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Intellectual Property
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Featured
Copyright Law's Nuances Pose Challenges To AI Music Suits
The rise of music created by artificial intelligence is introducing new challenges to copyright law, especially when AI-generated songs can sound strikingly similar to the works the technology is trained on.
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May 19, 2025
Let's Talk About Rights: Salt-N-Pepa Sue UMG To Reclaim IP
Hip-hop duo Salt-N-Pepa sued UMG in New York federal court on Monday, saying the music company refused to return the copyrights for several of their hits, including "Push It" and "Let's Talk About Sex," and for punishing their attempt to assert their rights by removing songs from streaming platforms and distribution channels.
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May 19, 2025
4th Circ. Partially Revives Eye Drop Maker's IP Theft Suit
A Fourth Circuit panel partially revived Monday eye drop maker OSRX Inc.'s trade secret theft lawsuit against a former sales executive who is accused of defecting to rival ImprimisRx with OSRX's confidential information, affirming the lower court's decision to send claims against the ex-executive to arbitration, but rebooting allegations against ImprimisRx.
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May 19, 2025
Co. Topples IP Dispute By Having Crane Patent Nixed
A Washington federal judge has dismissed an inventor's patent infringement case against a heavy lifting and transport company, finding that claims in the patent covering a crane system are invalid as indefinite.
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May 19, 2025
Va. State Judge Clears VLSI's Fraud Suit Against PQA
Patent Quality Assurance and an associated attorney must face litigation accusing them of fraud during an inter partes review against VLSI Technology, a Virginia state judge has concluded.
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May 19, 2025
Bluebird Beats Patent Case Over Blood Disease Therapies
A Delaware federal judge has tossed a lawsuit against Bluebird Bio alleging two of its multimillion-dollar gene therapy treatments for blood disorders infringed patents held by San Rocco Therapeutics LLC, after the dispute had been narrowed by a previous claim construction ruling.
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May 19, 2025
Judge Gilstrap Recuses From Cisco Patent Cases In EDTX
U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap has agreed to step away from overseeing a pair of lawsuits in his Texas courtroom accusing Cisco Systems Inc. of patent infringement, handing the cases off to another judge.
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May 19, 2025
U. Of Minnesota, Broadcom End Computer Storage IP Case
The Regents of the University of Minnesota have settled their hard disk drive patent infringement claims against two indirect Broadcom subsidiaries, according to a joint status report filed in California federal court.
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May 19, 2025
Licensing Co. Ends Caller ID Patent Suit Against Salesforce
A patent licensing company has decided to permanently end its suit in Texas federal court against Salesforce, which was accused of infringing the company's caller ID patent with its AI software products.
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May 19, 2025
Ex-Workers Want Mercer Global's Info Theft Suit Tossed
Two former employees and their new company have asked a Georgia federal court to dismiss wealth management firm Mercer Global Advisors' lawsuit accusing them of stealing confidential information to unlawfully solicit clients and transfer $90 million to their new business.
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May 19, 2025
9th Circ. Weighs 'WallStreetBets' Ownership In Reddit TM Suit
The Ninth Circuit on Monday wrestled with whether the founder of Reddit Inc.'s WallStreetBets forum owns the name or if it belongs to the platform, with a judge at one point wondering whether the parties could find a way to coexist.
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May 19, 2025
'Baby Shark' Wins Bid To Keep Knockoff Products Off Shelves
The PinkFong Co., creator of the viral "Baby Shark" song, has been granted a temporary restraining order against counterfeit businesses infringing its trademarks by advertising and distributing knockoff merchandise through their seller accounts on Amazon and Walmart, according to an order unsealed last week in New York federal court.
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May 19, 2025
Justices OK Tossing Copyright Case Against Ta-Nehisi Coates
A man who says author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates copied his work without permission lost his case at the U.S. Supreme Court after a majority of the justices recused themselves from the dispute.
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May 19, 2025
Heineken Unit Settles Palm Trees Beer Logo Dispute
A Heineken unit's beer brand with Cuban origins and its holding company have settled their trademark infringement suit accusing a rival brewery of infringing their palm trees logo, according to a Monday notice filed in Florida federal court.
