Try our Advanced Search for more refined results
Intellectual Property
-
May 17, 2024
Nestle Assistant GC Joins Mayer Brown's IP Practice In LA
Mayer Brown LLP has hired Nestle's U.S. head of brand intellectual property as counsel for its global IP practice in Los Angeles.
-
May 17, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen a wave of claims filed against Verity Trustees Ltd., Harley-Davidson hit retailer Next with an intellectual property claim, Turkish e-commerce entrepreneur Demet Mutlu sue her ex-husband and Trendyol co-founder Evren Üçok and the Solicitors Regulation Authority file a claim against the former boss of collapsed law firm Axiom. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
-
May 16, 2024
Voice Actors Say Lovo Stole Their Voices For AI Tech
Artificial intelligence startup Lovo has been stealing actors' voices for its AI-driven voice-over software, voice actors Paul Lehrman and Linnea Sage alleged in a proposed class action Thursday after they unexpectedly heard Lehrman's voice used in a podcast about the potential dangers of AI technology.
-
May 16, 2024
Internet Archive Must Face Record Labels' Copyright Suit
A California federal judge on Wednesday ruled that the Internet Archive and the foundation that helps fund it must face a suit from record labels accusing the archive of copyright infringement by willfully copying and distributing thousands of protected recordings for free, saying the archive failed to show that the complaint was untimely.
-
May 16, 2024
PTAB Will Review Cash-Out Patent Challenged By DraftKings
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board said Wednesday it will review a patent owned by DraftKings Inc. rival Colossus Bets on a way for gamblers to "cash out" of a sports bet to cut their losses before a game is over.
-
May 16, 2024
High Court Told USPTO's Address Requirement Is Dangerous
A North Carolina trademark law firm is taking its fight against a new rule requiring trademark applicants to provide their home addresses all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, telling the justices that this requirement publicized "the home addresses of victims of domestic violence and stalking, as well as celebrities and other public figures."
-
May 16, 2024
Investigate Pro-Gaza Reddit Post, GOP Pols Tell USPTO
An anonymous Reddit post purportedly from a patent examiner confessing "mixed feelings" about issuing a patent to an Israeli defense contractor, citing the country's ongoing bombardment of Gaza, has attracted the attention of Republicans in Congress and the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office herself.
-
May 16, 2024
Fed. Circ. Grills Sherwin-Williams, PPG On Coating Patents
The judges of the Federal Circuit had tough questions for both sides Thursday as Sherwin-Williams Co. appealed a jury verdict that its beverage can coating patents are invalid due to earlier patents issued to PPG Industries Inc., which was accused of infringement.
-
May 16, 2024
Donna Summer's Estate Working With Ye To Settle IP Suit
Donna Summer's estate has indicated that it is finalizing a settlement with rappers Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign to resolve a copyright complaint that alleges the musicians sampled the legendary disco singer's 1977 hit "I Feel Love" without permission.
-
May 16, 2024
Viacom Sues Apparel Co. Over 'TMNT,' 'Avatar' Products
Viacom International Inc. accused an apparel and toys company in New York federal court of profiting off products that infringe its trademarks for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender," among other intellectual properties.
-
May 16, 2024
DC Judge Reluctantly Holds That Hyatt Forfeited Patents
A D.C. federal judge on Thursday found the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has sufficiently proven that inventor Gilbert Hyatt forfeited the right to receive certain patents based on decades of delay, but made clear that his finding was the result of a Federal Circuit mandate, not how he thought the case should be approached.
-
May 16, 2024
Gilead, Teva Want 17 HIV Drug Antitrust Appeals Consolidated
Gilead Sciences Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals are asking the Ninth Circuit to consolidate 17 appeals contesting their win in a case alleging they delayed generic versions of HIV medications, saying the three groups of buyers are raising largely the same issues but refuse to commit to combining their briefs.
