Pharrell and Robin Thicke have “Got to Give it Up” to Marvin Gaye’s Family for Infringement due to “Blurred Lines” Song

by | Mar 27, 2018 | Case law, Copyrights, Entertainment law, In the News, Intellectual Property, Licensing, Litigation, Media law

Last week, the Ninth Circuit upheld the lower court ruling that the artists of the 2013 “Blurred Lines” best-selling single infringed the copyright of Marvin Gaye’s 1977 song “Got To Give It Up”. In 2013, the family of the late Marvin Gaye sued musicians Pharrell...

Coca-Cola discovers small design changes can mean lack of protection of product designs: protecting product shapes and appearances

by | Apr 13, 2017 | Business Law, Design patent, Intellectual Property, Intellectual Property, Patents, Trademarks

How Famous is the Coca-Cola bottle design?  Not quite enough to protect small differences  Design patents are an increasingly useful tool in product configuration protection, but as Coca-Cola recently learned, even a famous product design has its limits.  As surely...