Intellectual Property

  • August 27, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Speed Up Apple Watch Ban Appeal

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday denied Apple Inc.'s request to expedite oral arguments in its appeal challenging the U.S. International Trade Commission's decision banning the tech giant from selling Apple Watches with a "blood oxygen" feature in the Masimo patent case.

  • August 27, 2024

    Disney Wipes Out Verdict In Movie Graphics Copyright Suit

    Walt Disney Pictures does not have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in copyright infringement damages a jury said it owes to a digital-effects company after a California federal judge overturned the verdict and granted the entertainment company a post-trial victory.

  • August 27, 2024

    Google Wants Out Of IP Suit Over Pirated Books

    Google asked a Manhattan federal judge to dismiss allegations that it allowed advertisements to be shown to users from websites that sell pirated textbooks, claiming it has no ability to supervise those sites and isn't profiting from alleged pirating.

  • August 27, 2024

    NBA Star Can't Sidestep TM Dispute Over Signature Shoe

    NBA player LaMelo Ball, his family and Puma North America Inc. must face a trademark infringement suit brought against them over the athlete's signature shoes, a California federal judge has ruled, finding that there are factual disputes to resolve and that California federal court does have jurisdiction.

  • August 26, 2024

    $4.4M Award Against Cheat Code Site Upheld At 9th Circ.

    A website that circulated cheat codes for the video game "Destiny 2" failed to convince the Ninth Circuit on Monday that it got an unfair shake in front of an arbitrator who told the site to pay $4.4 million for breaking copyright and trademark laws.

  • August 26, 2024

    'Roller Lash' and 'Lash 'N Roll' Mascaras Face Off In TM Trial

    Benefit Cosmetics told a San Francisco federal judge at the start of a trademark and trade dress infringement bench trial Monday that rival e.l.f. Cosmetics sought the "holy grail" when it created a "Lash 'N Roll" mascara that ripped off Benefit's $300 million-blockbuster "Roller Lash" product.

  • August 26, 2024

    Samsung Urges Toss Of Netlist Contract Win Over Juror's Lies

    Samsung urged a California federal judge Monday to throw out a jury's verdict that it breached a contract with chipmaker Netlist by cutting off its supply of crucial memory products, arguing a new trial is required because one juror failed to disclose crucial information during the jury selection process.

  • August 26, 2024

    Pool Co. Secures $1.1M In Fees For False Ad Trial Win

    A North Carolina federal judge has granted $1.1 million in fees for attorneys from McCarter & English LLP and Womble Bond Dickinson who represented a swimming pool salt system supplier in a trial against a competitor, finding the case qualifies as exceptional since the opposing company acted "unreasonably."

  • August 26, 2024

    Printing Biz Can't Undo Invalidity Findings Despite Settlement

    A California federal judge says that he won't rethink a jury's conclusion earlier this year that claims in two patents covering a way of coating printer paper were invalid, even if the French printing company that owns them decided to settle with an accused infringer after losing at trial.

  • August 26, 2024

    Motorola Says Hytera Owes $58M For Radio Royalty Contempt

    Motorola Solutions told an Illinois federal judge Monday that Chinese rival Hytera Communications owes more than $58 million in royalties for a mobile radio it purportedly redesigned after a jury found it misappropriated trade secrets, asserting the radio's retooled source code is still improperly based on the same protected architecture.

  • August 26, 2024

    Jury Awards Lashify $31M In Worldbeauty Patent Case

    Lashify Inc., a California company that sells do-it-yourself eyelash extension kits, is entitled to more than $30.5 million in damages from a China-based rival that infringed three of its patents, a federal jury in Texas has found, potentially opening the door to more intellectual property litigation in the beauty industry.

  • August 26, 2024

    Hikma Urges Full Fed. Circ. To End Vascepa Skinny-Label Suit

    Hikma Pharmaceuticals has asked the full Federal Circuit to intervene after a panel determined it must face infringement litigation over its generic version of Amarin Pharma Inc.'s blockbuster cardiovascular drug Vascepa.

