www.courthousenews.

com

I ThomasA. Cohen(CSB#154581)
Law Offices of Thomas A. Cohen
2 639FrontSt.,4thfloor
SanFrancisco,
CA 94lll
a
(4rs) 777-1997;
(4r5) 777-1990
(fax)
J
tomcohen@ionix.net
4 efterJulyi ,2oog
555Montgomery St.,Suite820
5 SanFrancisco. CA 94lll
Attornevfor Plaintiff
6
E-fiHlng q%

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.|

ic
UNITED STATESDISTRICTCOURT
8

rv
NORTHERNDISTRICTOF CALTFORNIA
9

Se
10

l1
DON RUBIN, 6ff*ffiS 9,60?
s
COMPLAINTFORCOPYRIGHT
ew
t2 Plaintiff, INFRINGEMENT

l3 vs. JURY TRIAL REQUESTED

N

I4 APPLEINC.
se

15
Defendant.
t6
ou

t7
NATURE OF COMPLAINT
rth

l8
1. Don Rubin has beendescribedin The World Almanac as o'America'spremiere
t9
ou

20 puzzlemaster." His syndicatedweekly puzzle column entertained l5 million readersper week

C

2l in 20 countries,establishingrecordsfor responsethat remain unprecedentedin newspaper

22 history. More than a million readersmailed in solutions annually - the volume so

z) overwhelming that the US Post office in Chicago gave Don his own ZIP code.

24 2- In 1977, Mr. Rubin createdand published the original parking lot puzzle-first
25
entitled "Lots of Luck." Since then, the puzzle or authorizedderivations of it under several

Complaint for Copyright Infringement - I

 www.courthousenews.com

different nameshave appearedin hundredsof periodicals around the world to

I international
acclaim. It was hailed as one of "the greatest pvzzlesof all time,, in PrenticeHall's
2 book of the
a
J
samename.

4 2. Recently,defendantApple beganselling an iPhoneapplicationcalled parkinglot,

5 which copiesthe Puzzlein all materialrespects.Parkinglot hasbeenone of the best

selling
6 iPhone games.

7 3. Parkinglot is an authorizeduseof plaintiff s copyrighted,puzzle.This lawsuit

8 seeksappropriaterelief under the Copyright Act.
9
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
l0
4. This Court has subjectmatterjurisdiction pursuantto 28 U.S.C. 1338(a)
ll $
becausethis action arisesun'derthe copyright laws of the United States.In addition, there is
t2
complete diversity of citizenship betweenthe parties and the amount in controversy exceeds
13
$75,000.
T4
5. Venue is proper in this judicial district pursuantto 28 U.S.C. l39l because
l5 $
Apple hasdone businessand is headquarteredin this judicial district, has committed acts of
16
copyright infringement in this district, and continuesto commit such acts in this district.
t7
Becausethis is an Intellectual Property case,it is not subject to the intra-District venue
l8
provisionsof NorthernDistrict of California Local Rule 3-2(c).
t9
PARTIES
20
6. Plaintiff Don Rubin is a United Statescitizen from Newton, Massachusetts
2l
currently working and living in Bangkok, Thailand.
22
7. DefendantApple Inc. is a Califomia corporation with its principal place of
23
businessin Cupertino, California. Apple makesand sells computer products including the
24
iPhone. Apple licensesiPhone applications, including Parkinglot, from its iTunes App Store.
25

