11/13. The U.S. Court of Appeals (4thCir) issued its opinion [27 pages in PDF] in Louis Vuitton Malletier v. Haute Diggity Dog, a trademark parody case, affirming the judgment of the District Court.

Louis Vuitton Malletier (LVM) is a posh Parisian company that makes, among other things, luxury ladies' handbags. Haute Diggity Dog (HDD) makes, among other things, toys for dogs to chew that resemble luxury products. HDD sold a dog toy that plainly imitates an LVM handbag and LVM marks.

LVM filed a complaint in U.S. District Court (EDVa) against HDD alleging trademark infringement, trademark dilution, copyright infringement, and other claims. The District Court granted summary judgment to HDD on the basis that its products are successful parodies. That opinion is reported at 464 F. Supp. 2d 495.

LVM brought the present appeal, on all of its claims. It lost on every claim.

This opinion may horrify the owners of the most famous brands. LVM's marks are strong and famous. This usually works in favor of the trademark holder when it sues. However, in the present case, the Court of Appeals held that the strength and fame of the marks eliminated possible confusion over whether HDD was engaged in parody. Thus, the stronger the mark, the more vulnerable a company is to imitation by parody -- and all of the irreverent mocking that this brings to the targeted products.

The Court of Appeals affirmed on all claims. The most significant claims, and the ones that the Court of Appeals addressed at greatest length, were the trademark infringement and trademark tarnishment by blurring claims.

With respect to trademark infringement, the Court of Appeals held that the dog toys are not likely to cause confusion because they are successful parodies of LVM handbags. It wrote that for trademark purposes, a parody is "a simple form of entertainment conveyed by juxtaposing the irreverent representation of the trademark with the idealized image created by the mark's owner".

It then applied its seven part trademark infringement test set forth in its 1984 opinion in Pizzeria Uno Corp. v. Temple, which is reported at 747 F.2d 1522.

It wrote that "the pet chew toy is obviously an irreverent, and indeed intentional, representation of an LVM handbag, albeit much smaller and coarser. The dog toy is shaped roughly like a handbag; its name ``Chewy Vuiton´´ sounds like and rhymes with LOUIS VUITTON; its monogram CV mimics LVM’s LV mark; the repetitious design clearly imitates the design on the LVM handbag; and the coloring is similar. In short, the dog toy is a small, plush imitation of an LVM handbag carried by women, which invokes the marks and design of the handbag, albeit irreverently and incompletely. No one can doubt that LVM handbags are the target of the imitation by Haute Diggity Dog’s ``Chewy Vuiton´´ dog toys."

"At the same time, no one can doubt also that the ``Chewy Vuiton´´ dog toy is not the ``idealized image´´ of the mark created by LVM. The differences are immediate, beginning with the fact that the ``Chewy Vuiton´´ product is a dog toy, not an expensive, luxury LOUIS VUITTON handbag." The Court of Appeals continued that "the juxtaposition of the similar and dissimilar -- the irreverent representation and the idealized image of an LVM handbag -- immediately conveys a joking and amusing parody. The furry little ``Chewy Vuiton´´ imitation, as something to be chewed by a dog, pokes fun at the elegance and expensiveness of a LOUIS VUITTON handbag, which must not be chewed by a dog. The LVM handbag is provided for the most elegant and well-to-do celebrity, to proudly display to the public and the press, whereas the imitation ``Chewy Vuiton´´ ``handbag´´ is designed to mock the celebrity and be used by a dog. The dog toy irreverently presents haute couture as an object for casual canine destruction. The satire is unmistakable."

But, the Court of Appeals continued, the parody must also be a non-confusing parody.

The Court of Appeals wrote that "While it is true that finding a mark to be strong and famous usually favors the plaintiff in a trademark infringement case, the opposite may be true when a legitimate claim of parody is involved." It added that "the strength of a famous mark allows consumers immediately to perceive the target of the parody, while simultaneously allowing them to recognize the changes to the mark that make the parody funny or biting."