  • August 26, 2024

    Ramones Heir Says Widow Is Infringing Group's TMs

    The brother of late punk rocker Joey Ramone took his bandmate Johnny Ramone's widow to New York federal court for allegedly infringing several of the band's trademarks as part of what the suit says is an effort to boost her own celebrity image by "riding on the coattails of the Ramones."

  • August 26, 2024

    NJ Marine Fuel Co. Sues Rival Formed By Ex-Employees

    A New Jersey marine fuel buyer has accused two brothers who worked for the company of misappropriating trade secrets and illegally accessing confidential information when they resigned to form a new venture in the same market, according to a lawsuit filed in New Jersey federal court.

  • August 26, 2024

    Restaurants Seek Grubhub's Revenue, Staff Info For TM Suit

    Restaurants pursuing a proposed class action against Grubhub Inc. for alleged trademark infringement have urged an Illinois federal court to order the food-delivery platform to comply with discovery requests, including information about orders and revenue from establishments that never agreed to partner with Grubhub.

  • August 26, 2024

    Shkreli Must Give Up Copies Of Unique Wu-Tang Clan Album

    Martin Shkreli must hand over any copies he made of a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album while a challenge from the crypto project that holds the sole physical copy plays out, a New York federal judge ordered Monday.

  • August 26, 2024

    NC State '83 Basketball Champs Add TV Networks To NIL Suit

    Members of the 1983 North Carolina State basketball championship team, known as the Cardiac Pack, have added CBS and TNT to their lawsuit alleging their name, image and likeness were exploited by the National Collegiate Athletic Association and others to garner untold amounts during March Madness without the players seeing a dime.

  • August 26, 2024

    Masimo, Apple Fight Over Jury Hearing Trade Secrets Claims

    After a California jury deadlocked last year in Masimo's high-stakes intellectual property case against Apple over the way the latter company's watches are programmed to monitor blood oxygen, the medical technology contractor says it wants a bench trial to address its trade secrets claims next time around, but Apple is opposing that move.

  • August 26, 2024

    White & Case Lands Chicago IP Partner From Mayer Brown

    White & Case LLP has continued to expand its footprint in Chicago by adding an intellectual property attorney as a partner in its global technology industry group, the firm said Monday.

  • August 26, 2024

    RTX Settles Bearing Co.'s Trade Secrets Suit On Eve Of Trial

    Defense contractor RTX Corp. on Monday settled claims that it passed a Connecticut roller bearing manufacturer's sensitive design drawings to a competitor, averting a trial set to begin this week.

  • August 26, 2024

    Judge Declines To Enhance $45M Doorbell Video IP Verdict

    A Texas federal judge said Monday that Vivint Inc. need only pay the $45.4 million a jury said it owes video doorbell maker SB IP Holdings LLC for infringing its audiovisual patents along with pre- and post-judgment interest, declining to enhance the award at the patent holder's request.

  • August 26, 2024

    9th Circ. Chief Judge Cleared Of Judicial Misconduct Claims

    The Judicial Council of the Ninth Circuit on Friday cleared its chief judge of judicial misconduct claims alleging she failed to timely investigate a Los Angeles judge's decision to have a lawyer handcuffed and detained during contempt proceedings, finding the allegations were unfounded.

  • August 26, 2024

    Toy Giant Playing Games With Royalties, Suit Says

    Toy maker Spin Master Ltd. is shorting a Massachusetts company on royalties it agreed to pay to use designs for a handful of big-wheeled, remote-controlled monster trucks and other vehicles, according to a state court lawsuit.

  • August 26, 2024

    Judge Won't Vacate Claim Construction In Settled Patent Case

    An Indiana federal judge has dismissed an insulation patent suit that had been running for years just before trial, but declined to vacate her prior claim construction order because it "would likely disserve the public interest" and waste the significant effort put into the case already.