-
May 16, 2024
11th Circ. Tries To Untangle Aftermath Of Judge's Early Exit
An Eleventh Circuit panel on Thursday quizzed attorneys for rival breeders of disease-resistant shrimp about whether a $10 million trade-secrets jury verdict should be overturned after a federal magistrate judge presided over the trial's ending because a federal district judge had to catch a flight, with one of the panel judges saying the parties had been put "in a very difficult position."
-
May 16, 2024
Ex-Execs Accuse Truist Of Hijacking Control Of Mortgage Unit
Three former executives who spearheaded the real estate finance arm of Truist Financial Corp. before they left for a competitor are countersuing the bank for allegedly usurping control of the business, saying Truist then tried forcing them out to skirt paying severance.
-
May 16, 2024
Baker Botts Grows IP Group With Perkins Coie Atty In Calif.
Baker Botts has welcomed a Perkins Coie LLP partner to its Palo Alto, California, office, strengthening its intellectual property department with a litigator whose clients include Chinese and Taiwanese technology companies, the international law firm announced Thursday.
-
May 16, 2024
Pa. Pot Co. Says No Deal To Breach In Growth IP Suit
A Pennsylvania cannabis cultivator is asking a federal court to dismiss a suit claiming it broke an oral agreement with a consulting firm and continued to use the firm's trade secrets, saying no oral contract existed, nor was the firm's information trade secrets.
-
May 16, 2024
Nordstrom Settles Patagonia's Suit Over Alleged Counterfeits
Patagonia has agreed to toss its trademark lawsuit accusing Nordstrom's Nordstrom Rack discount stores of selling thousands of "obvious counterfeits" after their partnership ended and then refusing to issue a recall on the products once Patagonia complained.
-
May 16, 2024
Fracking Services Co. Nitro Hits Ch. 11 After IP Trial Loss
Oil and gas fracking services provider Nitro Fluids LLC filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Texas bankruptcy court with more than $50 million in debt, months after a jury found it had infringed another company's patents.
-
May 15, 2024
Newman Wasn't At Fed. Circ. Conference, But She Was Invited
U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's absence from Tuesday's Federal Circuit Judicial Conference was not due to a lack of invitation, contrary to initial comments from her lawyer, but the law isn't explicit about whether a suspended judge legally could have been excluded.
-
May 15, 2024
Ex-Samsung Exec Called Netlist Leaders 'Morons,' Jury Hears
A former sales executive for Samsung testified Wednesday to a California federal jury that he made fun of Netlist executives in an email to his boss as they were repeatedly trying to secure product deliveries, calling them "morons" who didn't understand that "nobody likes or wants them as a customer."
-
May 15, 2024
Fed. Circ. Backs Xerox Win In Printer Patent Case
The Federal Circuit has affirmed a New York federal judge's decision that handed Xerox Corp. a win in a suit claiming the company infringed a series of printer technology patents owned by a youth sports company.
-
May 15, 2024
Lilly Lands Default ITC Order Against Weight Loss Copycats
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted on Wednesday to give Eli Lilly a default win against the remaining companies in the drugmaker's trademark case surrounding its highly popular, billion-dollar weight loss drugs.
-
May 15, 2024
Little People Wrestling Co. Starts 'Micro' TM Fight With Rival
Low Budget Rock Star Entertainment LLC, which produces wrestling entertainment featuring little people, has accused two men of infringing its trademark by using the word "micro" in their own wrestling ventures, according to a lawsuit filed in Florida federal court.
-
May 15, 2024
Caltech Makes A Deal With Dell, Ending Another Patent Suit
The California Institute of Technology has reached a settlement in its patent lawsuit against Dell Technologies Inc., the latest deal the school has cut in suits over its data transmission patents in the years after its $1.1 billion verdict against Apple Inc. crashed at the Federal Circuit.
-
May 15, 2024
1 Year After Warhol, Judges Feel Their Way Through Fair Use
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a rock photographer in a copyright dispute over Andy Warhol's iconic silkscreens of music legend Prince, judges have had to rethink their analysis of fair use — sometimes struggling to apply the high court's conclusions to the facts of the cases before them.
