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Intellectual Property
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September 27, 2024
Super Babies Cancel DC Comics, Marvel's 'Super Hero' TM
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has canceled DC Comics and Marvel Characters Inc.'s jointly owned trademarks for "super hero" and variations of the term after a U.K.-based business that creates stories of super hero babies argued the term is generic and has been abandoned by DC Comics and Marvel.
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September 27, 2024
Valve Corp. May Continue Wash. 'Patent Troll' Claims
Video game patent holder Leigh Rothschild, his company Rothschild Broadcast Distribution Systems LLC and his legal team from Meyler Legal PLLC cannot escape a federal suit alleging they violated the state of Washington's anti-troll laws in pursuing bogus patent claims against video game maker and online game store operator Valve Corp.
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September 27, 2024
Nike's Conduct In TM Battle Warrants Atty Fees, Report Says
Sportswear giant Nike Inc.'s behavior and threats against a Pennsylvania apparel company during a trademark dispute are severe enough to support ordering Nike to pay attorney fees, a special master has said.
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September 27, 2024
Nixon Peabody Bolsters IP Team With Deputy Chief, Laterals
Nixon Peabody LLP has bolstered its intellectual property practice with the appointment of a deputy leader and two recent hires, continuing the firm's investments in that team.
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September 27, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen Coca-Cola bring a trademark infringement claim against its former marketing director, Glencore face legal action by American Century ETF Trust, law firm Bishop Lloyd & Jackson defend itself against two solicitors it worked alongside during inquiries into Grenfell Tower, and a U.K. cruise line face a claim by a subsidiary of the sanctioned gambling platform GTLK.
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September 26, 2024
1st Circ. Won't Disturb Ex-DraftKings Exec's Noncompete
The First Circuit on Thursday rejected an appeal from a former DraftKings executive looking to undo his noncompete contract, ruling that Massachusetts law — not California law — applies to his agreement with his Boston-based former employer and that an injunction barring him from competing with DraftKings stands.
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September 26, 2024
NCAA, Athletes Make Tweaks To $2.78B NIL Settlement
The National Collegiate Athletic Association and the athletes suing over the organization's name, image and likeness compensation rules on Thursday presented some clarifications to their proposed $2.78 billion antitrust settlement after a California federal judge took issue with some of the deal's terms.
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September 26, 2024
Attys Worry OpenAI IP Row Will Drag On Amid AI Policy Push
A BigLaw attorney and consumer advocates found common ground during the seventh annual Berkeley Law AI Institute on Thursday expressing concerns that courts won't timely adjudicate copyright claims against OpenAI and others, while an FTC attorney noted the commission is already enforcing the Federal Trade Act against companies for over-hyping their AI.
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September 26, 2024
Judge Albright Steers Patent Suit Against Volvo To NJ
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright has ruled that the presence of car dealerships in the Western District of Texas, a popular patent jurisdiction, is not enough to keep a patent lawsuit against Swedish carmaker Volvo in his Waco courtroom, transferring the case brought by an ex-Microsoft executive's private equity-funded patent litigation outfit.
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September 26, 2024
Edible Arrangements Says Zurich Shirked Policy Duties In $4M Suit
Atlanta-headquartered Edible Arrangements has hit the American Zurich Insurance Co. with a breach of contract suit seeking at least $4.2 million, claiming the insurer refused to defend and indemnify it against counterclaims stemming from a trademark suit it filed against another company.
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September 26, 2024
Colo. Artist Says Award-Winning AI Image Merits Copyright
A Colorado artist who created the first image generated by artificial intelligence to win an award at the state's fair sued the U.S. Copyright Office on Thursday, saying the agency wrongly rejected his application to register his work because it was not made by a human author.
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September 26, 2024
2nd Circ. Denies Jury Trial In Abbott Labs Gray Market Case
A man and his wife involved in the sale of gray market diabetes test strips on Tuesday were unable to persuade the Second Circuit to undo the $33.4 million judgment they owe to Abbott Laboratories after a federal judge stripped them of their right to a jury trial.
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September 26, 2024
Full Fed. Circ. Looks To Clarify Damages In Google Case
The full Federal Circuit has agreed to review EcoFactor's $20 million infringement award against Google, a move that attorneys say should provide much-needed guidance for both judges and parties when calculating damages.
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September 26, 2024
Helicopter-Maker Claims Supplier Had 'Reliability Issues'
A former Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. engineer claimed a supplier at the center of a $100 million trade secrets lawsuit delivered parts that had "reliability issues," saying Thursday during a trial in Texas state court that the supplier had long-standing problems.
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September 26, 2024
Judge Recommends Axing Disbarred NC Atty's FOIA Suit
A disbarred North Carolina attorney's sprawling Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over U.S. Patent and Trademark Office documents should be tossed, a magistrate judge recommended Thursday, finding the government immune and most of the claims already litigated.
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September 26, 2024
NC Medical Equipment Maker Can't Ditch Unfair Biz Suit
The North Carolina Business Court has denied a medical equipment maker's bid to get a win based on the pleadings in a fraudulent concealment and unfair trade practices lawsuit alleging that it stole the business model and a pregnancy support garment design from a rival.
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September 26, 2024
OpenAI Gets Most Counterclaims Against It Axed In TM Fight
OpenAI has defeated most counterclaims filed by a man who the company alleges is preventing it from registering its name as a trademark, after a California federal judge ruled that Guy Ravine and his company, Open Artificial Intelligence Inc., "spill much proverbial ink pontificating about their view on artificial intelligence," but most of it is irrelevant to their claims.
