Yearly Archives: 2015

On October 16, the Second Circuit issued its decision in Authors Guild v. Google, affirming Google’s fair use defense against Authors Guild’s claim of copyright infringement of the Google Books search engine. Background This is the latest chapter in a longstanding legal battle between the authors’ advocacy organization, Authors Guild, and ...

In eDekka LLC v. 3Balls.com Inc., Eastern District of Texas Judge Rodney Gilstrap ruled against plaintiff eDekka’s patent infringement claims and invalidated the patent in question. This jurisdiction has been considered friendly toward so-called patent trolls, and Judge Rodney’s opinion may indicate tougher scrutiny going forward for overly broad patents. ...

BTLJ is proud to announce the winners of the 2015 Student Writing Competition.

Introduction When you file a trademark application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), the website openly warns you that “The trademark registration process is a legal proceeding that may be complex . . . Therefore, you should consider hiring an attorney before starting the process.” So it ...

How should digital evidence be presented to juries? Should emoticons and other symbols be translated into words and read aloud by prosecutors and defense attorneys? As their popularity has grown with the advent of apps, such as Emoji, emoticons, have been figuring into litigation more and more frequently over the ...

On March 12, 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) released its order captioned In re Protecting and Promoting the Open Internet, (“Open Internet Order”). This order, one of the most important in the history of the Internet in the United States, reclassifies broadband Internet access services from an “information service” ...

In re Pandora is the most recent battle between Performing Rights Organizations (“PROs”) and an internet radio service to set rates for public performance rights. Pandora is one of the most popular internet radio streaming services in the U.S. Like any radio station, Pandora needs copyright licenses in order to ...

Commentators and historians have long recorded the regrettable moments of high-profiled individuals. However, it was not until recently that this kind of record was possible for the everyday person. Two attributes of Internet data made this possible: its permanence and its accessibility. In contrast with the limited distribution and narrow ...

Interim CEO of Reddit Ellen Pao is nearing the end of her four-week trial on the gender discrimination claims she brought against her former employer, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. The trial highlights the gender imbalance and dearth of women in leadership positions in the tech industry. Pao’s claims In ...

The starting point for this story dates back to 1995. A security guard and an amateur artist named Fredrick Bouchat created the “Flying B logo” for the Ravens football team (“Logo”). He sent the proposed Logo, asking only for a letter of recognition and an autographed helmet. The Ravens ended ...