Kentucky Cell Repair

Samsung pulled its display and any marketing materials for the Galaxy Tab 7.7
following an injunction granted to Apple
by German courts.

Initial reports after Samsung pulled the
tablet from
the trade show said that Samsung did so voluntarily, but new information has
come to light that it was an actual injunction filed by Apple that prompted the
removal of the Galaxy Tab 7.7. The new tablet was announced on Thursday,
September 1, and Apple was granted the injunction on Friday, September 2. By
Saturday, all remnants of the Galaxy Tab 7.7 were removed from the trade show.
The Galaxy Tab 7.7 was also removed from Samsung’s German website.

It turns out that the Galaxy Tab 7.7 did
not violate the existing German injunction against the older Galaxy Tab 10.1,
but that an all-new injunction was granted specifically against the 7.7-inch
version. Since the IFA trade show was held in Berlin, Germany, Samsung was
pressured to obey the laws of the land, or else face contempt of court, which
certainly would not help its chances in the September 9 court decision on the
original injunction against the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

The doesn’t seem like a great start for
what could be a very attractive tablet to many potential customers. Many
question why Apple pursued an injunction against the device, since Apple does
not currently, nor has it in the past, produced an iPad tablet in the 7-inch
size range. As expected, Samsung has promised to continue its fight in court,
and is looking for the court to overturn the injunction.

For the remainder of the show, Samsung
placed the new Galaxy Note and Wave 3 smartphones in the display cases that once held the
Galaxy Tab 7.7

It has been a couple of exciting days for all the folks waiting for the release of the Samsung Galaxy S II across the Atlantic. Barely a day after the 4.5″ screen Samsung Galaxy S II Hercules got caught on camera in Canada, more pictures of it emerged, this time bearing the U.S. T-Mobile brand.

As you can see from the picture of the device’s back above, there is absolutely no doubt that the previously rumored Samsung Hercules will be a member of the Galaxy S II family. It will differ visually from its European sibling by its rounded edges, larger screen, and front button layout.

Reportedly, the phone will feature the 8MP camera unit which we know too well already, NFC capabilities, and category 24 HSDPA for T-Mobile’s upcoming 42Mbps HSPA+ launch. There is still no conclusive information on which dual-core CPU will the Samsung Hercules sport.

September 26 is the expected launch date of this monster droid, much in line with the leaked 2011 T-Mobile device road map which we reported some time ago. The price is rumored to be in the $300 range on contract.

We already received one heck of a teaser from Samsung in the United States. It is needless to say that we will keep you posted on any developments surrounding the device’s launch. In the meantime, feel free to check out the source links for a couple more shots of the Samsung Hercules and tell us how you like it in the comments section below.

