Unfair Competition – Page 3 – Attorney Evan Brown

May 24, 2005 Copyright, Unfair Competition

Dastar case applied to dismiss suit against web developer

The U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland has dismissed a copyright infringement and Lanham Act suit against a web developer for using in her online portfolio work done for a previous employer. The court held that it was without subject matter jurisdiction to hear the case where the plaintiff had not obtained copyright registrations over the works in issue, and that Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act could not apply to cover an alleged misappropriation of the “idea, concept or communication” embodied in the works at issue.

On January 5, 2005, Robin Euler left her job as a senior graphic and web designer for Mays & Associates (“Mays”), a “Maryland based, full service web and print design, marketing and communications company.” She then set up shop on her own using the name Red Robin Design [www.redrobindesign.com]. On her new company’s website, Euler placed a portfolio of her work, which included websites and print advertisements she had designed while working for Mays.

On February 11, 2005, Mays filed applications with the U.S. Copyright Office, seeking to register its copyrights in the websites and brochures Euler was using in her portfolio. Three days later, Mays filed suit in federal court in Maryland, alleging copyright infringement, unfair competition under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. § 1125(a)), and various state law claims. Euler moved to dismiss on the basis of lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted. The court granted Euler’s motion and dismissed the case.

Euler’s motion was based on two principal arguments: (1) that the court was without subject matter jurisdiction over the copyright claim, as Mays had not yet received registrations at the time of suit, and (2) that Mays’s cause of action under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act was preempted by copyright law as called for in the U.S. Supreme Court case of Dastar Corp. v. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., 539 U.S. 23, 123 S.Ct. 2041 (2003).

In ruling in favor of Euler’s motion on the subject matter jurisdiction issue, the court held that Section 411 of the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 411) requires a plaintiff to have actually received copyright registrations for the works at issue before filing suit. The court looked to the “ordinary, contemporary, and common meaning” of the words in Section 411(a) to determine that Congress intended to require “something more than application for a copyright prior to filing suit.” Because Mays had only applied for copyright protection and had not yet received registrations, the court was without subject matter jurisdiction.

On the Section 43(a) issue, the court held that Euler’s use on the Red Robin site of work she had done while employed by Mays could not constitute a false designation of origin. The court noted that under Dastar, Section 43(a) does not cover “any idea, concept, or communication” embodied in goods (and presumably services) offered for sale. Any misappropriation or other wrongdoing in this context would be covered by copyright law.

Mays & Associates Inc. v. Euler, — F.Supp.2d —, 2005 WL 1172326 (D.Md. May 18, 2005).

March 1, 2005 Trade Secrets, Unfair Competition

Misappropriation of web development services not unfair competition

In Atari, Inc. v. Games, Inc., arising from a dispute over an agreement to license games for online use, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed defendant’s counterclaim for unfair competition, holding that such a claim could not stand where (1) alleged misappropriation was merely of services and not of knowledge, and (2) counterclaimant had not shown it was the exclusive owner of rights allegedly infringed.

In early 2004, the parties entered into an agreement whereby Games would acquire the domain name Games.com, the website located there, and an exclusive right to provide online versions of certain games such as Scrabble. The parties structured the transaction to occur over a period of time, culminating in a final payment to be made by Games, at which time Games would acquire the exclusive license to the website and online versions of the games.

Before the exclusive license was to be turned over to Games, Atari was to continue developing the Games.com site, and was to incorporate advertising on the site to raise revenue. Atari was slow in implementing the advertising, and Games assisted in implementing the advertising before it was to acquire the exclusive license.

Soon before the date the final payment was due, Games learned that there was another online version of Scrabble available, which would violate the exclusivity of its license. For various reasons, the parties ended up in litigation, asserting claims and counterclaims against one another.

Among the counterclaims that Games brought forth was one for unfair competition. The plaintiffs moved to dismiss, and the court granted plaintiffs’ motion.

As one aspect of its unfair competition claim, Games asserted that Atari had misappropriated the “labor and know-how” of Games employees who had figured out how to place advertising on the Games.com website during the period before the site was to be transferred. The court noted that “under New York law, ‘the gravamen of a claim of unfair competition is the bad faith misappropriation of a commercial advantage belonging to another by infringement or dilution of a trademark or trade name or by exploitation of proprietary information or trade secrets.'” The court held that Atari’s alleged misappropriation of “labor and know-how” in implementing the advertising did not meet the gravamen of an unfair competition claim because Games did not allege that it had employed any skill that was proprietary to it, or that could not have been provided by many other companies. The court stated “[t]he alleged misappropriation is therefore of Games’s services, not knowledge, and this will not support an unfair competition claim.”

The other aspect of Games’s unfair competition claim was that the presence of the other versions of the games online infringed rights exclusively held by Games. The court rejected this claim, however, after an examination of the agreement revealed that Games never held such exclusive rights. The grant of such exclusive rights was contingent on the final payment, which admittedly never was made.

Atari, Inc., v. Games, Inc., 2005 WL 447503 (S.D.N.Y., February 24, 2005).