寰宇知讯 | WeWork在美对优客工场提起商标诉讼；猴子自拍照著作权诉讼以和解告终
编译 | Bruce
WeWork在美提起商标诉讼，打击中国竞争对手优客工场
9月12日，协同工作巨头WeWork针对其中国竞争对手优客工场（UrWork），在位于曼哈顿的美国纽约南区联邦地区法院提起了一桩商标诉讼。诉讼主要因优客工场进军美国开设其在纽约的第一家共享办公空间而起。这起诉讼进一步加深了两家创业公司之间正在进行的法律战争。
WeWork是一家快速成长的美国初创企业，估值200亿美元，其业务主要是为自由职业者及小型企业提供共享办公场所。随着今年7月WeWork在英国伦敦起诉中国公司优客工场商标侵权，WeWork已经与快速发展的中国竞争对手就相似的名字争论了有一段时间了。
WeWork诉称，优客工场的英文名UrWork与WeWork的商标非常类似，会误导消费者认为UrWork的服务和WeWork有附属或赞助关系；优客工场的标志、移动应用图标等都抄袭了WeWork公司的；同时，WeWork还要求优客工场停止在曼哈顿推出服务。此外，WeWork指控称，Serendipity Labs是优客工场在美国的合作伙伴，并将Serendipity Labs也列为被告。
苹果被判赔2210万美元后 与Acacia子公司和解
当地时间9月11日，苹果已经与专利许可公司Acacia Research旗下一家名为“蜂窝通信设备有限责任公司”（Cellular Communications Equipment LLC）的公司达成和解。德克萨斯东区联邦地区法院陪审团9月认为iPhone和iPad侵犯了原告1件无线通信技术专利，认定苹果应向原告支付2210万美元损害赔偿金。
目前苹果与蜂窝通信设备有限责任公司之间的和解协议具体条款尚未被披露出来。K. Nicole Mitchell法官同意了双方的和解，双方负担各自诉讼开支。
猴子自拍照著作权诉讼以和解告终
当地时间9月11日，善待动物组织（People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals，简称PETA）宣布和解了著名的“猴子自拍照”著作权诉讼案。PETA称，该案的被告方自然景物摄影师David Slater，同意捐赠未来因猴子自拍照而取得的收入给慈善机构用于猕猴保护，以此结束了这起有趣的案件。
PETA于2015年9月代表猴子“Naruto”在美国加利福尼亚北区联邦地区法院提起诉讼，称猴子自拍照的收益应用来保护猴子栖息地；Slater辩称美国法律未赋予动物以主张著作权的地位。2016年1月，William Orrick法官驳回了PETA的诉讼请求，并称动物的著作权问题是国会而非法院要解决的问题。PETA向美国第九巡回上诉法院提出上诉。2017年7月法院对这桩著作权纠纷进行了审理。如今这起诉讼的和解，意味着法院将不再会就这起纠纷的奇怪争议焦点做出裁决。
苹果FaceTime专利侵权案进展：苹果无法获得简易判决
当地时间9月8日，苹果公司（Apple Inc.）失去了一次驳回针对其FaceTime应用专利侵权的诉讼的尝试。美国联邦地区法院法官William Alsup表示，原告Straight Path IP Group Inc.诉称侵权是适当的，并且目前如果排除考虑原告是否可以获得惩罚性损害赔偿金，还为时尚早。
Straight Path是一家非实施实体（NPE），目前已经针对苹果提出了多起侵权诉讼，包括就涵盖“P2P通信”技术的专利的诉讼。Straight Path声称FaceTime侵犯了其视频呼叫功能。
歌曲《我们终将胜利》被认定不享有著作权
当地时间9月8日，纽约南区联邦地区法院法官在一起纠纷中做出裁决，认定20世纪60年代皮特·西格的经典民权歌曲《我们终将胜利》（We Shall Overcome）的第一段歌词与1948年的一首公有领域版本没有明显差别，不足以获得著作权保护。
《我们终将胜利》被美国国会图书馆称为“20世纪最有力量的歌曲”。2016年4月，曾经针对《生日快乐歌》著作权提起诉讼的法律团队，以“我们终将胜利基金会”的名义，将The Richmond Organization, Inc.和Ludlow Music, Inc.诉至美国纽约南区联邦地区法院，声称《我们终将胜利》是皮特·西格从处于公有领域的非裔美国人灵歌改编而来的，后来成为20世纪40年代劳工抗议运动歌曲。
美国联邦地区法院法官丹妮丝·科特（Denise Cote）部分同意了对《我们终将胜利》和李·丹尼尔斯电影《白宫管家》（The Butler）制作公司的简易判决申请。她在判决书中写道，现有著作权人未明确确定其演绎作品所依据的原始作品，也没有证明西格所谓对第一、五段歌词（两段歌词相同）的改变能上升为足以获得著作权保护的原创性。
Apple Settles With Acacia Unit After $22M Patent Loss
Apple and a unit of major patent licensing firm Acacia Research have settled all claims against each other in a case where a Texas federal jury in September ordered Apple to pay $22.1 million in damages after finding iPhones and iPads infringed a patent on wireless communication technology.
