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Mealey's Intellectual Property

  • October 27, 2025

    Charging Patent Claims Invalid As Obvious, Federal Circuit Panel Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — There was no error in the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) construal of the claim term “coupled” in its consideration of a technology company’s patent describing an inductive charging system, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Oct. 24, affirming PTAB’s findings that multiple claims of the patent were obvious due to prior art references.

  • October 27, 2025

    5th Circuit Vacates Fees, Damages Against Law Firm Name Fakers In IP Fight

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Texas federal judge’s grant of summary judgment to a law firm on its trademark claims against a man and two attorneys who made a fake website using the law firm’s name as part of a landlord-tenant dispute, but the panel vacated more than $2 million in damages and fees the judge ordered to be paid to the real law firm, finding that the judge failed to explain the basis for the award.

  • October 24, 2025

    Amici To High Court: Reversing Finding Against ISP Would Reward Infringement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In one of 10 amicus curiae briefs filed in support of record labels and music publishers, the Copyright Alliance tells the U.S. Supreme Court that it must affirm the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding of contributory infringement against an internet service provider (ISP), arguing that the Fourth Circuit was correct in its finding of willful infringement.

  • October 24, 2025

    Car Company Asks 9th Circuit To Rethink Fee Denial In Car Chase Film IP Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — A classic car company and its owners tell a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that it erred when it denied the company’s request for attorney fees, arguing that the panel by necessity ruled on a breach of contract claim when it held in May that a Ford Mustang known as “Eleanor” in the film “Gone in 60 Seconds” is not a copyrightable character under a Ninth Circuit test.

  • October 23, 2025

    Federal Circuit: No Error In PTAB Recusal, But Board Didn’t Examine Copying

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Oct. 22 that it saw no error in the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) analysis of the recusal of an administrative patent judge (APJ) after the institution of inter partes review (IPR) for a cybersecurity patent; the panel also held, though, that PTAB failed to fully consider evidence on copying provided by the appellant patent holder.

  • October 23, 2025

    Judge Tosses Lawyer’s Suit Seeking Leave To Make Unlicensed NFL Shirts

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge dismissed a complaint brought by a self-described “‘annoyance lawyer’” against NFL Properties LLC (NFLP), exercising judicial discretion to decline to proceed with a complaint seeking a declaration that he can make T-shirts bearing various NFL trademarks without running afoul of federal trademark laws.

  • October 22, 2025

    Judge Finds Songwriters’ Copyright Claims Against Pop Singer, UMG Fail

    MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida dismissed with prejudice a copyright infringement complaint filed by two songwriters against a Brazilian pop singer and UMG Recordings Inc., holding that the songwriters failed to plausibly allege access or substantial similarity between their song and the 2023 hit single “Funk Rave.”

  • October 22, 2025

    Panel Affirms Judgment For Coca-Cola On Patent Claims Over ‘Freestyle’ Dispenser

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 21 affirmed a Georgia federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Coca-Cola Co. on claims its Freestyle soft drink dispenser infringed the patent of a technology company; the panel upheld the judge’s claim construction, which the parties agreed was dispositive if affirmed.

  • October 22, 2025

    3rd Circuit: Judge Failed To Explain Denial Of DMCA Subpoena Sought By Streamer

    PHILADELPHIA — A Delaware federal judge should have explained the reason for denying a YouTube and Twitch streamer’s motion for a subpoena requiring Google LLC and another platform to identify certain allegedly infringing users under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, vacating the judge’s dismissal and remanding for further proceedings.

  • October 21, 2025

    Panel Affirms Judge’s Finding Of No Infringement, Validity In Fencing Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that a federal judge in Texas in a dispute over patents describing rackable fencing devices correctly found no infringement and no invalidity, rejecting arguments from both parties who filed cross-appeals; the panel held that a rejected disclaimer in the prosecution history of a related patent with a shared specification can still be an effective disclaimer for the purpose of claim construction.

  • October 20, 2025

    7th Circuit Affirms Copyright Win For Rapper French Montana

    CHICAGO — In a matter of first impression for the court, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an Illinois federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment to a rapper accused by a producer of copyright infringement because the producer failed to show that the rapper copied a beat he made “as opposed to merely imitating it,” but the panel also affirmed the judge’s decision to deny the rapper’s request for fees.

  • October 20, 2025

    High Court Won’t Hear Design Firm’s Floor Plan Fair Use Arguments

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a design company’s petition for a writ of certiorari in an Oct. 20 order list, setting aside the company’s contention that the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ holding that two real estate agents’ use of floor plans in resale listings was a noninfringing fair use created a doctrinal “Catch-22” that prevents architectural copyright holders from enforcing their rights.

