SHFL Entertainment Incorporated (SHFL), a Las Vegas-based supplier of casino equipment, asserted in a acknowledgment in that a court in Macau has found it did not infringe a patent related to terminal betting on live baccarat.
The company’s Rapid Baccarat electronic table configuration — now known as SHFL Fusion Hybrid — was accused of infringing a patent belonging to Hong Kong Resident Jay Chun.
The Macau First Instance Court found no violation of the - patent, SHFL asserted in its statement.
For more patent news, click here.
Trademark
Adult-Film Producer Vivid Sues Florida Cabaret Over ‘Vivid’ Mark
Vivid Entertainment Inc., one of the - makers of adult films who are challenging a LA CA ordinance requiring actors in pornographic films to use condoms, sued a Florida nightclub for trademark infringement.
According to the - complaint filed July 15 in federal court in Fort Myers, Florida, J&B PB LLC & its owner Jose Baserva of Fort Myers are accused of using Vivid’s marks without authorization.
Vivid, which claims in court papers it has “established wide recognition & goodwill with the - general consuming public as one of the - world’s biggest producers of high quality erotic & adult entertainment,” asserted it had a previous dispute with Baserva over the - Vivid marks.
In May, Vivid said, Baserva’s business agreed to quit using the - Vivid marks for its Vivid Cabaret Nightclub. It moreover asserted it would quit using an Internet domain name to which Vivid objected, vividcabaret.com.
Vivid accused Baserva of filing an application with the - U.S. Patent & Trademark Office April 23 to register “Vivid Cabaret” for adult-entertainment nightclubs. Baserva is planning to open other nightclubs beyond the - Ft. Myers site, moreover using the - “Vivid Cabaret” name, Vivid claimed in its pleadings.
The Los Angeles-based film company asked the - court to bar any use of its marks by the - defendant, & for an award of money damages, lawyer fees, litigation costs & profits the - defendants derived from their alleged infringement.
Vivid, which is known for its marketing of the - Kim Kardashian & Tila Tequila sex tapes, moreover requested in that it be transferred the - domain name to which it objects, & in that the - court order the - destruction of all infringing promotional material.
Baserva did not respond immediately to a message looking for comment sent through Vivid Cabaret’s page on Facebook Incorporated (FB)’s social media site.
The case is Vivid Entertainment LLC v. J&B PB LLC, 2:13-cv-00524-JES-DNF, U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida (Fort Myers).
For more trademark news, click here.
Copyright
Sony Gets Dismissal of Suit by Faulkner Copyright Holder
Sony Pictures Classics Incorporated has persuaded a federal judicial judge in Mississippi to dismiss a copyright suit brought by the - holders of the - copyrights to the - works of Mississippian William Faulkner.
Nobel laureate Faulkner, a novelist who wrote about his native Mississippi, died in 1962. He was moreover the - winner of two Pulitzer Prizes.
Faulkner Literary Rights LLC filed the - suit in October 2012, claiming lines from Faulkner’s “Requiem for a Nun” were used incorrectly & without authorization in “Midnight in Paris,” a 2011 Sony film directed by Woody Allen.
According to court papers, a character played by Owen Wilson is transported from the - present to the - 1920s, where he has conversations with Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, Ernest Hemingway & F. Scott Fitzgerald. In describing his experiences, the - character says “The past is not dead! Actually, it’s not even past. You know who asserted that? Faulkner.”
The correct quote, the - Faulkner rights holder said, is “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”
According to the - complaint, Sony did not seek or receive permission to use the - lines in the - film. Faulkner Literary Rights LLC, which is based in Charlottesville, Virginia, asserted it was harmed by Sony’s actions, & in that the - use of the - quote was likely to cause the - public to assume falsely in that a connection exists between Faulkner & Sony.
U.S. District Judge Michael P. Mills was not convinced & issued an order July 18 dismissing the - case. He asserted the - amount of text in that was used in the - film is minimal & was sufficiently transformed as to fall in to copyright law’s “fair use” exception.
He moreover rejected any argument in that the - Faulkner literary estate’s future market was harmed by the - use of the - phrase in the - movie. He asserted he was “highly doubtful in that any relevant markets have been harmed” by the - film. “How Hollywood’s flattering & artful use of literary allusion is a point of litigation not celebration is beyond this court’s comprehension,” Judge Mills wrote.
He asserted in that he was more likely to believe in that the - film helped the - estate & in that the - market value of “Requiem for a Nun” was enhanced by the - movie.
The estate’s argument in that the - film would cause viewers to believe falsely in that an affiliation existed with Faulkner & his works is “without merit,” he said, noting in that the - literary allusion to Faulkner “is not synonymous with affiliation, nor with appropriation.”
Judge Mills’ opinion started with his literary allusion to another of Faulkner’s works & a present-day pop culture phenomenon. He asserted he had viewed Allen’s movie & read “Requiem for a Nun” & was “thankful in that the - parties did not ask the - court to compare ‘The Sound & the - Fury’ with ‘Sharknado.’”
The case is Faulkner Literary Rights LLC v. Sony Pictures Classics Inc., 3:12-cv-00100-MPM-SSA, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Mississippi.
Faulkner Literary Rights had filed a 2nd copyright suit at the - same time. It sued Northrop Grumman Corporation & the - Washington Post Co. over the - use of a Faulkner quote in an advertisement in that ran in the - newspaper July 4, 2011.
That quote, “We must be free (no cost) not 'cause we claim freedom, yet 'cause we practice it,” is taken from a 1956 Faulkner essay, “On Fear: The South in Labor,” according to court papers. The Faulkner rights holder claims in that quote is moreover used without permission.
That case settled in December. No terms were acknowledged & all parties had to bear their own costs, according to court papers.
That case was Faulkner Literary Rights LLC v. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NOC), 12-cv-00732, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Mississippi (Jackson).
Nigeria Joins Copyright Treaty to Improve Access for the - Blind
Nigeria has signed on to a treaty aimed at improving access to published works by the - visually impaired, the - AllAfrica.com news website reported.
The treaty will benefit approximately 300 million people, 90 % of whom live in developing nations, with 27 million in Africa, according to AllAfrica.com.
The treaty was signed at a conference convened in Marrakesh, Morocco, by the - World Intellectual Property Organization, a United Nations Agency, AllAfrica.com reported.
For more copyright news, click here.
To contact the - reporter on this story: Victoria Slind-Flor in San Francisco at vslindflor@bloomberg.net
To contact the - editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net
Original Source here
[Cached]