Intellectual Property
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Top Story
More PTAB Fights Between Big Pharma Could Be Looming
Pharmaceutical firms like Pfizer Inc. are accustomed to having their patents for brand-name drugs challenged by generics makers at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. But companies that make innovative new drugs may increasingly find challenges coming from another front: other brand companies.
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July 12, 2017
Artist Says Snowboard Cos. Stole His Illustration
Two snowboard makers enlisted a graphic design company to copy an illustration by California artist Tony Hong, claimed they created it, then used it on T-shirts and a website without his permission and in violation of his copyright on the piece, Hong alleged in California federal court Tuesday.
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July 11, 2017
9th Circ. Revives Furniture Co.'s 'Slam Dunk' TM Case
The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday found that an Arizona furniture maker’s trademark case against a rival that had outright copied its logo had been a “slam dunk,” reversing a lower court’s finding that because the copycat items weren’t sold in the same region, consumers wouldn’t be confused.
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July 11, 2017
Nike Fouled Photog, Stole ‘Jumpman’ IP, 9th Circ. Told
Nike Inc. and a photographer duked it out before a Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday over allegations the apparel giant ripped off its iconic “Jumpman” logo from the photographer’s 1984 image of Michael Jordan, with the photographer arguing that the minor differences in the images can’t overcome their similarities.
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July 11, 2017
King Of Pop’s Co. Shorted Quincy Jones $30M, Jury Hears
Michael Jackson’s production company “shifted money” in order to wrongfully withhold $30 million in royalties owed to Quincy Jones for work he did on "Thriller," "Bad" and "Off the Wall," an attorney for the Grammy-winning music producer said Tuesday during opening statements in a California jury trial.
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July 11, 2017
Justice Breyer On The Limits Of Presidential Power
Justice Stephen Breyer discusses the Supreme Court’s role as a check on executive authority and the global influence on U.S. courts, in the first of two articles based on an exclusive interview with the justice. This is part of a series of exclusive Law360 interviews with current and former Supreme Court justices.
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July 11, 2017
Tenn. Judge Cites Gilstrap's Venue Test In Bed Bug IP Suit
A Tennessee federal court has taken notice of the patent venue test U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap laid out following the U.S. Supreme Court’s TC Heartland decision, citing the judge’s ruling and ordering additional briefing about whether a case over a patent for a bed bug trap should be dismissed.
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July 11, 2017
AIA Sponsor Wants Full Fed. Circ. To Weigh On-Sale Bar Rule
U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, urged the full Federal Circuit on Tuesday to review a panel decision that the America Invents Act’s on-sale bar rule renders patents invalid if the invention was sold prior to patenting even if the sale did not publicly disclose the invention, saying it’s not what Congress intended.
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July 11, 2017
The Firms Filing The Most Copyright Cases
Once again, the law firms that filed the most copyright suits in the second quarter of 2017 were small, specialized outfits that lodge many infringement cases over a single type of work, such as photography.
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July 11, 2017
The Firms Filing The Most Trademark Cases
The firms filing the most trademark lawsuits over the second quarter of 2017 were once again led by specialized anti-counterfeiting boutiques representing top fashion and apparel brands.
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July 11, 2017
The Firms Filing The Most Patent Cases
The list of law firms that filed the most patent cases in the second quarter of 2017 includes several firms from Texas and Delaware, often representing patent owners in cases against big-name companies over computer technologies or branded drug companies taking on generics makers.
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July 11, 2017
Skynyrd Frontman's Widow Says She'd Never Consent To Film
The widow of Lynyrd Skynyrd frontman Ronnie Van Zant testified Tuesday in a New York federal court that she would never in a million years have agreed to allow the band's former drummer to make a film about the plane crash in which Van Sant and others in the band died, in violation of a 1988 consent order limiting the use of the band's name and history.
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July 11, 2017
Ex-Novak Partners Ink Wage Deal, Eye Polsinelli To Collect
Two former Novak Druce Connolly Bove & Quigg LLP partners have inked a $500,000 settlement in their wage dispute with the troubled firm, and their attorney told Law360 on Tuesday he may pursue their former partners or Polsinelli PC, where many moved, in order to collect.
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July 11, 2017
Amazon Wants Its Fed. Circ. IP Win To Be Precedential
Amazon has asked the Federal Circuit to reissue a nonprecedential decision from May affirming the e-tailer didn’t infringe design patents on stuffed animal pillowcases as precedential, arguing Monday the ruling “adds significantly to the body of law.”
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July 11, 2017
Judge Says BigCommerce Patent Suit Should Stay In EDTX
An infringement suit over a website hosting patent that was filed just weeks before the U.S. Supreme Court’s TC Heartland decision should remain in the Eastern District of Texas, a judge said, finding BigCommerce Inc. lost its chance to fight venue by not raising the issue in earlier filings.
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July 11, 2017
FTC Appoints Endo Pay-For-Delay Settlement Monitor
The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday approved a monitor to oversee future agreements related to Endo Pharmaceuticals’ resolution of agency claims that it used pay-for-delay settlements to block consumers’ access to generic versions of drugs including Lidoderm.
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July 11, 2017
Giganews Says Adult Co. Still Owes $5.6M In Copyright Case
Giganews and Livewire Services hit Perfect 10 with a suit in California federal court Monday, alleging the adult entertainment company has failed to hand over the more than $5.6 million it was ordered to pay the two companies in 2015 following its failed copyright infringement suit against them.
