case, like this one, that involves artistic expression." Rakoff largely granted Hermes' request, but decided not to order Rothschild to transfer the tokens out of an "abundance of caution" for 1st Amendment concerns. The case is Hermes International v. Rothschild, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No.

Persons: Hermes, Mason Rothschild's, Birkin, Jed Rakoff, Rothschild's, Rakoff, Rothschild, Sonny Estival, Gerald Ferguson, Deborah Wilcox, Oren Warshavsky, Rhett Millsaps, Christopher Sprigman, Mark McKenna, Rebecca Tushnet, Lex Lumina, Jonathan Harris, Adam Oppenheim, Harris St, Laurent, Wechsler Read, Blake Brittain Organizations: Hermes, Constitution, . Rothschild, Southern, of, Baker, Hostetler, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, U.S, . Rothschild , U.S, of New York, Washington

[1/2] Shoppers walk with Steve Madden bags as pre-Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday shopping accelerates at the King of Prussia Mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, U.S. November 22, 2019. The Steve Madden sneakers feature an "S" design that is likely to mislead consumers into thinking Skechers made or endorsed them, the lawsuit said. Representatives for Steve Madden did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Manhattan Beach, California-based Skechers asked the court to order Steve Madden to stop the alleged misuse of its trademarks and requested an unspecified amount of money damages. Skechers also sued Long Island City, New York-based Steve Madden in 2015 for allegedly infringing several design patents covering aspects of its sneakers.

Persons: Steve Madden, King, King of Prussia, Mark Makela, Skechers, Steve Madden's, Berkshire, Hermes, Steven Madden, Daniel Petrocelli, Jeffrey Barker, O'Melveny, Myers, Brooks, Hermès, Blake Brittain Organizations: REUTERS, Manhattan, Nike, Adidas, Berkshire Hathaway, Brooks Sports, Inc, Steven Madden Ltd, Central, Central District of, Thomson Locations: Prussia, King, King of Prussia , Pennsylvania, U.S, Los Angeles, Manhattan Beach , California, Long Island City , New York, Central District, Central District of California, NY, Washington

SummarySummary CompaniesCompanies Law Firms Google Play Music infringed Personal Audio playlist patents, jury saysVerdict follows California win for Sonos in Google audio patent fightJune 21(Reuters) - Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O) must pay patent holding company Personal Audio LLC $15.1 million for infringing two patents related to audio software, a Delaware federal jury said in a verdict made public on Wednesday. Personal Audio had argued that Google's music app Google Play Music featured playlist downloading, navigation and editing features that violated its patent rights. Attorneys for Personal Audio did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Beaumont, Texas-based Personal Audio had requested $33.1 million in damages, according to a May court filing. The case is Personal Audio LLC v. Google LLC, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No.

Persons: Jose Castaneda, Steve Hanle, Doug Hahn, Salil, Stradling Yocca Carlson, Melissa Baily, Jeff Nardinelli, David Perlson, Antonio Sistos, Patrick Stafford, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart, Sullivan Read, Blake Brittain Organizations: Sonos, Google, San, Google LLC, District of, Rauth, Thomson, & $ Locations: California, Delaware, Beaumont , Texas, Texas, The Delaware, San Francisco, District of Delaware, Salil Bali, Washington

Whirlpool and Cabri told a Delaware federal court they would dismiss the case with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled. Representatives for Whirlpool, Cabri and Haier Europe did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. It said Haier had hired Cabri for its own laundry division because he knew Whirlpool's trade secrets and that it would be impossible for him to work there without disclosing them. A federal judge rejected Whirlpool's bid to block Cabri's move last May, finding the Delaware court lacked jurisdiction over the trade-secret allegations. The case is Whirlpool Corp v. Cabri, U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware, No.

Persons: Davide Cabri, Cabri, Candy, Haier, Steven Zadravecz, John, Potter Anderson, Ethan Townsend, McDermott Will, Emery Read, Blake Brittain Organizations: Law, Whirlpool, Candy Hoover Group, Whirlpool Corp, District of, Jones, Thomson Locations: U.S, Italian, Delaware, Europe, Benton Harbor , Michigan, District of Delaware, Washington

Fake reviews have been a recurring problem on internet commerce sites. Google said Hu buys thousands of fake positive reviews to make the businesses appear legitimate. He then allegedly sells the profiles as "leads" to real businesses in the same fields, which receive contacts from potential customers who reach out to the fake businesses. Google said Hu created more than 350 false profiles bolstered by over 14,000 illegitimate reviews. The lawsuit accused Hu of false advertising, unlawful business practices and violating Google's terms of service.

