Intellectual Property

  • June 12, 2025

    Nutrien Says Ex-Employee Helped NC Rival Steal Office, Staff

    The retail arm of global fertilizer company Nutrien Ltd. has accused a former crop consultant of swiping its trade secrets before decamping for a rival, saying in a federal lawsuit that he colluded with his new employer to hijack a branch office, its staff and its customers.

  • June 12, 2025

    Rising PTAB Filings Follow Surge In Patent Cases

    The number of petitions filed with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ticked up last year, following a similar increase in federal court litigation and suggesting that activity at the board has somewhat stabilized, according to a new report.

  • June 12, 2025

    Deloitte Consulting Hit With TM Suit Over AI Platform

    A blockchain-focused web platform that offers artificial intelligence tools has launched a lawsuit in New York federal court accusing Deloitte Consulting of infringing its trademark rights with its generative AI services product.

  • June 12, 2025

    Security Co. Drops Trade Secrets Claims Against Contractor

    A Connecticut security monitoring company on Thursday dropped a federal lawsuit alleging that a sales contractor bought a secret list of more than 20,000 clients from a service technician and hatched a plan to sell it to competitors.

  • June 12, 2025

    Judiciary Committee Clears Squires For Full Senate Vote

    The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved former Goldman Sachs intellectual property attorney John Squires to serve as U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director on Thursday, putting his nomination in the hands of the full Senate.

  • June 12, 2025

    NC BBQ Restaurant's Trademark Tiff Lands In Federal Court

    The namesake behind a chain of barbecue restaurants battling over their shared trademark being used on branded sauces has extricated a complaint from the North Carolina Business Court accusing it of Lanham Act violations, saying those claims belong in federal court.

  • June 12, 2025

    Greenberg Traurig Adds IP Atty From Kilpatrick In NY

    Greenberg Traurig LLP has boosted its intellectual property offerings in New York with the addition of an experienced litigator from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP.

  • June 12, 2025

    Boies Schiller Recruits 3-Partner Patent Litigation Team

    Boies Schiller Flexner LLP announced Thursday that it has added a team of Spencer Fane LLP partners who specialize in high-stakes patent and trade secrets disputes to its patent litigation team in Washington, D.C.

  • June 11, 2025

    Ex-Google Engineer Loses Bid To Toss AI Espionage Counts

    A California federal judge has refused to toss economic espionage charges against an ex-Google engineer accused of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets to help startups in China, adding that prosecutors' assertion that the man was trying to benefit the People's Republic of China "as opposed to benefiting himself ... seems dubious."

  • June 11, 2025

    Micron's National Security Arguments Fall Flat At PTAB

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has said it will consider patent validity challenges that Micron Technology Inc. and Yangtze Memory Technologies Co. brought against each other, overriding the competing semiconductor companies' efforts to escape scrutiny, including Micron's national security arguments.

  • June 11, 2025

    Stewart Won't Retroactively Apply New PTAB Denial Policy

    Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart has rejected Efficient Power Conversion's request that she apply her new policies on when Patent Trial and Appeal Board petitions should be denied to a case instituted last year that invalidated the company's patent.

  • June 11, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Reddit Win In WallStreetBets Creator's TM Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive WallStreetBets subreddit founder Jaime Rogozinski's lawsuit accusing Reddit Inc. of hijacking his creation and infringing his right to trademark the brand, saying in an unpublished opinion that Rogozinski failed to adequately plead ownership over the brand mark.

  • June 11, 2025

    PTAB Issues Mixed Group Of Discretionary Denial Decisions

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has invoked its discretion to free Nike Inc. and Cleveland Medical Devices from having their patents scrutinized, but refused to do so for Vermeer Manufacturing Co.

  • June 11, 2025

    NJOY Can't Ax Juul Vape Patent At PTAB After ITC Loss

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has refused to invalidate various claims in a Juul vape patent challenged by Altria's NJOY brand, months after NJOY was found to infringe the same patent in a U.S. International Trade Commission case.

  • June 11, 2025

    IP, Health Law Scholars Object To 23andMe Ch. 11 Data Sale

    A number of university scholars urged a Missouri bankruptcy judge to require that DNA testing company 23andMe Holding Co.'s asset sale be contingent on the final buyer maintaining policies that benefit biomedical researchers.

  • June 11, 2025

    Filmmaker Ends Case Against Netflix, LeBron Over 'Rez Ball'

    A California federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a copyright lawsuit with prejudice by a filmmaker who accused Netflix Inc., NBA superstar LeBron James and others of lifting elements from his script to make the movie "Rez Ball" after the parties filed a notice with the court.

  • June 11, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs PTAB Invalidation Of Agilent CRISPR Patents

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday affirmed Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions finding every claim invalid in two Agilent Technologies patents on the gene-editing tool CRISPR, sealing a win for Synthego Corp., which has been accused of infringing them.

  • June 11, 2025

    Epic Games Hits Fortnite Cheat Maker With Copyright Suit

    Fortnite maker Epic Games is suing a German cheat software developer, alongside resellers of the software, in North Carolina federal court for allegedly violating copyright law and interfering with contracts Epic has with its players.

  • June 11, 2025

    Judge Won't Boost $10.5M Patent Verdict Against ASUSTeK

    A Texas federal judge has refused to increase the $10.5 million award that a jury earlier this year said the Taipei-based laptop-maker ASUSTeK Computer Inc. owed after finding it had infringed a pair of Force MOS Technology Co. Ltd. electronic component patents.

