Data East USA, Inc. v. Epyx, Inc.

Plaintiff-appellee Data East USA, Inc., brought this action against defendant-appellant Epyx, Inc. for copyright, trademark, and trade dress infringement. The district court found a copyright infringement and issued a permanent injunction and impoundment. Epyx appeals the grant of the permanent injunction.

Epyx contends (1) the district court erred in granting the injunction because Epyx never had access to Data East’s copyrighted work, (2) the district court erred in finding substantial similarity, and (3) the district court’s injunction was impermissibly vague and overbroad. We reverse.

I. FACTS

Data East is a California corporation engaged in the design, manufacture, and sale of audio-visual works embodied in video games for coin-operated and home computer use. In July 1984, Data East commenced distribution in Japan of an arcade game entitled “Karate Champ” (“Arcade # 1”). In September 1984, Data East commenced distribution in Japan and later in the United States and Europe of an updated version of “Karate Champ” (“Arcade # 2” or more generally as “arcade game”). Finally, on October 12, 1985, Data East commenced distribution in the United States of a home computer game…