Intellectual Property

  • May 03, 2024

    Eolas Is Latest Patent Owner To Take Alice Loss To High Court

    A patent licensing outfit run by a onetime computer lab director at the University of California, San Francisco, is the latest to go to the U.S. Supreme Court to complain about patent eligibility.

  • May 03, 2024

    USPTO Wins Remand To Polish Up TTAB Holding

    The Federal Circuit agreed Friday to let the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rework a trademark board ruling to align it with more recent precedent, a move that lawyers for the maker of the NordicTrack treadmill brand have blasted procedurally as a "rudderless remand."

  • May 03, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Says PTAB Rightly Axed Some Ioengine IP Claims

    The Federal Circuit has backed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that invalidated numerous Ioengine LLC patent claims on card reader technology challenged by Ingenico Inc.

  • May 03, 2024

    Nikola Ends Board Takeover Suit As Ex-CEO's Noms Withdraw

    An Arizona federal judge on Thursday agreed to toss Nikola Corp.'s complaint against its former CEO and convicted felon Trevor Milton and several others accusing them of an illegal board takeover by pushing unqualified candidates, after the defendants withdrew their board nominees and the parties amicably resolved the dispute.

  • May 03, 2024

    Grubhub Urges Justices Not To Review Kroger TM Dispute

    Grubhub told the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that there's no need for the justices to review the Seventh Circuit's recent finding that consumers are unlikely to confuse Grubhub's logo with a logo used by Kroger's meal-kit delivery service Home Chef, arguing the trademark case doesn't raise a novel issue warranting review.

  • May 03, 2024

    GoPro Gets ITC To Probe Patent Case Over Camera Imports

    The U.S. International Trade Commission said it is going to look into allegations that certain imports of cameras have violated federal law by infringing a variety of patents owned by GoPro.

  • May 03, 2024

    Fintech Co. Says PNC Acknowledged Use Of Logo For Years

    Fintech company Plaid Inc. tried to fend off PNC Bank's allegations it tricked customers into handing over confidential account information, telling a Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday that the bank knew its trademarks were being used on Plaid's system.

  • May 03, 2024

    How Big IP Judgment Winners Are Insuring 'Nuclear Verdicts'

    Until a few years ago, intellectual property plaintiffs who scored large monetary awards — often referred to as "nuclear verdicts" — had to wait out a lengthy appellate process before knowing how much money they would end up with. But a relatively new type of insurance policy is allowing plaintiffs to insure part of their judgment in case it gets reduced or wiped out on appeal. 

  • May 03, 2024

    Craft Brewer Says Tequila Co. Can't Void Its 'Dragon's Milk' TM

    A Michigan craft brewer filed a trademark action against a Mexican tequila company Thursday for trying to invalidate the brewer's "Dragon's Milk" name for being similar to the defendant's "Casa Dragones" mark, arguing the tequila maker's brand isn't a household name or famous, as defined by the federal Lanham Act.

  • May 03, 2024

    Off The Bench: DraftKings, FIFA Warning, Charity Turmoil

    In this week's Off The Bench, DraftKings blocks a former executive from working at an emerging rival in the U.S., FIFA's transfer rules get flagged as a potential antitrust breach and the nonprofit marshaling donations to NFL safety Damar Hamlin sues its former counsel over media leaks.

  • May 03, 2024

    Law Firm Pans Photographer's IP Suit Over Website Image

    The Schmidt Firm asked a Texas federal judge Friday to ax a professional photographer's allegations the Dallas-based firm illegally posted his copyrighted image of convicted sexual abuser and ex-Columbia University obstetrician-gynecologist Robert Hadden on its website without permission.

  • May 03, 2024

    2nd Circ. Upholds Adidas TM Trial Loss To Thom Browne

    The Second Circuit upheld a jury verdict that found fashion brand Thom Browne's shoes and apparel did not rip off Adidas' iconic three-stripe logo, saying Friday that a Manhattan federal judge did not make a mistake with the instructions he provided jurors.

