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08-3810, 09-2213 & 10-1733 Johnson v. Cypress Hill

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//June 1, 2011//

08-3810, 09-2213 & 10-1733 Johnson v. Cypress Hill

By: WISCONSIN LAW JOURNAL STAFF//June 1, 2011//

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Intellectual Property
Copyright; res judicata

Res judicata bars state court claims for unfair competition and misappropriation after dismissal of a copyright claim on the same facts.

“Johnson concedes that the same parties are involved in both actions, but argues that the claims are not identical and that there was no final judgment on the merits in the first action. Johnson’s argument fails on both points. First, Johnson asserts that the claims are not the same because the original action was based on copyright infringement, whereas Johnson II is based on state claims of unfair competition and misappropriation. But, as Cypress Hill correctly notes, ‘[t]wo claims are one for purposes of res judicata if they are based on the same, or nearly the same, factual allegations.’ Tartt, 453 F.3d at 822 (internal citation omitted); see also Bethesda Lutheran Homes & Services, Inc. v. Born, 238 F.3d 853, 857 (7th Cir. 2001) (‘[F]or purposes of res judicata a claim is not an argument or a ground but the events claimed to give rise to a right to a legal remedy’). Here, the facts in both claims are unquestionably identical. Johnson’s second argument— that the original case was not decided on the merits because the action should have been dismissed for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction—fails under Reed Elsevier. Thus, the judge correctly granted Cypress Hill’s motion to dismiss Johnson II, finding the amended complaint barred by res judicata.”

Affirmed.

08-3810, 09-2213 & 10-1733 Johnson v. Cypress Hill

Appeals from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Norgle, J., Evans J.

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