Intellectual Property

Featured

Senate Patent Bill To Boost Biosimilars Needs Work, Attys Say

A new Senate bill to create a patent framework for biosimilars akin to the Hatch-Waxman system for generic drugs could clarify the biosimilar approval process, but attorneys say it may conflict with current rules and likely won’t curb the patent tactics its sponsors decry.
March 15, 2019
Maxell Hits Apple With Patent Suit Over IPhone, IPad Tech

Japanese tech giant Maxell on Friday slapped Apple with a suit claiming smartphone and tablet technologies used in its iOS devices — including the FaceTime and Find Your Friends features — infringe 10 of Maxell's patents.
March 15, 2019
Food Packaging Co. Urges 8th Circ. To Unblur Antitrust Claims

A food packaging company continues to urge the Eighth Circuit to revive its antitrust lawsuit against its larger rival, arguing that a district judge wrongly tossed claims that patents asserted against it were obtained fraudulently and asserting the court blurred the line between different antitrust claims.
March 15, 2019
9th Circ. Undoes $4M Award In Zillow Photo Copyright Row

A Washington federal court will reconsider a $4 million copyright infringement award against the Zillow Group after the Ninth Circuit said Friday the lower court hadn't determined whether a real estate photography company's allegedly infringed photos should be treated as individual works or as a compilation.
March 15, 2019
Fall Out Boy Exploiting Llamas, Puppet Studio Says In IP Suit

Two llama puppets have become “de facto members of the band” Fall Out Boy, appearing on stage, album covers and merchandise — well beyond their agreed-upon usage for a single music video, the puppet studio that made them said in a suit filed Friday in New York federal court.
March 15, 2019
Justices Asked To Clarify Alice Test In Data Patent Suit

InvestPic LLC has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Federal Circuit decision that the company’s patent for a method for analyzing financial data was too abstract under the high court’s Alice decision, saying that the appellate court misapplied a test to determine patent eligibility by requiring that the invention have a “physical” improvement.
March 15, 2019
Health Hires: Baker McKenzie, Alston & Bird

Baker McKenzie has continued taking life sciences attorneys from Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, and Alston & Bird LLP has brought back a health care pro from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
March 15, 2019
Whirlpool Wins $5.8M Trademark Verdict Over Fridge Filters

Whirlpool Corp. won a $5.8 million trademark infringement verdict against a company that used brand names to sell replacement filters for the company's refrigerators, the appliance giant announced Friday.
March 15, 2019
Fed. Circ. Clarifies Alice In Reviving Supplement Co.'s IP Suit

A split Federal Circuit on Friday revived a dietary supplement company’s patent suit against a rival after a lower court found the claims to be patent-ineligible, warning that courts must be careful not to “overly abstract” claims under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Alice test.
March 15, 2019
NCAA Players Would Own Rights To Their Names Under Bill

Lawmakers introduced a bill designed to give college athletes the rights to the use of their names and likenesses Thursday, a move that could deal a blow to the NCAA's control over how athletes are compensated.
March 15, 2019
Morgan Stanley Workers Lured Clients, Finance Co. Says

Three now-former employees at a Boston wealth management firm resigned last week to work at Morgan Stanley, and then began asking clients to transfer accounts to their new employer, according to a suit filed Thursday in the Business Litigation Session in Massachusetts' Suffolk County Superior Court.
March 15, 2019
2nd Circ. Won't Punish Louis Vuitton After Failed TM Case

The Second Circuit on Friday refused to order Louis Vuitton Malletier SA to pay nearly $1 million in legal bills for bringing an unsuccessful trademark lawsuit against a small company over parody handbags, affirming an earlier ruling that said the designer “needs to learn how to take a joke.”
March 15, 2019
LegalForce Sues Freelance Network Over Fee Splitting

LegalForce RAPC, a litigious California trademark firm that has filed a rash of actions against online competitors, served freelancer network UpWork Inc. with a complaint in a California state court Friday accusing it of unfair business practices and unethical fee splitting.
March 15, 2019
9th Circ. Ends 'Love Me Again' Lyrics Copyright Suit

Generic words and short phrases like the line "I need to know now," which songwriter Alisa Apps claims Universal Music and British singer John Newman appropriated from her work for their song "Love Me Again," are not copyrightable, a Ninth Circuit panel has ruled.
March 15, 2019
Celeb Chef Sues Again Over 'Chloe' Trademarks

Celebrity chef Chloe Coscarelli is again suing her former "By Chloe" partners over the trademark rights to her own name, this time over threats to sue her for a vegan pop-up called "Supernatural."
March 15, 2019
McGraw-Hill Can't DQ Photog's Counsel In NY Licensing Fight

McGraw-Hill Global Education Holdings LLC can't disqualify the attorneys representing a photographer who claims the textbook giant violated a licensing agreement for his photos, a New York federal judge has ruled, even though the same attorneys were disqualified from another photo dispute in Pennsylvania.
March 15, 2019
Qualcomm Wins $31M From Apple In Smartphone Patent Trial

A California federal jury on Friday found that Apple owes Qualcomm roughly $31 million for infringing several patents relating to smartphone processors following a hotly contested trial that's part of the sprawling legal battle between the two tech giants over smartphone technology.
March 14, 2019
Apple Didn't Break Qualcomm 'No-Snitch' Deal, Judge Says

