Tennessee IP Law Blog

Atari Interactive, Inc. v. Hyperkin Inc. , No. 219CV00608CASAFMX, 2020 WL 4287584 (C.D. Cal. July 27, 2020). https://www.logolounge.com/articles/the-origin-of-the-atari-logo PART I of III - Background Topic:     Trade Dress - Video Game Controllers I. INTRODUCTION Plaintiff Atari Interactive, Inc. (“Atari Interactive”) filed this action against defendant Hyperkin Inc. (“Hyperkin”) on January 25, 2019. Atari Interactive asserts claims for: (1) false designation of origin, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a); (2) common law unfair competition; and (3) trademark dilution, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c). Hyperkin filed an answer on March 21, 2019. The gravamen of Atari Interactive's claims is that Hyperkin's videogame console and joystick controller infringe Atari Interactive's trade dress in Atari Interactive's own console and joystick controller. Hyperkin filed a motion for summary judgment on June 1, 2020, and a statement of uncontroverted facts and conclusions of l...

Brantley v. Epic Games, Inc. , No. 8:19-CV-594-PWG, 2020 WL 2794016, at *12 (D. Md. May 29, 2020) This post is a Part II/II of a discussion of Brantley v. Epic Games . Part I discusses the Plaintiffs' Copyright claims , Part II addresses Plaintiffs Trademark claims. https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/terps-show-off-running-man-challenge-dance-on-ellen-show/79982/ Topic: Copyright Preemption of the Lanham Act, Trademark Infringement, Dilution, False Endorsement, Dastar Takeaways: Alleging confusion as to the "person or entity that originated the ideas or communications that ‘goods [or services]’ embody or contain" rather than confusion as to the "producer of the product sold" fails to establish a Lanham Act claim under Dastar . A trademark must identify a unique good or service, therefore a trademark cannot be in itself a good or service, (i.e. the Running Man Dance cannot be a trademark for performances of the Running Man Dance.) Unlike t...

Brantley v. Epic Games, Inc. , No. 8:19-CV-594-PWG, 2020 WL 2794016, at *12 (D. Md. May 29, 2020) Topic: Copyright Preemption for Dance & Choreography Takeaways: Court finds that the "Running Man" falls somewhere between Copyrightable choreography and uncopyrightable dance steps and is therefore within the "general subject matter" of Copyright. https://realsport101.com/fortnite/fortnite-chapter-2-season-2-extended-delayed-map-end-date-details-rumours-twitter-reddit-more/ Plaintiffs Jaylen Brantley and Jared Nickens bring this action against Defendant Epic Games, Inc. for the alleged unauthorized appropriation of the dance the “Running Man” that they allegedly created, named, and popularized. Plaintiffs claim that Epic Games intentionally copied the movements of the “Running Man” dance and incorporated them as a feature of its highly popular online video game Fortnite. They bring eight causes of action under common law and the federal Lanham Act...

Solid Oak Sketches, LLC v. 2K Games, Inc. , No. 16-CV-724-LTS-SDA, 2020 WL 1467394 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 26, 2020) Topic: Fair Use, De-Minimis - Tattoos & Video Game Design Solid Oak Sketches, LLC (“Solid Oak” or “Plaintiff”), brings this action against Defendants 2K Games, Inc., and Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. (collectively, “Take Two” or “Defendants”), asserting a claim of copyright infringement pursuant to the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 101 et seq. (the “Copyright Act”). Following this Court’s granting of Defendants’ motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s claims for statutory damages and attorneys’ fees on August 2, 2016, Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) on October 24, 2016. (Docket Entry No. 55.) On August 16, 2016, Defendants filed counterclaims for declaratory judgment pursuant to the Copyright Act and the Declaratory Judgment Act, 28 U.S.C. §§ 2201-2202 (“Def. Countercl.”). (Docket Entry No. 47.) The Court denied Plaintiff’s motion to dismiss the c...

LEO PELLEGRINO v. EPIC GAMES, INC., No. CV 19-1806, 2020 WL 1531867,(E.D. Pa. Mar. 31, 2020) Topic: Trademark Misappropriation, Use of Likeness Plaintiff Leo Pellegrino commenced this action against Defendant Epic Games, Inc. (“Epic”) asserting that Epic misappropriated his likeness and trademark, i.e., his “ Signature Move .” The Complaint asserts that Epic’s misappropriation violated Pellegrino’s right to publicity and infringed and diluted his trademark. Epic has filed a Motion to Dismiss the Complaint in its entirety pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). We held a hearing on the Motion on March 3, 2020. For the reasons that follow, we grant Epic’s Motion in part and deny it in part. The Complaint alleges that Leo Pellegrino “is a professional baritone saxophone player and member of the ‘brass house’ group ‘Too Many Zooz.’ ” (Compl. ¶ 2.) Using his unique anatomy—specifically his externally rotatable feet—Pellegrino was able to create the Signature Move, a ...