Intellectual Property

  • September 13, 2024

    Intel's Appeal For Neural Network Tech Blows A Fuse

    Officials at the European Patent Office have rejected an appeal by Intel Corp. to register its patent application for deep neural network optimization, as it ruled that the protections it sought were unclear.

  • September 13, 2024

    Nestlé Can't Ax Danone's Whey Protein Patent At EPO

    Danone has rebuffed a bid by food and drink giant Nestlé to scrap its European patent for a whey protein composition, as it proved that using gum arabic as a sugar substitute was a new invention.

  • September 13, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen a football agent sue Chelsea FC after being cleared of allegations he threatened the club’s former director, an ongoing patent dispute between Amgen and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and a private school in Edinburgh suing Riverstone Insurance over compensation claims tied to historical abuse allegations made by former pupils. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • September 13, 2024

    Former MilliporeSigma Patent Atty Joins Polsinelli In St. Louis

    A patent expert and former in-house attorney with chemical and biotechnology company MilliporeSigma has joined Polsinelli PC's St. Louis office, continuing the law firm's expansion of its life sciences team.

  • September 13, 2024

    Hardware Seller Is Withholding $10M In Fees, Tech Co. Says

    A technology company has claimed it introduced a Canadian hardware seller to confidential contacts looking to buy graphics processors, and the seller secured sales from them, but is now withholding around $10.5 million in referral fees.

  • September 13, 2024

    EasyGroup Claims 'EasyCargo' TM Threatens Its Brand

    EasyGroup has sued a courier price comparison website over its use of trademark "EasyCargo," as the owner of no-frills airline easyJet alleged that this threatens its family of "easy" TMs in its ongoing battle against what it calls "brand thieves."

  • September 13, 2024

    Alcon Loses European Patent Over Eye Imaging Tech

    European officials have stripped Alcon Inc. of its protections over an eye-imaging device, ruling that the company's amended description of the technology's "ray tracing" process unlawfully broadened the patent.

  • September 12, 2024

    McKinsey Partner Can't Undo $11M Music Piracy Judgment

    An Eleventh Circuit panel Thursday upheld an $11 million federal default judgment against a McKinsey & Co. partner for pirating music, agreeing with the Georgia lower court that the motion to set aside the roughly 10-year-old order was untimely.

  • September 12, 2024

    Netgear Gets $135M In TP-Link IP Deal

    Netgear Inc. has received $135 million from TP-Link Systems Inc. as part of a settlement of the companies' patent and contract litigation over Wi-Fi routers in the U.S. International Trade Commission and California federal courts.

  • September 12, 2024

    Google Hit With 'Gemini' TM Suit Over AI Program Name

    Google LLC is facing a trademark infringement suit in California federal court by a small business that claims the tech giant made "the calculated decision to bulldoze over" its intellectual property rights by rebranding Google's large language model artificial intelligence program to Gemini.

  • September 12, 2024

    Court Seriously Overstepped In EUIPO Appeal, ECJ Told

    The General Court of the European Union overstepped when it decided to amend part of a decision by the EU intellectual property office based on a plea that it had raised in proceedings, an adviser told the bloc's highest court on Thursday.

  • September 12, 2024

    Lego Dodges German Rival's Block Design Challenges

    Lego has convinced European Union officials that two registered designs for its building blocks are valid, rebuffing challenges from a German toymaker claiming that the shapes should be nixed for lacking individual character.

  • September 12, 2024

    Ballard Spahr IP Pro Jumps To Taylor English In Atlanta

    Taylor English Duma LLP has expanded its Atlanta office with a patent procurement expert from Ballard Spahr LLP following the departures of nearly 20 lawyers who left the former in recent months for three other firms. 

  • September 12, 2024

    Stites & Harbison Eyes Conn. Office With Patent Team Pickup

    Stites & Harbison PLLC is stretching beyond its established offices in the South and Midwest with a planned Connecticut location, thanks to the pickup of three patent attorneys and three patent agents formerly with Cantor Colburn LLP.

  • September 12, 2024

    LG, Vodafone Join Sisvel's 'Internet Of Things' Patent Pool

    Telecommunication giants LG Electronics, Vodafone and KT Corp. of Korea have joined Sisvel's patent pool for cellular "Internet of Things" technology.

  • September 12, 2024

    Air Con Biz Frozen Out Of Bid To Revive Refrigerant Patent

    A Japanese air conditioning company cannot keep its patent over a refrigerant chemical because its distinguishing compounds would be an obvious addition to earlier iterations, an appeals panel has ruled.

  • September 12, 2024

    Sanofi Sets €320M Licensing Deal With US, French Biotechs

    Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi SA said Thursday that it will pay up to €320 million ($353 million) to U.S. biotechnology group RadioMedix Inc. and French medicine developer Orano Med for an exclusive license for a radiation treatment for rare cancers.

  • September 11, 2024

    Litigation Spending To Rise As Cases Grow More Aggressive

    A substantial number of large companies are expecting to increase their litigation spending by double digits next year in the face of more complex and hard-fought cases — and they are more open to bringing in new legal talent to navigate the matters, according to a report released Thursday. 

  • September 11, 2024

    The Firms That Handle The Most Trade Secrets Work

    Gordon Rees remains the most active law firm representing plaintiffs in trade secrets disputes, according to a new report by Lex Machina analyzing a three-year period from 2021 to 2023, while Littler Mendelson continues to lead the pack on the defendants' side during that same timeframe.

