[1] Kenyon was nominated by President Jimmy Carter on June 20, 1980, to a seat on the United States District Court for the Central District of California vacated by Judge Albert Lee Stephens Jr.
[1] One of the first cases over which Kenyon presided was a dispute over ownership of the Marvel Comics character, Howard the Duck.
On August 29, 1980, after learning of Marvel's efforts to license Howard for use in film and broadcast media, creator Steve Gerber filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Marvel corporate parent Cadence Industries and other parties, alleging that he was the sole owner of the character.
[2][3] This was one of the first highly publicized creator's rights cases in American comics, and attracted support from major industry figures.
[4] The lawsuit was settled on September 24, 1982, with Gerber acknowledging that his work on the character was done as work-for-hire and that Marvel parent Cadence Industries owned “all right, title and interest” to Howard the Duck and the Howard material he had produced.