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Intellectual Property Keyed to Merges
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Brothers, Inc.
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*Case Brief Anatomy includes: Brief Prologue, Complete Case Brief, Brief Epilogue
- The Brief Prologue provides necessary case brief introductory information and includes:
- Topic: Identifies the topic of law and where this case fits within your course outline.
- Parties: Identifies the cast of characters involved in the case.
- Procedural Posture & History: Shares the case history with how lower courts have ruled on the matter.
- Case Key Terms, Acts, Doctrines, etc.: A case specific Legal Term Dictionary.
- Case Doctrines, Acts, Statutes, Amendments and Treatises: Identifies and Defines Legal Authority used in this case.
- The Case Brief is the complete case summarized and authored in the traditional Law School I.R.A.C. format. The Pro case brief includes:
- Brief Facts: A Synopsis of the Facts of the case.
- Rule of Law: Identifies the Legal Principle the Court used in deciding the case.
- Facts: What are the factual circumstances that gave rise to the civil or criminal case? What is the relationship of the Parties that are involved in the case. Review the Facts of this case here:
Samara Brothers, Inc. (Samara) (Plaintiff) designs and manufacturers children’s clothing, with its main product being spring and summer one-piece seersucker clothes. Various stores sell this line of clothes. Wal-Mart Stores (Defendant) is one of the largest and most well-known retail stores in the United States. Defendant contracted with Judy-Philippine, Inc. (J-P), one of its suppliers, to manufacture a line of spring and summer children’s clothes, sending J-P photographs of various garments of Plaintiff’s upon which J-P was to base the clothes for Defendant. J-P then copied, with minor changes, 16 of Plaintiff’s garments, many of which contained elements that were copyrighted. Wal-Mart (Defendant) sold J-P’s garments and earned over $1.5 million in gross profits from those sales. Plaintiff sent cease-and-desist letters to Defendant, finally suing for copyright infringement. A jury found for Plaintiff on all its claims, and the court of appeals affirmed. The United States Supreme Court granted certiorari.
- Issue(s): Lists the Questions of Law that are raised by the Facts of the case.
- Holding: Shares the Court's answer to the legal questions raised in the issue.
- Concurring / Dissenting Opinions: Includes valuable concurring or dissenting opinions and their key points.
- Reasoning and Analysis: Identifies the chain of argument(s) which led the judges to rule as they did.
- The Brief Prologue closes the case brief with important forward-looking discussion and includes:
- Policy: Identifies the Policy if any that has been established by the case.
- Court Direction: Shares where the Court went from here for this case.