  • August 23, 2024

    Abbott Judge Suggests $54M Judgment In Test Strip TM Case

    A New York federal magistrate judge has recommended that default judgments totaling more than $54 million be entered against 85 companies and individuals who didn't respond to Abbott Laboratories' nearly decade-old trademark suit over gray-market diabetes test strips, according to a report and recommendation filed Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • Tracking China's Push To Invalidate Foreign Patents

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    China’s increasing use of courts and administrative panels to nullify patents in strategically important industries, such as technology, pharmaceuticals and rare-earth minerals, raises serious concerns about the intellectual property rights of foreign businesses operating there, say Rajat Rana and Manuel Valderrama at Selendy Gay.

  • 3 Ways To Fight Alice Rejections Of Blockchain Patents

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    With blockchain-related patent application filings on the rise, Thomas Isaacson at Polsinelli offers strategies for responding to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office determinations that the blockchain network is just a generic computer and patent-ineligible under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 Alice v. CLS Bank decision.

  • F1 Driver AI Case Sheds Light On Winning Tactics In IP Suits

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    A German court recently awarded damages to former F1 driver Michael Schumacher's family in an artificial intelligence dispute over the unlicensed use of his image, illustrating how athletes are using the law to protect their brands, and setting a precedent in other AI-generated image rights cases, William Bowyer at Lawrence Stephens.

  • 8th Circ. Insurance Ruling Spotlights Related-Claims Defenses

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    The Eighth Circuit’s recent Dexon v. Travelers ruling — that the insurer must provide a defense despite the policy’s related-acts provision — provides guidance for how policyholders can overcome related-acts defenses, say Geoffrey Fehling and Jae Lynn Huckaba at Hunton.

  • Counterfeits At The Olympics Pose IP Challenges

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    With the 2024 Olympic Games quickly approaching, the proliferation of counterfeit Olympic merchandise poses a difficult challenge to the protection of intellectual property rights and the preservation of the Olympic brand's integrity, says Kimiya Shams at Devialet.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.

  • Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In May

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    A look at recent cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court provide guidance on how to succeed on appeal by clarifying the obviousness analysis of design patents, the finality of a judgment, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • Momofuku Chili War May Chill Common Phrase TM Apps

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    Momofuku’s recent trademark battle over the “Chili Crunch” mark shows that over-enforcement when protecting exclusivity rights may backfire not just in the public eye, but with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as well, says Anthony Panebianco at Davis Malm.

  • Trademark In Artistic Works 1 Year After Jack Daniel's

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    In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court's Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products ruling, courts have applied Jack Daniel's inconsistently to deny First Amendment protection to artistic works, providing guidance for dismissing trademark claims relating to film and TV titles, say Hardy Ehlers and Neema Sahni at Covington.

  • NCAA Settlement May End The NIL Model As We Know It

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    The recent House v. NCAA settlement in California federal court, in which the NCAA agreed to allow schools to directly pay March Madness television revenue to their athletes, may send outside name, image and likeness collectives in-house, says Mike Ingersoll at Womble Bond.

  • Legal Battles Show Brands' Dilemma In Luxury Resale Trend

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    Recent litigation, such as Chanel's pending case against The RealReal, underscores the intricate balance luxury brands must strike between protecting their trademarks and embracing the burgeoning secondhand market that values sustainability, says Prachi Ajmera at Michelman & Robinson.

  • AI-Generated Soundalikes Pose Right Of Publicity Issues

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    Artificial intelligence voice generators have recently proliferated, allowing users to create new voices or manipulate existing vocals with no audio engineering expertise, and although soundalikes may be permissible in certain cases, they likely violate the right of publicity of the person who is being mimicked, says Matthew Savare at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Why Jurors Balk At 'I Don't Recall' — And How To Respond

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    Jurors often react negatively to a witness who responds “I don’t remember” because they tend to hold erroneous beliefs about the nature of human memory, but attorneys can adopt a few strategies to mitigate the impact of these biases, say Steve Wood and Ava Hernández at Courtroom Sciences.

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