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July 11, 2017
Momenta Tells Jury Amphastar Ripped Off Drug Patent
Drugmaker Momenta Pharmaceuticals Inc. and its partner in developing the first generic of the blood thinner enoxaparin told a federal jury in Boston on Tuesday that rival Amphastar stole its breakthrough testing technology, costing the Massachusetts company nearly $1 billion.
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July 11, 2017
Rupari Says Tony Roma License Deal Should Be Assigned
Bankrupt barbecued meat distributor Rupari Food Services Inc. said in a reply brief late Monday in Delaware that Tony Roma’s Steakhouse is wrong in its argument that a lucrative licensing agreement for Roma-branded meats cannot be assumed and assigned in Rupari's bankruptcy sale.
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July 10, 2017
Christmas Tree Co. Denies Acting Naughty In Atty Hiring
An artificial Christmas tree-maker said Monday there was nothing Grinch-like in its move to hire a lawyer who used to work with the California federal judge overseeing the company's patent infringement battle, arguing that the judge's subsequent recusal was unnecessary and its opponents' bid to disqualify the attorney unwarranted.
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July 10, 2017
French Telecom Co. Stole Facebook Calling App, Jury Told
A now-defunct San Francisco-based startup told a California federal jury during the first day of trial Monday that Orange SA hacked its proprietary phone application to steal its technology allowing users to call friends through social media sites without their phone numbers, weeks before the French telecom giant launched a similar service with Facebook.
Editor's Picks
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Supreme Court Forces Patent Litigation Into New Corners
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday put tighter restrictions on where patent owners can file infringement lawsuits, a decision that upends nearly 30 years of established practice and will likely force many lawsuits out of the patent litigation hotbed of the Eastern District of Texas. Here, check out all of our best coverage of the case.
Expert Analysis
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How 21st Century Cures Act Affects Combination Products
One of the more interesting changes under the 21st Century Cures Act for combination products is that certain device applications for drug-device combination products will be subject to some of the Hatch-Waxman Act provisions that typically apply only to drugs, say Shana Cyr and Tom Irving of Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP.
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Tough Times For Forum Shoppers
A trio of rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court has made this a difficult spring for forum-shopping lawyers. TC Heartland, BNSF Railway and now Bristol-Myers Squibb have enforced limits on exercise of personal jurisdiction over corporate defendants, sending an unmistakable message to lower courts, says Lawrence Ebner of Capital Appellate Advocacy PLLC.
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Antitrust And Misuse Considerations Following Lexmark
Since the U.S. Supreme Court's recent Lexmark decision held contractual limitations to be outside the scope of a patentee’s rights under the patent law, restrictions on sales of patented objects will be subject to unfair competition, antitrust and patent misuse law, says James Kobak, general counsel of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP.
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10 Problems To Avoid In Social Media Influencer Marketing
Most social media influencers are young and successful, a combination that can create great opportunity for your company, as well as major pitfalls. Some contract provisions can help keep things on track, says Neal Tabachnick of Wolf Rifkin Shapiro Schulman & Rabkin LLP.
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Fed. Circ. Weighs In On Prosecution Disclaimer In IPR
The Federal Circuit recently held that statements made by patentees during an inter partes review can constitute prosecution disclaimer. While the Aylus v. Apple decision seems sound from a public policy perspective, it creates tension between prosecution disclaimer and various types of estoppel that are closely related to prosecution disclaimer, say Jesse Jenike-Godshalk and Michael Nieberding of Thompson Hine LLP.
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Obviousness May Soon Return To High Court
Consensus is building that the U.S. Supreme Court should grant the petition to hear Samsung v. Apple. The issue that has received the most attention from the amici briefs and the most pages from the parties is how the Federal Circuit applied the obviousness analysis, say Derek Dahlgren and Spencer Johnson of Rothwell Figg Ernst & Manbeck PC.
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Why High Court Should Find IPR Constitutional
The inter partes review constitutionality case that the U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear is a perfect opportunity for the justices to exercise judicial restraint and indirectly address the public versus private property rights issue as was done in the B&B Hardware trademark case, says Kenneth Hairston, counsel at Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery LLP and a former administrative patent judge.
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Tips For Complying With ABA’s New Encryption Guidance
Last month, the American Bar Association published revised guidance regarding an attorney’s duty to protect sensitive client material in light of recent high-profile hacks. The first step in compliance is understanding how your data is being stored and accessed. There are three key questions you should ask your firm’s information technology staff and/or external solution vendors, says Nick Holda of PreVeil.
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High Court's Superficial Analysis In Biosimilars Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Monday in Sandoz v. Amgen only scratched the surface, particularly with respect to the notice of commercial marketing provision. The “one size fits all” notice of commercial marketing rule may leave certain biosimilar litigants in ill-fitting suits, say attorneys with King & Spalding LLP.
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'Dancing Baby' Copyright Case Through A Proper Lens: Part 2
The Ninth Circuit was correct in its finding that any fair-use analysis for a Digital Millennium Copyright Act takedown notice is a fact-based, subjective determination. According to the Lenz petition for certiorari, the Ninth Circuit’s decision would open the floodgates for a slew of unreasonable claims as grounds for removal of online speech — but the petition conflates incorrectly “subjective beliefs” with “unreasonable beliefs,... (continued)