(United States Ninth Circuit) - In a copyright infringement and trade secret case arising out of a contract for plaintiff to produce a USB flash drive shaped like a 'PlumbBob' a gem-shaped icon from defendant's computer game,The Sims, the District Court's grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant is: 1) affirmed in allotment as to the trade secrets claim, or although on different grounds. where plaintiff's contribution to the PlumbBob USB drive,a design for the flash drive’s removal from the PlumbBob object, did not derive independent economic value from not being generally known to the public; and 2) reversed in allotment as to the copyright infringement claim where the district court erred in ruling as a matter of law that the flash drive was not sufficiently original when compared to the Plumb Bob icon to qualify for copyright protection as a derivative work.
Source: findlaw.com