The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently reversed the dismissal of a Lanham Act claim brought by a prominent personal injury law firm (Adler) against a lawyer referral service who was purchasing Google keyword ads for the plaintiff’s trademarks. Jim S. Adler, P.C. v. McNeil Consultants, L.L.C., No. 20-10936, U.S. App. LEXIS 23761 (5th Cir. Aug. 10, 2021). Although the defendant (McNeil) did not use the Adler’s marks (e.g., JIM ADLER, THE HAMMER, TEXAS HAMMER) in the resulting advertisements, the court declined to promulgate a rule where liability could be avoided on that basis alone. The court instead concluded that “whether an advertisement incorporates […]
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has rejected the argument that embedding a link to a video does not “display” that video within the meaning of the Copyright Act. Nicklen v. Sinclair Broad. Grp., Inc., No. 20-CV-10300 (JSR), 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142768 (S.D.N.Y. July 30, 2021). In ruling on a motion to dismiss, the court held that the exclusive right of the copyright owner to “display” his work should be interpreted broadly so that the display right is not rendered “merely a subset of the reproduction right.” Id. at *13. Under the auspices of the legal theory that one must make […]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently held that a Commercial General Liability insurance policy required the insurer to defend Houston-based Landry’s Inc. in a $25 million data breach case brought by its credit card processor. Landry’s, Inc. v. Ins. Co. of the State of Pa., No. 19-20430, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 21668 (5th Cir. July 21, 2021). By the time the Fifth Circuit rendered its decision, however, Landry’s had already lost the underlying case to its credit card processor, which was awarded $20 million in damages and is currently moving to recover attorneys’ fees ($1 million), costs ($500,000), and prejudgment interest ($3.2 million). […]
Dustin Mauck of RegitzMauck has been recognized as the 2020 Outstanding Clinic Attorney Volunteer for the Veterans Legal Clinic by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program. Dustin was virtually presented the award at the 38th Annual Pro Bono Awards Celebration that took place on October 30, 2020. Dustin, who also won this award in 2017, has represented veterans and their families in a variety of matters over the years, including impending foreclosures, divorces, child support cases, business disputes, and consumer cases. Dustin believes that providing pro bono services is a great way to give back to those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom and the judicial […]
Mike Regitz and Dustin Mauck of RegitzMauck have been selected to the 2020 Texas Super Lawyers list in the practice areas of Intellectual Property and Intellectual Property Litigation, respectively. The Super Lawyers list is an honor reserved for those lawyers who exhibit excellence in practice. Only 5% of attorneys in Texas receive this distinction. Both Mike and Dustin are registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and are Certified Information Privacy Professionals (CIPP/US). Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. […]
Walmart has a certain reputation regarding the manner in which it deals with its suppliers and service providers. Therefore, no one was particularly surprised when the facts came out at trial about a fixed fee agreement and Walmart’s almost instantaneous demands that additional work be done outside the scope of the contract for no additional charge. Walmart Inc. v. Cuker Interactive, LLC, 949 F.3d 1101, 1107 (8th Cir. 2020). Nor was anyone shocked that Walmart started pressuring its e-commerce consultant (Cuker Interactive) to give them the Adobe Source Files, which ended up being the only alleged trade secret to pass muster. Id. at 1109-11. That Cuker Interactive […]
In a somewhat baffling case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently remanded a copyright case back to the district court due to an undeveloped record relating to whether the plaintiff was entitled to a $3.6 million statutory damages award based on the infringement thirty-three separate illustrations. Sullivan v. Flora, Inc., 936 F.3d 562 (7th Cir. 2019). The opinion primarily analyzed an interesting issue relating a quirk in the statutory damages provision of the Copyright Act. Statutory damages are available for infringement of “any one work.” 17 U.S.C. § 504(c). The provision further states that “all of the parts of a compilation . . […]
Mike Regitz of RegitzMauck has been recognized as the 2019 Outstanding Clinic Attorney Volunteer for the Veterans Legal Clinic by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program. Mike was presented the award at the Annual Pro Bono Awards Celebration that was hosted by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program and held at the Belo Mansion on the evening of September 24, 2019. Mike is a two-time recipient of this award (2011 and 2019) and Dustin Mauck received the award in 2017. Mike, who helped found the Veterans Legal Clinic in 2009, has represented veterans and their families in a variety of matters over the years. RegitzMauck is a proud supporter […]
On Monday, September 16, 2019, Dustin Mauck of RegitzMauck made a cybersecurity presentation at the “Entrepreneurs in Community Lawyering Boot Camp.” The two day event was designed to help a small group of new lawyers through their first year of launching a financially sustainable solo or small firm practice that includes helping clientele of modest means (e.g., teachers, waitstaff, nurses). The Dallas Bar Association program is the first legal incubator program of its kind in Dallas. Dustin’s presentation, entitled “Cybersecurity for Lawyers,” provided an overview of the cyber threats facing businesses and law firms (e.g., ransomware, social engineering, business e-mail compromise) and identified cybersecurity and privacy issues […]
Mike Regitz and Dustin Mauck of RegitzMauck have been selected to the 2019 Texas Super Lawyers list in the practice areas of Intellectual Property and Intellectual Property Litigation, respectively. The Super Lawyers list is an honor reserved for those lawyers who exhibit excellence in practice. Only 5% of attorneys in Texas receive this distinction Both Mike and Dustin are registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and are Certified Information Privacy Professionals (CIPP/US). Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. […]