The Court of Appeals also rejected LVM's dilution by blurring claim. It applied the recently enacted Trademark Dilution Revision Act of 2006 (TDLA), Public Law No. 109-312, which is codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1125(c).

For a summary of the TDLA, see story titled "Senate Approves Trademark Dilution Revision Act" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,327, March 10, 2006. (The House then approved the Senate's version.) The TDLA was a reaction to the Supreme Court's March 4, 2003 opinion [21 pages in PDF] in Moseley v. V Secret. See, story titled "Supreme Court Rules in Trademark Dilution Case" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 618, March 6, 2003.

The Court of Appeals wrote that "The TDRA prohibits a person from using a junior mark that is likely to dilute (by blurring) the famous mark, and blurring is defined to be an impairment to the famous mark’s distinctiveness. ``Distinctiveness´´ in turn refers to the public's recognition that the famous mark identifies a single source of the product using the famous mark. To determine whether a junior mark is likely to dilute a famous mark through blurring, the TDRA directs the court to consider all factors relevant to the issue, including six factors that are enumerated in the statute". (Parentheses in original.)

After considering the statutory factors, it concluded that there was no dilution by blurring.

It wrote that "while a defendant’s use of a parody as a mark does not support a ``fair use´´ defense, it may be considered in determining whether the plaintiff-owner of a famous mark has proved its claim that the defendant’s use of a parody mark is likely to impair the distinctiveness of the famous mark."

While LVM demonstrated that is marks are distinctive, famous, and strong, and thereby satisfied some of the statutory elements, this imposed on LVM "an increased burden to demonstrate that the distinctiveness of its famous marks is likely to be impaired by a successful parody."

"Even as Haute Diggity Dog’s parody mimics the famous mark, it communicates simultaneously that it is not the famous mark, but is only satirizing it." The Court of Appeals added that "because the famous mark is particularly strong and distinctive, it becomes more likely that a parody will not impair the distinctiveness of the mark. In short, as Haute Diggity Dog's ``Chewy Vuiton´´ marks are a successful parody, we conclude that they will not blur the distinctiveness of the famous mark as a unique identifier of its source."

This case is Louis Vuitton Malletier, S.A. v. Haute Diggity Dog, LLC, et al., U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 06-2267, an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, at Alexandria, D.C. No. 1:06-cv-00321-JCC, Judge James Cacheris presiding. Judge Niemeyer wrote the opinion of the Court of Appeals, in which Judges Traxler and Wilson joined.

11/13. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Kevin Martin released a proposal for revisions to the FCC's obsolete rules regulating ownership of newspapers and broadcast media.

He proposed allowing one entity to own a newspaper and one television station or one radio station, in the largest markets, subject to criteria and limitations.

Martin's proposal argues that "At least 300 daily papers have stopped publishing over the past thirty years. Their circulation is down, their advertising revenue is shrinking and their stock prices are falling. Permitting cross-ownership can preserve the viability of newspapers by allowing them to share their operational costs across multiple media platforms."

His proposal would provide for the presumption that a combination is in the public interest if it involves one newspaper and one radio or TV broadcaster, if the market at issue is one of the 20 largest Nielsen Designated Market Areas (DMA), "if the transaction involves a television station, at least 8 independently owned and operating major media voices (defined to include major newspapers and full-power commercial TV stations) would remain in the DMA following the transaction", and "if the transaction involves a television station, that station is not among the top four ranked stations in the DMA." In addition, under Martin's proposal, the FCC would consider other public interest factors.

Martin further proposed to make no changes to the local television duopoly rule, the local radio ownership rule, or the local radio-television cross ownership rule.

This is a statement by the Chairman, and not a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) or notice of inquiry (NOI). Nevertheless, Martin requested public comments on his proposal be filed in MB Docket No. 06-121 by December 11, 2007.

