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Intellectual Property
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April 15, 2024
Resistance To Patent Licenses Drives More Suits, Execs Say
Companies that generate revenue from patents are seeing less willingness to negotiate in recent years among businesses they approach about potential licenses, requiring more litigation in order to reach agreements, executives from IBM, InterDigital and others said Monday.
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April 15, 2024
Expert's Disney Trip Is No Reason To Delay Trial, Court Told
A technical expert's $14,000 vacation to Disney World isn't the kind of circumstance that ought to delay a patent trial in which he's due to appear in on behalf of a Taiwanese monitor maker, a federal court in Waco, Texas, has been told.
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April 15, 2024
Judge Tosses 'Boilerplate' Infringement Suit Against OnStar
OnStar LLC has escaped an infringement suit alleging it infringed a wireless company's patent for tracking vehicles after a Michigan federal judge said the wireless company did not properly describe its patent or allege how OnStar was misusing the technology.
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April 15, 2024
Dueling Bills Highlight Partisan Divide Over 'Judge Shopping'
Dueling proposals to limit so-called judge shopping were unveiled by Senate party leaders last week, sparking optimism that Congress will rein in plaintiffs' ability to bring cases before judges they think will be friendly to their views, while others raised questions about the proposals' feasibility.
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April 15, 2024
Hytera Still Not Doing All It Can To Stop Fine, Motorola Says
Hytera Communications has continued to drag its feet as it tries to lift the sanctions against it for participating in Chinese litigation against a court order, Motorola Solutions told the Seventh Circuit, arguing that a district court judge's daily status hearings ensure Hytera is being compelled to comply without being punished.
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April 15, 2024
Vidal Wants To Make Her Director Review Rules Official
After almost a year of running U.S. Supreme Court-mandated director reviews of patent board decisions through an interim process, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Monday that it has landed on some proposed rules for how it wants to officially run those.
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April 15, 2024
Model Bella Hadid Settles Photog's IP Suit Over Instagram Pic
A New York federal judge Monday dismissed a photographer's suit accusing Bella Hadid of copyright infringement over an image the supermodel republished onto her Instagram account four years ago after the photographer advised the court they've reached a settlement in principle with Hadid.
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April 15, 2024
Boeing Says Virgin Can't Use Another Court To Avoid IP Suit
Boeing has urged the Virginia federal judge overseeing its breach of contract and trade secrets dispute with Virgin Galactic to block Virgin from moving forward with a "copycat" lawsuit in California, saying Virgin is wrongly trying to avoid the original lawsuit.
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April 15, 2024
TTAB Sides With Pharma Co.'s Opposition To 'SageForth' TM
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has ruled in favor of biopharmaceutical company Sage Therapeutics Inc.' opposition to a psychological service provider's attempt to register "SageForth" as a trademark, saying the name is likely to cause confusion with Sage Therapeutics' treatments for postpartum depression.
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April 15, 2024
Hold This COVID Vax Patent Case, Judge Recommends
One of the suits over Pfizer's blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine hit a snag in Virginia federal court Friday when a judge recommended pausing the case to wait for a ruling in a related dispute over patent ownership involving one of BioNTech's other partners.
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April 15, 2024
Photog Beefs Up Copyright Suit Over Barry Sanders Statue
A photographer has added several new claims, including breach of contract, to his copyright lawsuit that accuses the Detroit Lions, the NFL and a host of other defendants of unlawfully using his photo to create a statue of legendary running back Barry Sanders.
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April 15, 2024
4th Circ. Affirms Timberland Boots' Trade Dress Bid Denial
The Fourth Circuit decided Monday that a Virginia federal judge correctly denied trade dress registration for Timberland's Icon Boot, saying in a published opinion the lower court did not err in concluding the design elements the company wanted to register were ineligible because they had not acquired distinctive meaning in consumers' minds.
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April 15, 2024
Ohio IP Firm Beats Appeal In $42K Billing Fight
An Ohio state appeals court has left intact a nearly $42,000 judgment Amin Turocy & Watson LLP won in a billing dispute with a client, reasoning that the materials Just Funky provided to fight the firm's summary judgment bid lacked the necessary detail.
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April 15, 2024
Orrick Adds Kramer Levin Life Sciences Head In NY
The former head of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP's life sciences practice has jumped to the intellectual property litigation team at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in New York, Orrick said Monday.
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April 15, 2024
Justices Skip Appeal Over $36M Sanction In TM Case
The U.S. Supreme Court will not consider the appeal of a man who argued the Ninth Circuit was wrong to impose $36 million in sanctions against him and several companies in a trademark dispute, the justices said Monday.
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April 12, 2024
Jane Street Says Millennium, Ex-Workers Stole Trade Secrets
Trading firm Jane Street Group LLC sued rival Millennium Management LLC and two former employees in New York federal court Friday, alleging they stole a confidential trading strategy and have reaped "massive profits from this theft."
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April 12, 2024
Gilstrap Rejects Jury Instruction Tweaks In Samsung Retrial
U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap on Friday largely denied jury instruction requests made by both Samsung and G+ Communications ahead of a damages retrial in Texas federal court in litigation over wireless network patents, rejecting each company's ideas for limiting what's presented to jurors.
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April 12, 2024
Moderna, Pfizer COVID Vax IP Suit Paused Amid PTAB Review
A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday agreed to pause Moderna Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine patent infringement suit against Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech until the Patent Trial and Appeal Board weighs in on a pair of patents, issuing a stay despite objections from Moderna.
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April 12, 2024
Split PTAB Panel Upholds QinetiQ Fracking Patent
A British defense contractor successfully fought off a legal challenge surrounding its patent covering a fracking device, in a ruling from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that was split three ways over the matter.
