Intellectual Property

  • February 14, 2024

    Albright Snubs Plea That Meta Transfer Will Doom EDTX Suits

    Western District of Texas Judge Alan Albright has rejected an oil field equipment supplier's objections to a magistrate judge's ruling that transferred a patent case against Meta from the Lone Star State to California, saying the objections don't have merit.

  • February 14, 2024

    Pentagon Rule Aims To Cut Iranian Fuel From Overseas Ops

    A proposed rule posted Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Defense would put contractors on the hook to prove that fuel they provide for military operations overseas was not sourced from prohibited countries such as Iran.

  • February 14, 2024

    Split Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Patent Case Against Bank

    Judges on the Federal Circuit split in a Wednesday finding on how exactly the courts should read the phrase "transaction partner" in a patent lawsuit against a regional bank in Indiana, with the majority opting to agree with a federal judge in Illinois that the words could only be construed in such a way that meant the patent case couldn't hold up in court.

  • February 14, 2024

    GoTV Asks For New Trial, Says Netflix 'Tainted' $2.5M Award

    GoTV Streaming LLC has asked a California court for a new damages trial after a jury found that Netflix owed the company only $2.5 million for infringing its wireless patent, arguing that Netflix misled the court and showed the jury evidence that artificially suppressed the award amount.

  • February 14, 2024

    Jordan Spieth Fights Subpoena In Under Armour Patent Suit

    Golf pro and Dallas native Jordan Spieth wants to avoid testifying in a patent suit claiming Under Armour stole design features of high-performance athletic shoes, as basketball superstar Steph Curry simultaneously squashed a subpoena in the same case.

  • February 14, 2024

    GSK Exec Joins Troutman Pepper's Life Sciences IP Team

    Troutman Pepper Hamilton Sanders LLP continued to expand its health sciences services in the Philadelphia region with the addition this week of a patent practitioner who joined the firm after more than 20 years with GlaxoSmithKline.

  • February 14, 2024

    Intellectual Property Group Of The Year: Gibson Dunn

    Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP scored a directed verdict of noninfringement for Dell during a $435 million patent trial in front of U.S. District Judge Alan Albright and shielded SharkNinja from any business interruption during proceedings before the U.S. International Trade Commission, earning the firm a spot in Law360's 2023 Intellectual Property Groups of the Year.

  • February 14, 2024

    Detroit Firm Adds 3 Attys, Including Ex-GM Software Engineer

    An intellectual property law firm in Detroit has recruited a trio of patent prosecution lawyers, including a former software engineer at GM and another lawyer who is going to lead the firm's new office in St. Louis.

  • February 14, 2024

    Bulleit Is No Household Name, Distiller Tells 2nd Circ.

    The Bulleit brand may be well known among whiskey drinkers but does not have the general fame needed to support a jury's finding that its bottle shape is protected by trademark law, an attorney for rival distiller W.J. Deutsch & Sons Ltd. told the Second Circuit during a hearing Wednesday.

  • February 13, 2024

    Wireless Tech Co. Can't Get $12.5M Award OK'd At 4th Circ.

    The Fourth Circuit on Tuesday overturned the enforcement of a $12.5 million arbitral award issued in a trade secrets dispute between wireless technology companies, ruling in a published opinion that the lower court lacked jurisdiction under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 decision in Badgerow v. Walters.

  • February 13, 2024

    Judge Says Latham Deserves Default Win Over Scam Domains

    Latham & Watkins LLP should be handed a default win against an unknown scammer it accused of registering dozens of domain names to impersonate the firm and one of its attorneys in an attempt to defraud clients, a federal magistrate judge in Virginia recommended Tuesday, determining the firm has a protectable interest in a valid trademark.

  • February 13, 2024

    Indian Pharma Co. Can't Get Fees In $950M COVID Vax Suit

    A Seattle federal judge has nixed an Indian generic-drug maker's bid for about $3 million in attorney fees after it prevailed in a biotherapy company's $950 million lawsuit accusing it of stealing its COVID-19 vaccine, saying the maker didn't convince him it spent extra money litigating the suit.