The terms of the agreement between Apple Inc. and Cellular Communications Equipment LLC were not disclosed as part of Monday's order by U.S. Magistrate Judge K. Nicole Mitchell, except that both parties will bear their own costs.
'Monkey Selfie' Copyright Suit Ends In Settlement
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals on Monday announced a settlement to end a highly publicized copyright lawsuit it filed over the famous “monkey selfie,” saying a nature photographer agreed to donate to charity to end the unusual case.
PETA brought a copyright infringement lawsuit in September 2015, filed at the US District Court for the Northern District of California on behalf of Naruto, and claiming that proceeds from the photo should be given to preserve the monkey’s habitat.
In response, Slater filed a motion to dismiss the case, arguing that US law did not give animals the standing to assert copyright ownership.
Judge William Orrick rejected PETA’s claim in January 2016, and stated that any copyright ownership by animals is a matter for Congress, not the courts.
In July 2017, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit heard arguments from both parties in PETA’s subsequent appeal.
The settlement means that the Ninth Circuit, where the dispute is currently pending, will not issue a ruling on the subject at the center of a bizarre suit: whether Naruto, the monkey that snapped the viral image, has standing to file a copyright lawsuit in court.
WeWork Hits Chinese Rival UrWork With TM Suit
Co-working giant WeWork filed a trademark lawsuit Tuesday against a Chinese rival called UrWork over plans to launch its first New York City location, deepening an ongoing legal battle between the two startups.
WeWork, a booming company valued at $20 billion that provides shared offices for freelancers and small businesses, has been sparring with the quick-growing Chinese rival over the similar name for months, filing a similar infringement case in London in July.
Apple Can't Get Quick Judgment In FaceTime IP Suit
Apple Inc. lost an attempt to toss patent infringement claims over its FaceTime application on Friday, when U.S. District Judge William Alsup said Straight Path IP Group Inc. adequately alleged infringement and that it was too soon to rule out whether it might be entitled to enhanced damages.
Straight Path, a nonpracticing entity, has hurled multiple infringement claims against Apple over patents covering “point-to-point communications,” alleging that FaceTime infringes with its video calling capabilities.
Civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome freed from copyright
The first verse of the civil rights anthem We Shall Overcome is no longer under copyright, a New York federal judge ruled on Friday.
Described as the “most powerful song of the 20th century” by the Library of Congress, the suit against the existing copyright holders was brought last year by the same legal team who had successfully disputed longstanding ownership claims over Happy Birthday to You. Lawyers leading the class action against the Richmond Organization and Ludlow Music, claimed We Shall Overcome was an adaptation of an African American spiritual and therefore in the public domain and had only later been adopted by folk singer Pete Seeger, copyrighted, and established as an anthem of the 1940s labor protest movement.
In her decision, US district judge Denise Cote wrote that the existing copyright holders had not clearly identified the original work on which their derivative was based nor demonstrated that changes Seeger allegedly made to the first – and identical fifth – verse rose to sufficient originality to merit copyright protection.
