Intellectual Property

  • October 29, 2025

    Unibrands Says Ex-Pen Co. Heirs Infringing Luxury Brand

    Pen manufacturer Unibrands Corp. alleges in New Jersey federal court that the former heirs to Italian fountain pen maker Omas are attempting to "steal the fruits" of the company's labor to revive the luxury fountain pen brand.

  • October 29, 2025

    Designer's Heirs Fight MillerKnoll's Atty Fees Bid After IP Loss

    The heirs of a modernist future designer argued the MillerKnoll furniture company shouldn't get to collect attorney fees after defeating the family's intellectual property claims over designer George Nelson's notable bubble lamps because the case was strong enough to survive a dismissal bid and cannot be characterized as "extraordinarily weak."

  • October 29, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Told 'Settled Expectations' Policy Is 'Irrational'

    Cambridge Industries USA Inc. pushed the Federal Circuit to curb the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's use of what the company said is an "irrational" policy of allowing patent owners to dodge challenges based on their "settled expectations" over a patent's validity.

  • October 29, 2025

    Alston & Bird Sanctioned $10K For LinkedIn Juror Research

    A California federal judge has sanctioned Alston & Bird LLP $10,000 for conducting juror research on LinkedIn ahead of a trial in which it fended off $174 million in patent infringement claims against GoPro, saying privacy has been eroded in the age of the internet, and he considers LinkedIn research to be juror contact because of the notifications it sends to users.

  • October 28, 2025

    Chamber Urges Fed. Circ. To Resolve Texas Patent Venue Split

    The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has thrown its weight behind a petition asking the Federal Circuit to decide if two well-known Texas federal judges have been flouting patent venue law by refusing to transfer out infringement cases if any step of the patented method was performed in their section of the Lone Star State.

  • October 28, 2025

    Google Accused Of Stealing USC Patents For Map Platforms

    The University of Southern California has accused Google in Texas federal court of willfully infringing two of the university's image overlaying patents through Google Earth, Google Maps and Street View, noting that the tech giant previously awarded USC and a professor for a project that led to the patents.

  • October 28, 2025

    OpenAI Can't Strike Authors' Pirated Book Download Claims

    OpenAI cannot shave copyright infringement claims alleging it downloaded books from illegal online sources out of litigation brought by some of the biggest names in literature and journalism, a Manhattan federal judge ruled, rejecting the artificial intelligence company's argument that the allegation violated a court order barring new claims.

  • October 28, 2025

    Tech-Backed Group Wants DOJ's Help In AI Copyright Cases

    An organization backed by major technology companies has told the Trump administration that developers of generative large language models need a rescue from copyright infringement cases against them, urging the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene.

  • October 28, 2025

    5 Federal Circuit Clashes To Watch In November

    The Federal Circuit's argument calendar for November includes a challenge to an Idaho state law aimed at hindering "patent trolls," and a bid to revive a $40 million jury verdict against Shopify that a judge discarded, citing "unclear" testimony from the patent owner's expert.

  • October 28, 2025

    Apple Spared From Some Masimo Patent Claims Before Trial

    A California federal judge issued a mixed ruling in Masimo's case claiming Apple infringed its patents covering pulse oximetry technology for smartwatches, dismissing certain infringement theories but preserving other parts of the case for next week's trial.

  • October 28, 2025

    Adidas Says Email Gaffe Should Revive Thom Browne TM Suit

    Adidas told the Second Circuit on Tuesday that four emails that were never turned over by counsel for fashion brand Thom Browne call for the ordering of a new trial because the emails show senior executives discussing "the very issues at the heart of the trial."

  • October 28, 2025

    Va. Justices Urged To Restore Record $2B Trade Secrets Win

    A software company fighting to regain a $2 billion trade secrets award urged the Virginia Supreme Court on Tuesday to affirm the verdict, arguing that an appellate court was wrong to disturb the conclusions from jurors and the trial judge.

