A business's property is often protected by patents or other measures. This is because losing the ability to sell a particular product or to protect ideas could end up ruining a business's sales completely. If a competitor gets a hold of an important piece of information, it could even result in the business shutting down.
A business involved in this case has argued that it is suffering as a result of patent infringement. The case was set to go to court, but thanks to a settlement, it will no longer have to do so.
If you're a fan of the Kardashians, then you may have heard about Kim Kardashian West and Urban Outfitters settling a selfie-related lawsuit. According to an article from March 26, the California-based company SnapLight had filed a patent infringement case against Kimsaprincess and Urban Outfitters in 2017. It claimed that a competitor, LuMee, produced cases that infringed on its lighting technology. Kim Kardashian West is a partner of the competitor and Urban Outfitters was retailing the phone cases in question.
In the complaint, the company states that it has struggled to compete because of Kardashian West's influence and LuMee's infringement of patent number 8,428,644. She disagreed with the lawsuit, stating that the company had no merit. However, the parties did come to an agreement on their own. The motion did request that SnapLight's complaint get dismissed with prejudice and that everyone would have to pay their own court costs.
A lawsuit can help you protect your intellectual property if it's stolen, too. Many cases end in settlements, so you may not end up having to go to court.
Source: World Intellectual Property Review, "Kim Kardashian West and Urban Outfitters settle 'selfie' patent suit," March 26, 2018
On behalf of Crockett & Crockett posted on Monday, April 9, 2018.
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