Intellectual Property

  • March 28, 2024

    4 Takeaways As Hollywood Asks For AI Deepfakes Laws

    Deepfakes have ceased to live solely in the world of science fiction, and their proliferation has already presented disturbing examples of a distorted reality — from phony robocalls by politicians to bogus celebrity nudes.

  • March 28, 2024

    Pfizer Wants Moderna Vax IP Case Paused For PTAB Review

    Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE have asked a Massachusetts federal court to put on hold a COVID-19 vaccine patent case brought by rival biotechnology giant Moderna Inc. while they await a decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on the validity of two of the three patents at issue.

  • March 28, 2024

    Jury Gives Cameron $9M Win In Fracking Patent Fight

    A Texas federal jury has handed Cameron International Corp. a $9 million award after finding that Nitro Fluids LLC willfully infringed two of its patents covering aspects of certain fracking systems used in oil and gas production.

  • March 28, 2024

    NBA Pro Antetokounmpo Lays Suit Against Bed-Maker To Rest

    NBA superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo has dropped his Wisconsin federal court lawsuit against luxury bed-maker Maree Inc., which he had accused of fraudulently scheming to mislead customers into thinking he had endorsed its products when he had not.

  • March 28, 2024

    Fees Awarded For 'Feeble' Milk Vitamin Eligibility Argument

    A Delaware federal judge has ordered ChromaDex Inc. and Dartmouth College to pay attorney fees to Elysium Health for making a "feeble" and failed argument defending their milk vitamin patents from an eligibility challenge, saying he's rarely been more confident that a suit was unreasonable.

  • March 28, 2024

    Commerce Adds Export Admin Roles To Boost Nat'l Security

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security is adding two new deputy assistant secretaries for export administration as part of a modernization drive to meet its growing national security role, the assistant secretary announced Thursday.

  • March 28, 2024

    Ex-BigLaw Atty Calls For Injunction Amid Online Harassment

    A former Greenberg Traurig LLP attorney locked in litigation in Florida federal court with a social media influencer over claims the influencer mounted a campaign to get him fired and destroyed his reputation reiterated his request for a cyberstalking injunction Thursday as he detailed disturbing recent instances of online harassment he has received.

  • March 28, 2024

    NC Atty Calls Airline Mogul's Bank Records Request 'Reckless'

    A North Carolina attorney has asked a federal court to snuff a request by an airline tycoon to dig into the attorney's banking records as part of a hacking conspiracy lawsuit, arguing the request is an overbroad, "reckless" grab at irrelevant information.

  • March 28, 2024

    'Better Made' Chips Goes After 'Better Smoke' Pot

    Detroit-based Better Made Snack Foods Inc. said a number of cannabis companies in Michigan have been selling a line of "Better Smoke" cannabis products that mimics the snack brand's century-old logo in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed Wednesday.

  • March 28, 2024

    NBCUniversal, DeLorean Settle 'Back To The Future' TM Suit

    NBCUniversal Media LLC has settled a trademark infringement suit over royalty payments for its use of the iconic DeLorean DMC-12 sports car on "Back to the Future" merchandise, according to a notice filed Tuesday in California federal court.

  • March 28, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen investors target fraudsters who ran a fake film tax scheme, Barclays Bank sue privately owned Russian bank PJSC Sovcombank, easyGroup bring a trademark infringement claim against online casino TGI Entertainment for its "easybet" word sign, and a bioethanol fuel company hit high-profile individuals connected to the collapsed Elysian Fuels scheme. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • March 27, 2024

    Kim Kardashian Accused Of Touting Fake Donald Judd Tables

    Kim Kardashian bought knockoff Donald Judd tables and chairs for her Skkn By Kim office space and then touted the furniture in a video to her 2 million YouTube subscribers as authentic pieces designed by the late artist, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday in California federal court.

  • March 27, 2024

    Warner Bros. Beats Claim It Stole Idea For 2022 'Batman' Film

    A New York federal judge on Wednesday granted Warner Bros. and DC Comics separate wins in a suit accusing the entertainment giants of stealing a comic book artist's story idea for the 2022 movie "The Batman," finding it was actually the artist who exploited the Batman universe.

