Trade Secrets Watch

When you think of gyms, romance, and reality TV, what’s most likely to come to mind is an episode of Jersey Shore — not a lawsuit for trade secret misappropriation.  But you won’t hear about JWoww, Snooki, or The Situation in three recently-filed trade secret complaints.  These complaints reflect a growing trend in which trade secret cases aren’t limited to traditional spheres like corporate espionage or technical secrets like source code, but instead are based on creative trade secret assertions that go after competitors in unique settings.

Working Out May be Hazardous to Your (Financial) Health

In October 2013, popular upscale gym franchise Equinox Holdings filed a lawsuit against SoHo Strength Lab, a competitor gym created by three former Equinox personal trainers.  Equinox alleges that it spent extensive time and money compiling databases of information about its members — including not only their contact information but also data on their height, weight, fitness levels, buying histories, and training programs.  Although this type of data doesn’t fit the traditional mold, it’s not hard to see how it could potentially be valuable to a competitor in the health and fitness industry.  Equinox’s trade secret allegations are based on “information and belief,” meaning that it still needs to develop its evidence and theories for how the theft occurred, so it remains to be seen how its claims will work out (so to speak).  All we know is that if Equinox wins it will be able to buy a lot of exercise bikes — it’s seeking $40 million in compensatory and punitive damages.

Romance is a Trade Secret

“Hell hath no fury like a speed dating service scorned.” In December 2012, Match.com contracted with Speed Date to set up speed date events on behalf of Match.com members, but the fling was short-lived: Match broke off the relationship just six months later in May 2013.  A few weeks ago, Speed Date sued, claiming that Match.com stole Speed Date’s trade secret “formula and pattern for marketing and running speed dating events, which resulted in their status as the most successful speed dating business/service in the nation.”  Speed Date alleges that Match improperly used the secret formula to host its own speed dating events, and is seeking $5.65 million in damages to help mend its broken heart.

Reality TV is (Not Surprisingly) Drama

You don’t hear about reality TV and trade secret actions every day (or really ever), but the Western District of Wisconsin will have some “must see” courtroom drama in the coming months.  Plaintiff Sean Morrison Entertainment was the producer of “Ultimate Women’s Challenge,” a reality TV series about 16 female mixed martial arts fighters competing in a tournament that was supposed to air on network television.  Each of the MMA fighters signed a participation agreement providing that the outcomes of the individual matches and the overall tournament winner were trade secrets.  The agreement prohibited the disclosure of the tournament results.  Sean Morrison alleges that since this was a reality show, the economic value of the show was entirely dependent on maintaining the secrecy of the contest elements.  (Those who watch The Bachelor would probably agree.)

So how did the fighters misappropriate the trade secrets?  According to a federal complaint filed by Sean Morrison last month, they and their law firm O’Flaherty Heim Egan & Birnbaum (OHEB) intentionally leaked the results of the series —  including the winner of the challenge — when they previously sued Sean Morrison for non-payment and discussed the results in their publicly-filed complaint.  An MMA blog found out about the suit and broadcast the names of the winners, destroying the secrecy (and allegedly, the value) of the series.  Sean Morrison argues that the defendants should have filed their lawsuit under seal to preserve the confidential information about the results of the show and that no network will now pick up the series because the results are all over the Internet.  Sean Morrison is seeking $1 million in damages and attorneys’ fees.

What these cases show is that trade secrets come in all shapes and sizes.  Trade secrets don’t always have to be top secret source code, technical designs, or the formula for Coke.  All companies have trade secrets, but sometimes you need to think creatively to realize what they are and how they’ve been misused.

Find the News here 

http://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/gyms-romance-and-reality-tv-rethinkin-14063/?utm_source=JFB&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=IPlaw

Zynga Defeats Personalized Media Communications’ Patent Claims

Zynga Inc., the San Francisco-based maker of games for social media, defeated infringement claims by a Sugar Land, Texas-based patent owner.

Personalized Media Communications LLC sued Zynga in federal court in Marshall, Texas, in February 2012, alleging that the games company infringed patents related to the delivery and presentation of enhanced media content. According to the complaint, Personalized Media owns more than 50 patents. John C. Harvey, founder and chairman, is the primary inventor of the technology on which the patents are based....

As Published by Bloomberg.

For more Information click on the link below :

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-21/samsung-zynga-lg-givaudan-intellectual-property.html

Samsung Urges Mistrial Citing Racism in Lawyer’s Remark

Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) accused Apple Inc.’s lawyer of making a prejudiced remark during closing arguments in a retrial over how much the South Korean company owes the iPhone maker for patent infringement and asked the judge to halt the proceedings.