  • May 03, 2024

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

    The past week in London has seen rapper Ivorian Doll hit with a copyright claim, private members club Aspinalls file a claim against a Saudi sheikh, and Motorola Solutions file a claim against the British government on the heels of its dispute over losing a £400 million ($502 million) government contract. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • May 02, 2024

    Digital Rights Nonprofit's Bid To Unseal IP Docs Is Too Late

    Electronic Frontier Foundation cannot unseal filings in a chipmaker's patent suit against Charter Communications Inc., a Texas federal judge ruled Thursday, saying the digital rights nonprofit's bid to intervene in the case came too late.

  • May 02, 2024

    Jury Finds MacroAir Infringed Big Ass Fans' Patents

    Following a four-year dispute between a home-cooling outfit called Big Ass Fans and major rival MacroAir Technologies Inc., a California federal jury has found that MacroAir owes just about $665,000 in patent damages as well as an additional amount for false advertising, a total that was well below the over $100 million requested.

  • May 02, 2024

    Walgreens Fights $1B Arb. Award Over COVID Test Contract

    At-home lab test maker Everly Health urged a Delaware federal judge to affirm its nearly $1 billion arbitration award against Walgreens over claims the pharmacy chain deliberately misused the digital health platform's trademark while secretly diverting COVID-19 tests to its own pharmacists while Walgreens argued the arbitrator overstepped his authority in bestowing such an "egregious" award.

  • May 02, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Revives Axed Suit Tied To Amazon Patent Program

    The Federal Circuit ruled Thursday that a company alleging patent infringement through Amazon's patent evaluation program must face a declaratory judgment suit in the accused infringer's home state, rejecting a claim that the ruling will "open the floodgates" to such cases.

  • May 02, 2024

    Huawei Can't Get VoIP-Pal Patents Axed Under Alice

    A Northern District of Texas judge has shot down Huawei's motion that two VoIP-Pal.com patents on initiating mobile phone calls are invalid under the Alice standard for claiming only abstract ideas.

  • May 02, 2024

    Feds Call Out Gilead's Efforts To Revise HIV Drug IP Judgment

    The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a Delaware federal judge to reject Gilead Sciences' motion to modify a judgment finding that two medications in its HIV prevention regimen directly infringe voided patents owned by the government, arguing that the pharmaceutical company's attempt to rewrite the judgment is "unnecessary as well as improper."

  • May 02, 2024

    Pharma. Co. Wants Ex-Director To Stop Poaching Customers

    A pharmaceutical company has doubled down on its bid to stop a former director from soliciting customers for a rival drugmaker, saying he's trying to twist words in his contract and make up excuses for allegedly stealing trade secrets following his termination.

  • May 02, 2024

    Patent Board Rulings Send $3.3M Judgment Up In Flames

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions invalidating three networking patents that NetScout had been found to infringe, and then held that the holding wipes out a $3.3 million judgment against the company, because it was not yet final.

  • May 02, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Kirsch Research's Roofing Patent Loss

    The Federal Circuit has backed a decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that tossed all claims in a roofing patent owned by Kirsch Research and Development LLC, agreeing that it shouldn't have received patent protection in the first place.

  • May 02, 2024

    Conn. Gaming Co., Bingo Supplier Settle Soured Deal Suit

    A Connecticut gaming company and the bingo products supplier it accused of withholding assets it had promised to sell in a $1.2 million acquisition agreement settled their dispute the day before they began jury selection, according to a new notice filed in federal court.

  • May 02, 2024

    Calif. Justices To Review Gilead's HIV Drug Negligence Fight

    The California Supreme Court has granted Gilead Sciences Inc.'s request to review an appellate court's holding that the drugmaker must face claims it held back a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on an older medication.

  • May 02, 2024

    Cisco Counterfeiting Scheme Earns Fla. Man 6½ Years

    A Florida resident was sentenced to 6½ years in prison after pleading guilty to running what New Jersey federal prosecutors said was an "enormous" scheme to sell over $1 billion worth of counterfeit and broken Cisco networking devices.

Expert Analysis

  • Inside The PTAB's Seagen Cancer Drug Patent Decision

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    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's recent finding that Seagen's claims for antibody-drug conjugate technology were unpatentable — for lack of enablement, lack of written description and anticipation — mark the latest chapter in the complex patent dispute as the case heads for director review, says Ryan Hagglund at Loeb & Loeb.