Commissioners Jonathan Adelstein and Michael Copps immediately issued a release [PDF] responding to Martin's proposal. They predicted that it "could propel a frenzy of competition-stifling mergers across the land".

Also, on November 9, 2007, the FCC held a hearing in Seattle, Washington, on this subject. This was the FCC's sixth in a series of public hearings. In contrast, almost every decision made by the Commission is reached without the benefit of public hearings. Nevertheless, Commissioner Adelstein complained in his statement [PDF] that this proceeding is not public enough.

Commissioner Copps railed against "Big Media" in his statement [PDF].

Commissioner Deborah Tate wrote in her statement [PDF] that "America no longer relies solely on the local paper, or even the local television or radio station, for weather, sports, community events, and emergency alerts. Instead, local news is available online, whether written, audio or video, as well as in print and over the air, and even on our mobile devices. In addition, it is clear that the news-gathering habits of the younger generation are vastly different than those of my generation. Having grown up on the internet, this “I-generation” relies on global, digital, personalized, mobile information sources, whenever and wherever they may be. We must take these changes into account when fashioning media ownership rules which will take us into the next decade, where an even more tech-savvy generation awaits."

11/9. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced in a Public Notice [PDF] that it has named the American Hospital Association (AHA), the National Fraternal Order of Police (NFOP), the National Association of State 9-1-1 Administrators (NASNA), and the National Emergency Management Association (NEMA) to be the four at large members of the Public Safety Broadband Licensee Board of Directors.

The FCC created this 15 member board in its Second Report and Order regarding the 700 MHz band, adopted on July 31, 2007.

The 700 MHz band (actually 698-806 MHz) is the television broadcast spectrum that is being made available for public safety and commercial wireless services as a result of the digital television (DTV) transition. In addition to providing for the auction of 62 MHz for commercial uses, the R&O also provides for a "Public/Private Partnership". A commercial licensee is to build a nationwide broadband interoperable network for use by public safety entities. However, it would then have preemptible secondary access to the spectrum.

This R&O provides for a single nationwide license, and a single licensee. The R&O also created the board to govern this licensee.

See, story titled "FCC Adopts 700 MHz Band Order" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,619, July 31, 2007.

This Public Notice is DA 07-4593 in PS Docket No. 06-229.

11/9. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced in a release that SEC Chairman Chris Cox "concluded a week of bilateral discussions with securities regulators from Japan, China, Korea, Canada and Australia focused, among other things, on timetables for implementation of interactive data initiatives for financial reporting."

The SEC has an interactive data program for which participation is voluntary. The release points out that, in contrast, some other nations are converting to mandatory filing of electronic statements with data tagged using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL).

Cox (at left) has been actively promoting interactive data. However, he has not yet publicly proposed making the use of interactive data in SEC filings mandatory.

Also, Cox gave a speech in Tokyo, Japan, in which he did not discuss interactive data.

The SEC release states that "Japan has mandated public company reporting using XBRL for the full financial statements of all listed companies beginning with quarterly reporting in the second quarter of 2008."

It also states that the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is "the first country in the world to mandate XBRL reporting, is requiring interactive data filing for the full financial statements of all listed companies in quarterly, half-year and annual reports under rules of both the CSRC and the Shanghai Stock Exchange."

It adds that "Beginning with only 50 companies voluntarily reporting using XBRL in 2003, the program has grown to now include more than 800 companies. In addition to the XBRL taxonomy for listed companies, a taxonomy for fund companies in China has also been developed."

In comparison, the SEC reported on September 20, 2007, that participation in the SEC's voluntary program is only up to "more than 40 companies". See, release. The SEC's web site listed 46 companies as of November 13, 2007, that are participating in its voluntary program.

The SEC release also states that Korea has taken "steps toward adopting XBRL for regulatory reporting. The FSS established a voluntary XBRL filing program in 2006. Beginning in October 2007, all publicly held companies were required to file financial statements using XBRL". Moreover, "the system allows interested non Korean-speaking investors to view and analyze a company's financial statements in English."

