Intellectual Property

  • April 15, 2024

    Hytera Still Not Doing All It Can To Stop Fine, Motorola Says

    Hytera Communications has continued to drag its feet as it tries to lift the sanctions against it for participating in Chinese litigation against a court order, Motorola Solutions told the Seventh Circuit, arguing that a district court judge's daily status hearings ensure Hytera is being compelled to comply without being punished.

  • April 15, 2024

    Vidal Wants To Make Her Director Review Rules Official

    After almost a year of running U.S. Supreme Court-mandated director reviews of patent board decisions through an interim process, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Monday that it has landed on some proposed rules for how it wants to officially run those.

  • April 15, 2024

    Model Bella Hadid Settles Photog's IP Suit Over Instagram Pic

    A New York federal judge Monday dismissed a photographer's suit accusing Bella Hadid of copyright infringement over an image the supermodel republished onto her Instagram account four years ago after the photographer advised the court they've reached a settlement in principle with Hadid.

  • April 15, 2024

    Boeing Says Virgin Can't Use Another Court To Avoid IP Suit

    Boeing has urged the Virginia federal judge overseeing its breach of contract and trade secrets dispute with Virgin Galactic to block Virgin from moving forward with a "copycat" lawsuit in California, saying Virgin is wrongly trying to avoid the original lawsuit.

  • April 15, 2024

    TTAB Sides With Pharma Co.'s Opposition To 'SageForth' TM

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has ruled in favor of biopharmaceutical company Sage Therapeutics Inc.' opposition to a psychological service provider's attempt to register "SageForth" as a trademark, saying the name is likely to cause confusion with Sage Therapeutics' treatments for postpartum depression.

  • April 15, 2024

    Hold This COVID Vax Patent Case, Judge Recommends

    One of the suits over Pfizer's blockbuster COVID-19 vaccine hit a snag in Virginia federal court Friday when a judge recommended pausing the case to wait for a ruling in a related dispute over patent ownership involving one of BioNTech's other partners.

  • April 15, 2024

    Photog Beefs Up Copyright Suit Over Barry Sanders Statue

    A photographer has added several new claims, including breach of contract, to his copyright lawsuit that accuses the Detroit Lions, the NFL and a host of other defendants of unlawfully using his photo to create a statue of legendary running back Barry Sanders.

  • April 15, 2024

    4th Circ. Affirms Timberland Boots' Trade Dress Bid Denial

    The Fourth Circuit decided Monday that a Virginia federal judge correctly denied trade dress registration for Timberland's Icon Boot, saying in a published opinion the lower court did not err in concluding the design elements the company wanted to register were ineligible because they had not acquired distinctive meaning in consumers' minds.

  • April 15, 2024

    Ohio IP Firm Beats Appeal In $42K Billing Fight

    An Ohio state appeals court has left intact a nearly $42,000 judgment Amin Turocy & Watson LLP won in a billing dispute with a client, reasoning that the materials Just Funky provided to fight the firm's summary judgment bid lacked the necessary detail.

  • April 15, 2024

    Orrick Adds Kramer Levin Life Sciences Head In NY

    The former head of Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP's life sciences practice has jumped to the intellectual property litigation team at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in New York, Orrick said Monday. 

  • April 15, 2024

    Justices Skip Appeal Over $36M Sanction In TM Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court will not consider the appeal of a man who argued the Ninth Circuit was wrong to impose $36 million in sanctions against him and several companies in a trademark dispute, the justices said Monday.

  • April 12, 2024

    Jane Street Says Millennium, Ex-Workers Stole Trade Secrets

    Trading firm Jane Street Group LLC sued rival Millennium Management LLC and two former employees in New York federal court Friday, alleging they stole a confidential trading strategy and have reaped "massive profits from this theft."

  • April 12, 2024

    Gilstrap Rejects Jury Instruction Tweaks In Samsung Retrial

    U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap on Friday largely denied jury instruction requests made by both Samsung and G+ Communications ahead of a damages retrial in Texas federal court in litigation over wireless network patents, rejecting each company's ideas for limiting what's presented to jurors.

  • April 12, 2024

    Moderna, Pfizer COVID Vax IP Suit Paused Amid PTAB Review

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Friday agreed to pause Moderna Inc.'s COVID-19 vaccine patent infringement suit against Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech until the Patent Trial and Appeal Board weighs in on a pair of patents, issuing a stay despite objections from Moderna.

  • April 12, 2024

    Split PTAB Panel Upholds QinetiQ Fracking Patent

    A British defense contractor successfully fought off a legal challenge surrounding its patent covering a fracking device, in a ruling from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that was split three ways over the matter.

  • April 12, 2024

    'American-Made' May Include Foreign Parts, 10th Circ. Says

    A panel of the Tenth Circuit unanimously ruled Friday there's nothing legally problematic with foreign-made components being used in products advertised as "American-made," upholding a construction equipment maker's summary judgment win over its competitors' claims of false advertising, false designation of origin and copyright infringement.

  • April 12, 2024

    'Much More Is Coming': Experts See Wave Of AI-Related Suits

    Legal experts speaking Friday at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law's symposium on artificial intelligence and evidence in civil litigation warned that broadening usage and increased regulation will lead to a wave of litigation over the technology, leaving courts to analyze the "black box" of corporate AI algorithms to determine liability.

  • April 12, 2024

    Fed. Circ.'s Fight With Newman: A Year In Review

    One year has passed since it came to light that the Federal Circuit's judges were investigating whether their colleague, U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, was mentally competent to remain on the court. In that time, Judge Newman has garnered support from many in the patent community, but has faced a series of setbacks in her legal challenges.

