Blogs
COACHELLA ASKS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT IN TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT CASE AGAINST FILMCHELLA
On August 14, 2018, Coachella asked a California federal court to grant summary judgment in its favor in a trademark infringement dispute against movie festival “Filmchella.” Coachella claims the mark “Filmchella” is confusingly similar to Coachella and that Filmchella has intentionally copied its mark without authorization for the purpose of gaining publicity. Coachella argued that…
LENNY DYKSTRA FILES FRAUD SUIT OVER DOCUMENTARY
On August 5, 2018, former MLB Mets slugger and convicted felon Lenny Dykstra filed a fraud suit in New York Supreme Court against DLP Media Group LLC (“DLP”) for allegedly cutting him out of $400,000 it recouped from Amazon after they cancelled a planned documentary on the baseball player’s life. Dykstra claimed after months of…
STUBHUB’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT GRANTED
On August 7, 2018, U.S. District Judge Stephen Wilson granted summary judgment in favor of StubHub over allegations that StubHub breached the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) when they hired three employees from a startup company who allegedly used proprietary data from their former company for apps they developed for StubHub. Judge Wilson explained that…
LATE NWA MEMBER EAZY-E’S WIFE REACHES DEAL WITH SON OVER “STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON” AND OTHER RELATED TRADEMARK
Eazy-E’s wife, Tomica Woods-Wright, has reached a deal with Eazy-E’s son, Eric Darnel Wright, over the use of “Straight Outta Compton” and other phrases relating to rap group NWA. On August 8, 2018, Eazy-E’s son agreed to stop using several marks owned by his stepmother to promote his company. These marks include “Compton Records,” “Ruthless”…
DR. DRE AND IOVINE TO PAY $5.6 MILLION IN PREJUDGMENT INTEREST
On August 16, 2018, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David S. Cunningham III ruled that Steven Lamar, an entrepreneur who won $25.25 million at trial for his contributions to Dr. Dre’s and Jimmy Iovine’s first headphones in their “Beats” line of headphones, is entitled to another $5.6 million in prejudgment interest. Judge Cunningham also noted…
JUDGE DECLINES TO DISMISS SUIT OVER KATY PERRY’S “DARK HORSE”
On August 13, 2018, a California federal judge declined to dismiss claims against Capitol Records LLC, Universal Music Group Inc., Katy Perry, and other songwriters (“defendants”), over claims they used plaintiffs’ song “Joyful Noise” when creating Katy Perry’s hit “Dark Horse.” Defendants’ attorney Christina Lepera of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP, urged Judge Snyder to…
McQUEEN HEIRS SUE FERRARI FOR $2 MILLION OVER SPECIAL EDITION MODEL
On July 30, 2018, Steve McQueen’s heirs filed a complaint in Los Angeles Superior Court against Ferrari claiming Ferrari infringed on McQueen’s trademarks by releasing a special edition “McQueen” Ferrari without their consent. Steve McQueen’s son, plaintiff Chadwick McQueen, met with Ferrari in 2011 to discuss collaborating with the luxury automaker on a special edition…
FEDERAL COURT DISMISSES FALSE ADVERTISING CLAIMS BROUGHT AGAINST CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL MEDIA, ET AL. OVER EPISODE OF TV SHOW “AMERICAN GREED”
On August 2, 2018, a Delaware federal court dismissed false advertising claims brought against CNBC LLC, NBCUniversal Media LLC, and other production companies (“Defendants”) that produced CNBC’s show “American Greed.” Efraim Diveroli (“Diveroli”), a 32-year-old former arms dealer whose company, AEY Inc. (“AEY”), was a weapons contractor for the U.S. Department of Defense. In his complaint…
CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT PUTS DE HAVILLAND CASE TO REST
On July 11, 2018, the California Supreme Court refused to revive a lawsuit filed by actress Olivia de Havilland over the FX docudrama “Feud: Bette and Joan.” De Havilland’s claims, which included the claim that FX violated her right of publicity, were dismissed by the California Court of Appeals as barred by the First Amendment….
JUDGE KEEPS DICKINSON’S CLAIMS AGAINST COSBY ALIVE
On July 11, 2018, a California judge rejected Bill Cosby’s request to dismiss Janice Dickinson’s defamation suit saying “the ‘heart’ of her allegation that Cosby falsely painted her rape allegations as lies would move forward.” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Randolph Hammock issued a 21-page ruling partially granting and partially denying Cosby’s motions to…