Persons: Ethan QiQi Hu, Hu, Cooley, Blake Brittain Organizations: Google, Northern, Northern District of, Thomson Locations: Los Angeles, San Jose , California, Hu, U.S, Northern District, Northern District of California, Washington

June 14 (Reuters) - A group of 17 music publishers sued Twitter in Nashville, Tennessee, federal court on Wednesday, accusing the company of enabling thousands of copyright violations by allowing users to post music without a license. Twitter drives user engagement with "countless infringing copies of musical compositions," the lawsuit said. Members of the National Music Publishers' Association, including Sony Music Publishing (6758.T), BMG Rights Management and Universal Music Publishing Group (UMG.AS), are seeking more than $250 million in damages for alleged infringement of nearly 1,700 copyrights. Twitter "routinely ignores" repeat infringement by users who post tweets that contain unlicensed music, the lawsuit said. The publishers said Twitter encourages user infringement, which increases engagement and ad revenues while giving it an "unfair advantage" over platforms that pay for music licenses.

Persons: Elon Musk, David Israelite, Musk, Blake Brittain, David Bario, Richard Chang Organizations: Twitter, National Music Publishers ' Association, Sony Music Publishing, BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing, Elon, Facebook, YouTube, Thomson Locations: Nashville , Tennessee, Washington

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board invalidated the computer chip-related patent after canceling another VLSI patent that accounted for the remainder of the Texas federal court verdict last month. A jury ruled for Intel in 2021 in another Texas patent case in which VLSI had sought $3.1 billion in damages. The patent board proceeding decided on Tuesday was initiated by South Dakota-based Patent Quality Assurance LLC. An attorney for Patent Quality Assurance did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The case is Patent Quality Assurance LLC v. VLSI Technology LLC, Patent Trial and Appeal Board, No.

Persons: Kathi Vidal, OpenSky, Benjamin Fernandez, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale, Dorr, Bruce Slayden, Slayden Grubert, Babak, Kenneth Weatherwax, Weatherwax Read, Blake Brittain Organizations: Intel, USPTO, U.S . Patent, Intel Corp, VLSI Technology, U.S ., Appeals, Federal Circuit, SoftBank Group Corp, Fortress Investment Group, Assurance, OpenSky Industries, Lowenstein, Tech, Thomson Locations: Texas, Delaware, Northern California, South Dakota, Washington

A trial in the copyright infringement case had been set to begin on Monday. YouTube and Schneider agreed to end the case with prejudice, which means it cannot be refiled. YouTube denied the allegations and said it goes "above and beyond" to protect copyrights. In a win for YouTube, U.S. District Judge James Donato last month refused to certify the lawsuit as a class action. The case is Schneider v. YouTube LLC, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No.

Persons: Maria Schneider, Schneider's, Schneider, District Judge James Donato, Joshua Schiller, Philip Korologos, Boies Schiller, George Zelcs, Stephen Tillery, David Kramer, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich, Rosati Read, Blake Brittain Organizations: YouTube, Schneider's San, District, Northern, Northern District of, Thomson Locations: Schneider's San Francisco, infringers, U.S, Northern District, Northern District of California, Washington

The decision is likely to force companies to toe a more careful line when making commercial products that mimic other brands for the sake of parody, legal experts said. The Rogers test is "not appropriate when the accused infringer has used a trademark to designate the source of its own goods - in other words, has used a trademark as a trademark," Justice Elena Kagan wrote. Other experts said the decision leaves space for the First Amendment to apply to parody products. "The likelihood of confusion analysis will still take the challenged product's funny message into account," Brannen said. (This story has been refiled to change dateline to June 12)Reporting by Blake Brittain in WashingtonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Brown, Forman, Jack Daniel's, Rogers, infringer, Elena Kagan, Kagan, Megan Bannigan, Plimpton, Bannigan, VIP, Doug Masters, Loeb & Loeb, Masters, Alexandra Roberts, Roberts, Elizabeth Brannen, Maher, Brannen, Blake Brittain Organizations: U.S, Supreme Court, Constitution, VIP Products, MCA Records, Mattel, Debevoise, Loeb &, Northeastern University, Stris, Thomson Locations: Danish, Washington

U.S. District Judge Sunshine Sykes said Artikal Sound System failed to argue that the writers of "Levitating" ever had access to the group's 2017 song "Live Your Life." Sykes gave the group an opportunity to file a new complaint. Representatives for Lipa and Artikal Sound System did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Sykes on Monday agreed with Lipa that Artikal Sound System's complaint failed to show that the defendants could have encountered its song before writing "Levitating." Sykes said this was not enough to demonstrate the song was widely disseminated enough that the "Levitating" songwriters could have heard and copied it.

Persons: Florion, Lipa's, Sunshine Sykes, Sykes, Sandy Linzer, Russell Brown, Don Diablo, Blake Brittain, Richard Chang Organizations: Singer Dua, Skanderbeg, REUTERS, Dua Lipa, Warner Records, U.S, District, Thomson Locations: Tirana, Albania, British, Los Angeles, Florida, New York, Lipa, Washington

SummarySummary CompaniesCompanies Law Firms Realtek said MediaTek used patent lawsuits to stifle businessAccused chipmaking rival of antitrust violationsJune 6 (Reuters) - Realtek Semiconductor Corp (2379.TW) sued rival Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek Inc (2454.TW) in Northern California federal court on Tuesday, claiming MediaTek paid a company that sues over patents a "secret litigation bounty" to file meritless lawsuits in the United States to disrupt its business. Realtek said MediaTek signed a patent licensing agreement with IPValue subsidiary Future Link Systems LLC in 2019 that included the secret "bounty" agreement. Realtek said Future Link has kept details of the agreement "buried under confidentiality obligations and protective orders." Future Link settled several other patent cases against tech companies including MediaTek competitor Amlogic soon after the ITC criticized it, Realtek said. The case is Realtek Semiconductor Corp v. MediaTek Inc, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No.

