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Intellectual Property

  • Top Story

    More PTAB Fights Between Big Pharma Could Be Looming

    Pharmaceutical firms like Pfizer Inc. are accustomed to having their patents for brand-name drugs challenged by generics makers at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. But companies that make innovative new drugs may increasingly find challenges coming from another front: other brand companies.

  • July 20, 2017

    Ill. Man Planned To Take Trade Secrets To China, Gov't Says

    An employee of a McHenry County manufacturing firm was indicted in Illinois federal court on Wednesday on 13 counts of attempting to steal trade secrets to bring to a rival firm in China, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago announced Thursday.

  • July 20, 2017

    20 Minutes Of Research Could've Ended Book Row: Judge

    A Brooklyn federal judge on Wednesday slammed the attorneys behind a copyright suit over an Ethiopian cookbook, hitting them with sanctions and levying attorneys’ fees on their client after finding the case could have been avoided with 20 minutes of legal research.

  • July 20, 2017

    MoFo IP Pioneer Rachel Krevans Is Dead At 60

    Longtime intellectual property litigator Rachel Krevans of Morrison & Foerster LLP, renowned for winning Apple Inc. a $1 billion jury verdict in its patent war with Samsung, died Wednesday in Maine at age 60.

  • July 20, 2017

    Quincy Jones Tells Jury Michael Jackson Co. ‘Cheated’ Him

    Grammy-award winning music producer Quincy Jones took the stand Thursday in his $30 million royalties suit against Michael Jackson’s production company, saying he was “cheated out of a lot of money” generated by the hit albums he produced for the late King of Pop.

  • July 20, 2017

    PTAB Upholds Validity Of 5 Patents For Pfizer's Toviaz

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Wednesday upheld the validity of five UCB Pharma GmbH patents licensed to Pfizer Inc. for its overactive-bladder drug Toviaz, reasoning that challenger Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. failed to demonstrate unpatentability.

  • July 20, 2017

    Amphastar Asks Jury To Nix $1B Momenta Infringement Case

    Amphastar Pharmaceuticals on Thursday told a federal jury in Boston that generic competitor Momenta’s “outrageous” dishonesty in developing standards for a lucrative blood thinner should end the company’s patent infringement case.

  • July 20, 2017

    3 Big Questions For The Statue Of Liberty Copyright Fight

    The U.S. Postal Service has found itself in a strange copyright fight over the mistaken use of a Las Vegas replica of the Statue of Liberty on billions of stamps. As the case hurtles toward a September trial, Law360 looks at three big questions that must be answered.

  • July 20, 2017

    Lawyer Group Blasts Issa's Attack On Gilstrap's Venue Rules

    The American Board of Trial Advocates on Wednesday castigated a House member who said it was "reprehensible" that Eastern District of Texas Judge Rodney Gilstrap recently issued a ruling that may keep patent cases in his district, saying politics "has no place in our courts."

  • July 20, 2017

    IP Attys Taking 'Extreme Liberties' With Truth, Judge Says

    A California federal judge complained at a hearing Thursday that it’s become commonplace for patent attorneys and their clients to take “extreme liberties with the truth and reality,” saying during a post-trial hearing in a dispute between two tire companies that such practices need to be reined in.

  • July 20, 2017

    Dish, Others Hit With Suit Over Data Compression Patents

    Cloud backup company Realtime Data hit Dish Network, Echostar and Arris Group with a lawsuit in Texas’ Eastern District on Thursday accusing the companies of infringing eight patents that cover methods for faster and more efficient data compression systems.

  • July 20, 2017

    Greatbatch, AVX Argue Final Details Ahead Of Patent Trial

    Medical device makers Greatbatch Ltd. and AVX Corp. nailed down more details Thursday for two upcoming trials in a four-plus-year patent fight, with a weeklong jury trial over two Greatbatch infringement claims against AVX slated for next month in Delaware.

  • July 20, 2017

    Christmas Tree Co.'s Counsel DQ'd By Judge-Shopping Claim

    A California federal judge on Wednesday disqualified a law firm hired late in a patent dispute over artificial Christmas trees in a move that resulted in a judge’s recusal, finding the appearance of judge-shopping and duplicated judicial efforts outweighed any overriding need to use that firm.

  • July 20, 2017

    DOJ Time-Barred From Challenging E-Passport Patent: PTAB

    Nearly a year after it agreed to review a Malaysian company’s electronic passport patent, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board abruptly ended the proceeding Wednesday, finding that the U.S. Department of Justice wasn’t able to challenge the patent because of the inter partes review time-bar.

  • July 20, 2017

    FTC Balks At Discovery Extension In AndroGel Antitrust Suit

    The Federal Trade Commission objected Wednesday to a group of pharmaceutical companies’ request for two more months of expert discovery in an antitrust case alleging they conspired to keep generic competitors for AndroGel off the market, telling a Georgia federal court that a year and a half is enough.