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May 19, 2025
Epic Beats $32.5M Infringement Claim Over Fortnite Concerts
A Seattle federal jury said on Monday that Epic Games did not commit patent infringement by staging interactive concerts for players in the Fortnite virtual world starring pop artist Ariana Grande and rapper Travis Scott, rejecting an intellectual property firm's $32.5 million damages request following a weeklong trial.
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May 19, 2025
Fed. Circ. Sides With Samsung In PTAB Fight With Power2B
Samsung on Monday won a fight at the Federal Circuit over Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions regarding a pair of patents on stylus detection technology, finding all the challenged claims were unpatentable.
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May 19, 2025
Fed. Circ. Sends TM Fight Over Perfume Mark Back To TTAB
The Federal Circuit on Monday found that a trademark tribunal wrongly dismissed Sferra Fine Linens' opposition to Sfera Joven's trademark application, remanding the case with a directive that some of the likelihood-of-confusion factors be reanalyzed.
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May 19, 2025
NCAA Defends Latest NIL Deal Revisions In Bid For Approval
Contrary to claims by some athletes that they will be harmed by roster limitations in a proposed $2.78 billion name, image and likeness settlement, the NCAA has told a California federal judge the latest changes will ensure "beyond a doubt" those athletes are treated fairly.
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May 19, 2025
USPTO Seeks Input On Guidelines For Fighting Online Fakes
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a notice in the Federal Register on Monday requesting comments from intellectual property rights holders, online marketplaces and others on draft guidelines to combat the illicit trade and sale of counterfeit goods on the internet.
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May 16, 2025
Anthropic's AI-Hallucinated Errors Taint Filing, Publishers Say
Music publishers suing Anthropic for copyright infringement accused the artificial intelligence company on Friday of downplaying the seriousness of errors in a filing caused by Anthropic's own Claude AI tool, saying the company's counsel violated a judge's standing order and arguing that the filing at issue should be tossed.
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May 16, 2025
New PTAB Discretionary Denial Era Starts With First 4 Rulings
Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart on Friday denied two petitions challenging patents due to upcoming trials but said two others do not warrant denial, in the first orders under a new process whereby she will make all discretionary denial decisions.
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May 16, 2025
Epic Tells Jury Fortnite Concerts Weren't Patent Infringement
Epic Games urged a Seattle jury on Friday to reject allegations that it committed patent infringement when it staged interactive concerts in the Fortnite virtual world starring pop artist Ariana Grande and rapper Travis Scott, contending the accuser has mischaracterized the technology used in the events.
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May 16, 2025
USPTO Seeks Comment On Invention Promoter Complaints
In a Federal Register notice set to be published Monday, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said it is seeking comments about how it collects information on complaints about invention promoters, which are companies that promise to help people develop or market their inventions.
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May 16, 2025
Fed. Circ. Backs Apple PTAB Win Over Location-Tracking IP
The Federal Circuit has backed a series of Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that found a trio of beacon technology patents were invalid, handing a win to challenger Apple.
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May 16, 2025
Fed. Circ. Makes Apple Face Fintiv Payment IP Again
The Federal Circuit revived Fintiv Inc.'s infringement suit against Apple Inc. over contactless payments Friday, saying the Texas federal judge who freed Apple viewed what evidence is acceptable too narrowly.
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May 16, 2025
9th Circ. Says Lil Nas X Didn't Steal Model's Instagram Poses
The Ninth Circuit upheld the dismissal of a model's lawsuit accusing Lil Nas X of copying his Instagram photos, ruling Friday that the model didn't plausibly allege the musician had "access" to the pictures, as defined by court doctrine.
Editor's Picks
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Aggressive USPTO Policy Push Suggests 'It's Lutnick's Show'
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart's three months in charge have featured an unprecedented level of policymaking for an interim leader, suggesting that Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has a vision for the agency and he's not waiting for the U.S. Senate to confirm a new director to pursue it.
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PTAB Denial Rules Shaken Up By Fintiv Memo Withdrawal
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Friday rescinded a 2022 memo regarding when the Patent Trial and Appeal Board may deny review of patents based on parallel litigation, which attorneys said gives the board broader discretion on such denials and could lead to more of them.
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4 Takeaways From 1st Opinion On AI Training And Fair Use
A Delaware federal court's rejection of a company's fair use defense for using copyrighted material to train an artificial intelligence program is a key moment in the clash between copyright law and AI development, as both intellectual property owners and tech companies seek favorable judicial guidance.