  • June 11, 2025

    Local News Site Publisher Faces IP Claims Over Celebrity Pics

    A New York photographer went to Colorado federal court on Wednesday to accuse an online news company of publishing his photos of celebrities Beyoncé Knowles Carter, Jennifer Lopez and actor Justin Theroux without his permission and without paying him to license the copyrights on those pictures.

  • June 11, 2025

    New York Judge Won't Nix Cannabis Co. Logo Block

    A Manhattan federal judge has refused to vacate a three-and-a-half-year-old decision that barred a cannabis-themed apparel brand from using symbols in its wares that New York City alleged were infringements of the city's trademarked logos.

  • June 11, 2025

    Sony Fights Feds' 'Bewildering' Support Of Cox's High Court Bid

    Sony Music Entertainment and other music publishers questioned the federal government's "bewildering" support for Cox Communications Inc.'s challenge at the U.S. Supreme Court to a Fourth Circuit ruling affirming a contributory copyright infringement verdict against the internet service provider, saying only the verdict's vicarious liability finding should be reviewed.

  • June 11, 2025

    These Firms Are Landing The Most Patent Litigation Work

    Rabicoff Law LLC reclaimed its status as the most active firm for patent plaintiffs, having filed more than twice as many cases in 2024 as it did in 2023, according to a new report from Lex Machina.

  • June 11, 2025

    Disney, Universal Team Up For IP Suit Against AI Art Co.

    Disney and Universal have teamed up to sue artificial intelligence company Midjourney in California federal court, calling the startup in their Wednesday lawsuit a "copyright free-rider" for training its AI art generator with their protected works from such iconic franchises as "Star Wars," Marvel's "Iron Man," "Shrek" and "The Simpsons."

  • June 11, 2025

    Houston Atty Says Rival's Client Files Aren't Trade Secrets

    A Houston attorney accused of stealing another lawyer's files in an attempt to recruit clients to file malpractice suits told a Texas appellate court that his rival "misrepresents facts to support his false narrative" that the information constituted trade secrets.

Expert Analysis

  • Defense Strategies For Politically Charged Prosecutions

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    Politically charged prosecutions have captured the headlines in recent years, providing lessons for defense counsel on how to navigate the distinct challenges, and seize the unique opportunities, such cases present, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • Series

    Competitive Weightlifting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The parallels between the core principles required for competitive weightlifting and practicing law have helped me to excel in both endeavors, with each holding important lessons about discipline, dedication, drive and failure, says Damien Bielli at VF Law.

  • 3 Potential Developments That May Alter US Patent Rights

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    The Federal Circuit's upcoming decision in EcoFactor v. Google, pending legislation before Congress and the appointment of a new U.S Patent and Trademark Office director all have significant potential to strengthen or weaken patent rights, say attorneys at McKool Smith.

  • Opinion

    Inconsistent Injury-In-Fact Rules Hinder Federal Practice

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    A recent Third Circuit decision, contradicting a previous ruling about whether consumers of contaminated products have suffered an injury in fact, illustrates the deep confusion this U.S. Supreme Court standard creates among federal judges and practitioners, who deserve a simpler method of determining which cases have federal standing, says Eric Dwoskin at Dwoskin Wasdin.

  • Takeaways From Oral Argument In High Court Trademark Case

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    Unpacking oral arguments from Dewberry Group v. Dewberry Engineers, which the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on this year, sheds light on the ways in which the decision could significantly affect trademark infringement plaintiffs' ability to receive monetary damages, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • In-House Counsel Pointers For Preserving Atty-Client Privilege

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    Several recent rulings illustrate the challenges in-house counsel can face when attempting to preserve attorney-client privilege, but a few best practices can help safeguard communications and effectively assert the privilege in an increasingly scrutinized corporate environment, says Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics.

  • Improving Comms Between Trial Attys And Tech Witnesses

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    In major litigation involving complex technology, attorneys should employ certain strategies to collaborate with companies' technical personnel more effectively to enhance both the attorney's understanding of the subject matter and the expert's ability to provide effective testimony in court, say attorneys at Buchalter.

  • Navigating Title IX Compliance In The NIL Era

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    As universities push to move more name, image and likeness activity in-house, it's unclear how the NCAA and its members will square implementation of the House settlement with Title IX requirements, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • DeepSeek AI Investigation Could Lead To IP Law Precedents

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    The investigation by OpenAI and Microsoft into DeepSeek's artificial intelligence model raises interesting legal concerns involving intellectual property and contract law, including potential trade secret appropriation and fair use questions, say Saishruti Mutneja and Raghav Gurbaxani.

  • Opinion

    New DOJ Leaders Should Curb Ill-Conceived Prosecutions

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    First-of-their-kind cases have seemingly led to a string of overly aggressive prosecutions in recent years, so newly sworn-in leaders of the U.S. Department of Justice should consider creating reporting channels to stop unwise prosecutions before they snowball, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Opinion

    Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay

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    Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.

  • A Look At Drug Price Negotiation Program's Ongoing Impact

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    More than two years after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and the rapid implementation of the drug price negotiation program, attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss how the IRA has influenced licensing strategies, and how maximum fair prices under the law have economically affected certain drugs.

  • Opinion

    Congress Must Consider Accurate Data About Patent Thickets

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    If Congress revisits a controversial bill this year aimed at limiting the number of patents pharmaceutical manufacturers could assert, it must make sure to act based on accurate reports — such as a recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office study that found no evidence of patent thicketing, says David Kappos at the Council for Innovation Promotion.

  • Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example

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    Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

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