We’ve all worried about the charge on our smartphone or laptop running down when we have no access to an electrical outlet. But new technology developed by researchers at the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science could finally help solve the problem. The UCLA engineers have created a novel concept for harvesting and recycling energy for electronic devices — one that involves equipping these devices’ LCD screens with built-in photovoltaic polarizers, allowing them to convert ambient light, sunlight and their own backlight into electricity. LCDs, or liquid crystal displays, are used in many of today’s electronic devices, including smartphones, TV screens, computer monitors, laptops and tablet computers. They work by using two polarized sheets that let only a certain amount of a device’s backlight pass through. Tiny liquid crystal molecules are sandwiched between the two polarizers, and these crystals can be switched by tiny transistors to act as light valves. Manipulating each light valve, or pixel, lets a certain amount of the backlight escape; millions of pixels are combined to create images on LCDs. The UCLA Engineering team created a new type of energy-harvesting polarizer for LCDs called a polarizing organic photovoltaic, which can potentially boost the function of an LCD by working simultaneously as a polarizer, a photovoltaic device and an ambient light or sunlight photovoltaic panel. Their research findings are currently available in the online edition of the journal Advanced Materials and will be published in a forthcoming print issue of the journal. “I believe this is a game-changer invention to improve the efficiency of LCD displays,” said Yang Yang, a professor of materials science at UCLA Engineering and principal investigator on the research. “In addition, these polarizers can also be used as regular solar cells to harvest indoor or outdoor light. So next time you are on the beach, you could charge your iPhone via sunlight.” From the point of view of energy use, current LCD polarizers are inefficient, the researchers said. A device’s backlight can consume 80 to 90 percent of the device’s power. But as much as 75 percent of the light generated is lost through the polarizers. A polarizing organic photovoltaic LCD could recover much of that unused energy. “In the near future, we would like to increase the efficiency of the polarizing organic photovoltaics, and eventually we hope to work with electronic manufacturers to integrate our technology into real products”, Yang said. “We hope this energy-saving LCD will become a mainstream technology in displays.” “Our coating method is simple, and it can be applied in the future in large-area manufacturing processes,” said Rui Zhu, a postdoctoral researcher at UCLA Engineering and the paper’s lead author. “The polarizing organic photovoltaic cell demonstrated by Professor Yang’s research group can potentially harvest 75 percent of the wasted photons from LCD backlight and turn them back into electricity,” said Youssry Botros, program director for the Intel Labs Academic Research Office, which supported the research. “The strong collaboration between this group at UCLA Engineering and other top groups has led to higher cell efficiencies, increasing the potential for harvesting energy. This approach is interesting in its own right and at the same time synergetic with several other projects we are funding through the Intel Labs Academic Research Office.” Ankit Kumar, a materials science and engineering graduate student at UCLA Engineering was the paper’s second author. Yang, who holds UCLA’s Carol and Lawrence E. Tannas Jr. Endowed Chair in Engineering, is also faculty director of the Nano Renewable Energy Center at the California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA. The research was supported by Intel through a gift to UCLA, and by the Office of Naval Research. The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, established in 1945, offers 28 academic and professional degree programs and has an enrollment of almost 5,000 students. The school’s distinguished faculty are leading research to address many of the critical challenges of the 21st century, including renewable energy, clean water, health care, wireless sensing and networking, and cybersecurity. Ranked among the top 10 engineering schools at public universities nationwide, the school is home to seven multimillion-dollar interdisciplinary research centers in wireless sensor systems, nanoelectronics, nanomedicine, renewable energy, customized computing, and the smart grid, all funded by federal and private agencies. (www.engineer.ucla.edu | www.twitter.com/uclaengineering)

If your love of both iPads and airplanes isn’t satisfied by Flight Control HD alone, take note: Aspen Avionics has announced a new product called Connected Panel, which wirelessly connects an iPad to an aircraft’s avionics—the electronic systems that includes flight navigation, communications, monitoring, management, and more. With the company’s technology, pilots will be able to handle standard piloting actions like tracking flight plans or tuning into different radio frequencies, straight from the iPad. Similar Articles: HeadRoom Micro Amp + Micro DAC. Lion: The Complete Macworld Review. New Mac minis deliver serious performance. Review: The iPad 2. Vulkano Flow place-shifting streaming device. Apple’s Cook on iPad, Asia, Apple TV, and more. iPad-enamored pilots have already begun using Apple’s tablet for flight planning, flight logging, and reading related documents and charts. They have not, however, been able to integrate this information directly into aircraft control systems. Connected Panel changes that with new hardware, Aspen Avionics’s CG100 box. After the box is installed behind the plane’s panel, it allows the iPad to connect via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. The CG100 box also sports a USB port and flash memory storage. Once the iPad successfully connects with the box, pilots can begin using the tablet to control the plane’s onboard systems. Aspen Avionics’s first Connected Panel product, Connected Pilot, will include the CG100 and the Aircraft Manager iPad app from AvConnect. Connected Pilot will be released by the end of the year and list for under $2500, which is a small cost compared to current options. “Until now, pilots have had to buy dedicated aviation handheld devices that offered basically the same functionality for thousands of dollars. Now, with an iPad, some robust aviation applications, and Connected Panel, those pilots can have an even better handheld device for a fraction of the cost,” says Aspen Avionics Vice President of Marketing Brad Hayden. The Aircraft Manager app is the first of Connected Panel Enabled apps; it downloads flight hours and aircraft performance data, which can then be sent to fleet or service managers. And Aspen Avionics says that it has already partnered with a number of aviation companies that plan to release Connected Panel Enabled applications of their own. The company also says it welcomes third-party apps, which it hopes will lead to further innovation with the Connected Panel technology. “The exciting part is that we can only guess as to what developers and pilots will come up with… We are creating an open environment, an ecosystem if you will, and providing it to the aviation development community to see what they will do with it,” Hayden adds. Connected Panel is currently being marketed for general aviation aircrafts—single- or twin-engine propeller planes and helicopters—though the company says the technology could work its way into larger, commercial airplanes.