A California federal judge said Apple didn't breach an agreement not to snitch on Qualcomm when it cooperated with investigations into the chipmaker’s licensing practices, declining to release Qualcomm from making payments under the agreement in an order unsealed Thursday.
March 14, 2019
Taiwanese Co. Hid Trade Secrets Theft, Investors Say

An investor on Thursday slapped Taiwanese semiconductor manufacturer United Microelectronics Corp. with a proposed securities class action that claims the company and its top brass stole trade secrets from an American competitor and then lied about it, causing stock prices to fall and costing investors “significant losses and damages.”
March 14, 2019
Fed. Circ. Wants Redo For IP Suit Over Allergan Antipsychotic

The Federal Circuit on Thursday told a Delaware federal judge to reconsider her decision that a patent covering Allergan’s antipsychotic medication Saphris is valid and that a pair of generic-drug makers didn’t infringe that patent.
March 14, 2019
Fed. Circ. Wary Of Ruling On AIA Patent Challenge Meaning

A Federal Circuit panel Thursday seemed reluctant to rule on a novel argument by a Johnson & Johnson unit, which claims the America Invents Act bars patent challengers who convince the U.S. Patent Office's administrative court to invalidate a patent from repeating those successful arguments in parallel litigation before a federal district court.

Editor's Picks

Waco's New Judge Primes District For Patent Growth

A former Bracewell LLP patent litigator who recently took the federal bench in Waco, Texas, has caused a major stir for the state's intellectual property bar, with some firms betting the new judge could grow the Western District of Texas into a patent hotbed that could rival the state's Eastern District.
2018 Patent Litigation: A Year In Review

Delaware unseated the Eastern District of Texas as the top patent hotspot. Two boutique intellectual property firms dominated at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. District courts saw fewer cases, and patent owners sought fewer Injunctions. 2018 was a year when patent attorneys retooled their strategies.
How Google-Oracle Smartphone War Got To The High Court

Google is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to tackle the company’s smartphone war with Oracle, capping off more than eight years of contentious copyright litigation between the two software giants. Here’s an interactive look back at how we got here.

Expert Analysis

Opinion

Hikma V. Vanda Exaggerates Treatments' Patent Eligibility

Hikma's recent certiorari petition claims the Federal Circuit’s decision in Vanda v. West-Ward amounts to a free pass under Section 101 for method-of-treatment claims. But Vanda is a fact-specific ruling that attempts to find some middle ground in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Section 101 precedents, say Sasha Rao and Erin Gaddes of Maynard Cooper & Gale PC.
The Future Of The USMCA: 3 Possible Scenarios

The Trump administration would like Congress to pass the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement by June, but progress has been slow. The deal's fate will depend on cooperation from Democrats, support from Republicans and the strategy pursued by the president, says Robert Kyle of Hogan Lovells.
Fed. Circ. Abandons Jurisdiction Rule For IP Demand Letters

For decades, patentees could create declaratory judgment jurisdiction by sending cease-and-desist letters, but they did not create personal jurisdiction in the forum where the accused infringer resided. That has changed with the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Jack Henry v. Plano, say Karen Boyd and Joshua Rayes of Turner Boyd LLP.
Ethical Social Media Marketing For Lawyers

Social media presents rich opportunities to reach prospective clients. Attorneys should not let those opportunities pass them by, but they should keep their ethical obligations in mind as they post, says Cort Sylvester of Nilan Johnson Lewis PA.
Q&A

A Chat With Norton Rose Diversity Director Nina Godiwalla

In this monthly series, Amanda Brady of Major Lindsey & Africa interviews management from top law firms about the increasingly competitive business environment. Here we feature Nina Godiwalla, director of diversity and inclusion at Norton Rose Fulbright.
EU Fintech Regulation Raises US Copyright Questions

The EU's revised Payment Services Directive is driving the creation of application programming interfaces that allow fintech companies to securely access and use customer banking data. The same APIs are almost certain to be used in the United States, bringing implications for copyright protection, say attorneys with Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.
5 Mistakes Law Firms Make When Responding To RFPs

More and more corporations are now using requests for proposals to make data-driven decisions about which law firms to work with, so it is more important than ever for law firms to avoid common RFP mistakes, says Matthew Prinn of RFP Advisory Group.
Apple Case Highlights Due Process Questions At PTAB

In Apple v. Voip-Pal.com, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board recently determined that the petitioner had not demonstrated it was entitled to due process in the context of an inter partes review. But due process rights are a basic tenet of the American legal system, says Lora Green of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC.
Keys To Successful AI Patents In The US And Europe

Unsurprisingly, the World Intellectual Property Organization recently reported that patent filings for artificial intelligence inventions are increasing rapidly. Stakeholders should be mindful of maintaining quality during this filing surge, says Drew Schulte of Haley Guiliano LLP.
9 Data Considerations For Investment Management Attorneys

Today, data powers investment management domains like algorithmic-based trading strategies and compliance and risk software. For industry lawyers and compliance officers this is both nothing new and an accelerating source of questions, says Nathan Greene of Shearman & Sterling LLP.