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Intellectual Property

  • Featured

    CRISPR Patent Ruling May Push Warring Sides To A Deal

    By Ryan Davis

    The Federal Circuit’s decision Monday rejecting the University of California’s efforts to secure control over patents on the breakthrough gene-editing system CRISPR in a fight with the Broad Institute leaves an unsettled patent landscape for the technology that could spur the parties to strike a deal, attorneys say.

  • September 4, 2018

    Getinge Dodges Subsidiary's Blood Pump Patent Fight

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Tuesday released Swedish medical device company Getinge AB from a battle over the legal rights to a blood pump method, saying Abiomed Inc. had failed to claim Getinge had any stake in the contested patent.

  • September 4, 2018

    VirnetX Can't Get Apple Patent Damages Doubled To $1B

    Despite a federal jury's finding earlier this year that Apple Inc.'s infringement of four VirnetX Inc. patents was willful, a Texas federal judge declined to double a $502.6 million award, according to an order unsealed Tuesday.

  • September 4, 2018

    USPTO Swears In Ex-Ford IP Atty As Head Of Detroit Office

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s has sworn in a new director of its Detroit-based Midwest regional office, an intellectual property attorney who spent nearly three decades overseeing Ford Motor Co.’s patent portfolio, the USPTO announced in a tweet Tuesday.

  • September 4, 2018

    Generics Cos. Urge Fed. Circ. To Upend Depomed Patent Win

    A group of generic-drug makers urged a Federal Circuit panel Tuesday to nix patents upheld, and found infringed, for Depomed Inc.’s opioid painkiller Nucynta, arguing that the patents cover follow-on developments that offered no improvement on an older invention or would have been obvious for others to try.

  • September 4, 2018

    Apple Asks Court For Win In Qualcomm Chip IP Dispute

    Apple has asked a California federal judge to trim a slew of counterclaims launched by Qualcomm in a sprawling contract and competition dispute over the chipmaker's patent licensing tactics, arguing that the court can't step in to decide whether Qualcomm satisfied its commitments to offer patent licenses to rivals but has enough evidence to find it double-dipped on sales and royalties.

  • September 4, 2018

    Apple Seeks To Duck Damages In Smartphone Chip Fight

    Apple Inc. has urged a Florida federal court to foist any damages in a smartphone patent suit onto Qualcomm Inc., saying patent holder ParkerVision Inc.'s infringement claims against both tech giants only apply to Qualcomm chips inside phones and that Apple merely buys the devices.

  • September 4, 2018

    PTAB Can't Nix Amended IPR Claims Under Alice, Uniloc Says

    Uniloc on Friday urged the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to reconsider its decision not to allow the company to amend a patent in inter partes review, arguing the board should never have analyzed whether the substitute claims were patentable under the Supreme Court’s Alice decision.

  • September 4, 2018

    PTAB Again Upholds Cisco Patent On Remand From Fed Circ.

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Tuesday upheld the validity of a computer network patent owned by Cisco Systems Inc., finding after the case was sent back from the Federal Circuit that the patent claims challenged by Arista Networks Inc. are not obvious in light of prior art.

  • September 4, 2018

    ResMed Asks ITC, Calif. Court To Block Import Of Sleep Aids

    Respiratory medical device maker ResMed Inc. has ramped up its patent fight with a rival, asking the International Trade Commission to block imports from New Zealand and simultaneously filing a patent suit in California federal court.

  • September 4, 2018

    Fed. Circ. Revives IV Patent Suit Against T-Mobile, Others

    The Federal Circuit ruled Tuesday that a Delaware federal judge incorrectly granted summary judgment that T-Mobile USA Inc., U.S. Cellular Corp. and Ericsson Inc. did not infringe an Intellectual Ventures LLC telecommunications patent, saying the decision was based on an incorrect claim construction.

  • September 4, 2018

    'Ask' Web Co. Can't Nix 'AskBot' Trademark, TTAB Says

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has ruled against the web company once known as Ask Jeeves, refusing to cancel a smaller company’s trademark registration on the term "AskBot."

  • September 4, 2018

    SAP Looks To Duck Data Co.'s Trade Secrets, Antitrust Suit

    SAP SE urged a California federal court on Friday to dismiss a suit brought by data analytics company Teradata Corp. that accuses the software maker of stealing trade secrets through their collaboration and using them to launch an anti-competitive product, calling the product “revolutionary” and saying it was developed independently.

  • September 4, 2018

    Court Can't Block Nonfinal Compounding Policy, FDA Says

    Par Pharmaceutical is being premature by asking a D.C. federal court to enjoin a nonfinal policy regarding whether drugs like Par's blood pressure medication vasopressin can be compounded by outside companies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration told the court.

  • September 4, 2018

    PTAB Says It Need Only Address 1 Claim To Start Review

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has said it can analyze just a single claim when deciding whether to examine a patent in America Invents Act review, standing by an approach that has become more common in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in SAS Institute.

  • September 4, 2018

    Ex-NFLers Cite Bette Midler In Pursuing 'Madden' Class

    A group of retired NFL players is urging a federal judge to undo a decision that barred them from collectively suing Electronic Arts Inc. for featuring them in Madden video games, saying it would run afoul of a famous ruling won by singer Bette Midler.

