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Intellectual Property
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May 22, 2013
Haynes & Boone Adds Veteran Patent Expert In Austin
Haynes & Boone LLP bolstered its intellectual property group in Austin, Texas, with an experienced patent prosecutor from boutique Zagorin O’Brien Graham LLP, the firm announced Tuesday.
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May 22, 2013
Vermont Hits Patent Troll With Consumer Protection Suit
Vermont's attorney general on Wednesday said it had sued a so-called patent troll for violating the state's consumer protection laws, a case the state said was the first of its kind.
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May 22, 2013
Intuit Escapes Trademark Claim In H&R Block False Ad Suit
Intuit Inc. on Wednesday escaped a trademark infringement claim in a false advertising suit over commercials for its TurboTax software when a Missouri federal judge rejected the novel theory that the ads would cause consumer confusion about the quality of H&R Block Inc.'s services.
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May 22, 2013
Roku Asks ITC To Toss Patent Suit Over TV Box Controllers
Streaming video device maker Roku Inc. urged the U.S. International Trade Commission Monday to dismiss allegations by STMicroelectronics Inc. that it was importing products infringing ST patents, saying there was no domestic industry to protect by banning the imports.
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May 22, 2013
Twitter Launches Employee-Friendly Patent Framework
Twitter Inc. said Tuesday that its newly issued patent covering its ubiquitous pull down-to-refresh feature will be covered by the 'Innovators Patent Agreement,' a type of patent assignment agreement that gives inventors greater control over how their employers may use their patents.
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May 22, 2013
Publishers Say GSU 'Distracting' 11th Circ. In Copyright Row
Georgia State University is relying on “blindered” arguments to support its practice of distributing copyrighted reading materials to students through e-reserves, three academic publishers told the Eleventh Circuit on Monday, urging the court to reverse a ruling that the practice was mostly protected by fair use.
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May 22, 2013
IP Firm Protected By Fair Use In Publishers' Patent App Suit
Winstead PC attorneys didn’t infringe copyrights for scientific articles owned by publisher John Wiley & Sons Inc. and others by making copies of and reviewing the literature for use in patent applications without buying a license, a Texas federal judge held Wednesday.
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May 22, 2013
Software Patent Ruling Shouldn’t Change Exams, USPTO Says
A deeply divided Federal Circuit ruling on whether software is eligible for a patent does not change how such patents should be examined, but does provide some useful guidance, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office told its examiners recently.
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May 22, 2013
Innovation Beats MGA False Statements Suit In 9th Circ.
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a lower court ruling tossing MGA Entertainment Inc.’s lawsuit alleging Innovation First Inc. engaged in an anti-competitive scheme by making false statements about the design for a robotic insect toy, ruling IFI lacked jurisdictional ties with California for the suit to proceed.
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May 22, 2013
Trade Bill Would Beef Up Border IP Protections, Sens. Hear
Private industry stakeholders told a congressional committee Wednesday that planned legislation to strengthen the trade functions of U.S. customs agencies would boost their ability to fight the import of counterfeit or rights-infringing goods.
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May 21, 2013
Vt. Legislature Passes Bill Targeting Patent Trolls
As the U.S. Congress considers several bills aimed at so-called patent trolls, one state is getting in on the act as well: The Vermont Legislature recently passed a bill that would allow companies to sue patent owners that allege infringement in bad faith.
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May 21, 2013
Tech Co. Faces Sanctions In Patent Row With Simon Property
A Wisconsin federal judge on Tuesday ordered NorthMobileTech LLC to pay roughly $368,500 in sanctions for pursuing an unsuccessful patent enforcement suit that was allegedly fraught with misconduct against real estate giant Simon Property Group Inc.
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May 21, 2013
3rd Circ. Solidifies Free Speech Test In EA Likeness Case
The Third Circuit ruled Tuesday that the First Amendment does not shield video game publisher Electronic Arts Inc. from a former quarterback's right of publicity suit, adding to a growing consensus that the use of a person's likeness is protected speech only if it is transformed into an original expression.
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May 21, 2013
Kolon Asks 4th Circ. To Ax $920M DuPont Trade Secrets Award
Kolon Industries Inc. on Friday asked the Fourth Circuit to overturn a $920 million judgment, saying DuPont Co. should have been forced to individually address each trade secret it alleged Kolon had pilfered and the trial judge should have recused himself from the case and a related antitrust suit.
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May 21, 2013
AFP, Getty's Liability Shrinks In Twitter Photo Copyright Suit
A New York federal judge on Tuesday limited potential damages a photojournalist may be entitled to in a lawsuit alleging Agence France-Presse and Getty Images Inc. lifted his images off of Twitter, ruling the agencies don't have to pay separate penalties for copyright infringement.
