EOC Week 10: Lawyer Jokes

Question: How can you tell that an attorney is about to lie?
Answer: His lips begin to move.
http://www.stromer.com/jokes/185jokes.html 

Q: What’s the difference between a lawyer and a herd of buffalo?
A: The lawyer charges more.
http://www.ahajokes.com/law001.html 

Q: What do you call a lawyer gone bad?
A: Senator.
http://www.swapmeetdave.com/Humor/Lawyer.htm 

Q: How are an apple and a lawyer alike?
A: They both look good hanging from a tree. http://www.iciclesoftware.com/LawJokes/IcicleLawJokes.html

EOC Week 8: Bratz Vs. Mattel

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a jury should not have been allowed to consider MGA’s claims that it was the victim of trade secret theft during a trial that was convened to consider a lawsuit by Mattel, which contended that MGA stole the idea for Bratz from Mattel.  The case dates to 2004 when Mattel first filed a lawsuit asserting that the designer of the toys, Carter Bryant, was working for Mattel when he did the initial drawings and early work on the Bratz, hip-hop-inspired dolls with large eyes, heads, lips and feet, and tiny noses. The Bratz doll, introduced in 2001, was a blockbuster and posed a serious challenge to Mattel’s Barbie after decades of fashion doll dominance. Article However, this feud has been going back and forth between both companies with judges giving one company rights to Mattel for the images, yet another judge allowing MGA to continue to produce the Bratz Dolls. It seems as if start of this battle created one of the messiest law suits in recent years and will continue to progress forward, but in what direction? That’s still to be determined. However, Time.com has an idea. They state, “So instead of bleeding money in courts, the companies would be better off spending every dime on market research, as the real winner of the doll-vs.-doll battle will be decided by their customers. "The consumers who are buying dolls don't know anything about a lawsuit," Silver said. "Ninety-nine percent don't know or don't care. They just want to buy the doll their kid is asking for." Article  Sounds like a fair way to look at it. Personally, I think the dispute is getting way out of hand and that each company is money hungry for the revenue of the Bratz Dolls. I, too, don't personally care for the dolls themselves because I think they give little girls a bad image of what a real woman look like, but that's just me. However, the customers do have the final say on these dolls. In other words, may the best doll win.

EOC Week 7: Lawyers

Alexandra Del Pozo
702-254-1186


Sophia Del Pozo
702-497-2493


Kenehan & Lambertsen Limitied
702-997-1732


Weide & Miller
702-382-4804


Richard H. Newman
702-667-4811


Michael Navarro
702-385-3025


Yvette R. Freedman
702-383-9950


Kirk Nevada Walker
702-893-3789


Weiss and Moy
702-784-7682


Marc John Randazza
888-667-1113

EOC Week 5: Patent Trolls

When reading the article "New Breed of Patent Claim Bedevils Product Makers" by Dionne Searcey from the Wall Street Journal, I was surprised on the outcome of the case. Raymond E. Stauffer who is a patent attorney in Roseland, NJ sued Brooks Brother Inc. in Federal Court because they labeled their bow ties with expired patents from 1950. The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower court ruling that had dismissed Stauffer's case saying he didn't have standing to bring it. I guess I was shocked that companies with such profit and value are marking their merchandise with expired patents, which is against the law. Why put yourself in jeopardy of being fined or caught? I mean that is a patent trolls job. "A patent troll is a disparaging term for someone who sues for patent infringement but who does not make or sell any products using the patented technology. In other words, the patent troll is in the business of sueing companies, not in the business of making or selling anything." (Patent, Copyright & Trademark pg. 112) "It absolutely is a startling development in the interpretation of that provision," says Michael C. Smith, a defense lawyer from Marshall, Texas, who is representing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and mouse-trap maker Kness Mfg. Co. in suits claiming false patent marking. "A lot of these products always have patent numbers on them, and it never occurred to anyone to take them off." Mr. Smith, who declined to discuss the lawsuits he is handling, says he generally advises clients: "Now is a good time for you to have somebody run down your products" and check their patent numbers. Patents have a life span of 17 or 20 years. To keep them valid, companies must pay maintenance fees every four years. Once they expire, the holder is expected to remove the numbers from products. "A patent is a right provided by a government that allows an inventor to prevent others from manufacturing, selling, or using the patent owner's invention. This right covers the invention as specifically described in the patent application's claim alowed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or other patent-examining agencies in other countries." (Patent, Copyright & Trademark pg. 101) The way Stauffer calculated the liability against Brook Brothers I feel should have had a different outcome. They marked 120 different styles of ties, which sell for about $45 to $100 a piece. But he did say he didn't know how many individual ties were falsely marked, that accurate number of knowing probably would have helped his case slightly. "I would have settled this case for $25,000 back in December of 2008," Mr. Stauffer says. "Brooks Brothers, however, seemed eager to want to litigate the case, and I was delighted to give them the opportunity." So far, none of the suits have reaped the gigantic awards that plaintiffs say could be possible. "Claims are statements included in a patent application that describes that structure of an invention in precise and exact terms, using a long-established formal style and precise terminology. Most patent applications contain more than one claim, each of which describes the invention from a slightly different viewpoint." (Patent, Copyright & Trademark pg. 38) Some of the cases have settled because companies fear a bad outcome or don't want to incur large legal fees fighting them. "You're paying the hostage fee," says Mark Willard, a lawyer who represented hand-tool manufacturer Ames True Temper Co. in a suit involving a shrub rake. "It was manufactured in China using an old mold that still had the expired patent number on it," says Mr. Willard, adding that the company has long had in place a policy of monitoring patents. "This one fell through the cracks."

