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Intellectual Property
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April 05, 2024
Walmart's Self-Checkout Patents Survive BJ's PTAB Attacks
Retail chain BJ's Wholesale Club was unable to persuade judges on an administrative patent board to knock out any claims from a pair of patents covering a self-checkout app that Walmart's Sam's Club brand is suing the rival over in Florida federal court.
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April 05, 2024
Sprint's $4.5M Nextel Trademark Win Upheld At 11th Circ.
Sprint Communications Inc. maintained a trademark on its line of walkie-talkie devices and deserved a $4.5 million jury award against an imitator for its unlawful use of the device name and distinctive "chirp" noise, according to an Eleventh Circuit panel ruling.
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April 05, 2024
Off The Bench: ACC Drama, Football Firing Suits Intensify
In this week's Off The Bench, Florida State University cannot escape an ACC lawsuit that may enforce a nine-figure penalty against the school if it should leave the conference, while both Northwestern University and the Arizona Cardinals face more legal headaches over their decisions to fire key personnel.
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April 05, 2024
IP Firm Sues Florida Attorney For Using Soundalike Name
Georgia-based intellectual property firm Bekiares Eliezer LLP has sued an attorney in Florida federal court, alleging he marketed his services with a name similar to its "Founders Legal" brand.
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April 05, 2024
Chinese Insurer Awarded Nearly $15M Over Hotel Theft Suit
A California federal judge awarded a Chinese insurer nearly $15 million in damages after a man accused of conspiring to fraudulently claim ownership of New York City's JW Marriott Essex House Hotel and other luxury properties failed to appear in the action.
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April 05, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen the BBC sued by former Georgian defense minister David Kezerashvili, Russian businessman Ildar Sharipov file a defamation claim against the publisher of the Liverpool Echo newspaper, MEX Group Worldwide sue Barclays and NatWest, and a climbing gear company hit retailer Next with a claim of copyright infringement. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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April 04, 2024
Charter Says Nonprofit's Fight Over Sealed Docs Is Too Late
Charter Communications Inc. is disputing the Electronic Frontier Foundation's attempt to persuade a Texas federal court to unseal filings in a patent suit against the cable company over data transmission that settled late last year.
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April 04, 2024
Coach Accuses Gap Of IP Theft Over Old Navy 'Coach' Tees
Luxury fashion company Coach Inc. sued The Gap Inc. for alleged trademark infringement in California federal court Tuesday, accusing the global apparel giant of illegally advertising and hawking a line of Old Navy T-shirts that display the word "Coach" in an effort to free ride off Coach's brand and reputation.
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April 04, 2024
'Halfhearted' Hytera Filings Not Enough To Lift Hefty Sanctions
Hytera Communications' daily $1 million fine and other sanctions for violating an Illinois federal judge's anti-suit injunction stayed in place Thursday as she ordered the company to submit a fourth, more "meaningful" request in China to halt a lawsuit it lodged against Motorola Solutions.
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April 04, 2024
9th Circ. Unconvinced Judge's Past Job Hurt Tesla Investor
The Ninth Circuit on Thursday refused to revive claims brought by a short-seller accusing Tesla Inc. and CEO Elon Musk of using social media to artificially inflate the company's stock, ruling that the plaintiff wasn't prejudiced by a district judge's former employment with the predecessor of a firm that represented Tesla for a portion of the litigation.
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April 04, 2024
NY AG Asked To Weigh In On Multiple Sclerosis Drug Fight
The Federal Circuit is asking New York Attorney General Letitia James to weigh in on a patent dispute over a multiple sclerosis drug after it emerged that Acorda Therapeutics' challenge to an underlying arbitral award raises questions about the constitutionality of New York's voluntary payment doctrine.
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April 04, 2024
Athletes Say NCAA's Own Actions Prove NIL Rules No Good
Athletes suing the NCAA over restrictions on the use of their names, images and likenesses are seeking summary judgment, arguing the practice dampens competition with no legitimate justification and that the organization's own actions have shown that to be true.
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April 04, 2024
Arby's, Sonic, Dunkin Settle Mystery Shopper IP Claims
A Texas federal judge has stayed all deadlines in Fall Line Patents LLC's suit that accuses Arby's Restaurant Group Inc., Sonic Franchising LLC and Dunkin Brands Inc. of infringing its mystery shopper patent with their respective mobile applications, after the parties filed a joint bid saying they have settled their claims in principle.
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April 04, 2024
Kiss Sells Their Souls To PE Fund, Throws In Music Too
Less than a year after playing their final show, members of '70s rock band Kiss said on Thursday that they're selling off their intellectual property to a private equity outfit owned by the guitarist of ABBA who is already promising investors that "plans for a biopic, an avatar show, and a Kiss-themed experience are already in the works."
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April 04, 2024
Huawei Slated For 2026 Sanctions, IP Theft Trial
A Brooklyn federal judge on Thursday set the trial of China's Huawei Technologies and affiliates for 2026, over prosecutors' claims that Huawei deceived banks and the U.S. government for years about its business dealings in sanctioned countries and conspired to steal intellectual property from U.S. companies.
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April 04, 2024
Microsoft Unit Gets Fed. Circ. Alice Win On Imaging Patents
The Federal Circuit on Thursday gave a win to a software company acquired by Microsoft for nearly $20 billion, affirming a decision that claims in four medical imaging patents it was accused of infringing are invalid for claiming only an abstract idea.
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April 04, 2024
Divided PTAB Invalidates RFID Claim It Previously Upheld
A Patent Trial and Appeal Board panel has invalidated part of an AmaTech Group Ltd. smart card patent on rehearing, finding fault in its earlier decision to uphold the claim across two opinions and a dissent.