  • March 27, 2024

    TikTok Star Ordered To Pay $805K To Sony For Sampling Song

    A Texas federal judge on Wednesday ordered TikTok musician Trefuego to pay Sony Music Entertainment Inc. more than $805,000 for illegally sampling its licensed song "Reflections," but he denied Sony's bid for an injunction.

  • March 27, 2024

    ITC Judge Recommends Exclusion Order In Tourniquet IP Row

    A U.S. International Trade Commission administrative judge has recommended the commission order that imports of products related to blood flow restriction be banned, handing a win to a pair of American medical product manufacturers.

  • March 27, 2024

    Citing Warhol, 10th Circ. Undoes Netflix's 'Tiger King' Win

    The Tenth Circuit on Wednesday relied on last year's landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Warhol case to set aside a fair use win for Netflix Inc. in a copyright suit brought by a former zoo employee who livestreamed the funeral of the husband of "Tiger King" star Joe Exotic.

  • March 27, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Says Faulty Jury Directions Warrant New IP Trial

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday granted Inline Plastics Corp. another chance to convince a Massachusetts federal jury that its tamper-resistant plastic containers were too successful for the underlying patents to be invalidated as obvious.

  • March 27, 2024

    Pool Co. Says Objection To Trial Attys Leaving Is 'Misplaced'

    A swimming pool equipment maker has hit back at objections to some of its counsel exiting the case after a nearly $15 million trial loss over false ad claims in North Carolina, saying its rival's grievances are "misplaced."

  • March 27, 2024

    Candy Co. Can Use Recipe Amid 'Chocolate Moonshine' Fight

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has refused to ban the candy maker Local Yokels Fudge from making or selling fudge, ruling the owner's ex-husband hadn't shown the company is still using his family's secret "Chocolate Moonshine" fudge recipe.

  • March 27, 2024

    Farm Data Co. Wants To Bar Carlton Fields Atty From IP Suit

    Lawyers for an agricultural industry data software outfit want a Carlton Fields lawyer banned from participating in a patent dispute with a rival startup because of her in-house involvement at the rival and work on an older trade secrets suit involving the same technology.

  • March 27, 2024

    Netflix Owes Fees For Defense Tactics In Patent Trial

    Netflix has been ordered to pay attorney fees to GoTV Streaming LLC after making a last-minute switch of its defense at a patent trial last year in California federal court that resulted in a $2.5 million verdict against the streaming giant. 

  • March 27, 2024

    On Deck In JPML: Baby Food, 23andMe Privacy, NCAA

    The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation's packed meeting Thursday in South Carolina will see the panel mulling consolidation of privacy litigation against 23andMe, claims of heavy metals in baby food, and scholarship-fixing claims by student athletes against the NCAA — and that's just for starters.

  • March 27, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Caps $7M Verdict While Clarifying Foreign Damages

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday rejected Trading Technologies' attempt to increase its $6.6 million patent infringement win against IBG LLC, in an opinion focusing on how to apply a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling on foreign damages.

  • March 27, 2024

    Bungie, YouTuber Settle False Copyright Infringement Suit

    An online gamer has settled a lawsuit filed by video game developer Bungie Inc. after a Washington federal judge ruled earlier this month that the gamer illegally posed as a company employee and reported Bungie fans' YouTube videos as copyright violations, according to a court order Wednesday.

  • March 27, 2024

    New England Patriots Defeat Stadium Wi-Fi Patent Case

    A patent-holding entity behind nearly a dozen infringement suits focused on Wi-Fi solutions for sports stadiums suffered its latest defeat Wednesday as a Boston federal judge dismissed its case against the New England Patriots and found the purported invention unpatentable.

Expert Analysis

  • Direct Claims Ruling May Alter Gov't Ties To Software Firms

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    A recent Federal Circuit decision allowing a software developer to pursue legal action under the Contract Disputes Act could change the government's relationship with commercial software providers by permitting direct claims, even in third-party purchase situations, say Dan Ramish and Zach Prince at Haynes Boone.