Like other wireless companies, we’re taking steps to manage exploding demand for mobile data.  Many experts agree the country is facing a serious wireless spectrum crunch.  We’re responding on many levels, including investing billions in our wireless network this year and working to acquire additional network capacity.  We’re also taking additional, more immediate measures to help address network congestion.

One new measure is a step that may reduce the data throughput speed experienced by a very small minority of smartphone customers who are on unlimited plans – those whose extraordinary level of data usage puts them in the top 5 percent of our heaviest data users in a billing period.  In fact, these customers on average use 12 times more data than the average of all other smartphone data customers.  This step will not apply to our 15 million smartphone customers on a tiered data plan or the vast majority of smartphone customers who still have unlimited data plans.

Starting October 1, smartphone customers with unlimited data plans may experience reduced speeds once their usage in a billing cycle reaches the level that puts them among the top 5 percent of heaviest data users.  These customers can still use unlimited data and their speeds will be restored with the start of the next billing cycle.  Before you are affected, we will provide multiple notices, including a grace period.

This change will never impact the vast majority of our customers, and is designed to create a better service experience for all.

The amount of data usage of our top 5 percent of heaviest users varies from month to month, based on the usage of others and the ever-increasing demand for mobile broadband services.  To rank among the top 5 percent, you have to use an extraordinary amount of data in a single billing period.

There will be no changes for the vast majority of customers.  It’s not how much time you spend using your device, it’s what you do with it.  You can send or receive thousands of emails, surf thousands of Web pages and watch hours of streaming video every month and not be in the top 5 percent of data users.

Typically what puts someone in the top 5 percent is streaming very large amounts of video and music daily over the wireless network, not Wi-Fi.  Streaming video apps, remote web camera apps, sending large data files (like video) and some online gaming are examples of applications that can use data quickly.  Using Wi-Fi doesn’t create wireless network congestion or count toward your wireless data usage.  AT&T smartphone customers have unlimited access to our entire Wi-Fi network, with more than 26,000 hotspots, at no additional cost.  They can also use Wi-Fi at home and in the office.

The bottom line is our customers have options. They can choose to stay on their unlimited plans and use unlimited amounts of data, but may experience reduced speeds at some point if they are an extraordinarily heavy data user. If speed is more important, they may wish to switch to a tiered usage plan, where customers can pay for more data if they need it and will not see reduced speeds.

But even as we pursue this additional measure, it will not solve our spectrum shortage and network capacity issues.  Nothing short of completing the T-Mobile merger will provide additional spectrum capacity to address these near term challenges.

I am in an ongoing rivalry between Apple’s iPhone and Android, Google can uphold bragging rights as becoming the first smartphone to have assisted NASA astronauts on a space flight mission. Having its Nexus One powered Android OS programmed to spherical robots; the devices were launched into space aboard the space shuttle Atlantis. Once deployed, it assisted astronauts in surveying routine maintenance work.

The ‘SPHERES’ robots, which stands for Synchronized Position Hold Engage Reorient Experimental Satellites, was a combined experimental effort between Google, Samsung, and NASA. The robots would be controlled by the Android powered phones from the main control center on Earth. The experimental smartphone proved to be ideal devices with it s position sensor gyros and accelerometer features that compliment the gravity free-floating environment. The smartphones would be able to calculate position and movement by utilizing its internal compass in order to output commands to the robots in space.

