Author Archives: gsauer

The Trade Dress Issues Raised By Puma “Drive Thru” Shoes

by Gerald Sauer

When could a row of palm trees result in a legal dispute? When they appear on the shoelaces of a new line of sneakers that aims to capture the laid-backCalifornia coastal vibe.Footwear giant Puma North America Inc. recently introduced a $120 red, yellow and white sneaker dubbed the “Cali-0 Drive Thru” shoe. On its website, Puma describes the shoe as inspired by the essence of the California lifestyle: “The Cali Drive Thru pays homage to this classic style and an essential part of the Cali lifestyle: its burger diners.”

Read full story on Law360

GrubHub reclassification should be easy as ABC

Although Dynamex retroactivity is not guaranteed, the likelihood that an exception would be granted is about the same as winning the lottery.

by Gerald Sauer

Timing is everything. When a California district court ruled last February against GrubHub driver Raef Lawson’s contention that he and other drivers were misclassified as independent contractors, the state Supreme Court was two months away from issuing its landmark ruling in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court (April 30, 2018).

Lawson was thus deprived of the right to seek minimum wage, expense reimbursements and overtime to which he would have been entitled as an employee. With his request for remand denied on appeal, he sought reconsideration, asking the court to issue an indicative ruling or “at the very least state that the application of Dynamex in this case raises a substantial issue.”

Read more at DailyJournal.com (subscription required)

We Are All Victims of Google’s “China Syndrome”

by Gerald Sauer

If you Google “What is the world’s biggest private spying-services contractor?” the result should read: “Google.”

In November, Google employees published a letter of protest against Project Dragonfly, Google’s search engine for the Chinese market, alleging that the tool would facilitate government censorship of and spying on citizens. “Providing the Chinese government with ready access to user data, as required by Chinese law, would make Google complicit in oppression and human rights abuses,” they wrote. “Many of us accepted employment at Google with the company’s values in mind, including its previous position on Chinese censorship and surveillance, and an understanding that Google was a company willing to place its values above its profits.”

Read full story on Yahoo Finance

We Are All Victims of Google’s “China Syndrome”

by Gerald Sauer

If you Google “What is the world’s biggest private spying-services contractor?” the result should read: “Google.”

In November, Google employees published a letter of protest against Project Dragonfly, Google’s search engine for the Chinese market, alleging that the tool would facilitate government censorship of and spying on citizens. “Providing the Chinese government with ready access to user data, as required by Chinese law, would make Google complicit in oppression and human rights abuses,” they wrote. “Many of us accepted employment at Google with the company’s values in mind, including its previous position on Chinese censorship and surveillance, and an understanding that Google was a company willing to place its values above its profits.”

Read full story on Law360

In its story on rapper 2 Milly’s suit against the makers of popular video game Fortnite for allegedly stealing his signature dance move, Rolling Stone included Gerald Sauer’s analysis:

The question is whether 2 Milly’s 2015 move is fully formed enough to constitute intellectual property. “There’s not a lot of case law on this,” says Gerald L. Sauer, a copyright attorney with Sauer & Wagner in Los Angeles. “Commonplace movements and gestures aren’t covered. Yoga positions: no. All these celebratory moves and dances in the NFL — those are not going to be covered. The Village People spelling out letters with their arms — that’s not going to qualify. [Courts] want to see a registrable choreographed work executed by skilled performers before an audience.”

Read the full story at Rolling Stone