Edited Case Summary for the DL-202e :

Mint, Inc., Plaintiff

-againstShokomoko and Amazon.com, Inc., Defendants

A. Title: Mint, Inc., Plaintiff -against- Shokomoko and Amazon.com, Inc.,Defendants

B. Significance of the Case: The case filed against Shokomoko and Amazon.com, Inc. by Mint
Inc., claiming that Shokomoko infringed its copyright, design patent, and trade dress rights by
unauthorized selling them on the Amazon.coms Marketplace.
C. History of the Case:

1. Mint, Inc., the plaintiff, is a copyright owner of Hugging Salt and Pepper Shakers as well as
the owner of a design patent in them (U.S. patent design No. D464,532).
2. Shokomoko, one of the defendants, advertised and offered for sale unauthorized copies of
plaintiffs Hugging Salt and Pepper Shakers on Amazon.com.
3. Amazon.com, the other defendant, provides the technology and infrastructure supporting
defendant Shokomokos unauthorized advertising and sales.
4. The Plaintiff sued both Shokomoko and Amazon.com, Inc. for copyright, patent and trade
dress infringement through the provision of unauthorized, counterfeit copies of his Hug
products.
5. In the U.S.A., Amazon.com can be protected from the copyright claims by the safe harbor
provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"), which generally state that a web
host is not liable for infringing material posted by third parties if the host complies with certain
conditions.
6. Mint argues that (i) Amazon was asked to take down the infringing material and failed to do
so, which if true could defeat DMCA protection; (ii) Amazon had some financial interest in the
sale of these items and therefore is precluded from asserting a DMCA defense; (iii) the DMCA
does not extend beyond copyright to trademark and patent claims.

D. Exhibit
1. U.S. patent design No. D464,532

Spice shaker
United States Patent D464,532
Claims

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I claim the ornamental design for a spice shaker, as shown and described.
Inventors:
Assignee:
Appl. No.:
Filed:

Mantilla; Alberto (Rego Park, NY)

Curve I.D., Inc. (New York, NY)
D/147,219
August 24, 2001

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2.

Amazon.com : Marketplace

E. Self Assessment Question:

1. Regarding the IP management aspect, what Amazon.com should have done in this case
to prevent the risk of infringing third party IP rights?
2. Do you have in your country any laws similar to the safe harbor provisions of the U.S.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA")?
3. Generally, if you intend to operate an e commerce website like Amazon.com, what steps
would you take in order not to infringe IP rights?
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