Harold McElhinny, Apple’s attorney, spoke yesterday of his memory as a child of watching television on American-made sets, and how because the manufacturers didn’t protect their intellectual property their products no longer exist. “We all know what happened,” he said at the conclusion of a damages retrial in San Jose, California, that started last week.

Bill Price, Samsung’s lawyer, then asked U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh to invalidate the trial just after she had sent the jury to a separate room to begin deliberations in the case. Price said McElhinny presented “absolutely no evidence” for his claim that U.S. companies were driven out of business....

As Posted in Bloomberg By Joel Rosenblatt.

For More Information click the link below:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-19/samsung-urges-mistrial-citing-racism-in-lawyer-s-remark.html

Publicly Traded Patent Collectors Plaguing Google, Apple.

In more than two decades as a publicly-traded company, Spherix Inc. developed diabetes treatments, marketed a low-calorie sweetener and handled campground reservations. Now it’s dealing in something completely different: patents.

Two months ago, Spherix merged with North South Holdings Inc., owner of a portfolio of 224 patents. The new Spherix, which calls itself an “intellectual property development company,” is pursuing infringement cases against the likes of T-Mobile US Inc. and buying former Nortel Networks patents from a consortium set up by Microsoft Corp. and Apple Inc.

Spherix’s overnight transformation from a struggling scientific research company into a patent collector is the latest step in the race to turn other people’s ideas into dollars. In the past 16 months, at least five U.S. companies.....

As Published by Bloomberg

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-20/publicly-traded-patent-collectors-plaguing-google-apple.html

Khyber restaurant : IPAB Decides in favor of Prior user

Khyber restaurant wins name battle, Surat eatery can’t use its name

 In a victory for the 55-year-old Khyber restaurant at Fort, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB), a judicial tribunal which adjudicates patent and trademark-related disputes, has held the Mumbai restaurant to be the rightful owner of the trade name and mark Khyber Restaurant and Khyber.

The same name and mark were being used by a partnership firm running two restaurants in Surat, Gujarat. The IPAB held that the Surat-based firm, the respondent, had obtained registration of this name and mark by 'wrong statement of use.' In other words, it had misguided the Registrar of Trademarks.The Surat-based firm was also not able to substantiate 'commercial use' of the disputed name and mark. "Mere filing of documents such as rent receipts, licenses, tax returns does not prove the commercial use of the trademark since 1975, as claimed by the respondent," observed the IPAB. Further, as the public could be misled by usage of identical names for identical services, the IPAB ordered rectification of the trademark register.

"Owing to strong facts and documentary evidence, we have been able to remove the trademark registered by the other party," states Avesh Kayser, advocate, who represented Khyber, Mumbai.

In August 2009, the applicant, Sudheer Bahl, owner of the Mumbai-based restaurant, learnt of two Surat-based restaurants which were run under the 'name and style' Khyber Restaurant and Khyber. A legal notice resulted in a reply that the Surat-based firm were the registered owners of the disputed name and mark.

In this backdrop, Bahl moved the IPAB, saying that the name and mark used by the Surat restaurants was identical with that of his Mumbai restaurant.

"Extensive promotional activities have always been undertaken for promoting restaurant services under the name and trademark 'Khyber Restaurant' and 'Khyber' - which have come to represent excellence; this name and trade mark is known to lakhs of people across India and is exclusively associated with the applicant alone," submitted Bahl.

Bahl pointed out that his predecessors had, way back in 1964-65, created a unique and distinct style for representing the name and mark 'Khyber', in which copyright subsists. Both the name and mark appear on all cash memos, bills, invoices, promotional materials, brochures, visiting cards, registers, labels etc.

Further, it was pointed out that the trademarks Khyber Restaurant and Khyber were registered for restaurant services in October 2003, claiming use since December 1958.

It was contented that the applicant had acquired valuable proprietary rights in this name and mark and was entitled to its protection. For instance, strong brand equity and brand royalty had resulted in growing revenues; the turnover for the year 2008-09 had crossed Rs. 13 crore. The tiny restaurant of 800 sq ft since 1958 was now a large one of 7,000 sq ft and was the recipient of several awards.

The Surat-based partnership firm responded that they were honest and bona fide users of the name and mark Khyber Restaurant and Khyber since July 1975 and had earned goodwill and reputation. The trademark registered by it was notified by the Registrar in the trade journal in March 2005.

