Intellectual Property

  • September 18, 2026

    Mall, Gift Card Cos. Can Get Fees In Payment IP Suit

    Shopping mall owner Simon Property Group and gift card company Blackhawk Network are entitled to fees from a patent-holding company after that company pursued an unreasonable infringement case over a card payment patent, a Texas federal magistrate judge has found.

  • September 18, 2026

    Pickleball Paddle-Maker Settles Most Patent Suits With Rivals

    Pickleball paddle-maker Joola said it had resolved most of the nearly dozen patent infringement lawsuits it filed against its rivals, announcing it had most recently reached a settlement with Friday Labs LLC.

  • September 18, 2026

    Universal, Sony Expand IP Battle With AI Music Startup

    Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group launched a new suit against artificial intelligence company Suno Inc. on Friday after they discovered "millions" of copyrighted songs in the training data for an AI song generator, but were not permitted by a judge to add the works to an existing lawsuit.

  • September 18, 2026

    Varnum Adds IP Atty From Hueston Hennigan

    Varnum LLP has added an intellectual property attorney from Hueston Hennigan LLP with prior in-house experience to bolster its litigation and alternative dispute resolution practice team.

  • September 18, 2026

    Campbell's Can't Undo $17M Soup Rack Patent Verdict

    An Illinois federal judge has refused to nullify a $17 million patent infringement verdict against Campbell's Soup Co., rejecting its claims that a reasonable jury would have awarded only nominal damages to Gamon at most.

  • September 18, 2026

    Carlton Fields Can Fight For Fees In Miss America Case

    A Florida federal judge has ruled that Carlton Fields can intervene in a dispute involving its charging lien for unpaid legal fees in a $500 million fight over the ownership of the Miss America competition, saying the firm has a "sufficient interest" to intervene.

  • September 18, 2026

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London has seen Victoria's Secret and Thomas Pink file competing IP claims, more than 1,000 retail consumers launch a group action against Binance, Baker Hughes targeted in a commercial claim by its former Russian subsidiary and university students hit four British institutions with breach of contract claims over pandemic-era closures.

  • September 17, 2026

    Universities May Want To Put NPE Clauses In IP Licenses

    The Federal Circuit's holding on Monday that a patent license between Texas A&M University and a failed startup remained active after the company became a patent assertion entity will require universities to determine early on how they want their patents used, attorneys say.

  • September 17, 2026

    LinkedIn Secures Ban On Sweeping Data Scraping Operations

    A California federal judge finalized an agreement that permanently bars a pair of software companies accused of running "industrial-scale" data scraping mills that extracted information from millions of LinkedIn profiles from accessing the professional networking platform and requires them to destroy any data they've obtained. 

  • September 17, 2026

    DC Judge Scolds Feds Over Delays In VLSI's FOIA Fight

    A D.C. federal judge on Thursday granted the government a second extension to respond to VLSI's summary judgment motion in litigation over redactions to a "whistleblower" report, but chastised the feds over a "lack of prioritization and commitment" to the court's deadlines.

  • September 17, 2026

    'Astonishing Theft': Microsoft, OpenAI Staff Reckoned With AI

    Microsoft and OpenAI employees internally acknowledged for years that AI tools trained on news articles would likely replace publishers, leading to a "doom loop," with a Microsoft director calling it "an astonishing theft of unprecedented proportions" and potentially the "largest theft of labor in human history," documents unsealed Thursday show.

  • September 17, 2026

    'Fart Proof' Underwear Reeks Of TM Infringement, Suit Says

    The maker of Little Trees car air fresheners has hauled underwear company Shinesty Inc. into New York federal court, accusing it of infringing the fresheners' iconic evergreen tree design by using "confusingly similar" tree designs on "fart proof" underwear.

  • September 17, 2026

    Skycom Engineer Says Huawei Was His Real Boss In Iran

    A Tehran-born engineer who has since become a U.S. citizen on Thursday testified that he worked for Huawei on projects for the Iranian government, despite technically being employed by what prosecutors say was a thinly veiled subsidiary that the Chinese telecommunications company used to evade U.S. sanctions.