Persons: Realtek, MediaTek, IPValue, Amlogic, Rudy Kim, Michael Murray, Nafeesah, Paul Hastings, Steven Baik, Blake Brittain Organizations: Realtek Semiconductor Corp, MediaTek, IPValue Management Inc, Link Systems, U.S . International Trade Commission, ITC, MediaTek Inc, Northern, Northern District of, White, Thomson Locations: Northern California, United States, West Texas, Northern District, Northern District of California, Washington

FollowWASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether a California attorney's federal trademark for the phrase "Trump Too Small" - a cheeky criticism of former President Donald Trump - should have been granted. Elster applied for the "Trump Too Small" trademark in 2018 to use on shirts. Trump and Rubio, a senator from Florida, were rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination - a prize eventually won by the businessman-turned-politician. "And you know what they say about guys with small hands," Rubio said as the audience laughed. Are they small hands?

Persons: Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, Chris Keane, Steve Elster's, Elster, Trump, Rubio's, Timothy Dyk, Dyk, Rubio, denigrate Rubio, Marco, " Rubio, I've, Bret Baier, Joe Biden's, Erik Brunetti's, Blake Brittain, Andrew Chung, Will Dunham Organizations: Republican U.S, Fox Business Network Republican, REUTERS, Finance, U.S, Supreme, U.S . Trademark, Trump, Appeals, Federal Circuit, White, Fox News, Joe Biden's Justice Department, Thomson Locations: North Charleston , South Carolina, WASHINGTON, California, Florida, Virginia, Washington, New York

Sonos last year won a limited import ban on some Google devices from the ITC, which Google has appealed. Google has countered with its own patent lawsuits in California and at the ITC, accusing Sonos of incorporating the tech company's technology into its smart speakers. The jury found Google infringed one of Sonos' two patents at issue in the trial. A Google spokesperson said on Friday the case was a "narrow dispute about some very specific features that are not commonly used," and that the company was considering its next steps. A Sonos spokesperson said the verdict "re-affirms that Google is a serial infringer of our patent portfolio."

The justices upheld a lower court's ruling that Warhol's works based on Goldsmith's 1981 photo were not immune from her copyright infringement lawsuit. Warhol, who died in 1987, was a foremost participant in the pop art movement that germinated in the 1950s. At issue in the litigation involving Goldsmith was Warhol's "Orange Prince" series. She countersued the Andy Warhol Foundation in 2017 after it asked a court to find that the works did not violate her copyright. Under that standard, the circuit court said Warhol's paintings were closer to adapting Goldsmith's photo in a different medium than transforming it.

Companies Warner Music Group Corp FollowMay 16 (Reuters) - British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran on Tuesday defeated a second copyright lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan over similarities between his hit "Thinking Out Loud" and Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." Stanton presided over both cases, which concerned co-writer Ed Townsend's share of Gaye's 1973 classic. Townsend's heirs failed to convince jurors that Sheeran infringed their part of Townsend's copyright in the song. It sued Sheeran, his label Warner Music Group (WMG.O) and his music publisher Sony Music Publishing in 2018 after Townsend's heirs filed their lawsuit. Structured Asset Sales has filed another lawsuit against Sheeran based on its rights to Gaye's recording, which is still pending.

Trademark Office to cancel two smaller rivals' "Taco Tuesday" trademarks in what the largest Mexican fast-food chain in the U.S. called a bid to "liberate the phrase for restaurants nationwide." Taco Bell's petitions said the trademarks, owned by Gregory's Restaurant & Bar in New Jersey and Wyoming-based Taco John's in the rest of the country, wrongly monopolize the use of the phrase in the restaurant industry. "Nobody should have exclusive rights in a common phrase," the petitions said. Representatives for Taco John's, whose "Taco Tuesday" trademark registration dates to 1989, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the petitions. The office last year cited similar reasons for rejecting a brewery's bid for a federal "Taco Tuesday" mark covering beer.

Circuit Court of Appeals said Corellium lawfully recreated Apple's system under the U.S. copyright doctrine of fair use, furthering scientific progress by aiding important security research. Apple sued Corellium for copyright infringement in South Florida federal court in 2019. Apple unsuccessfully tried to buy Corellium for nearly $23 million before filing the lawsuit, the appeals court said. The appeals court rejected Apple's arguments that Corellium simply repackaged iOS in a different format for profit, harming Apple's market for its operating system and its security-research programs. Corellium "opened the door for deeper security research into operating systems like iOS," the circuit court said.

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