Intellectual Property

  • September 20, 2024

    ITC Has Been Launching Fewer Section 337 Investigations

    Intellectual property activity at the U.S. International Trade Commission has "decreased somewhat," the agency said in a report Friday.

  • September 20, 2024

    Baby Biz Can't Get Fees After Beating Shampoo Pitcher IP Suit

    A Louisiana federal judge said a 7-year-old fight over baby products "was a hard-fought patent case," rejecting efforts from a Louisiana company to obtain nearly $2 million in legal fees from a Kansas inventor of a pitcher for rinsing out shampoo.

  • September 20, 2024

    T.I.'s Fight With MGA Over Pop Group IP Goes To Jury Again

    An attorney for hip hop moguls T.I. and Tiny Harris told a California federal jury during closing arguments Friday that "common sense" should lead them to find that MGA Entertainment's line of O.M.G. dolls infringed the trade dress and misappropriated the name, likeness and identity of the OMG Girlz pop group.

  • September 20, 2024

    Alnylam Seeks To End Inventorship Suit Tied To COVID Vax

    Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, which alleges that COVID-19 vaccines made by Pfizer and Moderna infringe its patents, has moved in Delaware federal court to dismiss a suit by former collaborator Acuitas Therapeutics Inc. seeking to have its scientists added as inventors on the patents.

  • September 20, 2024

    Justices Asked To Clarify IP Eligibility In Animation App Case

    App developer Plotagraph has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Federal Circuit decision that found its patents that allow users to create the illusion of movement within digital photos or videos were invalid because they were abstract under the high court's Alice decision.

  • September 20, 2024

    Getting Around ITC Was 'Sneaky,' Judge Tells Caterpillar

    A Delaware court has held that Caterpillar owes about $19.5 million in a patent case, citing in part the company's "sneaky" decision to domesticate manufacturing after a setback in a related infringement case at the U.S. International Trade Commission, while also finding that Caterpillar is subject to a rare injunction blocking the sale of some of its road construction machines.

  • September 20, 2024

    Northwestern Scores $6.6M Verdict On 'Cobot' Patents

    A Delaware federal jury has awarded $6.6 million to Northwestern University after finding that Universal Robots infringed claims in three patents on collaborative robot, or "cobot," systems.

  • September 20, 2024

    Conservative Pundit Seeks To Block Calif. AI Election Laws

    A content creator who created a viral AI-generated video shared by billionaire Elon Musk that lampoons Vice President Kamala Harris' mannerisms has sued the state and asked a California federal judge to block recently enacted state laws cracking down on election-related deepfakes, arguing the new laws infringe influencers' constitutional rights.

  • September 20, 2024

    Lawmakers Ask USPTO To Fix Patent Calculation Problem

    Federal patent officials need to change standards that could let drug companies hold on to patent rights beyond the time frame they are entitled to, according to federal lawmakers.

  • September 20, 2024

    Jewelry Co. Says Target Stole Design Of Blood Drip Necklace

    A New York jewelry company accused Target of copying the design of one of its Halloween-themed necklaces for the second time, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday in New Jersey federal court.

  • September 20, 2024

    Off The Bench: Favre Flops, Dolan Escapes, Betting Cos. Sued

    In this week's Off The Bench, retired quarterback Brett Favre can't revive a defamation suit against fellow NFL Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe, New York Knicks owner James Dolan is spared from federal sex-trafficking claims, and two sports-betting giants face new suits over their use of MLB player images.

  • September 20, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London has seen crypto exchange Binance face a new claim from the co-founder of SO Legal, a U.S. immersive art company take on a Bristol venue for copyright violations and Blake Morgan LLP hit with a pension schemes claim by The Trust for Welsh Archeology. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • September 19, 2024

    Mistrial Avoided In MGA's 3rd Round With T.I. In IP Saga

    A California federal judge declined to order a mistrial Thursday in the intellectual property dispute between MGA Entertainment and hip-hop moguls Clifford "T.I." Harris and Tameka "Tiny" Harris, but he issued a curative instruction to jurors after MGA objected to statements made by an attorney for the Harrises.

  • September 19, 2024

    Michigan Judge Clears BMW Of Infringing Navigation Patent

    A Michigan federal judge has put an end to infringement allegations in Detroit in the final case of a decadelong legal saga over a patent on a way of navigating cars, finding that BMW cars don't do what's covered in the patent.

  • September 19, 2024

    Bills On Patent Eligibility, PTAB Limits Near Senate Markup

    Legislation aiming to reduce decisions finding inventions ineligible for patenting and restrict invalidity challenges at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board will likely be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee next week, a sponsor of the measures said Thursday.

  • September 19, 2024

    AndroGel Antitrust Case On Hold Amid Settlement Talk

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has agreed to pause a class action against Abbott and other drugmakers over allegedly sham patent cases, saying a settlement between the two sides may be in the works.

  • September 19, 2024

    New Patent Legal Group Launches To Assist Inventors

    Patent experts, including a former Federal Circuit chief judge, former federal officials and current legal scholars, say a new advocacy organization they have formed will back smaller inventors against larger companies in patent fights.