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May 21, 2013
ClearPlay Asks High Court To Weigh DVD-Censor Patent Case
ClearPlay Inc. has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its claims accusing Nissim Corp. of violating a licensing agreement the companies had for DVD-censoring technology, arguing the Eleventh Circuit wrongly found the claims were preempted by federal law.
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May 21, 2013
Facebook Rapped Over Shady Use Of Eminem Song
The music publisher for rap icon Eminem sued Facebook Inc. and its advertising agency Monday, alleging they improperly sampled music from Eminem's hit song “Under the Influence” in a recent Web ad touting the social media giant's new smartphone app.
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May 21, 2013
Jay-Z, UMG Say 'Big Pimpin' Copyright Suit Is Stale
Business mogul Jay-Z, UMG Recordings Inc. and others urged a California federal judge Monday to throw out a copyright suit over an Egyptian song sampled in the rap song "Big Pimpin'," arguing the plaintiff waited too long before filing the lawsuit.
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May 21, 2013
Belkin Settles Out Of Slingbox ITC Patent Probe
Sling Media Inc., which makes TV streaming device Slingbox, has agreed to drop accusations that Belkin International Inc. imported products that infringed a patented technology called placeshifting, according to a settlement filed Monday with the U.S. International Trade Commission.
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May 21, 2013
Fed. Circ. Nixes Bid To Patent Music Royalty Tech
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday rejected an inventor’s bid to patent his digital rights management technology that allows singers and other music copyright holders to receive their due royalties when their work is publicly performed, ruling the technology behind the invention is obvious.
Expert Analysis
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EA Right Of Publicity Case Provides Valuable Guidance
An important practice tip that flows from the Third Circuit's recent opinion in Ryan Hart v. Electronic Arts Inc. is that talismanic invocation of the First Amendment does not resolve the legal problem of balancing that amendment with competing rights such as the right of publicity, says Ronald Katz of Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP.
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Righthaven V. Hoehn: Bad News For Copyright Trolls
In its recent decision in Righthaven LLC v. Hoehn, the Ninth Circuit made clear that courts must look beyond labels in agreements and evaluate the substance of the rights actually assigned in order to determine whether an assignee has standing to pursue a claim for copyright infringement, say Benjamin Marks and Elisabeth Sperle of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
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High Court Takes On Declaratory Judgment Burden Of Proof
With the U.S. Supreme Court granting certiorari in Medtronic Inc. v. Boston Scientific Corp., it will help clarify who bears the burden of proof in a declaratory judgment action. If the court affirms the Federal Circuit, the traditional patent law for this type of controversy will be turned on its head, requiring a licensee to disprove infringement, says Shashank Upadhye of Seyfarth Shaw LLP.
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Venue Change May Impact Actions Against Foreign Patentees
For nearly 60 years, declaratory judgment actions against foreign patentees were filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Section 293 of the America Invents Act replaces the District of Columbia with the Eastern District of Virginia as the appropriate venue, which may have a profound impact on this narrow — but oftentimes crucially important — subset of cases, says Bill Sigler of Fisch Hoffman Sigler LLP.
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Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
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New USPTO Fee Rules, New Patent Prosecution Strategies
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recently revised patent prosecution fee structure encourages quick and compact prosecution by raising fees for prosecution that requires significant examiner time, says Carl Schwartz of Quarles & Brady LLP.
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When And How To Consider Hiring In-House IP Counsel
When deciding whether to hire in-house intellectual property counsel, a company should consider its IP strategy and its IP budget. If a company is spending $250,000 or more on outside IP legal fees per year, it is at least worth considering hiring in-house patent counsel, says Scott Smith of Dorsey & Whitney LLP.
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Why 'Escape From Tomorrow' Likely Won't Make It To Theaters
"Escape From Tomorrow," a movie that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, was shot on-site at Disney World without the permission or knowledge of The Walt Disney Co. Disney didn't file suit, but it appears that the strategy of silence has largely paid off up to this point, says Brent Lorentz of Winthrop & Weinstine PA.
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What To Do Before, During And After IP Mediation
Intellectual property mediation provides parties with the power to transfer the control of the outcome of their dispute from jurors back to where it most appropriately resides — with the parties themselves. But too many litigators and too many parties approach mediation as if it is a burden to be shouldered rather than an opportunity to be embraced, say Samuel Miller and Vernon Winters of Sidley Austin LLP.
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K-V Case Tests Limits Of ITC Jurisdiction
As illustrated by the recent K-V Pharmaceutical Co. case, the U.S. International Trade Commission will likely closely review complaints that could usurp the power of another federal agency and potentially undermine that agency's application of its own rules, say Eric Fues and Mareesa Frederick of Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP.