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Intellectual Property News
Jury Convicts Store Owner of Trafficking in Counterfeit Computer Software
The owner and operator of Media Solutions, a now-defunct computer hardware and software store in the City of Industry, has been convicted of seven federal criminal charges for trafficking in counterfeit Symantec and Quicken computer software.
Joan Huang, 43, of Rancho Palos Verdes, was found guilty yesterday afternoon of one count of conspiring to sell counterfeit software, five counts of attempted trafficking in counterfeit software, and one count of trafficking in the software.
The jury heard evidence that in 2002 and 2003 Huang purchased or tried to purchase thousands of copies of counterfeit versions of Norton Anti-Virus, Norton SystemWorks and Quicken software from a supplier who imported the fake software from Thailand. After that supplier was arrested in Canada in early 2003, Huang found new suppliers of counterfeit software and continued to resell the contraband.
In an attempt to avoid detection, Huang arranged for the counterfeit software to be shipped to a friend's restaurant and to a friend's home under the name "John Smith." During this time, Huang had been told several times by her supplier and by federal agents that the software she was buying and selling was counterfeit. Nevertheless, Huang sold counterfeit software with a retail value well in excess of $200,000.
Huang faces a maximum possible sentence of 75 years in federal prison when she is sentenced on August 21 by United States District Judge FlorenceMarie Cooper, who presided over the trial.
The case is the result of an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Long Beach.
There are common law rights
Federal registration is not required to establish rights in a trademark. Common law rights arise from actual use of a mark. Generally, the first to either use a mark in commerce or file an intent to use application with the Patent and Trademark Office has the ultimate right to use and registration. However, there are many benefits of federal trademark registration.
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Definition:
A common-law form of unfair competition where the defendant has copied or appropriated some item or creation of the plaintiff that is not protected by either patent law, copyright law, trademark law, or any other traditional theory of exclusive rights.
Goods and Services
Definition:
A service must be a real activity must be performed to the order of, or for the benefit of, someone other than the applicant and must be different from with the sale of the applicant’s goods or the performance of another service.
License
Definition:
A permission to use an intellectual property right, under defined conditions as to time, context, market line, or territory.
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