  • September 19, 2024

    Nintendo, Pokémon Say 'Palworld' Maker Infringed Patents

    Nintendo and The Pokémon Co. announced Thursday that they filed a patent infringement suit in Japan against the video game company behind "Palworld," an open world adventure game featuring fluffy creatures wielding rocket launchers and assault rifles.

  • September 19, 2024

    Publishers Back Music Companies' Bid To Restore $1B Win

    Organizations that represent music publishers and songwriters urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to review a Fourth Circuit ruling that scrapped a $1 billion jury verdict against Cox Communications Inc. for ignoring online piracy, saying the three-judge appeal panel's conclusion "effectively immunizes internet service providers" from vicarious liability.

  • September 19, 2024

    Norwich Asks Justices To Allow Sale Of Generic Diarrhea Drug

    A New York drugmaker has told the U.S. Supreme Court that the courts have gone too far in preventing the release of a generic version of a blockbuster diarrhea drug, after a lower court found there was a way of using the drug that would infringe certain patents.

  • September 19, 2024

    Judge Gives Dow Jones Win In Article Thievery Case

    A Texas federal judge has handed a win to publisher Dow Jones & Co. in a copyright infringement suit accusing an investment manager of wrongfully copying and distributing thousands of news articles from The Wall Street Journal.

  • September 19, 2024

    Consultant Ducks Contempt In Fight Over Packaging Patent

    An inventor facing allegations of abusive patent behavior by the packaging company for which he previously consulted has dodged a civil contempt finding after a North Carolina federal judge found he was not in violation of an injunction barring him from making false infringement claims.

  • September 19, 2024

    DC Circ. Skeptical Of Copyrights For AI-Created Artworks

    A trio of D.C. Circuit judges appeared skeptical Thursday of arguments from an artificial intelligence inventor trying to copyright a painting by his AI system, questioning whether he is backing off his stance that his program created the art completely autonomously — the very reason the U.S. Copyright Office rejected his application.

  • September 19, 2024

    Bejin Bieneman Boutique Trio Joins Taft's Detroit IP Team

    Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP has hired three attorneys from intellectual property boutique Bejin Bieneman PLC, including one of that firm's name partners, who have joined Taft's Detroit office, the firm announced this week.

  • September 19, 2024

    Nantucket Festival Owner Says Rival Exploiting Discovery

    The longtime operator of a wine and food festival on Nantucket says a competitor who started a similarly named event is now trying to take advantage of a court order by making "improperly broad and harassing discovery requests" to further undermine her business.

Expert Analysis

  • Trending At The PTAB: Obviousness In Director Reviews

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    Three July decisions from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office favoring petitioners indicate a willingness by the director to review substantive issues, such as obviousness, particularly in cases where the director believes the Patent Trial and Appeal Board provided incorrect or inadequate rationale to support its decisions, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • AI Art Ruling Shows Courts' Training Data Cases Approach

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    A California federal court’s recent ruling in Andersen v. Stability AI, where the judge refused to throw out artists’ copyright infringement claims against four companies that make or distribute software that creates images from text prompts, provides insight into how courts are handling artificial intelligence training data cases, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • FTC Focus: What Access To Patent Settlements Would Mean

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    Settling parties should adopt a series of practice tips, including specifying rationales to support specific terms, as the Federal Trade Commission seeks to expand its access to settlements before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, say Shannon McGowan and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • Takeaways From UPC's Amgen Patent Invalidity Analysis

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    The Unified Patent Court Central Division's decision in Regeneron v. Amgen to revoke a patent for lack of inventive step is particularly clear in its reasoning and highlights the risks to patentees of the new court's central revocation powers, say Jane Evenson and Caitlin Heard at CMS.

  • How Cos. Can Leverage IP In Corporate Bankruptcy

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    In light of an increase in year-to-date Chapter 11 filings, businesses must understand the importance and value of intellectual property in corporate bankruptcy and restructuring, from contributing to enterprise value, to providing leverage in negotiations and facilitating recovery, says Gregory Campanella at Ocean Tomo.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Examining Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Of AI Inventions

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    In light of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data showing that patent applications for artificial intelligence inventions are likelier to get rejected based on patent-ineligible subject matter, inventors seeking protection should be aware of the difficulties and challenges pertaining to patent eligibility, say Georgios Effraimidis at NERA and Joel Lehrer at Goodwin.

  • IP Hot Topic: The Intersection Of Trademark And Antitrust Law

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    Antitrust claims – like those in the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent case against Apple – are increasingly influencing trademark disputes and enforcement practices, demonstrating how antitrust law can dilute the power of a trademark, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • When Trauma Colors Testimony: How To Help Witnesses

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    As stress-related mental health issues continue to rise, trial attorneys must become familiar with a few key trauma-informed strategies to help witnesses get back on track — leaning in to the counselor aspect of their vocations, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • When The Supreme Court Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

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    Instead of grousing about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning long-standing precedents, attorneys should look to history for examples of how enterprising legal minds molded difficult decisions to their advantage, and figure out how to work with the cards they’ve been dealt, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Fed. Circ. Resolves Post-AIA Question On Prefiling Activity

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    For more than a decade, patent attorneys have worried about what the America Invents Act means for specific prefiling activities, but two recent Federal Circuit decisions suggest the enumerated prefiling activities in Section 102(a)(1) will not affect validity if done within a year of filing the application, says Howard Skaist at Berkeley Law.

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