Pillsbury attorney, Sean Kane, serves on the Governing Committee of the ABA as the Licensing, Merchandising and Branding Division Chair. Sean is participating in the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Bar Association Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries as the moderator for a discussion titled, “PLENARY: Rights of Publicity…
A recent spate of cases has generally upheld, on First Amendment grounds, a developer’s right to include unlicensed trademarks in video games. However, until the body of case law becomes so prevalent that trademark owners recognize that they cannot possibly succeed in an action involving use in a video game,…
King.com, maker of some of the most popular Facebook and mobile games, filed a complaint in the Northern District of California Tuesday, claiming competitor 6Waves cloned King’s Pet Rescue Saga and Farm Hero Saga games in developing its own Farm Epic and Treasure Epic titles. King is also the maker…
On August 29, 2013, Gov. Chris Christie signed New Jersey’s social media privacy law, making New Jersey the twelfth state to enact such laws governing employers. (Various states have enacted similar laws governing institutions of higher education.) Christie’s signature ends an approximately year and a half long legislative process: the…
A weekly wrap up of interesting news about virtual worlds, virtual goods and other social media. Microsoft Points Retired The latest Xbox 360 system update has retired Microsoft points and now all transactions on the platform will make use of local currency. Software Patent Mess Hits High Court with WildTangent…
Gamification has become pervasive in many every day activities, including health and wellness programs. For companies involved in these activities, you should make sure you are aware of the final Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) regulations on wellness programs. These come into effect in 2014. Gamification refers to the use of…
On August 19, 2013, the New Jersey Senate passed – by a vote of 36 to 0 – a revised bill barring employers from seeking access to employees’ social media accounts. The bill was previously approved by the New Jersey Assembly on May 20, 2013, as discussed in a prior…
On July 23, 2013 the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) announced it was bringing charges in a Texas federal court against Trendon Shavers for allegedly using a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme to defraud investors between September 2011 and September 2012. For those who may not know, Bitcoins are anonymous, decentralized, non-government-backed…
Sean F. Kane, Pillsbury special counsel, will participate in PLI’s Think Like a Lawyer, Talk Like a Geek 2013: Get Fluent in Technology seminar by co-presenting during the “Virtual Games and Virtual Currency” session on Monday, November 18, 2013 at 11:30am. This unique program will present extraordinary sessions combining experienced…
On July 30, 2013, the Florida Judicial Ethics Committee issued an opinion stating that a judge running for re-election may create a Twitter account for campaign purposes, but warned of potential pitfalls surrounding social media. The opinion resulted from an inquiry submitted by an anonymous judge who plans to use…