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Intellectual Property

A recent decision of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit extended Omega's control over its watches to include how they are imported into the United States by third parties. The court ruled that the first-sale doctrine is no defence to a copyright owner's right to control the importation of foreign-manufactured goods into the United States.

In a closely followed file-sharing case, a federal jury in Minnesota has returned a $222,000 verdict against Jammie Thomas for making 24 copyrighted sound files merely available for download on the file-sharing program Kazaa. In response, Thomas has filed a motion for a new trial or alternatively for the judge to reduce the award, claiming it excessive.