Firm Removes Deceased Author’s Name from Treatise, Widow Sues

The widow of the former chief judge of the U.S.International Trade Commission, Donald Knox Duvall, is suing an intellectualproperty firm for removing her husband’s name off a legal treatise entitled, Unfair Competition and the ITC: ActionsBefore the International Trade Commission under Section 337 of the Tariff Actof 1930.

Before his death, the judge struck a deal with Kenyon &Kenyon LLP to share royalties derived from sales of the treatise in order toprovide for his heirs for “so long as his name appears on the volume.”  Kathryn B. Duvall claims the firm removed thename in order to cheat her out of royalties. 

The firm justifies its decision to remove the name byclaiming there’s little of the original work left.  However, Mrs. Duvall believes onlyinsignificant changes have been made and seeks an injunction declaring herhusband the author as well as damages to compensate for the firm’s wrongdoing.

See Adam Klasfeld,Judge’s Widow Knows Her Rights,Courthouse News Service, June 24, 2013.