  • October 20, 2025

    No High Court Review Of En Banc Federal Circuit’s Vacating Of Patent Damages

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an Oct. 20 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a smart thermostat company’s petition for a writ of certiorari, in which the company told the high court that the en banc Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision to order a Texas federal judge to hold a new trial on damages wrongly eschewed the jury’s factual findings in its favor in a patent dispute with Google LLC.

  • October 17, 2025

    Summary Judgment For Ford, BMW Affirmed In Cruise Control Patent Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Delaware federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment to Ford Motor Co. and several entities related to BMW of North America LLC (collectively, BMW) on claims brought by a patent holder, finding no clear error in how the judge construed certain claim terms in asserted patents describing systems within vehicles with adaptive cruise control (ACC).

  • October 17, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms Fee Award Against Law Firm In Podcast Trademark Fight

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an attorney fee award against a law firm that represented a technology company that brought trademark claims against a podcast company over the name of one of its shows, holding that the case was “exceptional” as described in the Lanham Act because the underlying suit was frivolous and brought in bad faith in pursuance of a settlement.

  • October 17, 2025

    Glovemaker Seeks High Court Consideration Of Glove Color Mark Genericness

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A medical product company that saw its proposed trademark on the color of its medical gloves rejected as generic by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals asks the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari whether there is a “special rule” that applies to the generic nature of proposed color marks.

  • October 17, 2025

    Judge Won’t Hasten Damages Deadline, Says Anthropic Must Face Copyright Claims

    SAN JOSE, Calif. — In a pair of rulings, a federal judge in California said she would not hasten previous deadlines for music publishers to produce damages estimates and that the artificial intelligence copyright claims against Anthropic PBC may proceed.

  • October 16, 2025

    Brita’s ITC Patent Loss Affirmed By Federal Circuit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 15  affirmed a finding by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that certain claims of a water filter patent held by Brita LP were invalid for lack of written description and lack of enablement because the patent does not disclose the full scope of filter material covered by its claims that do not meet a claimed performance metric.

  • October 16, 2025

    Federal Circuit Rejects Rehearing Bid From Database Patent Holder In IPR Appeal

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a technology company’s petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc, rejecting its arguments that a panel used the wrong standard of review to find that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred in claim construction and incorrectly rejected reply evidence from Google LLC in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings it brought.

  • October 16, 2025

    Federal Circuit: Judge Wrong To Find Prior PTAB Ruling Precluded Issues

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Wisconsin federal judge was wrong to apply issue preclusion based on prior findings from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) when granting summary judgment in a patent infringement dispute over eyeglass lens patents, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Oct. 15; the panel said the PTAB findings relied on by the judge came under a different standard of proof than that required for district courts.

  • October 16, 2025

    Labels Tell High Court ISP Knowingly Provided Service To Infringers

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Record labels and music publishers tell the U.S. Supreme Court in an Oct. 15 response brief that an internet service provider (ISP) continued to provide internet service to individuals it knew were “‘habitual offenders’” of piracy, thus making the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding of contributory infringement correct.

  • October 15, 2025

    Copyright Protection Extends To AI Images, Man Tells Supreme Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Copyright protections are in place to ensure dissemination of creative works to the public and are invoked even when a human is not the creator and should apply to artificial intelligence-generated outputs for the same reasons, a man tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari.

  • October 15, 2025

    Federal Circuit Rejects Rehearing Bid For Dumbbell Abstractness Finding

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 14 denied a company’s request for either panel rehearing or rehearing en banc, leaving in place its August finding that a Utah federal judge was wrong to hold that a patent was directed to an abstract idea by conflating a “rather simple mechanical invention” for stacking dumbbells with the kind of computerized automation that is often unpatentable as abstract.

  • October 15, 2025

    Willful Infringement Claim Survives Dismissal In Gene Sequencing Patent Dispute

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware denied a biotechnology company’s motion to partially dismiss a patent infringement complaint brought against it by a research institution, finding that the research entity plausibly alleged willful infringement of two of its cancer-detection patents based on related European patent disputes.

  • October 14, 2025

    6th Circuit Affirms Contempt Finding In Kentucky Colonel Trademark Dispute

    CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Oct. 14 that a Kentucky federal judge did not abuse her discretion by holding a pro se appellant in contempt for failing to comply with a permanent injunction barring him from using a mark associated with the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel.”  The panel also affirmed the judge’s decision to order the man to pay attorney fees and costs.