Submitting an idea doesn’t mean you own it. %CUT% Author, Dan Rosen, had a screenplay called “Darci’s Walk of Fame”. For those who are not ‘in the know’, the standard elements of a walk of shame are: (1) a one night stand; (2) waking up the next morning in someone else’s bed; and (3) having to walk (or taxi or Uber or Lyft) home in the clothes you wore the night before. Dan was lucky to get a meeting with actress and producer, Elizabeth Banks and her husband to present his screenplay. After discussing the plot line, characters, and themes, Banks and her husband took a pass. Not long after the meeting, Banks starred in the 2014 movie “Walk of Shame” which wasn’t exactly a box office hit. Dan’s assignee, Shame on You Productions, Inc. sued Banks, her husband, and the film’s production based on copyright infringement and an implied contract. The court applied the extrinsic test to determine if infringement occurred. The extrinsic test focuses on specific similarities between two works. Scenes a faire (standard situations that flow naturally from the plot) are disregarded. The two works shared the “walk of shame” premise and some natural elements that flowed from it, but the narratives and characters were different. Shame on You’s case was dismissed and affirmed on appeal.

Trade secrets are a good way to protect a recipe. %CUT% Sycamore Family Bakery Inc. sold its assets to Bimbo Bakeries USA. Included in the assets was Sycamore’s secret recipe for Grandma Sycamore’s Home-Maid Bread. When Leland Sycamore went to work for US Bakery, US Bakery started selling bread made from the same recipe. US Bakery also mimicked Bimbo’s packaging. Bimbo sued for trade secret misappropriation and false advertising. A jury awarded Bimbo $2 million.

You or your retirement plan’s third party administrator (TPA) need to make a benefit distribution to an ex-employee. But the employer’s records are out of date and the former employee cannot be located. Worse yet, the missing participant has attained age 70½ so the plan is required to make minimum distributions (RMDs) but cannot do so.

A licensee can’t knock out a confusingly similar trademark. %CUT% Julie A. Moreno licensed the Mexican trademark, DEPORTES CASANOVA, for sports equipment. Julie challenged Pro Boxing Supplies, Inc.’s trademark applications and registrations for CASANOVA due to a likelihood of confusion. The TTAB denied Julie’s petitions. While this looked like a priority of use problem, the real problem was that a licensee and not the owner/licensor was claiming priority of use. The TTAB ruled against Julie because: “Allowing a licensee to claim priority for itself in an inter parties proceeding based on the licensor’s use of the mark (whether through the license or otherwise), could result in a licensee being able to claim de facto ownership of the licensed mark.”