Michelle McCliman Law Blog

Silicon Valley exploded with the concomitant explosion of the value of
intellectual property.  In fact, Silicon Valley companies often use
their patent portfolios to use against rivals.  Sometimes this manifests
itself in a cross-license of patents, or the wrangling of a license
fee, or some other type of concession from a company's rivals.  Because
these companies realized the value of intellectual property, oftentimes a
business... Read More

It is becoming more and more common for potential employers to ask job
applicants for their social media passwords (especially Facebook
passwords) as part of the vetting process.  Employers want to get a
little more insight into the applicant before offering them a position. 
Public agencies use the information to make sure that there are no gang
connections or photos of illegal activity (especially for law
enforcement applicants).  Can... Read More

There appears to be an increasing amount of litigation over an
employee's social media account for the company.  In an earlier blog
post, I discussed the case of PhoneDog v. Noah Kravitz.  Another case
involves custody over a LinkedIn account.  Edcomm (employer) and Linda
Eagle (former employee) are suing over who owns the Ms. Eagle's LinkedIn
account.  As with the Kravitz case, the employer is arguing that the
... Read More

Employees are using their personal smartphones and tablets for work more
and more.  While this allows the employee to stay connected to work,
even during "off hours," it can cause some issues if the gadgets are not
properly secured.  Those gadgets are prime targets for hackers seeking
to access business data or confidential/trade secret information. 



So, what do employers do? Well, as of now, there is a range of ways... Read More

One would think that after the Napster ordeal, the explosion of the
internet, and the constant reminders about copyright and trademark
infringement issues with regard to the use of images and logos from
another's website, that a company like Pinterest would have been better
at anticipating the problem with having people "pin" items to their
site.¿¿ For those of you who do not know, Pinterest is an electronic
scrapbook wherein users... Read More

About two years ago, the University of Southern California asserted its
rights to use "USC" against University of South Carolina who wanted to
use the those letters on its athletic uniforms.  Southern California
prevailed and South Carolina cannot use those letters even though those
letters are the initials of the school.



Now, the University of Alabama has been in a long battle with an artist
named Daniel Moore. ... Read More

For various reasons, none of which really have to do with the quality of
the product, I am not a huge fan of Lululemon ("Lulu") wear.  I prefer
Lucy.  But, judging from the the Lulu to Lucy ratio at my gym alone, I
think Lulu is the apparel of choice.  According to a recent Wall Street
Journal article, Lulu has been growing at an exponential pace--posting
nine quarters of a 30% increase in sales over the past three years. 
... Read More

The saga continues.  True Religion jeans maker just obtained a $864
million judgment against online Chinese counterfeiters.  About 280
Chinese websites using domain names like truereligion4cheap.com, were
selling counterfeit goods and infringing on True Religions' trademarks. 
Not surprisingly, the Chinese companies did not appear in court.  As
such, the New York Federal Court issued a default judgment for the $864
million amount,... Read More

A long time ago, I wrote an article for the local Chamber of Commerce
publication discussing how Silver Oak Winery had such a strong brand
for its Cabernet that it did not want to use it for its Merlot.  The
article can be found here: 
http://www.mcclimanlawfirm.com/pdf/June.2004-ICC%20Article.pdf  

Recently,
Nissan has done something similar with its Datsun brand.  For those of
you who are old enough to remember... Read More

One of my favorite songs to spin to was a remix of Wiz Khalifa's song,
"Black and Yellow."  Now, according to a lawsuit filed by Max Gregory
Warren, the song was not Khalifa's but Warren's.  Warren claims that he
wrote a song entitled "Pink and Yellow," in November, 2007.  In
February, 2008, he obtained a copyright registration for the song. 
Warren seeks over $ 2 million in damages.



An early... Read More