Intellectual Property

  • 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."

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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. 

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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."

  • April 03, 2024

    VLSI's Bid To Undo Intel Patent Win Is Scrutinized On Appeal

    A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned VLSI's position that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly found claims of its computer memory patent invalid in a challenge by Intel, suggesting that a previous ruling may have foreclosed VLSI's argument.

  • April 03, 2024

    Hytera's Word Alone Won't Lift $1M-Per-Day Sanctions

    An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday refused to lift a $1 million-a-day fine and other contempt sanctions against Hytera Communications without more proof it was out of options to derail Chinese litigation Hytera started against Motorola Solutions, saying she could no longer take the company's representations at face value.

  • April 03, 2024

    Models Get $95K Default Win In Strip Club Piracy Suit

    A Washington federal judge ordered a Seattle strip club to pay a group of professional models $95,000 in damages on Wednesday, after finding it had engaged in "amateur piracy" by using their photos without permission and failed to defend itself.

  • April 03, 2024

    Sen. Durbin Urged To Pass Legislation To Curb Judge Shopping

    A coalition of more than 20 organizations have called on Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to curtail the use of judge shopping through legislation and oversight because they believe more is needed beyond the Judicial Conference of the United States' latest action to curb "right wing" influence over the courts. 

  • April 03, 2024

    TikTok Defeats Video Tech Patent Suit Over 'For You' Feature

    TikTok Inc. permanently defeated video technology developer 10Tales' infringement suit alleging the video-sharing giant's "For You" feature copied its invention covering a digital "recommendation system" presenting customized content relevant to users based on their social network information for advertising, after a California federal judge said Tuesday the concept was abstract and not inventive.

  • April 03, 2024

    Reba McEntire's Ex-Hubby Loses Bid To Cancel Farm Name TM

    The ex-husband of country star Reba McEntire has lost a bid to cancel the trademark "Starstruck Farm" after the man who bought the property kept the name, with a Tennessee federal judge finding that McEntire's former husband, Narvel Blackstock, has not met his burden regarding likelihood of confusion or bad faith to profit off the name.

  • April 03, 2024

    1-800-Flowers Seeks $4.3M In Fees After Rival's IP Suit Failed

    After dispatching a trademark infringement lawsuit from Edible Arrangements last month, rival retailer 1-800-Flowers.com told a Georgia federal judge on Tuesday it should be entitled to up to $4.3 million attorney fees for being forced to defend against the "anemic" and "oppressive" litigation.

  • April 03, 2024

    Mintz Adds Trademark Pro From Winston & Strawn In Calif.

    Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC has hired an attorney for its intellectual property practice group who worked for more than a decade at Winston & Strawn LLP and spent brief in-house stints at Nike and video game company Capcom.

  • April 02, 2024

    Bong Maker Says Texas Company Is Ripping Off Its Trademark

    A California-based bong maker says a Texas company used its registered trademarks on phony water pipes, telling a federal court Monday that the counterfeit marks leave customers confused and are causing the brand's reputation to go up in smoke.

  • April 02, 2024

    Podcast Agrees To Ax AI-Generated George Carlin Special

    The makers of Dudesy, a comedy podcast created and written by artificial intelligence, have agreed to take down a fake comedy special that "resurrected" George Carlin and to refrain from using the late comedian's image, voice and likeness without permission, Carlin's estate told a California federal judge Tuesday.

  • April 02, 2024

    USPTO Stands By Proposal To Increase Many Patent Fees

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released a proposal Tuesday to increase many patent-related fees beginning next year, standing by planned hikes related to requesting continued examination, design patents and post-grant challenges that have drawn concern.

  • April 02, 2024

    'This Just Has To Stop': Judge Hits Hytera With $1M Daily Fine

    An Illinois federal judge imposed a daily $1 million fine and other steep contempt sanctions against Hytera Communications on Tuesday, as she ripped the company for violating her order to refrain from participating in Chinese litigation that could undermine Motorola Solutions' $530 million mobile radio trade secrets trial win.

