Indianapolis, Ind. – A trademark lawyer for American actor, minister, producer and writer Leon Isaac Kennedy of Burbank, Calif. sued alleging Lanham Act violations, unfair competition and violations of various Indiana state statutes as a result of defendants’ purchase of the domain name Leonisaackennedy.com. The defendants are GoDaddy.com, LLC of Scottsdale, Ariz.,…
Indianapolis, Ind. – The Indiana Court of Appeals granted Indiana’s petition for rehearing and reaffirmed its January ruling in favor of defendant Michael Curtis that a conviction for fraud in the form of copyright infringement was, by itself, an insufficient predicate for forfeiture. Curtis was charged with four counts of…
Indianapolis, IN – The Indiana Court of Appeals has vacated the decision of The Honorable Timothy Oakes, Marion County Superior Court, to seize the truck of a defendant who pled guilty to fraud for having sold pirated movies from the truck. In December 2009, the State charged Michael Curtis with…
Indianapolis, IN – Attorney and self-proclaimed professional photographer Richard N. Bell, suing on his own behalf, filed two separate complaints alleging copyright infringement and unfair competition under the Copyright Act and conversion under Indiana statutory law as a result of the unauthorized use of a photograph he had taken and…
Indianapolis, IN – Federal authorities, led by the Homeland Security Investigations division of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), have seized counterfeit Super Bowl goods, shut down websites and made one arrest in a targeted effort to crack down on counterfeit sports goods and websites. According to a government press…
Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Justice and National Crime Prevention Council have launched a new website designed to educate the public about intellectual property theft. The site focuses on four types of criminal intellectual property theft: counterfeit drugs, pirated products, fake consumer goods, and gangs and organized…
Washington, D.C. – The United States House of Representatives is considering a bill directed as providing law enforcement more tools to stop illegal online file sharing and copyright infringement. The bill, titled the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” was introduced by Representative Lamar Smith of Texas on October 26, 2011.…
Indianapolis, IN – Chief Judge ROBB of the Court of Appeals for Indiana has issued an opinion regarding An-Hung Yao and Yu-Ting Lin Houston, Texas; who were charged with counterfeiting, theft, and corrupt business influence Huntington County, Indiana Circuit Court based upon the sale of toy guns that allegedly infringement…
Los Angeles, CA – Wesley DeSoto of Los Angeles, California has pleaded guilty to a charge of criminal copyright infringement in a rare federal criminal prosecution of copyright infringement, which was brought in the Central District of California. Mr. DeSoto allegedly uploaded copies of the copyrighted films Black Swan,…