Complaint for Copyright Infringement - 2

 www.courthousenews.com

ill
il
ill
ll ,*".r.r.o""".orro*, I
2 ll,,^^.1
ll
t. On andbeforeOctoberl,lgTT,plaintiff invented
therestricted
movement
slidingl
entitled..Lotsof Luck.,,
lf Ufo"t puzzleoriginally
a
J
I
ltl n.
4 OnandafterOctoberl,lgTT,plaintiffcreatedandpublished fivederivative
I I
5 versions of "Lotsof Luck"including"Thanks.A lot"(1979);"Show Room,, (l9gl);..Jeepers!,,
I I
6 rrlsllt "Lots of LuckII" (1988);
and"Lotsof Luck:(adifferent
version)(lgss). collectivelv
I I
7
these sixrestricted
movement sliding
blockpuzzlesarerefenedto herein
asthe ,,puzzle.,,
A
I I
of onesuchderivation is attached asExhibitA.
8 I "opy I
tt. The Puzzlecontains a largeamountof materialwholty originalwith plaintiff *d
9 I I
is conVriehtable subjectmatterunderthe lawsof the U.S.
t0 I I
tt On andafterOctoberl,1977, plaintiffcompliedin all respects with theAct and
il I I
all otherlawsgovemingcopyright,andsecuredthe exclusiverightsandprivilegesin andto the
t2 I I
conVriehtof saidPuzzle.The Puzzlehasbeenregisteredwith theRegisterof Copyrigtttsasa
t3 I I
contributionto a serialpublicationandin variousotherformsnumerous timessince1977
t 4 I includin8, |
withoutlimitation,thecopyrightregistrations
listedon ExhibitB.
l5 I 12- SinceOctoberl,lg77,said Puzzlehasbeenpublishedanddistributedby
I
nlaintiffl
1 6 througha varietyof mediaincluding,without limitation,publicationin
The Realpaperof
I
t7 Boston,Massachusetts, the book"What's the Big [dea;"UnitedFeaturesSyndicate;..The
I
18 World AlmanacRealPuzzleBook," "The GreatestPuzzlesof All Time;" Horderns'Sliding
I
t9 PiecePuzzles;"and"More Brainstorms."All copiesof it madeunderhis authorityor license
I
20 havebeenissuedin strictconformitywith the provisionsof the Act andall otherlawsgoverningl

2l copyright.
I
13. SinceOctober l,1977 plaintiff has beenand still is the sole proprietorof all
22
I
rights, title and interest in and to the copyright in said puzzle.
23
I
14. On and after January l, 2008, defendantinfringed said copyright by reproducing,
24 I
selling,publishingand otherwisedistributingan iPhoneapplicationentitled "parkinglot"
25 I
which was copied from plaintifls copyrighted ptrzzle.
I
I
Complaintfor CopyrightInfringement- 3 I
I
I
 www.courthousenews.com

I l5' Plaintiff has notified defendantthat defendanthas

infringed the copyright of
2 plaintiff, but defendanthas not agreedto discontinue
its infringing actions.
J *HEREF.RE' plainti ff prays for j udgment againstdefendant

4 l' That defendant,its agents,and servantsbe enjoined

during the pendencyof this
5 action and permanentlyfrom infringing said copyright
of said plaintiffin any manner,and from

6 publishing,selling,marketing,or otherwisedisposing
of any copiesin any format of the iphone
-f
applicationentitled"Parkinglot.',

8 2' That defendantbe required to pay to plaintiff such damages

as plaintiffhas
9 sustainedin consequenceof defendant's infringement of said
copyright and to accountfor all

l0 gains, profits and advantagesderived by defendantby its

infringement of plaintiffs copyright

11 such damagesas to the court shall appearproper within the provisions

of the copyright statutes.
t2 3' That defendantbe required to deliver up to be impounded
during the pendencyof
13 this action all copiesof "Parkinglot" in its possessionor under
its control and to deliver up for

t4 destructionall infringing copies and all other matter for making

such infringing copies.

l5 4' That defendantpay to plaintiff the costsof this action and reasonable
attomevs,
t6 feesto be allowed to the plaintiff by the court.

l7 5. That plaintiff have suchother and further relief as is

iust.

18 Dated:June9.2009 r)l ^
/
l9
I |\i\--"R-
ThomasA. Cohen
20 Attorneyfor plaintiff
2l DEMAND FORJURYTRIAL
22 Plaintiffherebydemands
ajury trial asprovidedby Rule38(a)of the FederalRulesof
23 Civil Procedure.

24 Dated:June 9, 2009 t]5-(,--\-Thomas A. Cohen

25
Attorney for plaintiff

Complaint for Copyright tnfringement - 4

 www.courthousenews.com

I CERTIFICATION OF INTERESTED ENTITIES OR PERSONS

2 Pursuantto Civil L.R. 3-16, the undersignedcertifiesthat the following listed persons,
a
J associationsof persons,firms, partnerships,corporations(including parent corporations)or

4 other entities (i) have a financial interest in the subject matter in controversyor in a party to the

5 proceeding,or (ii) have a non-ftnancial interest in that subjectmatter or in a party that could be

6 substantiallyaffected by the outcome of this proceeding: euetouch.com.