  • The Fed. Circ. In February: A Reminder On Procedure Rule 28

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    Because the Federal Circuit does not often issue a sua sponte precedential order emphasizing an important rule of practice, it is useful to look at how the court applied the restrictions of appellate procedure Rule 28 in Promptu v. Comcast last month, and in cases that preceded it, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe Martens.

  • Calif. High Court Ruling Has Lessons For Waiving Jury Trials

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    The California Supreme Court’s recent decision in TriCoast Builders v. Fonnegra, denying relief to a contractor that had waived its right to a jury trial, shows that litigants should always post jury fees as soon as possible, and seek writ review if the court denies relief from a waiver, say Steven Fleischman and Nicolas Sonnenburg at Horvitz & Levy.

  • A Defense Strategy For Addressing Copyright Fee-Shifting

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    Permissive fee-shifting under Section 505 of the Copyright Act poses unique challenges for copyright defendants, carrying an outsize impact on the economic incentive structure in copyright litigation, but relying on a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure may offer a potential solution by allowing defendants to recover attorney fees, say Hugh Marbury and Molly Shaffer at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Design Rights Can Build IP Protection, EU Lego Ruling Shows

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    The EU General Court's recent ruling in Delta Sport v. EU Intellectual Property Office — that Lego's registered community design for a building block was valid — helps clarify when technically dictated designs can enjoy IP protection, and demonstrates how companies can strategically use design rights to protect and enhance their market position, says Christoph Moeller at Mewburn Ellis.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Facts Differ But Same Rules Apply

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    Zachary Jacobson and Sarah Barney at Seyfarth examine two decisions illustrating that reliance on a technicality may not save an otherwise untimely appeal, and that enforcement of commercial terms and conditions under a federal supply schedule contract may be possible.

  • Untangling The Legal Complexities Of Trade Secrets And AI

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    With broad adoption of generative artificial intelligence, some have suggested trade secret law is the best means for protecting innovations, but while this protection may apply to all forms of information, the breadth of coverage may make identifying the information and later misappropriation difficult, say Joshua Lerner and Nora Passamaneck at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.

  • Judge-Shopping Policy Revisal May Make Issue Worse

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    The Judicial Conference at its March meeting unveiled a revised policy with the stated goal of limiting litigants’ ability to judge-shop in patent cases, but the policy may actually exacerbate the problem by tying the issue to judge-shopping in polarizing political cases, making reform more difficult, say Robert Niemeier and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.

  • Securing A Common Understanding Of Language Used At Trial

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    Witness examinations in the Georgia election interference case against former President Donald Trump illustrate the importance of building a common understanding of words and phrases and examples as a fact-finding tool at trial, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • A Rainbow Of Lessons From Fruity Pebbles' TTAB Loss

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    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s January decision to deny Post Foods' bid to register a trademark on its Fruity Pebbles cereal brand underscores the importance of the interplay among mark description, mark drawing and goods identification when seeking protection for trade dress, say Troy Viger and Jenevieve Maerker at Finnegan.

  • Why Oncology Deal Making Continues To Fuel Biotech M&A

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    The biotech sector's potential for advancements in cancer care continues to attract deal-maker interest, and the keys to successful mergers and acquisitions include the ability to integrate innovative therapies, leverage technological advancements and respond to the dynamic needs of patients, say Bryan Luchs and Mike Weir at White & Case.

  • TTAB Ruling May Broaden Alcohol Trademark Analysis

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    A February U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision that wine is inherently related to bars and cocktail lounges for trademark protection purposes appears to broaden the scope of exclusivity, highlighting that the more similar the marks, the less related the products must be for the TTAB to refuse registration, says William Borchard at Cowan Liebowitz.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year

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    As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.

  • Opinion

    NIST March-In Framework Is As Problematic As 2021 Proposal

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    While the National Institute of Standards and Technology's proposed march-in framework on when the government can seize patents has been regarded as a radical departure that will support lowering prescription drug costs, the language at the heart of it is identical to a failed 2021 notice of proposed rulemaking, says attorney Kelly Morron.

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