The SEC release also notes that Canada's XBRL program remains voluntary.

11/12. The Internet Governance Forum (IGF) is being held on November 12-15, 2007 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. John Kneuer (head of the Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration) and David Gross (Department of State) issued a joint statement. They wrote that the IGF "The provides an opportunity to underscore the critical role that freedom of expression and free flow of information play in maximizing the benefits of the Internet. We also hope that issues regarding the security, stability, and reliability of the Internet are at the heart of issues addressed. We also look forward to constructive discussions about access to and use of information and communication technologies to advance economic and social development."

11/9. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (UPPTO) announced in a release that the USPTO, European Patent Office (EPO), and Japan Patent Office (JPO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) "to coordinate work sharing; develop a means to improve quality of applications; coordinate electronic business developments; harmonize or standardize search strategies, tools and procedures; and promote dissemination of patent information." See, USPTO release.

11/8. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Chris Cox gave a speech in Tokyo, Japan, titled "Learning from the Shogun -- Toward IOSCO's Vision of A Global Market". He stated that "Today's securities swindlers use technology to devise ever-more sophisticated means of robbing investors of their savings, and to make it harder for regulators and prosecutors to catch them." He referenced identity theft, phishing scams and spam e-mails with stock tips. He also said that "Our growing reliance on electronics is also making us vulnerable to network outages -- both accidental and malicious. And as the world saw when America's markets closed on 9-11, our growing interconnectedness can result in problems in one country causing customers and institutions around the world to question their own markets' reliability. The potential for a loss in market confidence to spread instantly, and worldwide, is another byproduct of instant global communication." He also argued that national securities regulators "need to harmonize, recognize, and standardize." He said that the SEC "is getting ready next week to consider a final rule that would allow issuers who use International Financial Reporting Standards in their home countries to also use IFRS in their filings with the SEC, without any longer having to reconcile that to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. And it's why we're considering the concept of offering that same option to U.S. domestic issuers."

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of November 12, and schedule for November 14.

The Senate will meet at 9:30 AM. It will resume consideration of HR 2419 [LOC | WW], the "Farm, Nutrition, and Bioenergy Act of 2007". See, sections 6022 (regarding 911 access), 6023 (broadband services in rural areas), 6024 (creation of a "Community Connect Grant Program"), 6028 (assistance for rural public TV stations), 6029 (telemedicine and distance learning), 6031 (rural broadband strategy), and 11303 (surplus Department of Agriculture computers).

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a four day meeting of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBCB) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 1, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 211, at Pages 61827-61828. Location: National Science Foundation (NSF), 4121 Wilson Boulevard, Stafford Place II, Room 555, Arlington, VA.

10:00 AM. The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing titled "Hearing on Establishing Consistent Enforcement Policies in the Context of Online Wagers". The witnesses will include Valerie Abend (Department of the Treasury's Deputy Assistant Secretary for Critical Infrastructure Protection & Compliance Policy). See, notice. Location? (The HJC has noticed this hearing for both Room 2141 and Room 2175, Rayburn Building.)

10:00 AM. The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee (SHSGAC) will hold a business meeting. The agenda [PDF] includes consideration of S 1000 [LOC | WW], the "Telework Enhancement Act of 2007", and S 2321 [LOC | WW], the "E-Government Reauthorization Act of 2007". Location: Room 342, Dirksen Building.

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet as ITAC-T to prepare advice on U.S. positions for the meetings of the Advisory Group of the International Telecommunication Union -- Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). See, notice in the Federal Register, November 13, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 218, at Page 63951. Location: undisclosed.

TIME? The House Small Business Committee will hold a hearing on the costs of complying with Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes Oxley Act for small businesses. See, HSBC release.

