http://blog.pattishall.com blah blah Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:56:32 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://blog.pattishall.com/2011/11/30/green-day-awarded-attorneys-fees-against-artist-after-defeating-copyright-infringement-and-unfair-competition-claims-with-fair-use-defense/#comment-1063 Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:56:32 +0000 http://blog.pattishall.com/?p=1274#comment-1063 I agree that it was a close case. Of course, fair use is never certain, so anyone who relies on it is just rolling the dice.
You would think that the courts would refrain from awarding discretionary attorney’s fees in a close case like this, especially with the high dollar amounts of attorney’s fees. Not to mention: Green Day is likely more able to pay attorney’s fees than the small artists with fair-use arguments that they sue.

]]> http://blog.pattishall.com/2010/10/18/trademark-owners-must-exercise-sufficient-control-over-the-quality-of-licensed-merchandise-or-risk-losing-rights-in-their-valuable-brands/#comment-577 Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:37:55 +0000 http://blog.pattishall.com/?p=636#comment-577 See wikipedia
Licensee estoppel was a U.S. patent law doctrine, now overturned, that a licensee under a patent would not be permitted to challenge the validity of the patent. The Supreme Court, in Lear, Inc. v. Adkins (1969), held the doctrine inconsistent with a federal policy that the invalidity of specious patents should be unmasked in order to permit full and free competition in technology ideas that belong in the public domain.

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