The False Markings Cases: Frivolous or Fighting Fraud?

By: Ian McClure
solocup

When a company deceives the consuming public, or exercises anti-competitive business practices in order to gain market share, we usually punish them. This is why a Washington attorney, in March of 2007, sued Solo Cup, and then Gillette, for claiming their products were protected by patents when in fact they were not. The story of Matthew Pequignot is not new. He found an archived legal hole that allows any citizen to sue on behalf of the government if they can prove that ... Read More

Categories: Trademark Trends

EU Becomes Jurisdiction of Choice for Attacking Monopolistic Practices

By: Ian McClure
monopoly_board

Yesterday, the EU handed down the largest fine in history for conducting anti-competitive business practices.  The fine was handed to Intel in the amount of $1.45 Billion as a result of Intel's sales of its microprocessing chips, which are used in (or tied to) most PC's sold in the world.  The EU fine comes on the heels of announcements by the Obama Administration that it will crack down on monopolistic practices, but after mergers such as Pfizer/Wyeth and Ticketmaster/Live Nation (purportedly) may ... Read More

Categories: Today in IP

Oracle Grabs Sun; Sheds Light on IBM and Anti-Trust Issues

By: Ian McClure
oracle-logo

Oracle jumped on the transaction that IBM could not complete.  The reason for IBM's failure to finish the deal sheds light on the anti-trust implications that would have resulted.  IBM's large market share in servers overlapped with Oracle's offerings to a point that would have created a monster that HP and Cisco couldn't overcome.  Obama's shadow over anti-competitive actions could finally be causing some winds to change . . . More details on the Oracle/Sun deal, for 7.38 billion, HERE. Read More

Categories: Today in IP

Live Nation and Ticketmaster to Test Anti-Trust Crack-down

By: Ian McClure
r771528livenation_logo_2c

Entertainment giants Live Nation and Ticketmaster are set to merge, creating a horizontal monopoly in the concert ticketing market.  Both companies have sizeable artist management rosters as well.  In a media industry already scrutinized for monopolizing the market, this may be the  first test on the Obama administration's proclaimed anti-trust crack-down. Read More

Categories: Today in IP