According to Terry Fong, the director of NASA’s Intelligent Robotics Group, the SPHERES robots can assist workers in space by maintaining daily routine tasks while freeing up more time for astronauts to focus on scientific experimental projects. The SPHERES robots could possibly be further utilized for inspection of exterior space shuttles.

NASA has previously experimented with the Nexus One by testing its video and camera capability at high speeds, height, and temperature. The smartphone was tied onto a rocket and launched into space while capturing footage. The goal was to examine the phone’s capability to function as potential satellite replacements.

“The availability of the Android source code allows us to customize the smartphone to be used as a compact, low-cost, low-power computer, rather than just as a phone,” said Mark Micire, a software engineer in NASA’s Ames Intelligent Robotics Department.

The line of Nexus One Google Android experiments could lead NASA to possibly working with lower cost parts for satellites if features from smartphones can withstand the extreme environments in space.

The Nexus S became the first NASA approved smartphone to be used on the space shuttle and International Space Station.

“Samsung is proud to have the Nexus S chosen to be aboard NASA’s final space shuttle launch, an event that is historical…The research that is being conducted with SPHERES using the Nexus S will help monitor and communicate from the International Space Station,” said Samsung Mobile president Dale Sohn.

Though iPhone was aboard the flight, it did not participate in official mission work performed by the crew. Apple has not been trumped completely from the NASA space program. Just recently a new iPad app was released by NASA in order to drive real satellite data of earth in order to advance education in Earth science. The app is called NASA Visualization Explorer, and combines breathtaking visualizations combined with stories, videos, and images to explain the information on screen. It is clear that NASA is already tapping into the potential of mobile devices from both Google’s Android and Apple for future space missions.

For those AT&T customers longing for the pure Google experience, you no longer have to pay $600 for an unlocked version of the phone (unless you want it in white) as the carrier’s version of the Nexus S is now available exclusively at Best Buy. Those expecting 4G connectivity are going to be disappointed. Unlike Sprint’s version of the handset, the AT&T variant of the Nexus S is a 3G only device.

The Nexus S hits the so-called “sweet spot” with a 4 inch Super AMOLED display, and under the hood is a single-core 1GHz Hummingbird processor. While that might seem so 2010, it still gets the job done. A 5MP camera on the back captures video at 720p (30 fps) and there is a front-facing VGA camera on board. 512MB of RAM graces the handset which is NFC enabled. Best Buy is offering the Nexus S for $99.99 with a signed two year contract, and it is available only in Henry Ford’s favorite color.

Yeah, there are many other Android handsets out there with higher-end specs, but if stock Android is your thing, you might want to give up a bit on the power side to get the Gingerbread OS in its purest form. And for those who were going to pay 6 large ones to get an unlocked model with AT&T’s 3G frequencies on board., you can now pick up the subsidized version in exchange for one C note and a signature. Ah, isn’t life grand?

source: BestBuy via Engadget

APPLE HAS FILED legal action against Samsung, claiming that the design of the latter’s Galaxy smartphones and tablet computers infringe the trademarked design of its iPhone and iPad.

In a complaint filed in a court in California, Apple said Samsung’s devices infringed a number of patents taken out by Apple – including the pinch-to-zoom feature popularised by the iPhone – while also arguing that Samsung’s products deliberately imitated the “look and feel of its own”.

“Rather than innovate and develop its own technology and a unique Samsung style for its smart phone products and computer tablets, Samsung chose to copy Apple’s technology, user interface and innovative style in these infringing products,” the Wall Street Journal quoted the filings as saying.

PC World added that Apple had furnished the court with side-by-side photographs of the Samsung products sat beside their own – drawing attention to the colourful layout of icons, the rounded corners, and same dark colouring.

Ironically, Samsung provides some of the microchips used in the iPad – some of which are also used in the Samsung devices.

Tensions between the two companies had been strained already, however, with Apple chief executive Steve Jobs naming Samsung among the company’s competitors in what he dubbed the “year of copycats” – a comment he made while launching the iPad 2 last month.