Day three of a five day closed meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. See, notice in the Federal Register, October 23, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 204, at Page 60004. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room E, Gaithersburg, MD.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Further Notice of Proposed Rule Making (FNPRM) regarding spectrum etiquette for unlicensed transmitters that operate in the 915 MHz band. This item is FCC 07-117 in ET Docket No. 03-201. See, notice in the Federal Register, August 1, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 147, Pages 42011-42015.

The House will meet at 10:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of November 12.

9:00 AM - 5:00 PM. Day one of a four day meeting of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBCB) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 1, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 211, at Pages 61827-61828. Location: National Science Foundation (NSF), 4121 Wilson Boulevard, Stafford Place II, Room 555, Arlington, VA.

9:00 AM. The Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC) will meet. The meeting is open to the public, but pre-registration is required. See, notice in the Federal Register, October 22, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 203, at Pages 59595-59596. Location: Hotel Washington, Capital Room, 515 15th St., NW.

10:00 AM. The Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) may hold an executive business meeting. The agenda includes consideration of S 2248 [LOC | WW], the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 Amendments Act of 2007", S 352 [LOC | WW], the "Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2007", S 344 [LOC | WW], a bill to require the Supreme Court to permit television coverage of all open events, except in cases where it would violated the due process rights of a party, and S 1638 [LOC | WW], the "Federal Judicial Salary Restoration Act of 2007". The agenda also includes consideration of four judicial nominees: Joseph Laplante (to be a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire), Reed O'Connor (U.S.D.C., Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division), Thomas Schroeder (U.S.D.C., Middle District of North Carolina), and Amul Thapar (U.S.D.C., Eastern District of Kentucky). See, agenda. The SJC rarely follows its published agenda. Location: Room 226, Dirksen Building.

12:00 NOON. The Federal Bar Association's (FBA) Capitol Hill Chapter will host a lunch. The speaker will be Thomas Griffith, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir). The price to attend ranges from $15 to $20. See, notice [MS Word]. Location: Library of Congress, Montpelier Dining Room, 6th Floor, Madison Building, 1st and Independence Ave., SE.

7:00 - 9:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association (FCBA) will host its annual FCBA Charity Auction. Location: Marriot at Metro Center, 775 12th St., NW.

Day four of a five day closed meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. See, notice in the Federal Register, October 23, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 204, at Page 60004. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room E, Gaithersburg, MD.

The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission may release its 2007 report to the Congress.

The House will meet at 9:00 AM for legislative business. See, Rep. Hoyer's schedule for the week of November 12.

9:00 AM - 2:00 PM. Day one of a four day meeting of the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBCB) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 1, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 211, at Pages 61827-61828. Location: National Science Foundation (NSF), 4121 Wilson Boulevard, Stafford Place II, Room 555, Arlington, VA.

10:30 AM. Ambassador Richard Russell, head of the U.S. Delegation to the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), will hold a news conference by teleconference. The dial in number is 1-800-857-4133; the pass code is 14808; Anne Jillson is the Department of State's call leader.

1:00 - 2:00 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Engineering and Technical Practice Committee will host an event titled "Tour of XM Satellite Radio". See, registration form [PDF]. Location: XM Programming Center and Corporate Headquarters, 1500 Eckington Place, NE.

5:00 PM. Deadline to submit to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) petitions to modify the list of products that are eligible for duty free treatment under the GSP program, for petitions that request competitive need limitation (CNL) waivers. See, notice in the Federal Register, May 21, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 97, at Pages 28527-28528.

Day five of a five day closed meeting of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Judges Panel of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. See, notice in the Federal Register, October 23, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 204, at Page 60004. Location: NIST, Administration Building, Lecture Room E, Gaithersburg, MD.

Deadline to pre-register to attend the Department of Justice's (DOJ) Antitrust Division's symposium titled "Voice, Video and Broadband: The Changing Competitive Landscape and Its Impact on Consumers" on November 29, 2007. See, DOJ notice and notice in the Federal Register, October 17, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 200, at Pages 58885-58887. For more information, contact Ashley Becker at 202-514-5835 or Carl Willner at 202-514-5813.

