Omid Khalifeh

In response to continued criticism for failing to adequately prevent copyright infringement on its platform, YouTube has launched a tool designed to fight the issue. Known as the “Copyright Match” tool, the initiative is designed to identify re-uploads of a user’s content to other accounts. The uploaded video is first scanned and checked for similarities to other videos. Any such matches appear appropriately in the “matches” tab. Once a match has been identified, the user may choose to take no action, request YouTube remove the video, or take matters into their own hands by contacting the creator directly. When a…

In 2010, the United States Postal Service released its collection of Liberty Forever stamps. After approximately three billion stamps had been printed, USPS realized the image it had obtained from Getty Images, a stock photography company, was not of New York’s beloved Statue of Liberty but instead, bore the face of the Statue of Liberty replica positioned outside the New York-New York hotel and casino in Las Vegas. Robert Davidson, the replica’s sculptor, was hired in 1996 to create the statue after completing his work on the 110-foot replica of the Sphinx down the street. Davidson claims he was given…

After decades of experience in the law, Mrs. Fond will join the firm as a legal assistant. Mrs. Fond studied at Armstrong College, where she dual-majored in English and Business. Through years of experience as both a legal assistant as well as an office manager, Mrs. Fond brings strong communication and administrative skills to the practice. Moreover, her gregarious personality and receptivity renders Mrs. Fond exceptionally capable of dealing with clients, the courts, and opposing counsel.

In 1859, Ms. B Franklin Coston was issued the first patent related to a fireworks display. While fireworks originated and were well-known in China, Ms. Franklin invented a “Method of Signalizing Any Numeral or Combination of Numerals by the Display of Different Pyrotechnic Fires.” The patent details the successive exhibitions of fires of three different colors, those colors unsurprisingly being red, white, and blue. Decades later, The Walt Disney Company patented a “Precision fireworks display system having a decreased environmental impact.” Disney’s invention involves a launching device and an electronic control system capable of causing the projectile to explode mid-air…

The Copyright Act permits registration of original works of authorship with the United States Copyright Office. Copyright registration is not required, however, because a protectable copyright arises once the work is fixed in a tangible medium of expression. That being said, registration is a prerequisite to bringing a lawsuit for infringement. There has long existed a split among federal courts as to whether an application for registration pending satisfies this rule. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case deciding this long-disputed issue. Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corporation v. Wall-Street.com, LLC, an appeal from the Eleventh Circuit…

Allegations have surfaced suggesting Donald Glover, whose stage name is Childish Gambino, plagiarized his single “This Is America” based on rapper Jase Harley’s 2016 song, “American Pharaoh.” The controversy began after Jamie Foxx brought Glover on stage at the BET Awards for high praise and an impromptu performance of the hit single. Reddit users took to the internet in noting the similarities shared with the prior song. To prove copyright infringement, Jase Harley would need to demonstrate that the two songs are in fact “substantially similar” and that Glover reasonably had access to the song. Substantial similarity is not analyzed…

Two hundred twenty-eight years after the first patent was issued for a process of making potash (an ingredient used in fertilizer), the ten millionth patent has officially issued. Yesterday, U.S. Patent No. 10,000,000 issued for “Coherent Ladar Using Intra-Pixel Quadrature Detection.” The disclosure describes a method of bouncing lasers off of targets to figure out their range and velocity, which could be used in the development of self-driving vehicles. The method was invented by Joseph Marron but the patent is owned by his employer, Raytheon Company. Since being awarded its first patent in 1991, Raytheon has been awarded more than…

Christian Louboutin recently claimed victory in a years long lawsuit against a Dutch retailer for selling high-heeled women’s shoes bearing red soles. In 2012, Louboutin sued Van Haren, the Dutch company, which operates affordable footwear outlets, in a court in The Netherlands. A few years prior, in 2010, Louboutin obtained registrations for its iconic red soles in the region. Nonetheless, Van Haren argued the luxury brand’s trademark invalidly combined color and shape, that is, the particular red shade as applied to the sole of a pump. Under EU trademark law, common shapes, such as shoes, are not protected. Judges at…

For 90 years, ranging from 1790 to 1880, the government required every patent application to be accompanied by a working scale model of the invention, which could be no larger than 12 inches on each side. This practice terminated after the Patent Office ran out of space to store all of the models. The Rothschild Petersen Patent Model museum in New York maintains the largest private collection of patent models, housing over 4,000. Currently, applicants are neither required nor generally permitted to submit any type of working model unless the Patent Office deems it necessary for proper examination. Once returned…

The creators behind a raunchy comedy featuring Melissa McCarthy and cast of puppets are being sued by the educational nonprofit organization behind “Sesame Street.” McCarthy portrays a police officer who teams up with a new puppet partner to solve “the brutal murders of the former cast of a beloved classic puppet television show.” Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit, claimed the new film, titled “The Happytime Murders” through its creators, STX Productions, wrongfully misappropriates the “Sesame Street” trademark, trusted brand, and goodwill for promotional purposes. The complaint further alleges that defendants do not own or have any right to the “Sesame Street”…