  • September 11, 2024

    Dua Lipa Can't Slip Copyright Claim In 'Levitating' IP Suit

    Pop singer Dua Lipa wasn't able to persuade a California federal judge to toss a copyright infringement claim in a suit over her hit song "Levitating" by a producer who alleges some of his samples were used without permission, but did get an accounting claim thrown out.

  • September 11, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Lets Roku IP Dispute Move From Texas To Calif.

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday declined to reverse a Texas district court's transfer of a suit accusing Roku of infringing patents on automatic content recognition technology for commercial advertising, holding the Texas court wasn't wrong to find California had a stronger local interest in the dispute.

  • September 11, 2024

    AGIS Accuses General Dynamics Stole Comms System Tech

    AGIS Inc. hit General Dynamics Corporation with a patent infringement suit in Texas federal court on Tuesday, accusing the global defense company of ripping off technology for a handheld communications device utilized by first responders.

  • September 11, 2024

    Reality Star Says Cosmetic Co. Can't 'Give Them Lala'

    Lala Kent, one of the stars of Bravo's "Vanderpump Rules," has hit a cosmetic company with a suit alleging it violated her intellectual property rights by selling an unauthorized lip product under her "Give Them Lala" brand.

  • September 11, 2024

    Kirkland Can't Shake Former Associate's Bias Suit

    A California federal judge has mostly rejected efforts by Kirkland & Ellis to pare down the discrimination suit of a former intellectual property associate, while also backing a prior order that prevented the firm from subpoenaing her former BigLaw employers for confidential personnel information.

  • September 11, 2024

    Full Fed. Circ. Snubs Google's Fight Over ITC's Powers

    The full Federal Circuit has shot down Google LLC's bid for review of a ruling that it infringed Sonos audio patents in light of a U.S. Supreme Court case that abolished deference to government agencies.

Expert Analysis

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

    Author Photo

    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Daubert Motion Trends In Patent Cases Reveal Damages Shift

    Author Photo

    A review of all 2023 Daubert decisions in patent cases reveals certain trends and insights, and highlights the complexity and diversity in these cases, particularly in relation to lost profits and reasonable royalty damages opinions, say Sherry Zhang and Joanne Johnson at Ocean Tomo.

  • 6 Factors That Can Make For A 'Nuclear' Juror

    Author Photo

    Drawing from recent research that examines the rise in nuclear verdicts, Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies identifies a few juror characteristics most likely to matter in assessing case risk and preparing for jury selection — some of which are long-known, and others that are emerging post-pandemic.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Considerations When Using Publicly Available Data To Train AI

    Author Photo

    To maximize the benefits and mitigate the risks of using publicly available data to train artificial intelligence models, companies should maintain a balance between openness and protection, and consider certain best practices, says Michael Cole at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America.

  • Parsing NJ Court's Rationale For Denying Lipitor Class Cert.

    Author Photo

    A New Jersey federal court's recent Lipitor rulings granting summary judgment and denying motions for class certification for two plaintiff classes offer insight into the level of rigorous analysis required by both parties and their experts to satisfy the requirements of class certification, says Catia Twal at Edgeworth Economics.

  • Opinion

    USPTO AI Patent Guidance Leaves Questions Unanswered

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recent guidance on artificial intelligence patent eligibility is unlikely to answer many of the open questions that AI patent applicants face, as it includes nominally new analysis that applicants can adopt to analyze their inventions, say attorneys at Fenwick & West.

  • Gilead Drug Ruling Creates Corporate Governance Dilemma

    Author Photo

    If upheld, a California state appellate court's decision — finding that Gilead is liable for delaying commercialization of a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on another drug — threatens to undermine long-standing rules of corporate law and exposes companies to liability for decisions based on sound business judgment, says Shireen Barday at Pallas.

  • Jarkesy Ruling May Redefine Jury Role In Patent Fraud

    Author Photo

    Regardless of whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jarkesy ruling implicates the direction of inequitable conduct, which requires showing that the patentee made material statements or omissions to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the decision has created opportunities for defendants to argue more substantively for jury trials than ever before, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

    Author Photo

    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

  • Attorneys Can Benefit From Reverse-Engineering Their Cases

    Author Photo

    Trial advocacy programs often teach lawyers to loosely track the progression of a lawsuit during preparation — case analysis, then direct examination, then cross-examination, openings and closings — but reverse-engineering cases by working backward from opening and closing statements can streamline the process and also improve case strategy, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Opinion

    Chevron Reversal May Protect IP Rights Under Bayh-Dole

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Chevron deference may block the Biden administration's nearly finalized guidance reinterpreting the Bayh-Dole Act, protecting intellectual property rights and preventing harm to innovation and economic activity, says Brian O'Shaughnessy at Dinsmore & Shohl.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

    Author Photo

    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • How To Deploy AI In A Dangerous Threat Landscape

    Author Photo

    Businesses are feeling immense pressure to deploy generative artificial intelligence tools to accelerate profits and demonstrate their technological superiority to investors and consumers, and there are a few steps they can take when using AI tools to mitigate liability risks, say B. Stephanie Siegmann and Julianna Malogolowkin at Hinckley Allen.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Intellectual Property archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!