  • July 20, 2017

    Purina, Wal-Mart, Others Beat Ad Suit Over Pet Food Pics

    A Michigan federal judge on Thursday shut down six suits accusing Nestle’s Purina unit, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Hill’s Pet Nutrition Inc. and others of false advertising over premium food photos on pet food packaging, saying the claims didn't address how the photos were misleading.

  • July 20, 2017

    Abbott, Fla. Pharmacy Settle 'Gray Market' Test Strip Suit

    Abbott Laboratories and a Florida pharmacy have agreed to settle a suit accusing the pharmacy of selling “gray market” versions of the drugmaker's diabetes test strips, with the companies on Thursday asking a New York federal court to enter a permanent injunction blocking the pharmacy from selling unauthorized products.

  • July 20, 2017

    Namenda Buyers' Experts Should Stay, Judge Says

    A New York magistrate judge on Thursday recommended allowing the testimony of two experts in an antitrust suit alleging Forest Laboratories LLC blocked generic alternatives to its Namenda Alzheimer’s treatment.

  • July 20, 2017

    FDA Tentatively OKs Merck Biosimilar To Sanofi Diabetes Drug

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has tentatively approved Merck & Co. Inc.’s biosimilar to Sanofi’s diabetes treatment Lantus, though the decision will remain paused while Sanofi’s patent infringement lawsuit is pending, Merck said Thursday.

  • July 20, 2017

    Bar Code Co. Gets Patent Suit Moved Under TC Heartland

    A South Carolina federal judge sent a patent suit against The Code Corp. over bar code reader technology to Utah this week, while a judge in Delaware noted a “growing consensus” among courts that the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent TC Heartland decision on venue was not a change in the law.

  • July 20, 2017

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Generics' Win In Abilify Patent Suit

    A Federal Circuit panel on Thursday rejected Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.’s suit against pharmaceutical companies seeking to market generic versions of the antipsychotic drug Abilify, upholding a New Jersey federal judge’s decision to toss the suit.

Expert Analysis

  • Current Trends In Biologics-Related Inter Partes Reviews

    John Molenda

    There were roughly 100 biologics-related inter partes review petitions filed between September 2012 and April 2017. John Molenda and Richard Praseuth of Steptoe & Johnson LLP take a look at the types of patents being challenged and the success rates of those challenges.

  • Using Music In Your Work: Copyright Tips For Companies

    Joy Butler

    Music has the power to elevate the mundane and help make dry business topics more exciting and engaging. But when employees are unaware of the copyright implications of using music in presentations, web content, videos and other branded materials, businesses face the risk of copyright lawsuits and fines, says attorney Joy Butler.

  • 5 Strategies For Winning On Pre-Appeal At The USPTO

    Richard Coller

    When facing a final rejection of a utility patent application, if you feel strongly about the merits of your arguments of record but are apprehensive about proceeding with a full appeal, you may want to consider the pre-appeal brief request for review, say Richard Coller and Ian Soule of Sterne Kessler Goldstein & Fox PLLC.

  • Clearing Content For Digital Advertising: 5 Things To Address

    Benjamin Mulcahy

    The speed with which advertising content can be created and published means that advertisers must be more thorough and vigilant than ever in their clearance efforts, say Benjamin Mulcahy and Gina Reif Ilardi of Jenner & Block LLP.

  • Weekly Column

    Innovating For Wise Juries: Matching Experts

    Stephen Susman

    In the penultimate installment of this series, Stephen Susman, Richard Lorren Jolly and Dr. Roy Futterman of the NYU School of Law Civil Jury Project answer a question on many legal analysts’ minds: What if both sides’ expert witnesses sat in a hot tub discussing the case while a jury watched?

  • Rebuttal

    The Rise Of Midsize Firms

    Ronald Shechtman

    Recently, this publication featured an op-ed in which one law firm partner contended that midsize firms will be the next casualty of the legal market, due to a supposed inability to compete with BigLaw or boutique firms for business. Though we can expect to see Am Law firms continue to lead the market in megadeals and life-or-death litigations, by all indications midsize is on the rise, says Ronald Shechtman of Pryor Cashman LLP.

  • Maximizing Patent Damages: Provisional Rights And Marking

    Kevin King

    Through thoughtful implementation of provisional rights and marking strategies, patentees can considerably increase their potential damages pool, say attorneys with Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Strengthening Egypt's IP Laws Could Help Fight Brain Drain

    Mark Morgan

    Egypt is currently suffering from a significant “brain drain.” Lax intellectual property laws may be a factor, whether knowingly or unknowingly, that pushes its most educated citizens to leave and not return, says Mark Morgan of Day Pitney LLP.

  • 5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Submitting Litigation AFA

    Gregory Lantier

    Outside counsel should be able to articulate why she is proposing an alternative fee arrangement for this matter. If the client has not requested an AFA or the case is unusually difficult to budget with accuracy, this might not be the case to propose an AFA, say attorneys with WilmerHale.

  • How Mobile Apps Can Benefit Your Practice

    Sean Cleary.jpg

    Despite the boom in mobile application development, many lawyers are still reluctant when it comes to using apps in their daily work. Attorney Sean Cleary explores the benefits and shares some recommendations for apps geared toward attorneys.