EOC Week 4: Jeopardy Evaluation

Creating a Jeopardy game to review the definitions and key terms was an interesting way to study them. I found it very interesting and easier to remember. Pinto told us we were going to be playing these games in class but never said who’s game, which kept us on our toes making us study the definitions even more. The class participation was at it’s full potential making the game nerve racking and anxious to find the term. Some of the terms were easy some of the definitions were extremely hard, but creating the game and playing the game made it fun and didn’t feel so much like studying. I feel confident after playing the game with the class that I am fully prepared for the class mid-term, but that’s not going to stop me from studying more at home. I think this was a great way to implement the mid-term and the studying to go along with it. I love the fact that we are always on edge meaning we are never comfortable or given a definite answer. Pinto leaves the class guessing for next weeks lecture. He gave us the Jeopardy game as homework telling us we would be playing Jeopardy in class the next week, but never mentioning if it was his game, my game, or my classmates, so you wouldn’t know what to expect. Then of course playing the game in class he adds his own twists to the rules making it more competitive and making the teams in the class want to win even more. We went from half the class being teamed up against each other, to being split into teams of 5, then switching teams, and being paired up into teams of 3. So it really got us comfortable with our classmates and getting to know each other.

EOC Week 3: Jeopardy Questions

1. A patent search may be conducted after a patent has been issues for the purpose of discovering any fact that might be used to invalidate, and thus break, the patent.

 - What is validity search? 

 2. Under this doctrine, a later device or process may be held to not infringe the patent on an earlier invention, even though the patents claims fully cover the later device or process, if the structure, function, or result of the two inventions is substantially different.

 - What is a negative doctrine of equivalents? 

 3. When patents have claims that overlap each other in a manner that the invention claimed in one patent cannot be used or sold without infringing the claims of the other patent and vice versa.

 - What is a blocking patent?

EOC Week 2: Erin Brockovich

Erin Brockovich who had no education in the law did some deep investigating on PG & E for leaking toxic Chromium 6 into the ground water of the community Hinkley. They had been poisoning the small town for over 30 years. PG & E came up with plenty of offers to try to settle the lawsuit against them but Brockovich laughed at them and didn’t accept. "In 1996, as a result of the largest direct action lawsuit of its kind, spear-headed by Erin and Ed Masry, the utility giant was forced to pay out the largest toxic tort injury settlement in US history: $333 million in damages to more than 600 Hinkley residents." http://www.brockovich.com/mystory.html "The lawyers received forty percent, which was a little over $133 million. As in the film, attorney Ed Masry rewarded Erin Brockovich with a $2 million bonus." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195685/faq I think it was quite intelligent how she used her sex appeal and street knowledge to help with leads on the case. It wasn’t about the money to her it was about helping the people who were sick and the children dying from that contaminated water. "Not all of the victims were happy with the amount of money that they were given. After being billed an extra $10 million for undetailed expenses and having to wait nearly six months after the $333 million had been deposited by PG&E, many of the victims were unhappy with the sum of money that they had been rewarded. The lawyers determined this sum confidentially by various factors, including the severity of their ailments. On average, this came to $300,000 per victim, as stated previously." http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195685/faq I believe the outcome for the people was a good turn out being that if it wasn’t for Brockovich investigating there may not have even been such a case like it was. I do agree with the Lawyer takes a chunk of the deal, but at the end of the day we all work to make money.

EOC Week 1: My Voice

I am an artist with an imagination ready to conquer all. Apparel manufacturing has been a lifelong dream that I have been chasing, and I feel as if I’m right on its tail. As a fashion professional I would like to one day create my own clothing line along with a boutique. Fashion to me is more than just clothes you place upon your back; it says something about your character. Fashion is the art in which you chose to present yourself to the world so why not make it charming. Ever since I was a child I’ve always had this passion to succeed one day in fashion. It’s not really about the materials you have but how you place them all together. I am now working on my bachelor’s degree in fashion design/retail management, as well as being a part time sales associate in a well known worldwide clothing brand. Not only am I gaining experience, but I am also absorbing great customer service skills and product knowledge. With this in mind I aspire to inspire and plan on not only conquering the fashion industry but also to lead by example and keep my artistic imagination in my clothes and allow it to shine on to everyone else.