Litigation

Faster Than A Plodding Lawsuit; More Powerful Than Summary Judgment

By Bruce Nye

The Weintraub Firm's engaging, if often over my head,  IP Law blog reports here on the U.S. District Court, Central District's latest ruling in litigation between the heirs of the creators of Superman and DC Comics.  Royalty rights from the Man of Steel have been in litigation for -- wait for it -- more than sixty years.  IP Blog gives a good outline of the history of the litigation stemming from the original contract rights of Jerome Siegel and Joseph Shuster, who invented  the big guy as Cleveland teenagers in 1933, granted rights to DC in 1938, and filed their first suit against the company in 1947 (they also litigated in 1969-70, and the current suit was filed in 2004).  Most recently, the district court has denied summary judgment to DC, thus, as IP Law Blog observes, "ensuring another ten years of litigation."

Full post as published by CalBizLit on April 15, 2008 (boomark / email).