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April 12, 2024
'American-Made' May Include Foreign Parts, 10th Circ. Says
A panel of the Tenth Circuit unanimously ruled Friday there's nothing legally problematic with foreign-made components being used in products advertised as "American-made," upholding a construction equipment maker's summary judgment win over its competitors' claims of false advertising, false designation of origin and copyright infringement.
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April 12, 2024
'Much More Is Coming': Experts See Wave Of AI-Related Suits
Legal experts speaking Friday at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law's symposium on artificial intelligence and evidence in civil litigation warned that broadening usage and increased regulation will lead to a wave of litigation over the technology, leaving courts to analyze the "black box" of corporate AI algorithms to determine liability.
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April 12, 2024
Fed. Circ.'s Fight With Newman: A Year In Review
One year has passed since it came to light that the Federal Circuit's judges were investigating whether their colleague, U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, was mentally competent to remain on the court. In that time, Judge Newman has garnered support from many in the patent community, but has faced a series of setbacks in her legal challenges.
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April 12, 2024
Fed. Circ.'s Competency Feud With Newman Turned Personal
A year after the Federal Circuit publicly acknowledged its investigation into U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's mental and physical competency, the nonagenarian still refuses to follow the court's medical testing orders and remains determined to reclaim her seat on the bench.
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April 12, 2024
Misconduct Doomed Dining Mat Patent Case, Fed. Circ. Rules
The Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a decision that a maker of toddler dining mats torpedoed its patent case against a rival with "unconscionable" misconduct, and ordered a lower court to reconsider findings that the patent is invalid but not unenforceable.
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April 12, 2024
Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Broadcom Unit's IP In Netflix Fight
The Federal Circuit on Friday backed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's holding that the vast majority of Broadcom unit Avago Technologies' patent directed to providing digital media services to users is invalid as obvious, based on a challenge from Netflix.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
Giving The Gov't Drug Patent March-In Authority Is Bad Policy
The Biden administration's recent proposal to allow government seizure of certain taxpayer-funded drug patents is a terrible idea that would negate the benefits of government-funded research, to the detriment of patients and the wider economy, says Wayne Winegarden at Pacific Research Institute.
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How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
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7 Enforcement Predictions For US Export Controls, Sanctions
Federal agencies' assertions of coming increases in export-control and sanctions-violations enforcement are not new, but recent improvements in resources and inter-agency cooperation allow for certain predictions about how the administration’s latest approach to enforcement may be applied going forward, say attorneys at Akin.
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Key Takeaways From 2023 Trade Secret Developments
Attorneys at Faegre Drinker parse the past year's most significant trade secret rulings for practice tips, including the importance of establishing a confidential relationship when sharing trade secrets with third parties.
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Energy Sector Takeaways From Biden's AI Executive Order
While the U.S. Department of Energy begins to establish rules in accordance with President Joe Biden's recent executive order on artificial intelligence, in-house counsel can work with business lines and executive teams to consider implementing their own AI governance process, say Joel Meister and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.
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3 Types Of Evidence Excluded Pretrial In 2023 TM Cases
Dylan I. Scher at Quinn Emanuel reviews three areas of rulings on motions in limine from 2023 where parties successfully excluded evidence in a trademark dispute, for legal practitioners to consider for future cases.
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Lessons From This Year's Landmark Green Energy IP Clash
In this year's Siemens v. General Electric wind turbine patent dispute, a Massachusetts federal court offers a cautionary tale against willful infringement, and highlights the balance between innovation, law and ethics, as legal battles like this become more frequent in the renewable energy sector, say John Powell and Andrew Siuta at Sunstein.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape
The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.
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Perils Of Incorporation By Reference At The Federal Circuit
The Federal Circuit's recent decision backing a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling against Medtronic illustrates the perils of arguments through incorporation by reference, which can result in waiver of arguments and an adverse decision on appeal, says Ryan Hagglund at Loeb & Loeb.
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Series
Performing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The discipline of performing live music has directly and positively influenced my effectiveness as a litigator — serving as a reminder that practice, intuition and team building are all important elements of a successful law practice, says Jeff Wakolbinger at Bryan Cave.
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Comparing Christmas Carols: IP Issues In Mariah Carey Case
All that plaintiffs Andy Stone and Troy Powers want for Christmas this year is $20 million in damages from Mariah Carey in a federal copyright suit claiming her hit "All I Want For Christmas Is You" infringed on their earlier song by the same name, but they will have an uphill battle in demonstrating substantial similarity, says forensic musicologist Ethan Lustig.
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Green Tech And IP From Obama Through Biden: What's Next?
J. Douglas Miller and Matthew Dills at Shumaker consider how positions on the environment have shifted along with the last three U.S. presidential administrations, how these shifts have affected investment in sustainable green technologies and intellectual property strategies, and how the future might look.
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Breaking Down High Court's New Code Of Conduct
The U.S. Supreme Court recently adopted its first-ever code of conduct, and counsel will need to work closely with clients in navigating its provisions, from gift-giving to recusal bids, say Phillip Gordon and Mateo Forero at Holtzman Vogel.
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7 Critical Copyright And AI Questions Courts Need To Address
U.S. courts have yet to rule on many copyright issues regarding generative artificial intelligence technologies, so developers and users should consider several questions when evaluating risks, developing risk mitigation plans and making decisions about particular use cases, say John Delaney and Sean West at Perkins Coie.
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How New Expert Rules Are Already Changing Court Decisions
Though not formally effective until last week, some courts have been relying for several years on amended federal rules clarifying judges’ gatekeeping role, so counsel should be prepared to justify their expert witnesses’ methodologies and expect additional motion practice on expert testimony admissibility, say Colleen Kenney and Daniel Kelly at Sidley.