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The nearly $1 billion won by VirnetX in patent trials against Apple Inc. exists under a cloud since the Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found the patents invalid. With appeals pending from the board's decisions and one of the trials, here's a look at VirnetX's arguments that the patents shouldn't have been reviewed, and Apple's efforts to flip the verdict.
Two writers hit Oprah Winfrey, ABC and other media properties with a copyright infringement suit in California federal court Thursday, claiming they are the true brains behind the drama television series "Greenleaf.”
A California federal judge Thursday expressed “grave concerns” about whether Arista Networks Inc.’s antitrust suit could proceed against Cisco Systems Inc. because the conduct in question — a separate copyright infringement case Cisco filed against Arista and statements by Cisco’s general counsel — may have First Amendment protection.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday established limits on when patent examiners can reject applications for claiming patent-ineligible material, in the wake of a high-profile Federal Circuit holding that the eligibility analysis can involve factual questions.
A U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board panel on Thursday denied Fujifilm’s petition for an inter partes review of a Sony patent relating to tape drives, finding that the imaging company’s challenge was time-barred.
A Massachusetts federal judge on Thursday unsealed a request from Shire PLC to bill a generic competitor $2 million after winning a patent infringement suit over its hit hyperactivity treatment Adderall XR.
The Federal Circuit on Thursday invalidated a patent covering technology related to interactive computer links, upholding a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision the owner of the patent, Droplets Inc., argued was based on a "hypertechnical violation."
An adviser to the European Union’s highest court issued an opinion Thursday recommending that judges reject Nestlé’s appeal in defense of its EU trademark for a "four-finger" Kit Kat bar, saying the food giant didn’t prove that its snack was distinctive to consumers in some member states.
Apple and a company that has ties to a North Dakota-based Native American tribe and holds an electrical circuitry patent have reached an undisclosed deal to settle a dispute Apple brought to challenge the patent’s validity, according to a document filed on Wednesday at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
A New York court ruled Thursday that entertainment giant AMC could add to its arguments to defeat a $280 million suit brought by former "The Walking Dead" showrunner Frank Darabont and others over royalties from the smash hit program.
Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. sued a former lead sales rep in an upstate New York office for allegedly taking customers to a competitor, according to court papers filed Thursday in federal court.
The Federal Circuit on Thursday revived a patent lawsuit that John Bean Technologies Corp. brought against a rival maker of poultry chilling machines, reversing a lower court ruling that found the company misled its competitor by waiting more than a decade to sue.
The Federal Circuit on Thursday reversed two Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that invalidated claims in a Wonderland patent for a crib, ruling that the board had erred in its interpretation of two of the shortest words in the English language: “a” and “an.”
A Texas appeals court on Thursday affirmed a jury’s verdict that awarded a driller $14.3 million in lost profits due to misappropriated trade secrets by a potential partner in a Montana oil and gas development project, though it threw out an award of $4.5 million in exemplary damages.
Amneal Pharmaceuticals urged the Federal Circuit on Wednesday to deny Merck & Co.'s request for reconsideration, or full rehearing, of a panel's decision affirming that a generic nasal spray Amneal sells doesn't infringe one of Merck's patents, contesting the theory that the ruling was based on analysis of the wrong drug sample.
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board went against decades of U.S. Supreme Court precedent when it found that the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe isn’t immune to inter partes reviews, the tribe and Allergan Inc. told the Federal Circuit on Wednesday in a closely watched case over dry eye medication patents.
A New York inventor who gained notoriety as an alleged cult leader accused of sex trafficking must pay attorneys’ fees to Microsoft and AT&T, the Federal Circuit ruled Wednesday, finding that the dismissal of his patent suit for lack of standing was “tantamount to a judgment on the merits.”
A Virginia federal judge signed off Wednesday on Pfizer’s $94 million settlement, including nearly $31 million in legal fees, with drug buyers who said the pharmaceutical giant extended its monopoly over the anti-inflammatory Celebrex by illegally blocking generic competition.
