New Ninth Circuit Law re Irreparable Harm in Trademark & Copyright Cases

Quick update for all my IPeeps! (new term I coined to refer to my IP colleagues... don't steal it).

Ninth Circuit rejects presumption of irreparable harm for trademark owners.  Herb Reed Enterprises, LLC v. Florida Entertainment Management, No. 12-16868 (9^th Cir. Dec. 2, 2013).  See eBay Inc. v. MercExchange, L.L.C., 547 U.S. 388 (2006) in which the Supreme Court rejected a similar presumption of irreparable harm in patent cases, which “effectively overruled” the Ninth Circuit’s prior decisions re trademark and copyright irreparable harm.

Ninth Circuit rejects presumption of irreparable harm for copyright owners.  Perfect 10, Inc. v. Google, Inc., No. 10-56316 (9th Cir. Aug. 3, 2011).

Links to cases:

Herb Reed case

http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2013/12/02/12-16868.pdf 

Perfect 10 case

http://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2011/08/03/10-56316.pdf 

eBay case

http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/05pdf/05-130.pdf

See also, Winter case
http://www.c-span.org/pdf/USSC_NavySonar.pdf  

In Winter, the Court held that a party seeking an injunction in a non-patent case must show that irreparable harm is “likely,” not merely “possible.”

Get over it….. ;-)

Happy Holidays!