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Monthly Archives: May 2011
As with many celebrities, film legend Humphrey Bogart had a company organized to protect the use of his name and image long after his 1957 death. Bogart LLC is a joint venture between a private equity fund in Los Angeles and the children had with his wife Lauren Bacall. In 2010, Bogart LLC sued several furniture retailers in Los Angeles Superior over an unauthorized line of furniture called “Bogart, ” which included a Bogart sofa, Bogart loveseat and a Bogart ottoman. The lawsuit alleged that the retailers violated trademark law and California’s post-mortem right of publicity statute, two areas of law with which a Los Angeles litigation attorney can help celebrities. The retailers argued that they were just using the name that their suppliers provided. The case moved into federal court before settling in May 2011. The settlement terms between the two sides are confidential. In court pleadings, Bogart LLC…
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Last month a jury in Los Angeles Superior Court found a former employee of a medical company guilty of stealing the company’s trade secrets. Yonging Zou stole technical information from St. Jude Medical Inc. relating to medical equipment like pacemakers and defibrillators. He used that information to set up a rival business, Nervicon, in China. The jury ordered Yonging Zou to pay St. Jude Medical Inc. $1.47 billion and Nervicon to pay St. Jude $868 million. The final award was actually more than St. Jude initially asked for, $1.2 billion. St. Jude used the testimony of an expert witness to arrive at that amount. The foreperson of the jury told newspapers that he and his fellow jurors thought the expert was a little too conservative. The use of appropriate expert witnesses and damage calculations are important matters for a Los Angeles litigation lawyer to take into account in these types…
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Hip-hop rapper and businessman Jay-Z faces a lawsuit that his Roc Nation clothing line copied its logo from Volcom, a California-based company that targets surfers, skateboarders and snowboarders. Both companies employ a diamond-shaped logo. Volcom alleges that, since 1991, it has spent more than $100,000,000 to market its logo. It has been sending Roc Nation cease and desist letters since 2009 to no avail. A Los Angeles litigation lawyer is available to protect intellectual property, including logos, slogans and phrases. At least initially, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation only used the diamond logo alongside the words “Roc Nation,” but now the company uses the logo by itself on headphones, compact discs and clothing. Volcom claims that it sells merchandise at similar retailers to those offering Roc Nation products. As a result, Volcom’s lawsuit alleges, Roc Nation’s logo is likely to confuse consumers. Volcom is requesting that Roc Nation destroy all products that…
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