News & Events
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CONSOR SELLS FORTUNOFF IP ASSETS FOR $2+M
In a marathon session
lasting nearly 24 hours, CONSOR established a sequestered bidding
process in the offices of a well-known law firm in New York City. Chief
among the assets to be sold was the name itself, which with
accompanying assets sold for $1.8 million. CONSOR then separately sold
other intangibles of use to particular buyers, For example, the
Fortunoff Wizard Warehousing System was sold for $25k to Hudson Bay
Company. In addition, the fine china replacement company, Replacements
Limited, purchased access to part of the customer database for $175k,
and the jewelry company, Michael Fina, purchased part of the database
for $65k. Counsel for the unsecured creditors, Arent Fox, told the
judge that the committee was very gratified with the outcome of the
auction -- and particularly noted that the grueling 22 hour marathon
auction had resulted in nearly $2m in incremental value that hadn’t
been expected. Similarly, Sidley Austin, representing the Fortunoff
estate, was highly laudatory in their comments on the success of the
auction. CONSOR AIDS IN PRECEDENT SETTING $5M SETTLEMENT FOR WOODY ALLENWoody Allen sued American Apparel in March 2008 for using his image on their billboards, storefront banners, corporate headquarters, and internet website without permission. The $5 million settlement was reached in May, just days before a jury trial was set to begin in New York City. This is reported to be the largest amount ever paid under the New York Right to Privacy Statute. Allen issued the following statement today: "American Apparel calculatingly took my name, my likeness, and image and used them publicly to promote their business. Threats and press leaks by American Apparel designed to smear me did not work and a scheme to call a long list of witnesses who had nothing to do with the case was disallowed by the court. I hope this very large settlement will discourage American Apparel and others from doing this type of thing to myself or others in the future." Weston Anson, Fernando Torres and Daryl Martin of CONSOR Intellectual Asset Management provided consulting support to Michael Zweig and Christian Carbone of Loeb & Loeb LLP, who represented Allen in this litigation. Specifically, CONSOR was engaged to calculate the fair market value for the unauthorized use of Mr. Allen's name, image and likeness. "We believe this is a tremendous outcome, which illustrates the importance and substantial value of Mr. Allen's publicity rights," stated Mr. Torres. Read Mr. Torres' in-depth analysis of the top three lessons from the Woody Allen lawsuit here.
CONSOR HELPS ADIDAS WIN LARGEST TRADEMARK AWARD IN HISTORY: $304.6M
As the damages expert on behalf of adidas in their recent litigation against Payless ShoeSource (now Collective Brands, Inc.), David Drews of CONSOR Intellectual Asset Management educated the jury on an appropriate level of compensation for the use of adidas’ intellectual property. Mr. Drews utilized real-world licensing data to demonstrate the likely outcome of a hypothetical negotiation between adidas and Payless. Using these straightforward techniques, the jury was able to determine the amount of royalties owed to adidas for the use of infringing two and four stripe shoe designs.
On May 6, 2008, a federal jury in Portland , Oregon ordered Payless to pay $304.6 million for infringing on adidas’ three-stripe trademark and shoe styles. The nine-person jury in U.S. District Court unanimously awarded $30.6 million in actual damages, $137 million in punitive damages and $137 million in Payless profits, according to a transcript of the proceeding.
Trademark attorneys believe it to be the largest award ever in a trademark-infringement case, surpassing a $143 million judgment in 1999 over the use of Trovan on antibiotics, a case in which Weston Anson of CONSOR acted as the damages expert.
CONSOR SELLS COLLINS & AIKMAN IP AND INTANGIBLES
Since being retained in October, the CONSOR asset disposal team has been successful in identifying a global group of buyers and bidders for the Collins & Aikman IP portfolio. The portfolio consists primarily of technical assets, patents, and technologies. “By reaching out worldwide we have been able to conclude sales for half a dozen distinct bundles or groups of assets,” said Daryl Martin . Mr. Martin went on to say that CONSOR intends to wrap up the sale of 95% of the IP and intangibles by mid March, but will continue to market the rest of the assets for some period of time thereafter. Click here for a full list of CONSOR’s recent dispositions.
DEPTH OF CONSOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LITIGATION SUPPORT PRACTICE GROWS DRAMATICALLY Click here for our brochure
Our practice is functionally divided into the following areas: Expert witness, economic value and damages, infringement and confusion, customs and practices, and bankruptcy. Our focus spans a broad range of companies, industries, and product categories. The most important aspects of our work include: Trademark and corporate brand assets, patents and technology, celebrities and estates, media and not-for-profit organizations, electronic, Internet and software as well as sports and events. A partial list of our past clients include:
COPYRIGHT ROYALTY BOARD, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ADOPT CONSOR ROYALTY OPINIONS
XM and Sirius recently went through a series of hearings to establish appropriate copyright fees for non-music programming. In a public hearing before the copyright board to plead their case, XM/SIRIUS selected CONSOR’s valuation and licensing team to establish appropriate royalty rates. The three person panel elected to adopt CONSOR’s valuation recommendations as the basis for ongoing royalties—thus saving XM/SIRIUS billions of dollars in royalties over the next decade.
During the assignment, CONSOR analyzed and valued the intangible brand asset components of several important non-music programs, including Howard Stern, Martha Stewart, NASCAR, Oprah, and Major League Baseball, and Sirius. CONSOR reviewed the contracts, researched the commercial valuation techniques to the value components of each contract. CONSOR was also asked to respond to the questions from the Court as to the valuation of the promotional and other aspects of the non-music programming contracts put at issue by SoundExchange in this proceeding.
NEW BOOK FROM THE ABA FOCUSES ON IP VALUATION AND MANAGEMENT
The newest book in the ABA series on intellectual property, from the authors at CONSOR, is aptly entitled IP Valuation and Management. The book will be published in 2010 by the American Bar Association. Please check back for book updates.
SPEAKING OPPORTUNITIES
CONSOR officers and principals are active on the speaking circuit. The principals of CONSOR have presented to a wide range of organizations on the topics of intellectual property, licensing/leveraging, valuation, celebrity rights, royalty rates, monetization and economic damages. For more information on speaking opportunities, please contact Doug Bania at 858-454-9091x216.
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