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September 26, 2024
Judge Finds Golf Simulator Original Enough, At Least for Now
A judge overseeing a copyright case in the Southern District of New York has decided that the makers of a golf simulator had developed an interface that could, at least on paper, meet the "modest requirements of originality."
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September 26, 2024
Senate Patent Bill Markups Delayed Until After Election
Congressional hearings scheduled for Thursday to mark up several bills related to patents, including measures dealing with patent eligibility, validity challenges and drug patents, have been postponed until after Election Day due to the Senate's adjournment.
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September 26, 2024
Nobel Winners Behind Gene Editor Seek To Nix Own Patents
The scientists credited with inventing the gene-editing tool CRISPR have voluntarily requested that two key patents be revoked in Europe, after officials suggested they might get nixed over technical issues.
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September 26, 2024
Judge Tosses Hyundai EV Battery Trade Secrets Suit
A California federal judge threw out a trade secrets suit brought against Hyundai Motor Co. by a startup company claiming it misappropriated its electric vehicle battery technology and violated a nondisclosure agreement, ruling that the Golden State is not the proper venue for the claims against the South Korean automaker.
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September 25, 2024
Senate Bill Wants CBP To Share More On Counterfeit Products
A new bill in Congress would expressly give U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents the ability to share more "nonpublic information" about allegedly counterfeit products with "any other party with an interest in the merchandise."
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September 25, 2024
Albright Bumps Up Amazon Patent Loss To $136M
Amazon now owes a small advertising software outfit a total of $136 million after losing a jury trial in June in Waco, Texas, in a lawsuit over patents that purportedly made it more efficient to place bids on the same pieces of ad space.
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September 25, 2024
All Mariah Carey Wants Is To Ax 'Christmas' IP Row For Good
Mariah Carey and Sony Music Entertainment hope to finally put to bed a copyright infringement suit over the now-decades-old Christmas hit "All I Want For Christmas Is You," telling a California federal judge this week that the accusing musicians have not shown the similarities are anything more than common holiday tropes.
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September 25, 2024
Consultant Wants NC Packaging Patent Fight Tossed
A consultant and owner of a cold-packaging company accused of lying about his patent rights is doubling down on his bid to ditch a rival business's federal lawsuit under North Carolina's abusive patent law, saying he has no intention of accusing the business of infringement.
Expert Analysis
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Orange Book Warnings Highlight FTC's Drug Price Focus
In light of heightened regulatory scrutiny surrounding drug pricing and the Federal Trade Commission's activity in the recent Teva v. Amneal case, branded drug manufacturers should expect the FTC's campaign against allegedly improper Orange Book listings to continue, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Tracking China's Push To Invalidate Foreign Patents
China’s increasing use of courts and administrative panels to nullify patents in strategically important industries, such as technology, pharmaceuticals and rare-earth minerals, raises serious concerns about the intellectual property rights of foreign businesses operating there, say Rajat Rana and Manuel Valderrama at Selendy Gay.
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3 Ways To Fight Alice Rejections Of Blockchain Patents
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
With blockchain-related patent application filings on the rise, Thomas Isaacson at Polsinelli offers strategies for responding to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office determinations that the blockchain network is just a generic computer and patent-ineligible under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 Alice v. CLS Bank decision.
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F1 Driver AI Case Sheds Light On Winning Tactics In IP Suits
A German court recently awarded damages to former F1 driver Michael Schumacher's family in an artificial intelligence dispute over the unlicensed use of his image, illustrating how athletes are using the law to protect their brands, and setting a precedent in other AI-generated image rights cases, William Bowyer at Lawrence Stephens.
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8th Circ. Insurance Ruling Spotlights Related-Claims Defenses
The Eighth Circuit’s recent Dexon v. Travelers ruling — that the insurer must provide a defense despite the policy’s related-acts provision — provides guidance for how policyholders can overcome related-acts defenses, say Geoffrey Fehling and Jae Lynn Huckaba at Hunton.
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Counterfeits At The Olympics Pose IP Challenges
With the 2024 Olympic Games quickly approaching, the proliferation of counterfeit Olympic merchandise poses a difficult challenge to the protection of intellectual property rights and the preservation of the Olympic brand's integrity, says Kimiya Shams at Devialet.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In May
A look at recent cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court provide guidance on how to succeed on appeal by clarifying the obviousness analysis of design patents, the finality of a judgment, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.
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Momofuku Chili War May Chill Common Phrase TM Apps
Momofuku’s recent trademark battle over the “Chili Crunch” mark shows that over-enforcement when protecting exclusivity rights may backfire not just in the public eye, but with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as well, says Anthony Panebianco at Davis Malm.
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Trademark In Artistic Works 1 Year After Jack Daniel's
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court's Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products ruling, courts have applied Jack Daniel's inconsistently to deny First Amendment protection to artistic works, providing guidance for dismissing trademark claims relating to film and TV titles, say Hardy Ehlers and Neema Sahni at Covington.
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NCAA Settlement May End The NIL Model As We Know It
The recent House v. NCAA settlement in California federal court, in which the NCAA agreed to allow schools to directly pay March Madness television revenue to their athletes, may send outside name, image and likeness collectives in-house, says Mike Ingersoll at Womble Bond.