Angela Ethel Brooks-Ngwenya v. Indianapolis Public Schools
Plaintiff (handling this case pro se) alleges that IPS has infringed the copyrighted work “TIRS” (Transitioning Into Responsible Students), an educational program she claimed to develop while working at IPS.
Court Case Number: 1:11-cv-00483-SEB-MJD File Date: Friday, April 08, 2011 Plaintiff: Angela Ethel Brooks-Ngwenya Plaintiff Counsel: Angela Ethel Brooks-Ngwenya PRO SE Defendant: Indianapolis Public Schools Cause: Copyright Infringement, Trademark Infringement, Misconduct of Attorney Court: Southern District of Indiana Judge: Judge Sarah Evans Barker Referred To: Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore
ChaCha is a Delaware corporation based in Carmel, Indiana. It provides a mobile-based search engine that utilizes the assistance of human guides to provide relevant search results. The CHACHA trademark was registered in 2007 for “Search engine services, namely, providing search engines for obtaining data on a global computer network; Search engine services, namely, providing specific information as requested by customers via the Internet in the nature of customized searching, in Class 42.”
Defendant HTC seeks to introduce a new smartphone called the “HTC ChaCha,” prompting Plaintiff to institute this action.
What do you think? Do you read the services listed in ChaCha’s registration above to include “smartphones”? Is ChaCha overreaching here? Would ChaCha’s money have been better spent on additional trademark registrations if they wanted to also protect ChaCha for “mobile phones,” which are in Class 9?
Court Case Number: 1:11-cv-00262-WTL-MJD File Date: Tuesday, February 22, 2011 Plaintiff: ChaCha Search, Inc. Plaintiff Counsel: Bradley M. Stohry and Michael A. Wukmer of Ice Miller, LLP Defendant: HTC America, Inc.
HTC Corporation Cause: Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition, Dilution, Common Law Unfair Competition, Request for Preliminary and Permanent Injunctive Relieve Court: Southern District of Indiana Judge: Judge William T. Lawrence Referred To: Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore
Plaintiff Patricia Day is the lead singer of the Danish rockabilly band HorrorPops. Plaintiff claims a distinctive on-stage appearance, which combines:
(1) black hair meticulously done in 50’s pin-up fashion; (2) her retro hairstyle juxtaposed against conspicuous and heavily-applied black eye shadow and liner and deep red lipstick; (3) her form fitting ’50s-style pencil skirts that go just past the knees; (4) her full-color “sleeve tattoos” on both upper arms; and, most importantly (5) her distinctive instrumental extension of her personality: her giant tattooed upright bass.
Mattel allegedly created a Barbie doll using the likeness of Ms. Day without obtaining a license. In addition to being an unauthorized use of her likeness, the Barbie doll has caused Ms. Day particular anguish due to her feminist leanings and the confusion caused among peers and fans.
Why was this case filed in Indiana? Presumably to take advantage of Indiana’s right of publicity law, perhaps the most extensive right of publicity statute in the world, providing recognition of the right for 100 years after death, and protecting not only the usual “name, image and likeness,” but also signature, photograph, gestures, distinctive appearances, and mannerisms. Defendants Wonderama and Rainbow End are small Indiana toy stores (in Anderson and Daleville, respectively) that sold the allegedly infringing doll. Of course, the real targets of this lawsuit are Mattel (a Delaware corporation) and Hard Rock Cafe (a Florida corporation).
Did Mattel usurp Ms. Day’s likeness for the doll? You be the judge:
This should be an interesting case to follow step-by-step. Plaintiff has retained a few high-profile entertainment attorneys and we can expect Mattel and Hard Rock will do the same. I’ll keep you updated with each new filing. In the meantime, more images of Ms. Day for comparison sake:
Court Case Number: 1:10-cv-01689-RLY-MJD
File Date: Thursday, December 23, 2010
Plaintiff: Patricia Day
Plaintiff Counsel: John Tehranian and Peter Afrasiabi of ONE LLP
Defendants: Wonderama Toys, Rainbow’s End Collectibles, Mattel Corp., Hard Rock Cafe International (USA), Inc.
Cause: Infringement of Right of Publicity (Indiana Code 32-36), False Association and False Endorsement
Court: Southern District of Indiana
Judge: Judge Richard L. Young
Referred To: Magistrate Judge Mark J. Dinsmore
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana announced that Mark J. Dinsmore took the oath to become a United States Magistrate Judge on December 17, 2010. Chief Judge Richard L. Young administered the oath in his courtroom in the Birch Bayh Federal Building and United States Courthouse in Indianapolis. A formal investiture ceremony will be held at a later date. The position Judge Dinsmore fills became available due to the elevation of Jane E. Magnus-Stinson to an Article III judgeship, effective June 9, 2010.
Magistrate judges preside over many pretrial proceedings in both civil and criminal cases in federal court, including intellectual property cases. A critical part of the job is conducting mediation and settlement proceedings in civil cases, helping parties settle their disputes by agreement. United States Magistrate Judges are appointed by the Judges of the U.S. District Court for a term of eight years, and are eligible for reappointment to successive terms.
Indiana Intellectual Property Blog 