Our Intellectual Property Litigation Group advises and counsels both entertainment and non-entertainment clients on a broad range of intellectual property matters.

Greenberg Glusker’s IP litigators handle virtually all aspects of copyright law, including disputes involving ownership transfers, license termination, copyright preemption, fair use, music sampling and internet piracy.

We handle trademark disputes involving claims that one mark is confusingly similar to another, as well as trademark dilution, “cybersquatting” and trade dress infringement claims.

Our litigators represent plaintiffs and defendants in “idea submission” cases involving motion pictures, television shows, video games, books and toys.

We are experts in “right of publicity” matters, prosecuting and defending claims relating to the unauthorized use of celebrities’ names, likenesses and voices.

We also handle unfair competition disputes, and have particularly extensive expertise in matters involving “grey market” goods.

Representative Experience 

• Defended and advised owners of such entertainment properties as “Lassie,” “Casper the Friendly Ghost,” “Winnie the Pooh” and “Charlotte’s Web” in connection with attempts by authors’ heirs to recapture copyrights in these properties under the Copyright Act’s statutory termination provisions.
• Represent Toho Co., Ltd., owner of the intellectual property rights in “Godzilla,” in numerous matters involving copyright and trademark infringement and licensing disputes.  Among the many issues involved in these cases are the unauthorized use of the Godzilla character in motion pictures and television commercials, the “sampling” of Godzilla theme music in sound recordings, and the infringement of Toho’s characters in connection with various internet ventures.  All of these cases were resolved with the defendants ceasing their infringing conduct.
• Achieved a favorable settlement for Gameloft, S.A., one of the world's largest publishers of mobile phone video games, in a copyright and trademark dispute brought by Activision in connection with the video game “Guitar Hero.”
• Obtained summary judgment for Costco Wholesale Corporation against Omega S.A. in a case involving the Copyright Act’s “first sale” doctrine, establishing Costco’s right to sell Omega watches in its warehouse stores.
• Successfully represented Universal Pictures in a case brought by a photographer who claimed to own the copyright in key art for a major motion picture.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction for a Fortune 500-consulting company against a customer using the client’s copyrighted software beyond the scope of its license.
• Represented James Cameron in connection with claims asserted by third parties that the motion pictures “Terminator” and “Terminator 2” infringed pre-existing copyright works.  All such actions were dismissed prior to trial.
• Represented David Arquette in connection with the claim that his motion picture “The Tripper” infringed pre-existing copyrighted work.  The case was dismissed at the pleading stage.
• Represented Intervisual Books in connection with litigation asserting that its children’s books infringed the copyrights of a third party competitor.  The action was settled prior to trial.
• Represented dressmaker Private Label by G in successful defense of claims that its wedding dresses infringed dress designs of competitors.
• Represented independent filmmaker Kevin Foster in dispute over ownership of independently produced motion picture. Arbitration was commended and later resolved with Mr. Foster obtaining full copyright in his film.
• Represented Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman in separate right of publicity actions involving unauthorized utilization of the actors’ likenesses as they appeared in copyrighted works.  The defense of copyright preemption was asserted in those cases and rejected by the court in each instance.
• Represented Warren Beatty in litigation against Tribune Media Services involving rights in and to the character Dick Tracy.  Case involved, in part, assertions by Tribune concerning the non-assignability of copyrights.  Tribune’s copyright argument was rejected by the court.
• Successfully settled on behalf of Anheuser-Busch a claim brought by Sierra Nevada for trademark infringement alleging that Anheuser-Busch’s use of “Michelob Celebrate” infringed Sierra Nevada’s registered mark “Celebration” for a holiday ale.

 For more information, please contact Aaron J. Moss, Chair of Greenberg Glusker's Litigation Group.