Based on facts, which included that the Surat firm had obtained trademark registration by furnishing wrong statement of use, the IPAB ruled in favour of the Mumbai-based restaurant.

Find the IPAB order here 

http://www.ipabindia.in/Pdfs/Order%20No.%20256-2013-ORA-119-2011-TM-AMD.pdf

and the news here 

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-11-19/mumbai/44240992_1_ipab-intellectual-property-appellate-board-name-battle

NITK sets up IPR cell to pursue patents for research work

 The National Institute of Technology - Karnataka (NITK), Surathkal, has set up an intellectual property rights (IPR) cell. It has also taken up the task of framing an IPR policy that will guide the Institute on the path of filing patents for works of research that can be commercially exploited.

Swapan Bhattacharya, director of NITK said, "Thus far, the faculty has only focused on carrying out the research without bothering about filing for patents. The research carried out by A C Hegde, head of the department of chemistry on electroplating has been commercially exploited in state of Washington in USA. The faculty of the institute so far have filed for six patents and more are in the pipeline."................

Published from Times of India.

For More Details Click The Below Link:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangalore/NITK-sets-up-IPR-cell-to-pursue-patents-for-research-work/articleshow/26015541.cms

Apple, Microsoft were interested in acquiring parts of BlackBerry:

Microsoft and Apple had both expressed interest in BlackBerry's intellectual property and patents, a source briefed on the matter told Reuters. In 2011, the three companies had teamed up with others to buy patents from bankrupt Canadian telecoms company Nortel.

BlackBerry had also held discussions with Cisco Systems Inc, Google Inc and Chinese computer maker Lenovo, among others, about selling all, or parts of itself, Reuters previously reported.

A BlackBerry spokeswoman declined to comment on the board's deliberations, and it is not known what specific proposals were rejected by directors during the company's three-month-long review of strategic options. Microsoft, Apple and the other tech companies have all declined to comment on the matter.

BlackBerry stunned investors on Monday by abandoning plans to sell itself, naming a new interim chief executive, and announcing an $1 billion convertible notes issue to a group of investors including its largest shareholder Fairfax Financial Holdings, Canso Investment Counsel, Mackenzie Financial, Markel Corp, Qatar Holding and Brookfield Asset Management.

BlackBerry shares fell 16 percent on the news as investors fretted the company may have missed an opportunity to deliver shareholder value.

But the board felt the notes issue offered BlackBerry the most near-term certainty and the best chance for a turnaround, said the people familiar with the discussions. Most alternative proposals would have broken up the Waterloo, Ontario-based company, which was not in the best interests of all stakeholders, they added.

One of the sources said the board also took into consideration the current cost of the break-up. Winding down some of BlackBerry's businesses would have created liabilities, including in its commitments with suppliers, and would have weighed on the monetization of the company's intellectual property, the source said.

BlackBerry's assets range from devices and network assets to software and patents. Some of these assets are so intertwined they could lose value in a company break-up, another source added.

The board was also concerned that any deal involving foreign companies would be closely scrutinized by the Canadian government in an extended review process, the sources said, prolonging uncertainty and making it harder for BlackBerry to stem customer losses.

Last month, Canada blocked an Egyptian telecommunication entrepreneur's bid to acquire the Allstream fiber optic network owned by Manitoba Telecom Services, citing unspecified security concerns.

The sources stressed the board's decision not to break up BlackBerry reflected the current situation and did not preclude a future split. But future proposals will likely be measured by a similar yardstick.

A landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling in the BCE case in 2008 said a Canadian company's board needs to consider the interests of all stakeholders, not just shareholders, when it decides on a deal. Stakeholders can include employees, customers, suppliers and the wider community.

In 2007, telecoms company BCE Inc agreed to a leveraged buyout that offered its shareholders a substantial premium, but the deal hurt the company's bond prices, and its debt holders challenged the deal in court.

While the deal eventually fell apart for other reasons, the Supreme Court ruled that a company's board has to take into consideration the interests of all stakeholders and not just its investors, when deciding on the merits of a deal.

Towards the end of BlackBerry's review of strategic alternatives, a consortium comprised of BlackBerry founders Mike Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin, Cerberus Capital Management LP and mobile chip giant Qualcomm had expressed interest in the company.

BlackBerry's board dismissed that proposal as too tentative since it lacked committed financing, sources familiar with the matter said, adding that this does not mean that the board is closed to entertaining proposals in the future.

© Thomson Reuters 2013

For more Details Click the Below Link:

 http://gadgets.ndtv.com/mobiles/news/apple-microsoft-were-interested-in-acquiring-parts-of-blackberry-444459