  • September 17, 2026

    Joe Gibbs Racing Demands Sanctions For Deleted Texts

    Joe Gibbs Racing LLC wants its former competition director sanctioned for allegedly failing to preserve key evidence after he deleted text messages with the owner of a rival NASCAR team where he is now employed as chief motorsports officer.

  • September 17, 2026

    Texas Judge Suggests Moving Toilet Parts False Ad Suit To Trial

    A Texas federal magistrate judge has recommended denying a motion by toilet parts maker Danco Inc. to throw out a rival's false advertising suit, saying there are questions of fact about whether Danco misled consumers on the water-saving qualities of its products.

  • September 17, 2026

    Justices Told Fed. Circ. Erred In Veterinary Software Feud

    A healthcare consulting services company wants the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit's refusal to revive its copyright and contract claims in a fight over rights to healthcare software for a U.S. Army veterinary records system.

  • September 17, 2026

    Fla. Tech Co. Says Ex-Execs Stole Web Browser Code

    A technology company has brought a Florida federal lawsuit accusing its former executives of quitting and running off with its trade secrets, alleging they went on to form a business that builds a competing web browser with stolen computer code. 

  • September 17, 2026

    Amazon Sued For Use Of 'Drunk Shakespeare' In 'Off Campus'

    Producers of the live comedy theatrical productions "Drunk Shakespeare" sued Amazon in Florida federal court Thursday, alleging that an episode of Amazon's streaming college romantic drama "Off Campus" infringed their trademark by copying aspects of the productions and using the "Drunk Shakespeare" name.  

  • September 17, 2026

    NC Sports Agency Aims To Sink Rival's Poaching Suit

    A North Carolina sports agency has urged a Michigan federal judge to throw out a lawsuit from a rival company over the alleged poaching of a sought-after college athlete, saying the claims are too thin to proceed.

  • September 17, 2026

    Local Publishers Say OpenAI, Microsoft Stole Their News

    More than two dozen regional, local, trade and specialty publishers have sued OpenAI Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in New York federal court, alleging the companies copied hundreds of thousands of copyrighted articles without permission to train products including ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot.

  • September 17, 2026

    Industry Groups, IP Attys Back High Court PTAB Denials Case

    The bar association for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, a group of intellectual property law attorneys and others have urged the U.S. Supreme Court to scrutinize the discretionary denial policies of current U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leadership.

  • September 17, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Approves $3.2M In Atty Fees In Diamond IP Case

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed a $3.2 million award of attorney fees to Fenix Diamonds LLC from the Carnegie Institution of Washington and its bankrupt former patent licensee M7D Corp., agreeing with a district judge that the asserted patent infringement claims were objectively baseless.

  • September 17, 2026

    'Bad Middle School Art' Tests Penn State's Counterfeit Bid

    A Third Circuit panel appeared reluctant Thursday to treat all of Vintage Brand's retro Penn State merchandise as counterfeit, even as the judges expressed skepticism about the print-on-demand retailer's broader bid to overturn a jury verdict finding that its unlicensed use of university marks infringed Penn State's trademarks.

  • September 17, 2026

    Full Fed. Circ. Won't Rethink Pfizer's Paxlovid IP Win

    The full Federal Circuit on Thursday won't disturb a panel's refusal to revive a patent that Enanta Pharmaceuticals had accused Pfizer of infringing through its blockbuster Paxlovid COVID-19 treatment.

  • September 17, 2026

    Greenberg Traurig Lands Jones Day Life Science Pro In Calif.

    A longtime Jones Day patent attorney and former medicinal chemist has brought his practice to Greenberg Traurig LLP in San Diego.

Expert Analysis

  • Expert Witness's ChatGPT Use Highlights New AI Risks

    Author Photo

    An expert witness's recent use of ChatGPT in multidistrict litigation involving 3M to formulate most of his opinion illustrates the lack of clear rules for how an expert may use generative AI in an opinion, expanding both offensive and defensive discovery considerations, says David Shargel at Bracewell.