  • 6 Pointers For Attys To Build Trust, Credibility On Social Media

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    In an era of information overload, attorneys can use social media strategically — from making infographics to leveraging targeted advertising — to cut through the noise and establish a reputation among current and potential clients, says Marly Broudie at SocialEyes Communications.

  • Opinion

    Biden Admin's March-In Plan Would Hurt Medical Innovation

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    The Biden administration's proposal to reinterpret the Bayh-Dole Act and allow the government to claw back patents when it determines that a commercialized product's price is too high would discourage private investment in important research and development, says Ken Thorpe at the Rollins School of Public Health.

  • Google Patent Case Is A Claim Construction Litigation Lesson

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    The Federal Circuit's recent precedential decision in Google v. EcoFactor, which held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board erred in the claim construction it had unknowingly adopted, shows that litigators should be alert to claim construction issues that masquerade as something else, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise

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    After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.

  • Reassessing Trade Secrets Amid Proposed Noncompete Ban

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    The Federal Trade Commission's proposed ban on noncompete agreements as well as state bans make it prudent for businesses to reevaluate and reinvigorate approaches to trade secret protection, including knowing what information employees are providing to vendors, and making sure confidentiality agreements are put in place before information is shared, says Rob Jensen at Wolf Greenfield.

  • Considering The Logical Extremes Of Your Legal Argument

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    Recent oral arguments in the federal election interference case against former President Donald Trump highlighted the age-old technique of extending an argument to its logical limit — a principle that is still important for attorneys to consider in preparing their cases, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • How High Court SEC Case Could Affect The ITC

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming ruling in U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jarkesy will likely spare the U.S. International Trade Commission from major operative changes, the ITC’s ability to issue penalties for violations of its orders may change, say Gwendolyn Tawresey and Ryan Deck at Troutman Pepper.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Will Guide Social Media Account Ownership

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision in JLM Couture v. Gutman — which held that ownership of social media accounts must be resolved using traditional property law analysis — will guide employers and employees alike in future cases, and underscores the importance of express agreements in establishing ownership of social media accounts, says Joshua Glasgow at Phillips Lytle.

  • Storytelling Strategies To Defuse Courtroom Conspiracies

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    Misinformation continues to proliferate in all sectors of society, including in the courtroom, as jurors try to fill in the gaps of incomplete trial narratives — underscoring the need for attorneys to tell a complete, consistent and credible story before and during trial, says David Metz at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • Aldi Design Infringement Case Highlights Assessment Issues

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    The forthcoming English Court of Appeal decision in Marks and Spencer v. Aldi, regarding the alleged infringement of design rights, could provide practitioners with new guidance, particularly in relation to the relevant date for assessment of infringement and the weight that should be attributed to certain design elements in making this assessment, say Rory Graham and Georgia Davis at RPC.

  • Opinion

    9th Circ. Should Overturn The Miles Davis Tattoo Ruling

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    A California district court made several missteps that led to a finding that celebrity artist Kat Von D's Miles Davis tattoo did not infringe copyright, and the Ninth Circuit should overturn the decision because recent U.S. Supreme Court guidance was ignored and the jury did not receive adequate instruction, says Brian Moriarty at Hamilton Brook.

  • Generative AI Raises IP, Data Protection And Contracts Issues

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    As the EU's recent agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act has fueled businesses' interest in adopting generative AI tools, it is crucial to understand how these tools utilize material to generate output and what questions to ask in relation to intellectual property, data privacy and contracts, say lawyers at Deloitte Legal.

  • Exporters Should Approach Self-Disclosure With Caution

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    A January Bureau of Industry and Security memorandum created an abbreviated process for disclosing export control violations that lack aggravating factors, but deciding which disclosure method to utilize remains a complex strategic undertaking to which companies must give careful consideration, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Is Compulsory Copyright Licensing Needed For AI Tech?

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    The U.S. Copyright Office's inquiry into whether Congress should establish a compulsory licensing regime for artificial intelligence technologies that are trained on copyrighted works has received relatively little attention — but commenters recently opposed the regime under three key themes, say Michael Kientzle and Ryan White at Arnold & Porter.

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