In February of this year SAP eliminated its low cost maintenance option leaving new customers with a maintenance option priced at 22% of software license fees. With the influx of SASS and third party providers like Rimini Street, SAP’s 22% increase seems counterintuitive. SAP’s maintenance increase, though, brings it in line with Oracle – which…
Take Two Interactive Software, the publisher of Grand Theft Auto, has sued the Chicago Transit Authority in the Southern District of New York for pulling advertisements for the video game. The suit alleges (among other things) that the CTA’s actions: are unlawful content based restrictions that violate Take Two’s rights under the First Amendment; violate…
On May 14 Nintendo of America, Inc. was ordered to pay Anascape, Ltd. $21 million for infringement of Anascape’s patents in designing its Wii Classic, WaveBird and Gamecube controllers. Anascape also sued Microsoft for infringement. Anascape and Microsoft, however, settled On May 1st just prior to the start of the trial against Nintendo. Anascape alleged that the console…
In our November 2007 newsletter, located we discussed the protectability of fashion designs in light of the introduction of the Design Piracy Protection Act (the “DPPA”), Congress’s proposed legislation to give fashion designers a clearer path to securing protection for their designs and compensation for infringements of those designs. As readers of our newsletter and…
The town of French Lick, Indiana has just one claim to fame. But it’s a big one – about 6’9. ” French Lick is NBA Champion and Hall-of-Famer Larry Bird’s hometown. The Anchorage Daily News reports that a couple from Alaska had hoped to capitalize on Bird’s fame by purchasing his childhood home in French Lick…
The Wall Street Journal in an article located here discusses Apple’s successful attempt to trademark the 3-dimensional design of its iPod media player. While the concepts discussed are standard fare for our clients and readers of our blog and newsletter, one particular passage stands out: “companies typically don’t give enough attention to the management and potential value of trademarks…
SAP recently reported a steeper than expected drop in Q1 profits. SAP was apparently impacted by acquisition related costs, the weaker dollar and delayed investments on new software. If you are currently involved in a software acquisition with SAP, now may be the time to aggressively seek concessions as SAP may be more willing to negotiate in…