In Bell v. Taylor, the Seventh Circuit homes in on the photographer plaintiff’s dearth of damages evidence in his copyright suit about two photographs he took of the Indianapolis skyline. A copyright owner can recover actual damages suffered as a result of infringement and any profits accruing to the infringer. To establish an infringer’s profits, the …
Category Archives: Copyright and Trademark
Indy Skyline Photo Spat At Heart Of 7th Circuit’s Gloss on Affirmative Defenses, Res Judicata and Fed. Pleading Amendments – Bell v. Taylor (Part I)
Litigation over pictures of the Indianapolis skyline form the backdrop for the Seventh Circuit’s recent examination of the elements of a proper affirmative defense under Federal pleading rules and the concept of ‘finality’ for res judicata purposes in Bell v. Taylor. There, several small businesses infringed plaintiff’s copyrights in two photographs of downtown Indianapolis: one …
Trademark Infringement – The Irreparable Harm and Inadequate Remedy at Law Injunction Elements
The Northern District of Illinois recently pronounced the governing standards for injunctive relief in a franchise dispute between rival auto repair shops. SBA-TLC, LLC v. Merlin Corp., 2015 WL 6955493 (N.D.Ill. 2015) sued its former franchisee for trademark infringement after the franchisee continued using the plaintiff’s signage, logo and design plans after the franchisor declared a default and terminated …