  • April 02, 2024

    Judge Notes There's No 'Jump To Conclusions' Mat In His Court

    In throwing out a lawsuit against a luxury car brand, a Delaware federal judge likened an expert report proffered by a patent litigation outfit to the absurd "Jump To Conclusions" mat from the 1999 movie "Office Space."

Expert Analysis

  • Understanding Discovery Obligations In Era Of Generative AI

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Attorneys and businesses must adapt to the unique discovery challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence, such as chatbot content and prompts, while upholding the principles of fairness, transparency and compliance with legal obligations in federal civil litigation, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • New Legal Frameworks Are Instrumental For AI In Music

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    As artificial intelligence encroaches — or complements — the deeply human art of music making, creating harmony between law and technology will require all stakeholders in the music industry to provide input on intellectual property and ethical concerns, say Ariela Benchlouch and Gai Sher at Greenspoon Marder.

  • IP Suits Over Brand Owner Font Use Offer Cautionary Tales

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    Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme and Mallory Chandler at Pryor Cashman consider the history of fonts and point to recent court decisions that show how brand owners can avoid legal typeface troubles.

  • Copyright Ruling A Victory For Innovation In Publishing Sector

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    The D.C. Circuit’s recent ruling in Valancourt v. Garland shows that demanding book copies without paying for them is arguably property theft, proving that the practice stifles innovation in the publishing industry by disincentivizing small printing companies from entering the market due to a fear of high costs and outdated government regulations, says Zvi Rosen at Southern Illinois University School of Law.

  • 3 Rulings Illustrate Infringement Hurdles For Hip-Hop Plaintiffs

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    Three district court decisions dismissing hip-hop copyright claims recently came down in quick succession, indicating that plaintiffs face significant hurdles when they premise claims on the use of words, phrases and themes that are common in the genre, say Benjamin Halperin and Shiara Robinson at Cowan DeBaets.

  • Rethinking Tech Contract Terms For Governance Of AI Use

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    Traditional considerations in technology deals are often inadequate for governing artificial intelligence use, which means lawyers should revisit and reimagine existing terms across the full spectrum of relevant contracts, ranging from procurement agreements and data licenses to customer agreements, say Marina Aronchik and Samuel Hartman at Mayer Brown.

  • Deploying Analogies To Explore AI Copyright Questions

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    Xin Shao at F. Chau & Associates translates two representative artificial intelligence copyright cases into more traditional copyright law scenarios to facilitate the direct application of legal theories to undisputed technological facts.

  • The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

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    In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.

  • What's At Stake In Bystolic 'Side Deals' Litigation

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    In re: Bystolic Antitrust Litigation, which has oral argument set for next month, will likely shed light on how the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit views side deals, and could create a circuit split in pleading standards for reverse payment cases, say attorneys at Axinn.

  • Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

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    The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Best Practices For Defense Tech Startup Financing

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    Navigating the expanding and highly regulated defense technology sector requires careful planning and execution, starting at incorporation, so startups should prepare for foreign investor issues, choose their funding wisely and manage their funds carefully, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • 'Trump Too Small' Args Show Justices Inclined To Reverse

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    The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the "Trump Too Small" trademark case Vidal v. Elster — and the tenor of the justices' feedback makes it clear that the refusal to register a mark under the Lanham Act most likely does not violate free speech rights, as opposed to the Federal Circuit's decision last year, says Brian Brookey at Tucker Ellis.

  • FTC Orange Book Move Signals New Pharma Patent Scrutiny

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    The Federal Trade Commission's recent dispute against improper listing of drug patents in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book indicates heightened surveillance of the pharmaceutical industry, particularly where competition-related consequences of patent or regulatory processes are concerned, say attorneys at Fenwick.

  • AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

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    Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Why The Effect Of Vivint Has Been Minimal

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    A survey of recent ex parte reexamination decisions since the Federal Circuit’s 2021 In re: Vivint decision appears to support the court’s conclusion that the ruling was limited in scope and would have limited impact, says Yao Wang at Fish & Richardson.

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