  • October 28, 2025

    Eminem's Music Publishers Fight Meta's Bid To Toss IP Suit

    Eminem's music publishers say they have outlined a clear, straightforward infringement case against Meta Platforms for allegedly unlicensed use of the rapper's music on social media platforms, urging a Michigan federal judge to reject what they characterized as a "dilatory" dismissal bid.

  • October 28, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Won't Send Background Check Patent Fight To Okla.

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday shot down a background check software company's request to override a California federal court's refusal to ship a suit challenging the validity of its patents to Oklahoma.

  • October 28, 2025

    Akin Beats Malpractice Claim Over Alleged IP Theft Plot

    A Third Circuit panel on Tuesday refused to revive a malpractice claim against Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP lodged in a lawsuit that accused attorneys of manipulating patent litigation to steal a former Cornell University graduate student's DNA sequencing intellectual property.

  • October 28, 2025

    USPTO Seeks Office Location Input After Denver Closure

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office issued a request for feedback Tuesday on locations for community outreach offices in the eight states formerly serviced by the Rocky Mountain Regional Outreach Office in Denver, after the regional office was closed this month, just before the federal government shutdown.

  • October 28, 2025

    Calif. Atty Seeks $25K As Fee Sanction For AI Error

    A California attorney representing a mobile app platform in a small-time copyright and contract suit playing out in Oakland federal court has asked for $25,000 as reimbursement for work he said went into responding to an error-ridden motion and subsequent time spent on the matter.

  • October 28, 2025

    Apple Says Fintiv IP, Racketeering Case Belongs In Texas

    Apple Inc. is arguing that Texas, not Georgia, federal court is the right forum for Fintiv Inc.'s lawsuit accusing the technology giant of trade secret theft and racketeering, saying Fintiv is trying to repackage patent litigation from the Lone Star State, where Apple was partially cleared.

  • October 28, 2025

    Tax Software Co. Denies Poaching Rival's Workers

    Tax preparation software company Avalara asked a Pennsylvania federal court to deny claims by a competitor that it illegally lured workers with generous job offers, saying it did not unfairly compete or interfere with the competitor's contracts as it claimed.

  • October 28, 2025

    Texas Co.'s Lack Of Counsel Sinks Perplexity AI TM Suit

    A Texas company suing Perplexity AI Inc. for trademark infringement had its case tossed by a California federal judge who said it had ignored warnings that it couldn't proceed without representation.

  • October 28, 2025

    Hunters Law Sues Rival Over 'Confusing' Branding Expansion

    Hunters Law has accused Hunter's Solicitors of stealing its branding and trying to pass off its legal services as those of its own, arguing that clients were associating it with a less reputable rival law firm.

  • October 27, 2025

    Drone Co., Exec Seek Exits From Trade Secret Suit

    A Utah drone company urged a federal judge to toss a trade secret suit brought by another company previously launched by one of its founders, arguing that it fails to identify any specific protected information that was misappropriated.

  • October 27, 2025

    Uncertainty Will Follow If $181M Verdict Is Axed, Fed. Circ. Told

    Finesse Wireless LLC is urging the Federal Circuit to reconsider erasing its $181 million patent verdict against AT&T and Nokia, saying the court conflated regional law in a way that could cause "massive uncertainty."

  • October 27, 2025

    OpenAI Can't Shake Authors' ChatGPT Infringement Claim

    Some of the biggest names in literature and journalism can pursue their claim of direct copyright infringement against OpenAI based on the outputs of ChatGPT, a Manhattan federal judge ruled Monday, saying the complaint "squarely alleges" actual copying of the writers' works and substantially similar artificial intelligence outputs.

  • October 27, 2025

    Brandt's Fruit Trees Ends TM Suit Against Washington Farm

    Brandt's Fruit Trees has agreed to drop a lawsuit in Washington federal court claiming a Yakima Valley farm illegally used its Pink Lady apple trademark in connection with approximately 55,000 unlicensed trees that produce Lady in Red apples.

Expert Analysis

  • How Big Pharma Has Responded To FTC Delisting Demands

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    Looking at some statistics concerning how pharmaceutical companies have responded to the Federal Trade Commission's recent challenges to Orange Book listings raises several possible hypotheses about the FTC's strategy and effectiveness, say Ratib Ali and Celia Lu at Competition Dynamics.

