Laureyssens v. Idea Group, Inc., 964 F.2d 131 (1992) p.433

SUBJECT

copyright infringement

FACTS

Plaintiff sued defendant claiming he copied his 3d type jigsaw puzzle.

PROCEDURE

The district court denied a preliminary injunction based on its conclusion that no serious question of infringement existed. The court of appeals affirmed.

ISSUE

Whether the plaintiff's jigsay type puzzle, named HAPPY CUBE - which had the unusual feature of being assembleable either in a flat form in a rectangular frame or into a three dimensional hollow cube, was infringed by the defendant's SNAFOOZ puzzle.

HOLDING

There was no copyright violation.

RATIONAL

The court focused upon the element of similarity. In order to find that a copyright violation exists: 1. must be copying (based on acess and similarity) 2. find unlawful appropriation the court found similarities that are probative of copying and which at least raise a question of actual copying.

NOTES

The plaintiff should have pursued a patent instead of copyright. The patent would be on the mechanical feature that the puzzle can go into a 2d or 3d structure.

Created on: Tuesday, September 28, 1999 at 19:11:08 (PDT)