  • February 13, 2024

    Expert's 11th-Hour Change Blocked In Pet Device IP Retrial

    A New Jersey federal judge refused Tuesday to allow an expert witness to make an 11th-hour addition to his report on the "head start" period in a new damages trial on an inventor's claim that a pet supply company misappropriated her idea for a skin medicine applicator for dogs and cats.

  • February 13, 2024

    Wyndham Gets Default Win In Timeshare Exit Suit

    A Florida federal judge has granted Wyndham Vacation Ownership Inc. a default victory in its lawsuit accusing multiple companies of levying unnecessary fees to help customers exit their timeshares, after adopting a magistrate's report and recommendation when one company failed to respond.

  • February 13, 2024

    4 Takeaways From USPTO Guidance On AI And Patents

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's guidance on patents for inventions developed using artificial intelligence makes clear that help from the technology does not foreclose getting a patent, but sets standards that will spur litigation and create new obligations for attorneys, experts say.

  • February 13, 2024

    Likee Video App Can't Swipe Away BMG's Copyright Suit

    The company behind Likee must face a trimmed version of BMG's copyright lawsuit alleging the short-video creation app exploits artists' music without permission, a California federal judge ruled, tossing the music publisher's direct infringement claim but keeping alive its claim of contributory infringement.

  • February 13, 2024

    Judge Disqualifies Alston & Bird Over Conflict In IP Case

    A California federal judge granted Rocket Resume's request to withdraw Alston & Bird LLP as its counsel in a copyright suit against Bold Ltd., which had previously asked to disqualify the firm over its past legal work for Bold.

  • February 13, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Rejects Challenge To Home Address Rule

    The Federal Circuit has backed a decision from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to not register the law firm Chestek Legal's name as a trademark, agreeing with a finding that the firm didn't meet a legal requirement relating to addresses.

  • February 13, 2024

    AT&T, Nokia Turn To 1884 Precedent To Fight $181M Trial Loss

    AT&T and Nokia are challenging a jury verdict out of Marshall, Texas, that orders them to pay a small Utah business more than $181 million, telling a federal appeals court that paying that sum would upend important Supreme Court precedent on patent damages that dates to the late 1800s.

  • February 13, 2024

    Ingevity Again Denied New Verdict, Trial Against $85M Loss

    A Delaware federal judge again refused Tuesday to upend BASF's $85 million jury win over Ingevity's locking up of the automobile carbon capture technology market, concluding that "substantial evidence" backs the antitrust findings.

  • February 13, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Abstract Return Mail Patent

    Alabama-based Return Mail Inc. has failed to persuade the Federal Circuit that its patent for processing undeliverable mail meets patent eligibility requirements, according to a Tuesday order.

  • February 13, 2024

    Starbucks Made Statements With Actual Malice, Union Says

    Workers United accused Starbucks of posting statements with actual malice that relate to the union's now-deleted tweet saying "Solidarity with Palestine," telling a Pennsylvania federal court that the coffee chain implied that the union "committed a felony."

  • February 13, 2024

    Epic, Choreographer Agree To End Fortnite Dance Moves Suit

    Fortnite developer Epic Games and a celebrity choreographer have agreed to end their dispute over whether the company ripped off portions of a copyrighted dance routine for one of the "emotes" players buy for in-game battle celebrations, according to a filing in California federal court.

  • February 13, 2024

    Sonos Decries California Judge's Decision To Toss $32.5M Win

    Speaker manufacturer Sonos urged the Federal Circuit to overturn a California judge's decision to throw out a $32.5 million infringement verdict Sonos won against Google and not let certain claims be tried, telling the appeals court that the judge's ruling could endanger thousands of patents.

  • February 13, 2024

    Ex-DraftKings Exec's Attys Seek $310K For Court Pingpong

    Lawyers for a former DraftKings Inc. executive who recently defected to rival Fanatics are seeking more than $310,000 in attorney fees, arguing the amount is reasonable and would cover their work for two "objectively unreasonable" removals of the case to federal court by DraftKings, behavior they called "disturbing litigation conduct."

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Ways To Approach The Nuances Of AI Vendor Contracts

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    There is no immediate road map for negotiating contracts presented by artificial intelligence and machine learning vendors, but a phased approach can be used to direct a customer's diligence and to better assess whether additional contractual terms should be included in these agreements, say Reeya Thakrar and Ira Kalina at Faegre Drinker.