  • September 4, 2018

    Frito-Lay Says ‘Pretzel Crisp’ Trademark Fight Is Getting Stale

    PepsiCo's Frito-Lay Inc. is urging a North Carolina federal judge to uphold a ruling by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that “pretzel crisps” is a generic phrase, saying that rival snack maker Snyder’s-Lance has twice been shut down by the board and is now “desperate for a different outcome” in court.

  • September 4, 2018

    ABA Urges High Court To Allow 'Speedier' Copyright Suits

    The American Bar Association on Tuesday jumped into a U.S. Supreme Court case over whether copyright owners must fully register their works before suing, urging the justices to allow for "speedier" filing of infringement lawsuits.

  • August 31, 2018

    9th Circ. Won't Redo 'Monkey Selfie' Decision

    The Ninth Circuit on Friday ruled that it would not grant a full panel reconsideration of its decision in the “monkey selfie” case, that animals cannot sue for copyright infringement, a decision that ended a dispute over who had rights to a photograph taken by a macaque.

  • August 31, 2018

    MLB Media Wants IP Axed, Poaching Claims Arbitrated

    MLB Advanced Media on Friday sought arbitration for claims that it poached a key employee from its graphics partner and asked a New York federal court to invalidate as abstract a patent that covers video graphics that show the strike zone and a ball’s path.

  • August 31, 2018

    Bob Ross 'Little Trees' Air Fresheners Hit With Trademark Suit

    Bob Ross Inc. might not be painting any more happy little trees to brighten up rearview mirrors after an air freshener company famous for its own pungent pines accused the company of copying its tree designs, according to a trademark suit entered Friday in New York federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • Post-SAS, To File Or Not To File A Preliminary Response?

    Christopher McKee

    Following the U.S. Supreme Court's SAS decision, those faced with an inter partes review petition are unsure whether it is worthwhile for the patent owner to consider filing a preliminary response. But based on 21 recent IPR decisions to institute a trial, it appears that the preliminary response still has potential value, says Christopher McKee of Banner & Witcoff Ltd.

  • 6 Trends Will Shape Future International Commercial Disputes

    Cedric Chao

    The world of international litigation and arbitration tends to move slowly — however, I expect the pace of change to accelerate in the coming decade as six trends take hold, says Cedric Chao, U.S. head of DLA Piper's international arbitration practice.

  • The Meaning Of 'At Least 1 Of A And B' At PTAB

    Braden Katterheinrich

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's 2017 Jung decision — recently designated as "informative" — establishes that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office presumes a narrower interpretation of the phrase “at least one of A and B” than many courts and board panels have previously found, say Braden Katterheinrich and Nick Anderson of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.

  • SAP Ruling's Curious Approach To Subject Matter Eligibility

    Jeffrey Mann

    While the Federal Circuit's conclusion in SAP v. InvestPic meshes nicely with years of Section 101 jurisprudence, the decision awkwardly invoked an antiquated rationale, say Jeffrey Mann and J. Colby Van Horn of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP.

  • The Future Of Authenticating Audio And Video Evidence

    Jonathan Mraunac

    The recent emergence of artificial intelligence-based technology has prompted serious concerns about the future integrity of recordings. Attorneys must think critically about standards for authenticating audio and video evidence as well as legislative and regulatory safeguards to discourage pervasive manipulation and forgery, says Jonathan Mraunac of Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC.

  • Must Whole Patent Be Nixed To Forfeit 180-Day Exclusivity?

    Jaimin Shah

    Under the Hatch-Waxman Act, what happens to a first applicant’s 180-day exclusivity when the Federal Circuit issues a final decision rendering less than all of a patent's claims invalid or not infringed? We have not found a court or U.S. Food and Drug Administration decision that has considered this question, say Jaimin Shah and Steve Auten of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP.

  • Trademarks In The Hermit Kingdom Of North Korea

    Jorge Espinosa

    As people begin to consider the possibility of changes in the commercial relationship between North Korea and the United States, businesses and even intellectual property attorneys may realize how little they know about trademarks in North Korea, says Jorge Espinosa of Espinosa Martinez PL.

  • The Emperor Of Alice’s Abstract Wonderland

    Andrew Michaels

    Stepping through Alice’s two-part test for determining whether a patent impermissibly claims an abstract idea often feels like falling down a rabbit hole. In his dissent last week in Interval Licensing v. AOL, Federal Circuit Judge S. Jay Plager proposed two solutions. I support one but am skeptical of the other, says Andrew Michaels, a professor at the University of Houston Law Center.

  • Opinion

    A Clever Scheme To Protect Invalid Patents Has Failed

    John Thorne

    The Federal Circuit's decision in St. Regis v. Mylan rejected tribal sovereign immunity as a defense against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's inter partes review process. Had the court ruled in favor of St. Regis, every holder of questionable U.S. patents would be rushing to Native American tribes, seeking deals to shelter possibly bogus rights, says John Thorne of the High Tech Inventors Alliance.

  • Opinion

    Law360's Global 20 Doesn't Acknowledge Global Networks

    Glenn Cunningham

    While I read with interest Law360's report analyzing the top 20 global law firms of 2018, I also noticed it doesn't tell the whole story. Global networks of independent law firms compare favorably with multinational firms in terms of geographic coverage, legal expertise, and awareness of local cultures and customs, says Glenn Cunningham of Interlaw Ltd.