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision invalidating a Philips Lighting LED patent as obvious in light of two other inventions that covered similar circuit arrangements, a month after it found that two other Philips LED patents were in the clear.
A controversial ruling on embedded tweets is headed for an immediate appeal, setting up what will be a closely watched case over the tension between copyright law and technological change. As the appeal gets underway, here's everything you need to know.
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday affirmed two Patent Trial and Appeal Board inter partes review decisions that the asserted claims of patents owned by an Eli Lilly subsidiary covering the erectile dysfunction drug Cialis and pulmonary arterial hypertension drug Adcirca are invalid as obvious.
After a three-year surge, patent suits at the Federal Circuit leveled off last year as the court showed signs of adjusting to its bustling workload. The judges found time to write more opinions, and they reached greater consensus, penning fewer separate concurrences and dissents than in 2016.
A Supreme Court ruling redrew the patent litigation map. The International Trade Commission became an ever more popular patent venue. District courts saw fewer cases. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board isn’t what it used to be. 2017 was a challenging year for patent attorneys.
While the Federal Circuit's 2016 ruling in Immersion v. HTC highlights enhanced willingness in the U.S. to not disturb the validity of many patents merely due to technicalities associated with priority claim assertions, the situation is quite to the contrary in China, as evidenced by the recent Ruike decision, say Junqi Hang and Can Huang of Dragon Intellectual Property Law Firm.
How can we improve meetings in the legal industry, which tends to evolve with the speed of a tranquilized water buffalo mired in quicksand? Breaking it down to three phases can yield significant benefits, says Nicholas Cheolas of Zelle LLP.
The U.K. Court of Appeal's decision last month in Regeneron v. Kymab is significant because it aligns the U.K.’s approach to the assessment of insufficiency with that of the European Patent Office. It also highlights, for U.S. companies, the stricter standard to which patent specifications are subject in Europe, say Edward Kelly and Regina Sam Penti of Ropes & Gray LLP.
One way law firms differentiate themselves from the competition to attract and retain top talent is through their real estate and workplace strategies. Taking a lead from the hospitality industry can help create a more inviting, welcoming and collaborative workspace environment, says Bella Schiro of Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has imposed new limitations on a corporation’s ability to take advantage of net operating losses. Certain changes will disproportionately affect media companies, impacting their debt restructuring, acquisition and disposition strategies, say Michele Alexander and Ryan Davis of Bracewell LLP in New York.
The decision last week in Vanda v. West-Ward is the first Federal Circuit opinion to directly speak to the patent eligibility of method-of-treatment claims under the Mayo two-step framework, and builds on the court’s decision in CellzDirect in embracing the importance of step one of the Mayo test, say attorneys with Paul Hastings LLP.
The American Bar Association’s 66th Antitrust Law Spring Meeting included a number of sessions with representatives from federal and state antitrust enforcement agencies. Attorneys with Perkins Coie LLP offer some key takeaways from those sessions.
Opinion
In his first year on the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Neil Gorsuch has proven to be a narrow-minded elitist who consistently votes in favor of corporations and the powerful, acting to roll back protections for workers, consumers, LGBTQ individuals and other marginalized communities, says Elliot Mincberg of People for the American Way.
The United States loses between $225 billion and $600 billion each year due to misappropriation of intellectual property — up to 80 percent of which has been attributed to China. When determining how best to protect and enforce IP in China, American businesses should know the powers, limits, and potential remedies available in both Chinese and U.S. forums, say attorneys with WilmerHale.
Analysis of the issues and oral argument in Oil States v. Greene's suggests most U.S. Supreme Court justices believe inter partes reviews are constitutional, but it is not a foregone conclusion. Patent owners and IPR petitioners should be considering strategies for both possible outcomes, says Tom Leach of Merchant & Gould PC.