Intellectual Property Law

Eros, LLC filed the lawsuit. They are a business in Second Life that caters to the ... ahem... adult community. On Sep. 15, 2009, they filed a class action lawsuit alleging trademark and copyright infringement. They are trying to get some pretty big classes involved in the case. For example, the complaint requests the following classes be named:

a) The Trademark Owner Class. All individuals and entities in the United States
who own, have owned, or otherwise have the right to enforce licensing rights to
goods and services bearing trademarks or service marks registered with the
United States Patent and Trademark Office, and who engage or have engaged in
commercial transactions in Second Life associated with such registered trademark
or service marks.

b) The Trademark Infringement Class. All individuals and entities in the United
States who (1) own, have owned, or otherwise have the right to enforce licensing
rights to goods and services bearing trademarks or service marks registered with
the United States Patent and Trademark Office, (2) engage or have engaged in
commercial transactions in Second Life associated with such registered trademark
or service marks, and (3) whose trademarks and/or service marks were infringed
in Second Life.

c) The Copyright Owner Class. All individuals and entities in the United States
who own, have owned, or otherwise have the right to enforce licensing rights in
connection with a copyright registered with the U.S. Register of Copyrights and
who engage or have engaged in commercial transactions in Second Life
associated with such copyrighted works.

d) The Copyright Infringement Class. All individuals and entities in the United
States who (1) own, have owned, or otherwise have the right to enforce licensing
rights in connection with a copyright registered with the U.S. Register of
Copyrights (2) engage or have engaged in commercial transactions in Second Life
associated with such copyrighted works, and (3) whose copyrights were infringed
in Second Life.

This case will certainly be of interest to the Second Life community, as well as other virtual world providers who offer similar features. Many believe that a lawsuit of this nature was only a matter of time. It will certainly be interesting to watch and see what happens. Stay tuned...