An Apple spokesman told Bloomberg that it was “no coincidence that Samsung’s latest products look a lot like the iPhone and iPad, from the shape of the hardware to the user interface and even the packaging”.

“This kind of blatant copying is wrong, and we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property when companies steal our ideas.”

A spokesman for Samsung responded by saying that the firm’s own intellectual property was key to its “continued success” and said the Korean manufacturer would “respond actively to this legal action”.

If the case is successful, Apple could be set for a collision course with Google, whose Android mobile operating system is used on the Samsung devices – as well as on those of a growing number of other smartphone manufacturers.

Image: Ahn Young-joon/AP

The figures are more impressive in light of the service’s current
invitation-only system, according to a survey by Web-traffic watcher comScore,
whose data doesn’t include time spent on the site. Google has yet to open the
service to the billion-plus visitors who visit the company’s search engine,
Gmail and other services every day.

“I’ve never seen anything grow this quickly,” said Andrew Lipsman, vice
president of industry analysis at comScore.

The closest comparison in growth is Twitter in 2009, but it took the service
a few months to reach the same milestone.

Google+ provides a forum for people to share comments, articles, photos
and videos with various “circles” of friends. The service will also
reportedly feature social games and other applications to better compete against
Facebook.

In addition to head-to-head social network competition with Facebook, Google
aims to gain ground on its rival by using the new social network to help fuel
its search engine, tapping into Google+ users’ interests to inform search
results. The integration may buttress its advertising revenues, which fuel
Google’s efforts in the first place.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company plans to integrate Google+ into its
other offerings, such as YouTube, again using its products’ synergy to fortify
its presence for advertisers.

Most recently, Google+ announced it was looking into providing verified accounts
to draw more celebrity interest. Reportedly, the new social network is
considering a system for public figures to sign up for the service without fear
of impersonators, assuring their reputations’ authenticity, much like Twitter’s
highly touted “verified” stamp.

Facebook is far and away the leader in social media with its 750 million
members, followed by Twitter’s 200 million registered accounts. Google+ has a
long way to go to attain the scale and reach of Facebook and Twitter, but the
rapid rise of Google+ shows there is still room for growth in the social media
market.

source..www.mobiledia.com

July 21
(Bloomberg) — Apple Inc.’s victory over HTC Corp. in a patent dispute at the
U.S. International Trade Commission may slow the advance of rival Google Inc.’s
fast-growing Android operating system for mobile phones and tablets.

A trade judge found on July 15 that HTC infringed two patents owned by Apple, whose
iPhone competes with Android-based devices, including those made by HTC. If his
decision is upheld, HTC may be prevented from bringing phones into the U.S.,
and companies such as Samsung Electronics Co. and Motorola Mobility Holdings
Inc. may find it more expensive to sell Android phones.

Android is poised to be the most-used smartphone software in a mobile market that may
reach $206.6 billion worldwide this year, according to IHS Inc. Google is under
attack from rivals including Apple and Microsoft Corp. that allege infringement
by handset makers that use Android.

Apple, which also has pending legal fights with Samsung and Motorola, is looking to
thwart rivals rather than extract payment for use of the patents, making it
more likely to hold out for a ban on imports, said Ron Laurie, managing
director of Inflexion Point Strategy LLC, which counsels companies on
purchasing intellectual property.

“This is
not about money,” Laurie, a former patent lawyer who is based in Palo Alto,
California, said in an interview. “This is about market share in the hottest
market out there.”

Taiwan-based HTC said it will appeal Administrative Law Judge Carl Charneski’s finding,
which is subject to review by the full six-member commission in Washington. The
smartphone maker, Asia’s second-biggest, denied violating Apple’s patents and
said it will use “all means possible” to defend itself in a statement after the
ruling

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, speaking at a Google Mobile Revolution conference in
Tokyo July 19, said he was “not too worried” about the litigation over Android.

