Kara E.F. Cenar

Copyright and Digital Millennium Copyright Act 

• Obtained a $16.1 million jury verdict and $20.7 million judgment for a case involving copyright for artwork and graphics for video reel casino slot machine games in the social, mobile, online and home computer gaming industries.
• Obtained a $1.7 million statutory damages award under the DMCA after a jury found 696 DMCA violations for providing and distributing false copyright management information and for the removal of copyright management information.
• Represented a client in litigation involving copyright and other IP rights for video reel casino slot machine games for land-based casino slot machine games and slot machine games in the social, mobile, and online industries.
• Represented a client in litigation involving claims for the taking, distribution, and misuse of CAD drawings and other digital and technical engineering-based drawings, as well as the removal and replacement of Copyright Management Information from such drawings in an international manufacturing and collaborative relationship context. 
• Successfully defeated an ex parte application for a temporary restraining order and later request for preliminary injunction in a highly publicized alleged music copyright infringement and sampling case pending in the Central District of California.
• Obtained summary judgment findings of no infringement based upon a finding of no substantial similarity as a matter of law in a music copyright composition claim pending in the Central District of California.
• Obtained the dismissal of a music copyright case based upon despoliation of evidence.
• Defeated a request for preliminary injunction and then obtained a summary judgment finding of no substantial similarity in a highly publicized alleged music copyright infringement case filed first in the Northern District of Illinois and later in the Central District of California.
• Obtained an award of about $2.5 million in attorneys’ fees against a plaintiff that brought a copyright claim shown to be without basis and in which the plaintiff was found to have destroyed evidence.
• Obtained dismissal of a lawsuit and settlement of a claim of copyright infringement against a book author and publisher in the District of Georgia.

Patent and Complex Trade Secret

• Successfully enforced trade secret rights on behalf of a manufacturing supplier to the automotive industry and hybrid automotive industry, resulting in a $32 million payment in settlement and a dismissal with prejudice of all claims against the client.
• Successfully defended a patent infringement case involving medical simulation devices, four patents, and multiple international defendants, including obtaining a transfer out of the Eastern District of Texas.
• Obtained a $17+ million jury verdict and permanent injunction, plus an ongoing royalty payment during a transition period in patent infringement litigation involving four touch-screen user-interface patents for hemodialysis machines and related disposable products in the Northern District of California.
• Obtained a judgment of non-infringement (affirmed by Federal Circuit) in patent infringement bench trial litigation in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania involving methods of making inserts and transducer activated tools for ultrasonically activated tooth-cleaning tools.
• Defended retailers against industry-wide assertion of claims of patent infringement involving gift card technology in the Northern District of Illinois.
• Defended allegations of patent infringement of internet cookie technology and internet standards, including the impact of such royalty-free arrangements on a reasonable royalty analysis.
• Successfully defended litigation brought by non-practicing entities.

Trademark

• Enforced a brand owned by a small business against a large international upcoming brand. The case included complex issues of common law, federal and state trademark ownership rights and their geographic scope, progressive encroachment, licensee estoppel defense, disgorgement of profits in reverse confusion cases, willfulness, invalidity of federal registrations, including issues of registrations being found void ab initio, and issues relating to fraud on the trademark office post-In re Bose.
• Successfully defended a request for entry of an emergency temporary restraining order involving claims of alleged counterfeiting against a retailer.
• Obtained a product design change and change of trade show materials related to an ultrasonic dental scaler instrument after filing an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order before the District Court in the Northern District of Illinois.
• Obtained a permanent injunction and consent judgment enjoining false advertising, trademark infringement, product misbranding, and false patent marking for clothing in the District Court in the Northern District of Illinois.
• Represented a client in mediation before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in a stolen furniture design case.
• Obtained a permanent injunction and consent judgments of trademark infringement in complex multi-defendant federal, state, and common law trademark infringement action before the District of New Jersey.

Counseling

• Negotiated numerous settlements and resolutions of patent, trademark, copyright, DMCA, trade secret, and litigation matters pending in federal and state courts nationwide.
• Developed and implemented strategies to avoid litigation and to enforce intellectual property without litigation.