Welcome to Skilled in the Art. I’m Law.com IP reporter Scott Graham. The first paragraph of Judge William Smith‘s opinion in Markham Concepts v. Hasbro notes that for “people of a certain age,” the Game of Life could be found in seemingly every American household “alongside Twister, Clue and Monopoly.” I am exactly of that age, so I was hooked. Below are details of the copyright battle over the game, including how Judge Smith went the extra mile (literally) to accommodate three nonagenarian witnesses who were part of the game’s creation in 1959. Also, Berkeley Law’s Peter Menell and the Federal Judicial Center are doing for patent mediators what they’ve done for the judiciary—with help from some heavy-hitting IP litigators and judges. And is Google going to have to bring in yet another relief pitcher for the World Series of IP? As always you can email me your thoughts and follow me on Twitter.
Photo: Morgan via Flickr
Game of Life Ends in Copyright ‘Day of Reckoning’
It’s only January but I think we already have the best IP opinion of 2019. U.S. District Judge William Smith of Rhode Island has produced a tour-de-force in a copyright dispute over Hasbro‘s popular Game of Life board game.