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April 04, 2024
Coder's Late Expert Report Sank IP Suit, 6th Circ. Rules
A panel of the Sixth Circuit has refused to revive an industrial control system designer's claims that a former business partner infringed his and his business's copyrighted software, backing a Michigan federal court's decision to exclude a critical expert witness.
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April 04, 2024
Ex-BigLaw Atty's Defamation Injunction Bid Meets Skepticism
The Florida federal judge overseeing a $150 million defamation case between an ex-Greenberg Traurig LLP partner and a social media personality accused of mounting a harassment campaign against him declined, for now, to issue an injunction against alleged cyberstalking and indicated the petition may be better suited for state court.
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April 04, 2024
MLS Resolves Copyright Suit Over Use Of San Diego Mural
Major League Soccer has reached an undisclosed settlement with a company that accused the league's newest soccer club in San Diego of using one of its outdoor murals there to promote the team.
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April 03, 2024
Dell Unit Snags $4M In Atty Fees In Computer Module IP Spat
A Massachusetts federal judge has awarded a little over $4 million in attorney fees to Dell Inc. unit EMC Corp. following its win in decadelong litigation accusing it of infringing nearly a dozen computer module patents, according to a decision unsealed Tuesday.
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April 03, 2024
Microsoft Notches Fed. Circ. Win In 3D Imaging Patent Fight
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed a ruling from an administrative tribunal that wiped out most of a patent issued to a Florida radiologist and his ex-Lockheed Martin business partner, whose company is suing Microsoft over its line of HoloLens AR headsets.
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April 03, 2024
Winning Foreign Patent Damages Just Became A Lighter Lift
The Federal Circuit has clarified that patent owners can ask for reasonable royalties when pursuing damages for foreign infringement and expanded what constitutes eligible infringement in those instances, a ruling attorneys say should make it easier to recover damages from abroad.
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April 03, 2024
Fed. Circ. Wrestles With Crocs' 'Patented' Claim In False Ad Suit
Efforts by footwear brand Crocs to fight allegations that its use of the word "patented" broke false advertising laws drew confusion from a Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday, spurring one judge to remark that "there's nothing novel" about the material used to make Crocs' shoes.
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April 03, 2024
Fed. Circ. Gets Lost In Intricacies Of Standing In Patent Law
The Federal Circuit was thrown for a loop Wednesday in a case that asked whether the holder of an exclusive patent license could sue for infringement another company that could have acquired a license for the same patent by other means, with one judge calling the court's case law on the matter "very muddled."
Expert Analysis
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Understanding And Working With The Millennials On Your Jury
Every trial attorney will be facing a greater proportion of millennials on their jury, as they now comprise the largest generation in the U.S., and winning them over requires an understanding of their views on politics, corporations and damages, says Clint Townson at Townson Litigation Consulting.
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Opinion
Vidal Should Amend USPTO Precedent In Automaker Review
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal's recent decision to review Ford and Honda patent challenges that were rejected by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board provides an opportunity to revisit precedents that have unfairly denied companies a fair review process and align them with commonsense principles of legal equity, says former Sen. Patrick Leahy.
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Series
Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.
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Considering A Practical FRAND Rate Assessment Procedure
As the debate over a fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory rate continues inside and outside courtrooms, a practical method may assess whether the proposed FRAND rate deviates significantly from what is reasonable, and ensure an optimal mix of assets for managers of standard-essential patent portfolios, says consultant Gordon Huang.
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How AI Inventorship Is Evolving In The UK, EU And US
While the U.K. Supreme Court's recent decision in Thaler v. Comptroller-General is the latest in a series of decisions by U.K., U.S. and EU authorities that artificial intelligence systems cannot be named as inventors in patents, the guidance from these jurisdictions suggests that patents may be granted to human inventors that use AI as a sophisticated tool, say lawyers at Mayer Brown.
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How Biotech Cos. Can Utilize Synthetic Royalty Financing
Synthetic royalty transactions have been on the rise as a funding structure for biotechnology companies, but questions have arisen surrounding how such transactions work, and structuring them correctly requires a nuanced understanding, say Todd Trattner and Ryan Murr at Gibson Dunn.
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Copyright Lessons Following Ruling In Artist AI Suit
The recent California district court ruling in Andersen v. Stability AI — that artists needed to specify how the training of artificial intelligence tools violated their copyrights — shows that lawyers on either side of generative AI matters must carefully navigate copyright issues including temporary copying and data sourcing, says Carlos Araya at Magnolia Abogados.
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The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift
As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.
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Fed. Circ. In Jan.: One Word Can Affect Claim Construction
The Federal Circuit's recent Pacific Biosciences v. Personal Genomics decision highlights how even construction of a simple term can be dispositive, and thus disputed, in view of the specific context provided by the surrounding claim language, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe.
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The State Of Play In NIL, Compensation For Student-Athletes
Recent NCAA developments — including name, image, and likeness legislation and a governance and compensation proposal — reflect a shift from the initial hands-off approach to student-athletes' NIL deals and an effort to allow colleges to directly compensate student-athletes without categorizing them as employees, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
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5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money
As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.
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UK Ruling Revitalizes Discussions On Harmonizing AI And IP
The U.K. Supreme Court's decision in Thaler v. Comptroller-General last month has reinvigorated ongoing discussions about how the developments in artificial intelligence fit within the existing intellectual property legislative landscape, illustrating that effective regulation will be critical as the value and influence of this sector grows, say Nick White and Olivia Gray at Charles Russell.
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Expediting Psychedelics Approvals In The US And Canada
Accelerated regulatory pathways for psychedelics in the U.S. and Canada play a pivotal role in the progression of drugs, devices and novel therapies toward commercialization, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, and Ana Dukic and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.
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Series
Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.