Expert Analysis
-
Series
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
-
Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown
While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.
-
How Suit Over An AI George Carlin May Lead To Legislation
George Carlin’s estate recently sued a company over an artificial intelligence-generated podcast allegedly impersonating the late comedian, highlighting the importance of much-needed state and federal protection against unauthorized representations of an individual’s image in the time of AI, say Anna Chauvet and Maxime Jarquin at Finnegan.
-
Parsing Chinese Governance On AI-Generated Content
As essential risk-mitigation, companies with a China reach should be aware of recent developments in Chinese oversight of AI-generated content, including the latest rulings and regulations as well as the updated ambit for supervisory bodies, say Jet Deng and Ken Dai at Dacheng.
-
Negotiating Milestones In Pharma Licenses Requires Care
For life sciences companies, understanding the unique issues that arise in licensing agreements' milestone payment provisions can increase the likelihood and amount of payments received by the licensor and ensure payments are carefully and closely tied to events that truly drive value for the licensee, say Edward Angelini at Amneal Pharmaceutical and Lori Waldron at Sills Cummis.
-
Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
-
Trending At The PTAB: How Q1 Policymaking Affects Practice
Attorneys at Finnegan consider the first quarter's U.S. Patent and Trademark Office policymaking initiatives and how they may affect practice before the PTAB, including a rule that would codify the current pilot program that allows patent owners two opportunities to amend the challenged claims.
-
Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
-
Direct Claims Ruling May Alter Gov't Ties To Software Firms
A recent Federal Circuit decision allowing a software developer to pursue legal action under the Contract Disputes Act could change the government's relationship with commercial software providers by permitting direct claims, even in third-party purchase situations, say Dan Ramish and Zach Prince at Haynes Boone.
-
The Fed. Circ. In February: A Reminder On Procedure Rule 28
Because the Federal Circuit does not often issue a sua sponte precedential order emphasizing an important rule of practice, it is useful to look at how the court applied the restrictions of appellate procedure Rule 28 in Promptu v. Comcast last month, and in cases that preceded it, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe Martens.
-
Calif. High Court Ruling Has Lessons For Waiving Jury Trials
The California Supreme Court’s recent decision in TriCoast Builders v. Fonnegra, denying relief to a contractor that had waived its right to a jury trial, shows that litigants should always post jury fees as soon as possible, and seek writ review if the court denies relief from a waiver, say Steven Fleischman and Nicolas Sonnenburg at Horvitz & Levy.
-
A Defense Strategy For Addressing Copyright Fee-Shifting
Permissive fee-shifting under Section 505 of the Copyright Act poses unique challenges for copyright defendants, carrying an outsize impact on the economic incentive structure in copyright litigation, but relying on a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure may offer a potential solution by allowing defendants to recover attorney fees, say Hugh Marbury and Molly Shaffer at Cozen O'Connor.
-
Design Rights Can Build IP Protection, EU Lego Ruling Shows
The EU General Court's recent ruling in Delta Sport v. EU Intellectual Property Office — that Lego's registered community design for a building block was valid — helps clarify when technically dictated designs can enjoy IP protection, and demonstrates how companies can strategically use design rights to protect and enhance their market position, says Christoph Moeller at Mewburn Ellis.
-
Contract Disputes Recap: Facts Differ But Same Rules Apply
Zachary Jacobson and Sarah Barney at Seyfarth examine two decisions illustrating that reliance on a technicality may not save an otherwise untimely appeal, and that enforcement of commercial terms and conditions under a federal supply schedule contract may be possible.
-
Untangling The Legal Complexities Of Trade Secrets And AI
With broad adoption of generative artificial intelligence, some have suggested trade secret law is the best means for protecting innovations, but while this protection may apply to all forms of information, the breadth of coverage may make identifying the information and later misappropriation difficult, say Joshua Lerner and Nora Passamaneck at WilmerHale.