Ryan Gile reports on an odd ruling that just could — however unlikely — result in some degree of reanimation of Righthaven, of all things:
Back in 2009 (when I had much more time to blog on a more regular basis), I wrote about the three separate trademark infringement lawsuits filed by Stephens Media LLC (“Stephens Media”), the owner of the Las Vegas newspaper The Las Vegas Review Journal [and the engine behind Righthaven], against three separate companies over their alleged use of the term “BEST OF LAS VEGAS.” See previous blog entry here.
In the case against one of the companies, CitiHealth LLC (“CitiHealth”), on August 6, 2012, U.S. District Court Judge Miranda Du issued a decision on a motion for default judgment filed by Stephens Media. SeeStephens Media LLC v. CitiHealth LLC, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109431 (D. Nev. August 6, 2012). What is interesting is how long it took for the case to get to this point.
And that interesting part, of course, Ryan explains, and you should read it. But his punchline is interesting, and self-standing, in its own right:
In the end, the Court entered a default judgment awarding $200,000 against CitiHealth as well as a permanent injunction against CitiHealth and its officers against any further use of the “Best of Las Vegas” mark. The Court also gave Stephens Media 30 days to file a motion for attorneys fees.While its highly unlikely that Stephens Media will be able to collect on its $200,000 default judgment, one wonders if Stephens Media, should it be able to collect such funds, would be willing to pump that money into back into Righthaven LLC so that Righthaven can pay the money that it owes to its creditors (including multiple defendants that the Nevada District Court found were wrongly sued by Righthaven for copyright infringement). That’s probably even more highly unlikely.
Yes the odds are mightly slim. And who’d know better than a Las Vegas Trademark Attorney?
Originally posted 2014-02-10 15:10:23. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