  • 5 Ways Lawyers Can Earn Back The Public's Trust

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    Amid salacious headlines about lawyers behaving badly and recent polls showing the public’s increasingly unfavorable view of attorneys, we must make meaningful changes to our culture to rebuild trust in the legal system, says Carl Taylor at Carl Taylor Law.

  • How To Successfully Challenge Jurors For Cause In 5 Steps

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    To effectively challenge a potential juror for cause, attorneys should follow a multistep framework rather than skipping straight to the final qualification question, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • USPTO's AI Tool Redefines Design Patent Landscape

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's newly introduced DesignVision tool for artificial intelligence-powered image searching represents a dramatic shift in how design patent applications are examined, necessitating new strategies for patent practitioners, says Matthew Epstein at Dinsmore.

  • Series

    Hiking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    On the trail, I have thought often about the parallels between hiking and high-stakes patent litigation, and why strategizing, preparation, perseverance and joy are important skills for success in both endeavors, says Barbara Fiacco at Foley Hoag.

  • 6 Tips On Drafting Machine Learning Patents Post-Recentive

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    While the Federal Circuit's decision in Recentive v. Fox narrows the scope of patent-eligible machine learning applications, there are several drafting and prosecution strategies that may help practitioners navigate Section 101 challenges, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • What US-India Trade Deal Will Mean For Indian Pharma

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    Complicated by newly imposed tariffs from the U.S., the outcome of the U.S.-India trade talks is poised to reshape not just trade policy, but also the strategic alignment of the two countries' pharmaceutical ecosystems, says Jashaswi Ghosh at Holon Law Partners.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Negotiation Skills

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    I took one negotiation course in law school, but most of the techniques I rely on today I learned in practice, where I've discovered that the process is less about tricks or tactics, and more about clarity, preparation and communication, says Grant Schrantz at Haug Barron.

  • Opinion

    Bar Exam Reform Must Expand Beyond A Single Updated Test

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    Recently released information about the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ new NextGen Uniform Bar Exam highlights why a single test is not ideal for measuring newly licensed lawyers’ competency, demonstrating the need for collaborative development, implementation and reform processes, says Gregory Bordelon at Suffolk University.

  • The Patent Eligibility Eras Tour: 11 Years Of Post-Alice Tumult

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    A survey of recent twists and turns in patent eligibility law highlights the confusion created by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 Alice decision and reveals that the continually shifting standards have begun to diverge in fundamental ways between the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

  • Export Misconduct Resolutions Emphasize BIS, DOJ Priorities

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's and Bureau of Industry and Security's recently resolved parallel enforcement actions against semiconductor technology company Cadence Design demonstrate the agencies' prioritization of penalties for export control violations involving China, as well as the importance of voluntary self-disclosure, say attorneys at Fenwick.

  • Disney Art Suit Will Test Recent AI Fair Use Boundaries

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    While the first U.S. rulings to address the issue recently held that it's fair use for generative artificial intelligence models to train on certain copyrighted books without permission, Disney v. Midjourney, filed in June, will test the limits of the fair use framework in a visual art context, says Rob Rosenberg at Moses & Singer.

  • A Simple Way Courts Can Help Attys Avoid AI Hallucinations

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    As attorneys increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence for legal research, courts should consider expanding online quality control programs to flag potential hallucinations — permitting counsel to correct mistakes and sparing judges the burden of imposing sanctions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl and Connors.

  • Tracking The Evolving Legal Landscape Of Music Festivals

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    The legal infrastructure behind music festivals is anything but simple, so attorneys advising clients in this space should be prepared for a wide range of legal challenges, including the unexpected risks that come with live events, says Meesha Moulton at Meesha Moulton Law.

  • USPTO Ex Parte Reexamination Could Become More Popular

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    As inter partes review becomes less effective for challenging patent validity due to recent changes at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, ex parte reexamination may provide a viable alternative, with significant cost savings, anonymity and procedural advantages, says Stephen Ball at Husch Blackwell.

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