8 Dated:June9. 2009

9 Atr^
A. Cohen
10
Attorney for plaintiff
1l

I2

l3

l4

15

l6

t7

18

l9

20

2l

22

23

24

25

Complaint for Copyright tnfringement - 5

www.courthousenews.com

ExhibitA
 www.courthousenews.com

More
Brainstorrns
Real Puzzles for the
Fieal Genius

by Don Rubin
with illustrations by Roger Jones
 www.courthousenews.com

26. Lots of luck

What is thc fewesl nurnber of moves

necessary to get ilre black car out of
the loL? 'fhe vehicles may move for-
ward or backward in a sl.raight line
only. (No packing, crarnming or mere
inching up.) And you mus[ count every
rnove, even if you shif t tlre sarne vehi-
ele nrore than once.
List the rrulnbers of t.he vehicles, in
order, in the sl)ace provided.
 www.courthousenews.com
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29 ,il
27 il
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Total: u ii
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www.courthousenews.com

ExhibitB
 www.courthousenews.com

"Lots of Luck" October I, 1977

Catalogof Copyriglrtli'trics, 3rcrscrics,['ar.tll, ['cr-i.tlic;rls

f he Real Paper
(c) The lleal Iraper
v.6 no.
39, toct77.(c)24sept-^1j256654 [iss./r; iss.clatc;Prt'. clatc;reg. #f
40, 8Oct77.(c)lOct.;tJZ7tZ79
4L,15Oct77.(c)BOct.; t)261424
42, 22Oct77.(c)15Oct.; t\261425

"I-hanks.A Lot" June 30, 1979

cSN 006517PlluoD 79-2<c.()rls> [Copyr-ighrscrial I [istor:1, t;ilcJ

TITL: The Real paF'er',ljoston
N_OTE:I{eekly except bi-weekly at year cncl.
_CI?:4ggt. au.:The l{eal I'apcr, lric.,ernploycrfor hirc.
HLDG: "l'he Iteal Paprel,11q".
v 8, no.
TX 288-672.5JtrlT9; 7JuI79; DCI( 1979; t,U | ) 30Jtrrr79

"Lots <rfluck" iu "What's the l3ig lclca?"--a (()nrpilationt>[puz.z.fu:s

publislc6l
in the U.s. by Lippi^c'tt (:r^d, i. lj.gland, L'y n&tc: lilack).

TX-317-436<COI{N4> {'t'heCop1,1ig1,t lr4onographI tisrory filel

"llTL: What's the big idea? and thir:t1,-[ivc
otircr'unusual 1rur..ir" / by acDon
Rubin; with ill. by Roger Jones.
EDST:l"sted.
IMPR: Philadelphia: Lippincott, cI979
PI{YS: 1 v.
ISBN: ISBN O-397-o1356-G
CLNA: Don Rubin
DCRE:1978 DPUIJ:6JunZ9 D|{UC: t7 AugZg
APAU: introd.: Don Ilubirg err-rployerfor liirc of ALrc lrcck
PREV:Pruzzlesand ill. origi^ally ptrb. i^'t'hc t{cal I'aLrgr
LINM: NM: compilation and introcl.
ECIF:1.lBlD
 www.courthousenews.com

'Jeep.ers"
rvassyndic'atc<l lry Unitt:cll;eattu.eS],lrrlicatcirr l!rg3,arrclerPpt.arctl ilr
tlre \{orld Alnranac'slleal puzz,let}trok irr ltig.t.
'l'x-t-662-262
<COt ltvt>
I I T L : T h e l {o rl d A l ma n a cl {cal I' uzzle,tr ook / [r 1,l) tur l{ ulr in; r vitlr
ill.
by RogerJones.
IIVIPR:New York l'vorlclz\lnrarr;rc ['ulrric:rtiorrs.l!rg,r.
PFIYS:94p
CLNA: United FeatureSynclicate
DCRII: 1984 DI,UI3:15Scp84f)tiltG:25N4ar85
lvIlSC:C.O. corres.
ICIF: 1/t]

"'l-hanksa lot" (vers_iotr

tr'r,o)apprcarec'l
ilr "N,lorc l',rairrs19l.rps",
p11[rlislre<J
tr-1,
l{arperCollins in 1990. I havc not yet fouucl thc r-t:1;istrarti.n.

C<rpyrightto.all puzzlcs ptrLrlislrcdby'l'lrc ltcal l,apcl"l)rior to z\trgust,

l\t7.9
reverted to the author in July, 19i]0.

puzzles synclicated Lry Unitccl |eertur-eSyrrclicate r.evertecl tg

lopyrfght !o {l
the author in December, 1989.