Android is the fastest-growing operating system in the smartphone market, according to
researcher Gartner Inc. Google’s software powered half of all smartphones
bought in the U.S. in the six months that ended in March, Nielsen Inc. said.

Among large Android phone makers, HTC faces the biggest hurdles, because it holds few
patents of its own to tempt Apple into a cross-licensing agreement. Apple may
even refuse to license the patents, said Will Stofega, a program manager at
researcher IDC, leaving HTC struggling to produce a phone that works around
them.

“I don’t see Apple giving an inch,” Stofega said in an interview.

Apple may be more likely to sign a license accord with Samsung or Motorola. Still,
such deals may involve payments to Apple that would be passed along to Android
customers, said Florian Mueller, a Munich-based consultant.

Many of Google’s 39 licensees to make phones based on Android are smaller manufacturers
that have far less cash than HTC, Motorola and Samsung to defend against suits
and pay fees to patent holders, Mueller said.

Mountain View, California-based Google also faces other claims that Android encroaches
on patents. Microsoft, which makes a rival Windows system for mobile phones,
signed four patent licenses with Android device makers in the past month and
already has a deal with HTC.

Microsoft also sued Barnes & Noble Inc. after the bookseller refused to sign a
license for sales of the Android- powered Nook reader. Oracle Corp. contends
that Google used code from the Java operating system without permission and is
seeking billions of dollars in royalties.

HTC may have
some leverage in its dispute with Apple. The company agreed earlier this month
to buy S3 Graphics Co., which won an ITC patent ruling against Apple in June.
HTC also has its own pending case against Apple.

A final
decision in the Apple-HTC case will take months. The six-member commission is
expected to complete the case by December. If the panel agrees with the judge’s
finding, it may block HTC’s Android phone imports to the U.S. HTC also may seek
an order to delay any import ban until the appeals court rules, which might
take a year or more.

The case
is In the Matter Of Certain Personal Data and Mobile Communications Devices and
Related Software, 337-710, U.S. International Trade Commission (Washington).

Kodak Explores
Options for Digital-Imaging Patent Portfolio

Eastman
Kodak Co., the 131-year-old camera company, said it’s exploring “strategic
alternatives” for its digital- imaging patent portfolio.

The
portfolio includes more than 1,100 U.S. patents including processing, editing
and storing digital images, Rochester, New York-based Kodak said yesterday in a
statement.

Kodak’s
patents may be worth $2 billion or more and could attract bids from Apple Inc.,
Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics, Mark Kaufman, an analyst at
Rafferty Capital Markets LLC in New York, said yesterday in an interview.

“If you
are a large consumer electronics manufacturer, you’ve got to sit up and take
notice,” said Kaufman, who has a “buy” rating on the shares. “The patents are
for cameras, and as a manufacturer you’re not going to the market today with a
smartphone without a camera.”

David
Lanzillo, a spokesman for Kodak, declined to comment beyond the statement.

Earlier
this month, the U.S. International Trade Commission failed to reach consensus
on Kodak’s claims that Apple and Research in Motion Ltd. infringe its
image-preview technology. It was the second delay by the Washington-based
agency in a case from which Kodak aims to extract $1 billion in licensing fees
from Apple and RIM. Apple and RIM deny infringing the patent.

“The ITC
process is taking longer than it should have so they are looking to get started
a competitive bidding process for the whole portfolio,” said Kaufman. “The
company needs money,” he said.

Kodak
said yesterday that there is “heightened market demand for intellectual
property,” according to the statement. The patents represent 10 percent of
Kodak’s total U.S. patent portfolio, the company said. Kodak hired Lazard Ltd.
as an adviser.

Kodak,
which traces its roots to 1880, was founded by George Eastman, who developed a
method for dry-plate photography and introduced the Kodak camera in 1888,
according to the company’s website.

The
company’s credit has deteriorated as it has shifted from traditional film to
digital cameras, accessories and printers. Kodak, which popularized photography
with its Brownie and Instamatic cameras, has been trying to drum up royalties
from its more than 1,000 digital-imaging patents to fund a shift to more modern
devices.

