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“Blurred Lines” $7.3 Million Dollar Award one of Largest Damages Awards in a Music Copyright Case

A federal jury in Los Angeles has found that Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams committed copyright infringement by copying elements of Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got to Give it Up” in their 2013 hit “Blurred Lines. The jury awarded Nona and Frankie Gaye, two of Marvin Gaye’s children, $4 million in damages plus approximately $3.3 million of the profits earned by Thicke and Williams. According to court records, “Blurred Lines” has earned profits in an excess of $16 million dollars. Under the Copyright Act, a plaintiff can seek its actual damages and the infringer’s profits that are attributable to the infringement. The damages award is believed to be one of the largest damages awards in a music copyright case.

USPTO Patent Quality Summit 2015

This past Monday the Senate officially confirmed Michelle Lee as the new director of the US PTO.  Director Lee is the first woman director of the agency, and previously served as Google’s chief patent counsel.  Since beginning her tenure at the US PTO, Director Lee has set her primary focus on improving patent quality in the US patent system.  In line with this patent quality initiative, the US PTO has set forth six (6) proposals to serve as the focal points for the upcoming Patent Quality Summit on March 25-26, 2015.

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Patent Troll Bill Back in Congress

 Patent Reform is back in Congress and this time it is House Judiciary Bob Goodlatte, who will be reintroducing the legislation dedicated to reduce “patent trolling.” Patent trolling, as it is colloquially known, is a strategy typically employed to enforce patent rights owned by non-practicing (emphasis added) entities against accused infringers in attempts to collect lost royalties and/or licensing fees.  

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