  • Exclusivity Loss Holds Power In Trade Secret Damages Claims

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    A Pennsylvania federal court's recent decision in Elite Transit v. Cunningham adds to a growing body of case law that illustrates how the loss of trade secret exclusivity alone may be sufficient for claiming damages, even when commercialization of a trade secret has not occurred, say Christopher DeBaere and Julia Bloch at Archway Research.

  • What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review

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    Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Tech M&A Due Diligence Checklist: Critical IP Areas Of Inquiry

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    Declining valuations are the backdrop of the current technology M&A landscape worldwide, and intellectual property is a key value driver from the vantage point of a potential acquiror, so when it comes to due diligence for technology acquisitions, there are several pitfalls to avoid, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • Future Paths For AI Inventorship After Justices' Thaler Denial

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    Anup Iyer at Moore & Van Allen examines the current and future state of AI inventorship in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's decision not to hear Thaler v. Vidal, including collaboration, international challenges, and the need for closer examination in research and development-intensive sectors.

  • Series

    Participating In Living History Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My role as a baron in a living history group, and my work as volunteer corporate counsel for a book series fan association, has provided me several opportunities to practice in unexpected areas of law — opening doors to experiences that have nurtured invaluable personal and professional skills, says Matthew Parker at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

  • Opinion

    Private Equity Owners Can Remedy Law Firms' Agency Issues

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    Nonlawyer, private-equity ownership of law firms can benefit shareholders and others vulnerable to governance issues such as disparate interests, and can in turn help resolve agency problems, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.

  • Application Of Defend Trade Secrets Act Continues To Vary

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    Seven years after the passage of the Defend Trade Secrets Act, anticipated uniformity has proved somewhat elusive, with federal courts sometimes incorporating state-law requirements into claims brought under the act instead of using it to bypass inconsistencies between state laws, say attorneys at MoloLamken.

  • Opinion

    Calif. Ruling Got It Wrong On Trial Courts' Gatekeeping Role

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    Ten years after the California Supreme Court reshaped trial judges’ role in admitting expert opinion testimony, a state appeals court's Bader v. Johnson & Johnson ruling appears to undermine this precedent and will likely create confusion about the scope of trial courts’ gatekeeping responsibility, say Robert Wright and Nicole Hood at Horvitz & Levy.

  • Cases, Issues That May Shape The Intersection Of AI And IP

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    Courts dealing with the current, and likely growing, onslaught of intellectual property litigation concerning artificial intelligence will determine whether certain common forms of AI training constitute IP violations, while the government works to determine whether AI-generated output is itself protectable under the law, say Robert Hill and Kathryn Keating at Holland & Knight and Meghan Ryan at Southern Methodist University.

  • Beware The Legal Risks Of Using AI In Software Development

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    Software companies are among the most motivated and excited by trained generative artificial intelligence engines, but the output of code writing assistants can include code, comments or other content that infringes copyright or runs afoul of a use restriction associated with its original source location, say Andrew Freyer and Palash Basu at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • How To Protect Atty-Client Privilege While Using Generative AI

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    When using generative artificial intelligence tools, attorneys should consider several safeguards to avoid breaches or complications in attorney-client privilege, say Antonious Sadek and Christopher Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    Design And Utility Patents Should Get Same Obviousness Test

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    The principles of the U.S. Supreme Court's KSR v. Teleflex decision should apply to design patents in the pending Federal Circuit LKQ v. GM Global Technology case because both utility and design patents are subject to the same prohibition against obviousness, say Alexander Chen and Katja Grosch at InHouse Co. Law Firm.

  • How New Lawyers Can Leverage Feedback For Growth

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    Embracing constructive criticism as a tool for success can help new lawyers accelerate their professional growth and law firms build a culture of continuous improvement, says Katie Aldrich at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Series

    In A 'Barbie' World: Boosting IP Value With Publicity Machines

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    Mattel's history of intellectual property monitoring, including its recent challenge against Burberry over the "BRBY" trademark ahead of the "Barbie" film, shows how IP enforcement strategies can be used as publicity to increase brand value and inform potential collaborations, says Carly Duckett at Shepherd and Wedderburn.

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