Deadline to submit reply comments to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to its Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) regarding transmitters operating on an unlicensed basis in the 57-64 GHz frequency range. The FCC adopted this item on May 25, 2007, and released the text on June 1, 2007. This item is FCC 07-104 in ET Docket No. 07-113. See, notice in the Federal Register, July 19, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 138, at Pages 39588-39593.

Deadline to submit to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) petitions for competitive need limitation (CNL) waivers in connection with the 2007 Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) Annual Review. See, notice in the Federal Register, September 6, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 172, at Pages 51264-51266.

Deadline to submit comments to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (OUSTR) the U.S. complaint to the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the People's Republic of China. See, notice in the Federal Register, October 10, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 195, at Pages 57608-57609.

Deadline to submit comments to the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Computer Security Division (CSD) regarding its SP 800-55 Revision 1 [84 pages in PDF] titled "Draft Performance Measurement Guide for Information Security".

10:00 AM - 1:00 PM. The Department of State's (DOS) Telecommunication Advisory Committee (ITAC) will meet as ITAC-T to prepare advice on U.S. positions for the meetings of the Advisory Group of the International Telecommunication Union -- Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). See, notice in the Federal Register, November 13, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 218, at Page 63951. Location: undisclosed.

12:15 - 1:30 PM. The Federal Communications Bar Association's (FCBA) Intellectual Property Practice Committee will host a brown bag lunch titled "Copyright Issues at the FCC and the FTC". See, registration form [PDF]. The speakers will be Matt Schruers (CCIA), Michael Petricone (CEA), Seth Greenstein (Constantine Cannon), Bruce Byrd (AT&T), Gigi Sohn (Public Knowledge), Fritz Attaway (MPAA), and Steve Marks (RIAA). Location: Dow Lohnes, 1200 New Hampshire Ave., NW.

9:30 AM. The U.S. Court of Appeals (DCCir) will hear oral argument in Robert Biggerstaff v. FCC, App. Ct. No. 06-1191, a petition for review of the FCC's unsolicited fax rules. See, FCC's brief [65 pages in PDF]. Judges Ginsburg, Rogers and Griffith will preside. Location: 333 Constitution Ave., NW.

1:00 - 3:00 PM. The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board's (ATBCB) Telecommunications and Electronic and Information Technology Advisory Committee will meet by teleconference. See, notice in the Federal Register, November 1, 2007, Vol. 72, No. 211, at Pages 61827-61828.

11/13. The Supreme Court of the US (SCUS) denied certiorari in Tompkins v. Lil' Joe Records, a case regarding the transfer of copyrights held by a bankrupt record company by the Bankruptcy Court. See, Orders List [9 pages in PDF] at page 2. This lets stand the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals (11thCir). The Court of Appeals issued its opinion [45 pages in PDF] on February 5, 2007, affirming the judgment of the District Court, which had upheld the Bankruptcy Court's assignment of the copyrights to another record company, but rejected the artist's contract claims for royalties. This case illustrates one way in which bankruptcy proceedings may work to the detriment of creators. See, SCUS docket, and story titled "11th Circuit Rules in Case Involving Disposition of Copyrights by Bankruptcy Court" in TLJ Daily E-Mail Alert No. 1,533, February 6, 2007. This case is Sup. Ct. No. 07-92, a petition for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Court of Appeals for 11th Circuit, App. Ct. No. 05-10143. The Court of Appeals heard an appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, D.C. No. D.C. Docket No. 02-61161-CV-FAM.

11/13. The Supreme Court of the US (SCUS) denied certiorari in Cross Medical Products, Inc. v. Medtronic Sofamor Danek, Inc., a patent infringement case. See, Orders List [9 pages in PDF] at page 2. This lets stand the judgment of the U.S. Court of Appeals (FedCir). See, March 20, 2007, opinion [PDF] of the Court of Appeals. See also, SCUS docket.

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