Intellectual Property

  • May 03, 2024

    Nikola Ends Board Takeover Suit As Ex-CEO's Noms Withdraw

    An Arizona federal judge on Thursday agreed to toss Nikola Corp.'s complaint against its former CEO and convicted felon Trevor Milton and several others accusing them of an illegal board takeover by pushing unqualified candidates, after the defendants withdrew their board nominees and the parties amicably resolved the dispute.

  • May 03, 2024

    Grubhub Urges Justices Not To Review Kroger TM Dispute

    Grubhub told the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday that there's no need for the justices to review the Seventh Circuit's recent finding that consumers are unlikely to confuse Grubhub's logo with a logo used by Kroger's meal-kit delivery service Home Chef, arguing the trademark case doesn't raise a novel issue warranting review.

  • May 03, 2024

    GoPro Gets ITC To Probe Patent Case Over Camera Imports

    The U.S. International Trade Commission said it is going to look into allegations that certain imports of cameras have violated federal law by infringing a variety of patents owned by GoPro.

  • May 03, 2024

    Fintech Co. Says PNC Acknowledged Use Of Logo For Years

    Fintech company Plaid Inc. tried to fend off PNC Bank's allegations it tricked customers into handing over confidential account information, telling a Pennsylvania federal judge on Friday that the bank knew its trademarks were being used on Plaid's system.

  • May 03, 2024

    How Big IP Judgment Winners Are Insuring 'Nuclear Verdicts'

    Until a few years ago, intellectual property plaintiffs who scored large monetary awards — often referred to as "nuclear verdicts" — had to wait out a lengthy appellate process before knowing how much money they would end up with. But a relatively new type of insurance policy is allowing plaintiffs to insure part of their judgment in case it gets reduced or wiped out on appeal. 

  • May 03, 2024

    Craft Brewer Says Tequila Co. Can't Void Its 'Dragon's Milk' TM

    A Michigan craft brewer filed a trademark action against a Mexican tequila company Thursday for trying to invalidate the brewer's "Dragon's Milk" name for being similar to the defendant's "Casa Dragones" mark, arguing the tequila maker's brand isn't a household name or famous, as defined by the federal Lanham Act.

  • May 03, 2024

    Off The Bench: DraftKings, FIFA Warning, Charity Turmoil

    In this week's Off The Bench, DraftKings blocks a former executive from working at an emerging rival in the U.S., FIFA's transfer rules get flagged as a potential antitrust breach and the nonprofit marshaling donations to NFL safety Damar Hamlin sues its former counsel over media leaks.

  • May 03, 2024

    Law Firm Pans Photographer's IP Suit Over Website Image

    The Schmidt Firm asked a Texas federal judge Friday to ax a professional photographer's allegations the Dallas-based firm illegally posted his copyrighted image of convicted sexual abuser and ex-Columbia University obstetrician-gynecologist Robert Hadden on its website without permission.

  • May 03, 2024

    2nd Circ. Upholds Adidas TM Trial Loss To Thom Browne

    The Second Circuit upheld a jury verdict that found fashion brand Thom Browne's shoes and apparel did not rip off Adidas' iconic three-stripe logo, saying Friday that a Manhattan federal judge did not make a mistake with the instructions he provided jurors.

  • May 03, 2024

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

    The past week in London has seen rapper Ivorian Doll hit with a copyright claim, private members club Aspinalls file a claim against a Saudi sheikh, and Motorola Solutions file a claim against the British government on the heels of its dispute over losing a £400 million ($502 million) government contract. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • May 02, 2024

    Digital Rights Nonprofit's Bid To Unseal IP Docs Is Too Late

    Electronic Frontier Foundation cannot unseal filings in a chipmaker's patent suit against Charter Communications Inc., a Texas federal judge ruled Thursday, saying the digital rights nonprofit's bid to intervene in the case came too late.

  • May 02, 2024

    Jury Finds MacroAir Infringed Big Ass Fans' Patents

    Following a four-year dispute between a home-cooling outfit called Big Ass Fans and major rival MacroAir Technologies Inc., a California federal jury has found that MacroAir owes just about $665,000 in patent damages as well as an additional amount for false advertising, a total that was well below the over $100 million requested.