  • Fed. Circ. Dental IP Ruling Reinforces Prior Art Framework

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Dental Monitoring v. Align Technology reaffirms the necessity of substantive written description support for establishing an earlier effective prior art date under the America Invents Act, and aligns Patent Trial and Appeal Board practice with district court litigation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Justices' Hikma Reasoning May Extend Well Beyond Pharma

    Author Photo

    The active steps framework announced by the U.S. Supreme Court in its Hikma v. Amarin decision, finding that Amarin failed to plausibly allege inducement of infringement, has the potential to reshape how courts evaluate inducement claims across patent, copyright and other doctrines, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • An Inside Look At Squires' Discretionary Denials

    Author Photo

    A deep dive into the discretionary denials issued by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires since he took over last year identifies trends in commonly asserted arguments and how they correlate with institution outcomes, say attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis.

  • Series

    Ballet Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    A lifetime of learning and performing ballet taught me that success — whether in dance or practicing law — comes only through hours of thorough preparation, boundless energy and relentless effort, says Sharon Katz-Pearlman at Greenberg Traurig.

  • AI Prompt-Injection Hacking Creates Emerging Legal Risks

    Author Photo

    Last month, the first decision sanctioning a prompt-injection attack aimed at a U.S. court highlights the risks that this tactic — attempting to manipulate artificial intelligence systems by hiding invisible instructions in a document — poses for trade secrets, patent prosecution and other areas, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • TTAB's Nike Ruling Highlights Trademark Filing Pitfalls

    Author Photo

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's recent decision in Nike v. Blue Ribbon Team illustrates how the Lanham Act's requirement for bona fide intent works in practice, and provides a road map on how to counsel clients before intent-to-use trademark applications are filed, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • 9th Circ. 'Bad Spaniels' Ruling Rewrites TM Dilution Playbook

    Author Photo

    The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling that each element of the Jack Daniel's packaging parodied by the Bad Spaniels dog toy must be independently assessed for fame narrows trademark owners' ability to use a flagship mark's halo effect to protect the entire brand from tarnishment, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Fed. Circ. In July: Meeting The Enablement Requirement

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's decision in Wyeth v. AstraZeneca last month exemplifies when a generalized conception of an invention is insufficient to enable the full scope of asserted patent infringement claims, and may lead to more enablement challenges, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Series

    Taekwondo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Taekwondo has taught me to recognize when to fight for a position and when to focus on finding a solution, and that the best outcomes are often achieved by solving problems — all of which has improved my work as a bankruptcy lawyer, mediator and Subchapter V trustee, says Amy Denton Mayer at Berger Singerman.

  • Why AI Diligence Is Especially Key In IP Practice

    Author Photo

    In light of recent federal court sanctions against intellectual property litigators for filing work product generated by artificial intelligence without verification, it's important to consider the unique risks and consequences that can arise from overreliance on AI, which poses less visible risks in IP matters, says Stephen Ball at Husch Blackwell.

  • When And How To Use 4 Types Of Cross-Exam Questions

    Author Photo

    Perceptions of a great cross-examination are often shaped by aggressive courtroom exchanges, but to be truly effective, this stage of trial requires strategically selecting confirmation, confinement, contrast or confrontation questions at key moments, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • Opinion

    'Plain Meaning' Requires Plainer Meaning In IP Litigation

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Socket Solutions v. Import Global highlights the frequent ambiguity surrounding courts' references to "plain meaning" in patent claim construction — an ambiguity that should be resolved by courts, not litigants, say attorneys at Klarquist Sparkman.

  • What To Know As Legal Duty To Consider AI Takes Shape

    Author Photo

    While the U.K. Jurisdiction Taskforce’s recent statement on liability for artificial intelligence harms is nonbinding for both U.K. and U.S. lawyers, it highlights the importance of being able to distinguish between the availability of a tool and a professional obligation to use it, say Jonny Frank and Michael Costa at StoneTurn.

  • Patent Ruling Shows Concrete Tech Solution Key To Eligibility

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit’s recent Ceiva Opco v. Amazon.com decision offers an important reminder that software-related inventions can remain patent eligible when they claim a concrete technological solution to a specific problem, says Irah Donner at Manatt.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Intellectual Property archive.