Intellectual Property

  • 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.

  • May 02, 2024

    Schumer Reups Call For His Judge Shopping Bill

    U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Thursday that a suit filed in a controversial Texas court challenging a new firearms policy from the Biden administration underscores the need for his bill to restrict so-called "judge shopping."

  • May 02, 2024

    Universal Music Allows Artists Back On TikTok After Deal

    Universal Music Group has reached a deal with TikTok that will allow its affiliated artists and music to return to the social media platform months after the companies fell out over issues of artist compensation and artificial intelligence-generated content.

  • May 01, 2024

    Trader Joe's Must Pay Fees To Union After 'Meritless' TM Suit

    A California federal judge ordered Trader Joe's to pay $112,622 in attorney fees to a union of its employees in a suit alleging the union's logo infringes the grocer's name and trademarks, saying Trader Joe's claim that the suit is unrelated to a labor dispute "cannot be taken seriously."

  • May 01, 2024

    'Irked' Albright Refuses To Send IP Suit Against Apple To Calif.

    U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas has refused to send a suit accusing Apple Inc. of infringing patents on vibration technology to California, with the judge saying that some of the tech giant's arguments were "irksome."

  • May 01, 2024

    USPTO Outlines Plan To Boost Diversity In Innovation

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday unveiled a plan aimed at increasing innovation among young people and those from underrepresented backgrounds, calling on companies, governments and schools to make efforts to diversify and broaden their ranks.

Expert Analysis

  • What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

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    As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • 4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

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    Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.

  • Trouble Indemnity: IP Lawsuits In The Generative AI Boom

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    Attorneys at Ropes & Gray explore the contours of the intellectual property indemnification protections offered by providers of generative AI models — including their scope, coverage, conditions, exclusions and caps — to assess where businesses may still face liability exposure.

  • 6 AI Cases And What They Mean For Copyright Law

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    Artificial intelligence cases filed last year, some decided and others pending, demonstrate how the appellate courts that set binding precedent look at the intersection between copyright and AI, so legal frameworks must adapt and provide clarity in order to foster innovation, protect creators, and ensure fair and equitable outcomes, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Why Fed. Circ. Affirmed Attorney Fee Award In PersonalWeb

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    A recent Federal Circuit decision to leave a $5.2 million fee award in place in the PersonalWeb patent case underscores district courts' discretion to sanction unreasonable arguments and litigation tactics under the U.S. Code's attorney fee provision, say attorneys at Shearman. 

  • How AI Is Changing The Game Of Professional Sports

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    As more professional sports teams and organizations employ the use of artificial intelligence, counsel should keep a critical eye on several legal issues, including both state and federal regulatory developments, data privacy concerns, and how AI tools could potentially affect applicable intellectual property rights, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • Trending At The PTAB: 6 Areas To Watch In 2024

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    Expect further changes in a half-dozen areas in 2024 following a busy 2023 at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, including more adjustments to the director review process and the first case to hit the Appeals Review Panel, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

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    Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.

  • What's In The USPTO Policy Pipeline This Year

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    Practitioners can expect a number of policy updates and initiatives from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office this year, including development of AI capabilities, pushback against fraudulent patents and expansion of educational opportunities, say Rosaleen Chou and Lauren Katzenellenbogen at Knobbe Martens.

  • AI In IP Law: The Top Guest Articles Of 2023

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    Keeping up with generative artificial intelligence was the name of the game for intellectual property lawyers in 2023 as the government worked to determine whether AI-generated output is protectable under the law and guest writers assessed the technology's risks and rewards.

  • The Most-Read IP Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

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    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office incentives and restrictions, Federal Circuit decisions on exact meaning, and lessons from the comedic whodunit “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” were among popular intellectual property topics guest authors tackled this year.

  • The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

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    A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.

  • Inside Higher Education's New FCA Liability Challenges

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    As the educational sector expands its use of government funding, schools are at increased risk under the False Claims Act, but recent settlements offer valuable lessons about new theories of liability they may face and specific procedures to reduce their exposure, say James Zelenay and Jeremy Ochsenbein at Gibson Dunn.

  • Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities

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    Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.

  • Reviewing 2023's Global AI Landscape Across Practice Areas

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    2023 stands out as a landmark year for artificial intelligence, both domestically and internationally, so legal professionals should brace for an increasingly complex future shaped by AI's integration into a multitude of sectors, including intellectual property, data privacy and cybersecurity, and ethics, say Fran Faircloth and May Yang at Ropes & Gray.

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