  • May 02, 2024

    Walgreens Fights $1B Arb. Award Over COVID Test Contract

    At-home lab test maker Everly Health urged a Delaware federal judge to affirm its nearly $1 billion arbitration award against Walgreens over claims the pharmacy chain deliberately misused the digital health platform's trademark while secretly diverting COVID-19 tests to its own pharmacists while Walgreens argued the arbitrator overstepped his authority in bestowing such an "egregious" award.

  • May 02, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Revives Axed Suit Tied To Amazon Patent Program

    The Federal Circuit ruled Thursday that a company alleging patent infringement through Amazon's patent evaluation program must face a declaratory judgment suit in the accused infringer's home state, rejecting a claim that the ruling will "open the floodgates" to such cases.

  • May 02, 2024

    Huawei Can't Get VoIP-Pal Patents Axed Under Alice

    A Northern District of Texas judge has shot down Huawei's motion that two VoIP-Pal.com patents on initiating mobile phone calls are invalid under the Alice standard for claiming only abstract ideas.

  • May 02, 2024

    Feds Call Out Gilead's Efforts To Revise HIV Drug IP Judgment

    The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a Delaware federal judge to reject Gilead Sciences' motion to modify a judgment finding that two medications in its HIV prevention regimen directly infringe voided patents owned by the government, arguing that the pharmaceutical company's attempt to rewrite the judgment is "unnecessary as well as improper."

  • May 02, 2024

    Pharma. Co. Wants Ex-Director To Stop Poaching Customers

    A pharmaceutical company has doubled down on its bid to stop a former director from soliciting customers for a rival drugmaker, saying he's trying to twist words in his contract and make up excuses for allegedly stealing trade secrets following his termination.

  • May 02, 2024

    Patent Board Rulings Send $3.3M Judgment Up In Flames

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions invalidating three networking patents that NetScout had been found to infringe, and then held that the holding wipes out a $3.3 million judgment against the company, because it was not yet final.

  • May 02, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Kirsch Research's Roofing Patent Loss

    The Federal Circuit has backed a decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that tossed all claims in a roofing patent owned by Kirsch Research and Development LLC, agreeing that it shouldn't have received patent protection in the first place.

  • May 02, 2024

    Conn. Gaming Co., Bingo Supplier Settle Soured Deal Suit

    A Connecticut gaming company and the bingo products supplier it accused of withholding assets it had promised to sell in a $1.2 million acquisition agreement settled their dispute the day before they began jury selection, according to a new notice filed in federal court.

  • May 02, 2024

    Calif. Justices To Review Gilead's HIV Drug Negligence Fight

    The California Supreme Court has granted Gilead Sciences Inc.'s request to review an appellate court's holding that the drugmaker must face claims it held back a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on an older medication.

  • May 02, 2024

    Cisco Counterfeiting Scheme Earns Fla. Man 6½ Years

    A Florida resident was sentenced to 6½ years in prison after pleading guilty to running what New Jersey federal prosecutors said was an "enormous" scheme to sell over $1 billion worth of counterfeit and broken Cisco networking devices.

  • May 02, 2024

    11th Circ. Rules Tribal Co. Is Not Immune In Trade Secrets Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit has revived a tribal-owned defense contractor's suit against another tribal-owned competitor and a former employee for allegedly stealing trade secrets, finding the competitor agreed to federal court jurisdiction when it participated in the bidding process for work on a missile detection system.

  • May 02, 2024

    Gilstrap Ships Altice IP Row To NY After $339M Google Verdict

    A Texas federal judge has granted a bid from cable company Altice to transfer a case accusing it of infringing a Touchstream patent on mobile app streaming to New York federal court.

  • May 02, 2024

    Davis Wright Brings On MoFo Appellate Litigator In San Fran

    Davis Wright Tremaine LLP has brought on a former Morrison Foerster LLP partner in San Francisco, strengthening its appellate practice with an experienced appellate litigator who clerked for a U.S. Supreme Court justice, a California Supreme Court justice and other judges, the firm announced Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • Generative AI Raises IP, Data Protection And Contracts Issues

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    As the EU's recent agreement on the Artificial Intelligence Act has fueled businesses' interest in adopting generative AI tools, it is crucial to understand how these tools utilize material to generate output and what questions to ask in relation to intellectual property, data privacy and contracts, say lawyers at Deloitte Legal.

