Other Barks & Bites for Friday, October 4: Meta Hit with Class Action Copyright Infringement Lawsuit; Industry Leaders Ask for Clarification on Third-Party Litigation; EUIPO Applauds German Court Ruling on Misleading Invoices

Sydney Kosztolnik’s Havanese – Milo (black) and Lucas (tan).  You can also find Milo & Lucas on IPWatchdog’s Dog Wall of Fame at the IPWatchdog.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: Author files class action lawsuit against Meta for copyright infringement; Industry leaders urge Advisory Committee on Civil Rules to clarify third-party litigation; YouTube pulls popular music videos from platform amidst copyright dispute.

Bites

EUIPO Deems German Court Ruling on Misleading Payment Requests Landmark Ruling

On Thursday, October 3, the European Union Intellectual Property Office said a German court ruling last month that found three defendants guilty of commercial gang fraud for sending misleading invoices to EUIPO customers was a landmark case. It is the first time an EU member state has found sending misleading payment requests to IP system users as fraud. In recent years, the EUIPO has been educating users and the public about these fraudulent payment requests.

Industry Leaders Urge Clarity on Third-Party Litigation

On Wednesday, October 2, 124 companies sent a letter to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules asking for a new rule requiring a uniform process for the disclosure of sensitive third-party litigation in federal cases. The Lawyers for Civil Justice gathered the 124 companies together ranging from industry leaders in healthcare, technology, energy, and more. The letter asks the Committee to “require disclosure of TPLF agreements that provide non-parties a direct interest in the outcome of the case.” The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules is set to meet on October 10 to discuss the potential of a new rule on third-party litigation.

Author Hits Meta with Class Action Copyright Infringement Lawsuit

On Tuesday, October 1, author Christopher Farnsworth filed a class-action lawsuit against Meta for using his books and others to train Llama, its generative AI model, and violating copyright law. According to the lawsuit, Meta stole pirated versions of thousands of books to train Llama, thus violating the copyright rights of the owners. Various authors have sued Meta, OpenAI, and other companies for copyright infringement when training their AI models.

YouTube Pulls Popular Music Videos from Platform Amid Copyright Dispute

On Saturday, September 28, YouTube blocked thousands of music videos and songs from popular artists including Adele, Bob Dylan, and Nirvana due to an ongoing legal dispute with the copyright holder and publishing rights organization SESAC, as first reported by Variety. The reported deal between YouTube and SESAC does not expire until next week, but YouTube preemptively pulled the videos from its platform. A YouTube representative told Variety, “we take copyright very seriously and as a result, content represented by SESAC is no longer available on YouTube in the US. We are in active conversations with SESAC and are hoping to reach a new deal as soon as possible.”

Delaware Jury Rules AWS Must Pay $30.5 Million to Acceleration Bay for Patent Infringement

On Friday, September 27, a Delaware district court jury granted Acceleration Bay $30.5 million in compensation for Amazon Web Services’ infringement of two of its patents. Amazon’s CloudFront and Virtual Private Cloud were found to be willfully infringing on the two patents owned by Acceleration Bay, a technology incubator.  Paul Andre, Partner at Kramer Levin, who represented Acceleration Bay, said, “we appreciate the jury’s hard work on wrestling with this complex case, and are grateful for the verdict.”

Barks

Copyright Office Issues Final Rule on Final CCB Determinations

The U.S. Copyright Office on Friday, October 4, issued a final rule modifying current regulations on obtaining a certified final determination from the Copyright Claims Board (CCB) by specifying that “parties will make such requests to the CCB, rather than using the generally applicable process to certify other Office records.” The fee for retrieval, copying, and certification of CCB final determinations has also been lowered to $15 each.

Copyright Office Expands Access to Spanish-Language Resources

The U.S.Copyright Office announced Thursday, October 3, that it is delivering on its goal of making the copyright understandable and accessible to as many as possible by expanding its Spanish Language program. The Office has released more than 40 translated resources over the last two years for Spanish speakers, including more than a dozen circulars discussing copyright concepts; Office practices and procedures; and information on registering various types of works with the Copyright Office, including musical compositions and sound recordings, said the notice. Learn more here.

Chinese Citizens Convicted for Defrauding Apple with Counterfeit iPhones

On Thursday, October 3, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced two Chinese citizens living in Maryland were sentenced for defrauding Apple out of $2.5 million worth of iPhones. As part of the illegal scheme, the conspirators sent counterfeit iPhones to Apple for repair in order to receive real iPhones as a replacement in return. The pair were sentenced to 57 and 54 months in jail for their role in the scheme.

COPA and Unified Patents Sign Agreement to Protect Crypto Companies from Patent Trolls

On Tuesday, October 1, the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA) and Unified Patents announced the Blockchain Zone, a partnership with the goal of fighting back against patent trolls in the cryptocurrency industry. COPA members will now receive pass-through protection at no cost due to the partnership. Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, a member of COPA, said, “Patent trolls are barriers in the path of innovation; they hinder the progress of technology and stifle the spirit of creativity, particularly in the fast-evolving world of cryptocurrency. They must be stopped so that the community can continue to do the important business of building the crypto-economy.”

Senator Asks FDA for Clarity, Leadership on Orange Book Patent Listings

On Monday, September 30, Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) sent a letter to the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking for clarity on patent owners responsibility to list patents in the FTC’s Orange Book. In recent years, the FTC has expanded the list of alleged improper patent listings to expand access to more affordable generic prescription drugs. In his letter, Senator Cassidy wrote, “rather than defer to FTC accusations that drug manufacturers are breaking ambiguous rules, FDA should clarify the rules for brand and generic manufacturers alike.” For full IPWatchdog coverage click here.

This Week on Wall Street

OpenAI Secures $6.6 Billion in Largest VC Funding Round Ever

On Wednesday, October 2, OpenAI announced that it raised $6.6 billion in funding resulting in a new $157 billion evaluation. The ChatGPT maker thus achieved the largest round of venture capitalist funding ever. A host of large tech firms and VC funds invested in OpenAI including Nvidia, SoftBank, Fidelity, and Thrive Capital. Just two weeks ago, OpenAI restructured its company and abandoned its non-profit status.

AI Processor Company Cerebras Files for IPO, Hopes to Compete with Nvidia

On Monday, September 30, AI processor company Cerebras Systems filed for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company designs and sells a variety of AI systems and had a reported revenue of $78.7 million in 2023, tripling its 2022 revenue. Cerebras competes in the same market as Nvidia, and the startup claims on its website that one of its chips has more cores and memory than one of Nvidia’s most popular chips.

Quarterly Earnings – The following firms identified among the IPO’s Top 300 Patent Recipients for 2023 are announcing quarterly earnings next week (2023 rank in parentheses):

• Monday: None
• Tuesday: None
• Wednesday: None
• Thursday: None
• Friday: Wells Fargo (76), J P Morgan Chase (189)