Gibbons Law Alert

Gibbons Law Alert

Tagged: Inc.

Facebook Sued Over “Like” Button and Other Features

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Posted in Patent

On February 20, 2013

Facebook, and its “Like” button, seem to be ubiquitous. Well, last week, Facebook and social bookmarking service, AddThis, were sued in the Eastern District of Virginia for willful infringement of two patents, U.S. Patent Nos. 6,415,316 and 6,289,362. These patents were filed by a Norwegian computer programmer, Joannes Jozef Everardus Van Der Meer, in the late 1990s. The ‘316 patent is directed to enabling a user to create a “personal diary,” which the complaint states “today would be called ‘social media.'” The ‘362 patent discloses techniques for automatic transfer “of third-party content from a content-provider’s website to the user’s personal diary page.” The complaint alleges that Facebook’s “Like” button and other features infringe the ‘316 and ‘362 patents.

Is Lear Still King?

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Posted in Patent

On November 13, 2012

In a recent decision, the Second Circuit crowned Lear, Inc. v. Adkins, 395 U.S. 653 (1969), but a petition to the Supreme Court has the possibility of dethroning this ruling and Lear. In Lear, the Court held that a licensee could challenge the validity of patents despite an agreement to the contrary. Contract law, the Court noted, must yield to the public’s interest in ensuring monopolies do not go unchecked. Lear, Inc., 395 U.S. at 670-71. Since that decision, courts have taken varied approaches to Lear. See, e.g., Licensee Patent Validity Challenges Following MedImmune: Implications for Patent Licensing,. 3 HASTINGS SCI. & TECH. L.J. 243-439 (2011).

Farouk Systems Wins $300 Million Damages Award Against On-Line Chinese Counterfeiting Ring

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Posted in E-Commerce / Trademarks

On October 25, 2010

On October 14, 2010, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted what is reportedly the largest judgment ever awarded in an action involving on-line counterfeiting. In Farouk Systems, Inc. v. Eyou Int’l Trading Co., Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt entered a default judgment and permanent injunction against more than seventy defendants, who were operating an Internet counterfeiting ring out of China. The judgment required that each of the defendants pay Farouk statutory damages of $4 million, resulting in an award of approximately $300 million. In addition to being significant because of the amount of the damages awarded, this decision is noteworthy for the pragmatic approach that the court took to ensure that the relief awarded to the plaintiff would be meaningful.

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