Now that we’ve reached the end of another busy year for intellectual property litigation, it’s worth looking back at some of the decisions that got the IP bar buzzing over the past 12 months. The list is far from definitive, but here are a handful of cases that had winning lawyers popping champagne corks early in 2013.
American Broadcasting Companies Inc. et. al. v. Aereo Inc.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit refused to enjoin Aereo’s online, royalty-free streaming of broadcast television. Teams from Jenner & Block and Debevoise & Plimpton represented the broadcasters, while Michael Elkin of Winston & Strawn, and David Hosp, who was with Goodwin Proctor and is now at Fish & Richardson, represented Aereo. The April ruling set the stage for continuing litigation with the broadcast television networks, which allege that Aereo is violating their copyrights. While Aereo has retained the advantage in its own battles with the networks, the broadcasters convinced two district courts to rule against a copycat online TV company. The split has prompted the broadcasters to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Aereo told the high court this month that it would not object to the justices hearing the case, as it wants to settle the issues once and for all. If the court grants cert, expect the case to be one of the most closely watched IP fights of 2014.