For more patent news,
click here.

Trademark

Borders Says
Objections Irrelevant, Contracts Won’t Be Kept

Borders
Group Inc., the bankrupt bookstore chain, said 99 objections from creditors are
irrelevant because the company’s liquidation means it won’t carry on any
contracts with business partners.

Starbucks
Corp.’s Seattle’s Best Coffee LLC unit said its intellectual property might be
improperly transferred because trademarked goods such as beverage-making
instructions haven’t been removed from Borders stores.

Borders
is scheduled to seek court approval today to liquidate its 399 remaining
stores. All objections from creditors should be overruled, the company said in
court papers filed July 19.

“Nonetheless,
the debtors and the liquidators have been, and will continue, working to
resolve all pending objections to narrow, if not resolve, all outstanding
issues” before today’s hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, Borders
said.

Borders, based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, has about 10,700 employees. A phased rollout will
close its stores by September. The company said it will complete the wind-down
under Chapter 11 and expects to be able to pay business partners.

The case is In re Borders Group Inc., 11-10614, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District
of New York (Manhattan).

For more trademark
news, click here.

Copyright

Evangelical Church
Seeks Destruction of ‘Salvation Boulevard’ Film

Comcast Corp., a unit of Sony Corp., IFC In Theaters LLC, and Mandalay Pictures LLC
were all sued for copyright infringement by a 125-year-old evangelical church.

The suit, filed July 14 in federal court in Chattanooga, Tennessee, is related to
Mandalay’s “Salvation Boulevard” film. The church seeks the destruction of all
copies of the film.

“Salvation Boulevard,” based on a novel of the same name by Larry Beinhart, was released
July 15. The film is a comedy about a charismatic evangelical pastor, played by
Pierce Brosnan, who is involved in a real estate development in a small western
town.

The Church of God, based in Cleveland, Tennessee, claims the film uses a cross
design that is “a substantial reproduction” of its own cross mark. The mark
seen in the firm is a mirror image of the church’s mark, for which it has a
copyright registration.

Included in the complaint are two still photos from the film, one showing a cross mark
displayed on the front of the fictional Church of the Third Millennium. A
second photo shows a character from the film wearing a vest embroidered with a
cross mark.

These marks are used without license from the church, according to court papers. The
church claims that the use of the allegedly infringing symbol in the film is
likely to “engender a false belief in the minds of the public and persons in
the trade and industry in general” that an affiliation exists between the
church and the film. This causes “irreparable harm, damage and injury to the
church,” according to court papers.

The church asked the court for an order barring the unauthorized use of its mark,
and an accounting and award of the profits from sales and other activities
related to the “Salvation Boulevard” film for goods and services that bear the
allegedly infringing symbol.

It also seeks an order for the destruction of all films, and promotional materials
containing the infringing mark, and awards of money damages, attorney fees and
litigation costs.

None of the defendants responded immediately to an e-mailed request for comment.

The church is represented by Mark S. Graham, Robert O. Fox and Michael J. Bradford
of Luedeka, Neely & Graham PC of Knoxville, Tennessee.

The case
is Church of God v. Mandalay Pictures LLC, 1:11- cv-00189, U.S. District Court,
Eastern District of Tennessee (Chattanooga).

For more copyright
news, click here.

IP Moves

Sunstein Firm Hires
Nancy Chiu Wilker for Life Sciences Group

Sunstein
Kann Murphy & Timbers LLP hired Nancy Chiu Wilker for its life sciences
practice group, the Boston-based IP specialty firm said in a statement.

Wilker
does patent and trademark acquisition and IP-related transactional work. She’s
helped clients acquire patents in a range of biotech areas, including
transgenic plants and animals, cancer biomarkers, stem cells, new genes,
vaccines, antibodies, biological and small molecule chemical therapeutics, and
nucleic acid and protect detection and analysis technologies.

She
previously worked in-house.

Wilker
has an undergraduate degree I biology and biochemistry from Colorado State
University, a doctorate in immunology from Harvard University and a law degree
from Suffolk University.