  • Exporters Should Approach Self-Disclosure With Caution

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    A January Bureau of Industry and Security memorandum created an abbreviated process for disclosing export control violations that lack aggravating factors, but deciding which disclosure method to utilize remains a complex strategic undertaking to which companies must give careful consideration, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Is Compulsory Copyright Licensing Needed For AI Tech?

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    The U.S. Copyright Office's inquiry into whether Congress should establish a compulsory licensing regime for artificial intelligence technologies that are trained on copyrighted works has received relatively little attention — but commenters recently opposed the regime under three key themes, say Michael Kientzle and Ryan White at Arnold & Porter.

  • EDNY Ruling Charts 99 Problems In Rap Lyric Admissibility

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    A New York federal court’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Jordan powerfully captures courts’ increasing skepticism about the admissibility of rap lyrics as evidence in criminal trials, particularly at a time when artists face economic incentives to embrace fictional, hyperbolic narratives, say attorneys at Sher Tremonte.

  • 3 Principles For Minimizing The Risk Of A Nuclear Verdict

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    In one of the latest examples of so-called nuclear verdicts, a single plaintiff was awarded $2.25 billion in a jury trial against Monsanto — revealing the need for defense attorneys to prioritize trust, connection and simplicity when communicating with modern juries, say Jenny Hergenrother and Mia Falzarano at Alston & Bird.

  • Series

    Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.

  • SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap

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    As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.

  • Opinion

    Patent Waiver For COVID Meds Would Harm US Biopharma

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    If the Biden administration backs the World Trade Organization in waiving patent rights on COVID-19 treatments, it would negatively affect the U.S. biopharmaceutical industry and help foreign competitors, without necessarily expanding global access to COVID-19 care, says clinical pathologist Wolfgang Klietmann.

  • NCAA's Antitrust Litigation History Offers Clues For NIL Case

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    Attorneys at Perkins Coie analyze the NCAA's long history of antitrust litigation to predict how state attorney general claims against NCAA recruiting rules surrounding name, image and likeness discussions will stand up in Tennessee federal court.

  • Key Considerations For Evaluating An AI Vendor

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    As artificial intelligence technology advances across industries, businesses can mitigate risks, while maximizing the value of their investment, by evaluating technology, expertise, support services, transparency and more when selecting an AI vendor, say Rahul Kapoor and Shokoh Yaghoubi at Morgan Lewis.

  • Exploring The Foreign Discovery Trend In Delaware

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    Despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision limiting the use of Section 1782, recent trends from a Delaware federal court suggest that Delaware remains an appealing forum for such foreign discovery requests, says Florentina Field at Abrams & Bayliss.

  • SAG-AFTRA Contract Is A Landmark For AI And IP Interplay

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    SAG-AFTRA's recently ratified contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers introduced a framework to safeguard performers' intellectual property rights and set the stage for future discussions on how those rights interact with artificial intelligence — which should put entertainment businesses on alert for compliance, says Evynne Grover at QBE.

  • Googling Prospective Jurors Is Usually A Fool's Errand

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    Though a Massachusetts federal court recently barred Google from Googling potential jurors in a patent infringement case, the company need not worry about missing evidence of bias, because internet research of jury pools usually doesn’t yield the most valuable information — voir dire and questionnaires do, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • A Look Into How Jurors Reach High Damages Awards

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    In the wake of several large jury awards, Richard Gabriel and Emily Shaw at Decision Analysis shed light on challenges that jurors have in deciding them, the nonevidentiary and extra-legal methods they use to do so, and new research about the themes and jury characteristics of high-damages jurors.

  • What To Know About WDTX Standing Order For Patent Cases

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    Patent litigators should review and ensure compliance with the standing order recently issued by U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas — a popular patent litigation venue — which encompasses new deadlines, seeks to streamline discovery disputes, and further reflects the court's existing practices, says Archibald Cruz at Patterson + Sheridan.

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