Summary Judgment Reversed By Ninth Circuit In Intellectual Property Case.

Plaintiff designed and registered with the Copyright Office a floral print fabric and sold 50,000 yards of it between 2002 and 2006.  In 2008, plaintiff discovered shirts bearing a very similar design “printed using cruder, lower-quality techniques and machinery.”  Plaintiff sued the seller of the design it discovered. The trial court granted summary judgment for defendant.  The Ninth Circuit reversed, noting the 50,000 yards were mostly sold in the Los Angeles area, and stating:  “A reasonable jury could find that [the copyrighted pattern] was widely disseminated in the Los Angeles-area fabric industry, and hence Defendants had an opportunity to view and copy [the] design.”  L.A. Printex Industries, Inc. v. Aeropostale, Inc. (Ninth Cir.; April 9, 2012) 676 F.3d 841. http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2012/04/09/10-56187.pdf