  • April 12, 2024

    Fed. Circ.'s Competency Feud With Newman Turned Personal

    A year after the Federal Circuit publicly acknowledged its investigation into U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's mental and physical competency, the nonagenarian still refuses to follow the court's medical testing orders and remains determined to reclaim her seat on the bench.

  • April 12, 2024

    Misconduct Doomed Dining Mat Patent Case, Fed. Circ. Rules

    The Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a decision that a maker of toddler dining mats torpedoed its patent case against a rival with "unconscionable" misconduct, and ordered a lower court to reconsider findings that the patent is invalid but not unenforceable.

  • April 12, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Broadcom Unit's IP In Netflix Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Friday backed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's holding that the vast majority of Broadcom unit Avago Technologies' patent directed to providing digital media services to users is invalid as obvious, based on a challenge from Netflix.

  • April 12, 2024

    Software Co. Hit With Patent Suit Over Data Tracker

    A software developer has accused a rival of infringing patents that allow businesses to track a website user's browsing data without using third-party cookies, costing the developer profits.

  • April 12, 2024

    ITC To Look Into Motorola's 5G IP Claims Against Ericsson

    Motorola is taking its 5G intellectual property battle with Ericsson to the U.S. International Trade Commission, with the agency agreeing to launch an investigation into Motorola's accusations of patent infringement against the Swedish company.

  • April 12, 2024

    Hytera Says It'll Be A 'Shell' If 7th Circ. Doesn't End Sanctions

    China-based Hytera Communications has again asked the Seventh Circuit to pause a daily $1 million fine, worldwide product sales ban and other "crushing" sanctions an Illinois federal judge imposed for continuing a Chinese intellectual property suit against her orders, saying it will otherwise become "an empty corporate shell."

  • April 12, 2024

    Bridal Designer Seeks Conversion Of JLM Couture To Ch. 7

    A bridal dress designer engaged in litigation with bankrupt dressmaker JLM Couture asked a Delaware court Friday to convert the company's insolvency case to a Chapter 7 liquidation, saying the costs of that ongoing litigation will drain estate resources to the point it won't be able to pay for the bankruptcy case.

Expert Analysis

  • Copyright Lessons Following Ruling In Artist AI Suit

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    The recent California district court ruling in Andersen v. Stability AI — that artists needed to specify how the training of artificial intelligence tools violated their copyrights — shows that lawyers on either side of generative AI matters must carefully navigate copyright issues including temporary copying and data sourcing, says Carlos Araya at Magnolia Abogados.

  • The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift

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    As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.

  • Fed. Circ. In Jan.: One Word Can Affect Claim Construction

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    The Federal Circuit's recent Pacific Biosciences v. Personal Genomics decision highlights how even construction of a simple term can be dispositive, and thus disputed, in view of the specific context provided by the surrounding claim language, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe.

  • The State Of Play In NIL, Compensation For Student-Athletes

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    Recent NCAA developments — including name, image, and likeness legislation and a governance and compensation proposal — reflect a shift from the initial hands-off approach to student-athletes' NIL deals and an effort to allow colleges to directly compensate student-athletes without categorizing them as employees, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • 5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money

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    As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.

  • UK Ruling Revitalizes Discussions On Harmonizing AI And IP

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    The U.K. Supreme Court's decision in Thaler v. Comptroller-General last month has reinvigorated ongoing discussions about how the developments in artificial intelligence fit within the existing intellectual property legislative landscape, illustrating that effective regulation will be critical as the value and influence of this sector grows, say Nick White and Olivia Gray at Charles Russell.

  • Expediting Psychedelics Approvals In The US And Canada

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    Accelerated regulatory pathways for psychedelics in the U.S. and Canada play a pivotal role in the progression of drugs, devices and novel therapies toward commercialization, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, and Ana Dukic and Sabrina Ramkellawan at AxialBridge.

  • Series

    Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52

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    Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.

  • AI Takes Transformers Beyond Robots In Disguise

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    At the intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law, the shape-shifting models known as transformers raise the question of whether using copyrighted materials to train such models constitutes a transformative use, says Sean Li at Benesch.

  • AI Inventorship Patent Options After UK Supreme Court Ruling

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    The U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Thaler v. Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks that an AI system cannot be an inventor raises questions about alternative approaches to patent protection for AI-generated inventions and how the decision might affect infringement and validity disputes around such patents, says David Knight at Brown Rudnick.

  • Considerations For Lawyer Witnesses After FTX Trial

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    Sam Bankman-Fried's recent trial testimony about his lawyers' involvement in FTX's business highlights the need for attorney-witnesses to understand privilege issues in order to avoid costly discovery disputes and, potentially, uncover critical evidence an adversary might seek to conceal, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.

  • Del. Ruling Features Valuable Analysis For IPR Estoppel Args

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    Last month, the District Court of Delaware held in Prolitec v. ScentAir Technologies that IPR estoppel does not apply to device art, and the analysis in the case provides welcome illumination for how IPR estoppel arguments should be decided, says Chris Ponder at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Taking A Closer Look At Fed. Circ. Claim Construction Split

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    An empirical analysis of a year's worth of claim construction decisions from the Federal Circuit and four key district court jurisdictions shows that these constructions vary in material ways depending on the analysis' source, and this body of case law would benefit from clarification by the Federal Circuit itself, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Staying Ahead Of The AI Policymaking Curve

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    With artificial intelligence poised to be the hottest legislative and regulatory topic in 2024, expect the AI policymaking toolbox to continue to expand and evolve as stakeholders in the U.S. and abroad develop, deploy, use and learn more about these technologies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

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