Expert Analysis
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Trade Secrets Would Likely See Court Protection From GenAI
The advent of generative artificial intelligence has given rise to debate about how this technology will affect intellectual property rights and trade secret protections in particular, but courts to date have protected owners when technological advances have facilitated new means for trade secret theft, say attorneys at Kilpatrick Townsend.
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5 Tribunals' Rules To Help Patent Litigators Avoid AI Disasters
Tech-savvy patent litigators are uniquely poised to stay current on the latest developments in artificial intelligence, such that courts may have even higher expectations for their compliance with AI rules, including the standing orders of several patent-heavy fora, say attorneys at Finnegan.
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Unpacking Copyright Office's AI Report Amid Admin Shakeups
Though recent firings have thrown the U.S. Copyright Office into turmoil, the latest entry in its report on artificial intelligence can serve as a road map for litigants, persuasive authority for courts and input on the legislative process, say attorneys at Epstein Becker.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Size, Supply Schedules, SINs
In this month's bid protest roundup, Alissandra McCann at MoFo examines three recent decisions, two of which offer helpful reminders for U.S. General Services Administration schedule holders drafting blanket purchase agreement proposals, and one for small-business joint ventures to avoid running afoul of the U.S. Small Business Administration's two-year rule.
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$38M Law Firm Settlement Highlights 'Unworthy Client' Perils
A recent settlement of claims against law firm Eckert Seamans for allegedly abetting a Ponzi scheme underscores the continuing threat of clients who seek to exploit their lawyers in perpetrating fraud, and the critical importance of preemptive measures to avoid these clients, say attorneys at Lockton Companies.
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Maintaining Legal Compliance For GenAI In Life Sciences
As companies continue to implement generative artificial intelligence to enhance all phases of drug discovery, they must remain mindful of legal, regulatory and practical considerations as best practices in this space emerge and evolve, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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Trending At The PTAB: The Influence Of Litigation Arguments
Recent decisions from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board shed light on the varying extent to which the board considers patent owners' district court arguments, particularly with respect to the meaning of claim terms, say attorneys at Finnegan.
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Series
Teaching Business Law Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Teaching business law to college students has rekindled my sense of purpose as a lawyer — I am more mindful of the importance of the rule of law and the benefits of our common law system, which helps me maintain a clearer perspective on work, says David Feldman at Feldman Legal Advisors.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Mastering Discovery
The discovery process and the rules that govern it are often absent from law school curricula, but developing a solid grasp of the particulars can give any new attorney a leg up in their practice, says Jordan Davies at Knowles Gallant.
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Patent Takeaways In Fed. Circ.'s 1st Machine Learning Ruling
The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Recentive Analytics v. Fox, a case of first impression affirming the invalidity of patents that applied general machine learning methods to conventional tasks, serves as a cautionary guide for patent practitioners navigating the complexities of machine learning inventions, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.
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Opinion
UK Court Of Appeal's FRAND Ruling Is Troubling
The U.K. Court of Appeal's recent decision in Optis v. Apple disregards a lower court's extensive factual findings and contradicts its own precedent regarding fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms for cellular patents, says Enrico Bonadio at the University of London.
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Opinion
Int'l Athletes' Wages Should Be On-Campus Employment
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security should recognize participation in college athletics by international student-athletes as on-campus employment to prevent the potentially disastrous ripple effects on teams, schools and their surrounding communities, says Catherine Haight at Haight Law Group.
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Series
Playing Guitar Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a lawyer not only requires logic and hard work, but also belief, emotion, situational awareness and lots of natural energy — playing guitar enhances all of these qualities, increasing my capacity to do my best work, says Kosta Stojilkovic at Wilkinson Stekloff.
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Adapting To PTAB's Reembracing Of Discretionary Denials
Recent guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office marks a swing back toward procedural discretion in Patent Trial and Appeal Board trial institution decisions, bringing unpredictability but also opportunities for drafting petitions, and making and responding to discretionary denial arguments, says Taylor Stemler at Merchant & Gould.
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Crisis Management Lessons From The Parenting Playbook
The parenting skills we use to help our kids through challenges — like rehearsing for stressful situations, modeling confidence and taking time to reset our emotions — can also teach us the fundamentals of leading clients through a corporate crisis, say Deborah Solmor at the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation and Cara Peterman at Alston & Bird.