Analysis

Copyright Guide Or Policy Change? Project Divides IP Attys

By Ivan Moreno

The American Law Institute's restatements of law, widely regarded as influential reference points for judges and attorneys, are typically yearslong projects that are finished quietly and without much controversy, but one for copyright that concluded this year has diverged from that tradition.

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Fed. Circ. Reverses Ax Of Oil Tool Patent And Fixes Error

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit ruled Wednesday that a Texas federal judge wrongly invalidated an oil well tool patent as indefinite, saying the patent contains a rare example of an error that is so clear it can be corrected by a court.

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4th Circ. Sides With Father-Son Duo In Equity Fight

By Adam Lidgett

A company that makes elevated stairs on Wednesday lost its appeal at the Fourth Circuit following various rulings against it in a suit it lodged against its co-founder and his son over a soured business venture involving the design of the business's sole product.

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Fed. Circ. Upholds New England Patriots' Patent Win

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday refused to revive a patent on technology for providing wireless connections in sports and entertainment venues, shooting down a patent-holding company's appeal in its suit against the New England Patriots.

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Albright Won't Reconsider Axing $65.7M Cisco Patent Verdict

By Craig Clough

A Texas federal judge on Tuesday denied a request from Paltalk Holdings to reconsider his decision to toss a $65.7 million patent infringement verdict against Cisco Systems Inc., saying in a brief order that he found no errors or new evidence to warrant such a move. 

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Valve Suggests AI Created Quotes, Cases In Patent 'Troll' Feud

By Adam Lidgett

Video game company Valve Corp. has told a Washington federal court that a patent licensing company's filings seeking to exclude Valve's experts contained quotes and case citations that were nonexistent, suggesting the filings may have been made using artificial intelligence.

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China Continues To Drive Surge In Global Patent Applications

By Theresa Schliep

The number of patent applications filed worldwide in 2024 surged, continuing years of growth due in significant part to filings out of China, according to a World Intellectual Property Organization report released Wednesday.

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Sandoz Tells 3rd Circ. To Restore Full $137M Win Over UTC

By George Woolston

Sandoz Inc. and its marketing firm RareGen LLC urged a Third Circuit panel on Wednesday to reinstate the full $137.2 million awarded in breach of contract damages against United Therapeutics Corp., claiming a lower court's decision to halve the damages provided a windfall to their adversary.

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PTAB Officials Back Visa Win After Squires-Ordered Review

By Ryan Davis

Three top Patent Trial and Appeal Board judges have rejected a patent owner's bid to undo the board's findings invalidating credential verification patent claims that Visa Inc. challenged, after U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires asked them to take another look at the case.

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Brief

Fed. Circ. Won't Restore Payment Processing Patent Claims

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of claims from three CloudofChange LLC patents, two of which are involved in a separate multimillion-dollar lawsuit.

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Law Firm Drops 'Steamboat Willie' Suit Against Disney

By Carolina Bolado

Morgan & Morgan dropped its suit Wednesday against Disney that asked a Florida federal court to declare that an advertisement the firm planned to run featuring elements from the animated short film "Steamboat Willie" does not infringe Disney's intellectual property because the work entered the public domain last year.

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Entain's IP Fairly Used To Teach Betting, Website Owner Says

By Eddie Beaver

A website operator has denied infringing Entain's intellectual property by displaying the Ladbrokes owner's logos on its website, claiming that using the trademarks was purely referential and informational.

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Crowell & Moring's Asia IP Practice Co-Leader Joins Pillsbury

By Andrea Keckley

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP has hired the co-head of Crowell & Moring LLP's Asia intellectual property specialty practice, the firm said in an announcement this week.

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IP Law Daily Columnist Starts New Copyright Litigation Firm

By Emily Sawicki

A D.C. attorney with BigLaw chops who has spent more than four years writing a daily column on U.S. copyright law for Intellectual Property Law Daily has hung out his own shingle.

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The Rise Of Trade Secret Specificity As A Jury Question

Recent federal appellate court decisions have clarified that determining sufficient particularity under the Defend Trade Secrets Act is a question of fact and will likely become a standard jury question, highlighting the need for appropriate jury instructions that explicitly address the issue, says Amy Candido at Simpson Thacher.

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Defeating Estoppel-Based Claims In Legal Malpractice Actions

State supreme court cases from recent years have addressed whether positions taken by attorneys in an underlying lawsuit can be used against them in a subsequent legal malpractice action, providing a foundation to defeat ex-clients’ estoppel claims, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin and Lodgen.

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Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Networking 101

Cultivating a network isn't part of the law school curriculum, but learning the soft skills needed to do so may be the key to establishing a solid professional reputation, nurturing client relationships and building business, says Sharon Crane at Practising Law Institute.

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Coalition Rips Trump Deputy AG's Claim Of 'War' With Judges

By Rose Krebs

A group of former federal judges on Thursday condemned what they called "inflammatory remarks" last week by Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche detailing the U.S. Department of Justice's "war" with "rogue activist" judges.

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Interview

Ex-Judge Worries Top Court Will Be 'Timid' In Checking Trump

By Chris Villani

A Massachusetts federal judge who recently resigned to more openly speak out against the Trump administration told Law360 on Thursday he is concerned the U.S. Supreme Court will be unwilling to provide a constitutional check on presidential overreach.

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Anthropic Judge Rips Opt-Out Law Firm As 'Quick Buck' Ploy

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge on Thursday blasted Arizona law firm ClaimsHero Holdings LLC for encouraging authors to opt out of Anthropic PBC's $1.5 billion deal to end copyright infringement claims, saying it looks like the firm is "trying to trick people" for a "quick buck."

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Fired Immigration Judges Share Concerns As Cases Pile Up

By Courtney Bublé

Fired immigration judges spoke on Thursday about their "crushing" backlog of cases, a buildup exacerbated by the Trump administration's elimination of their colleagues' positions.

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Judge Halts Jackson Walker Secret Romance Settlements

By Adrian Cruz

A Texas federal judge has paused a number of settlements between Jackson Walker LLP and former clients, criticizing the firm for trying to undermine the U.S. Trustee's investigation into alleged malpractice stemming from a secret romance between a former partner and a bankruptcy judge.

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Judge Casts Doubt On Legitimacy Of Halligan's Appointment

By Jared Foretek

A federal judge in Virginia said Thursday that Attorney General Pam Bondi couldn't have reviewed the full transcript of the grand jury proceedings that netted an indictment of James Comey before ratifying the charges against the former FBI director because the U.S. Department of Justice didn't have them at the time.

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Jenner & Block Resolves $8M Fee Fight With Sierra Leone

By Gina Kim

Jenner & Block LLP and its former client Sierra Leone have resolved their fight over unpaid legal fees and allegedly fraudulent overbilling in the nation's underlying dispute with its iron ore mining concessionaire Gerald International Ltd., according to a minute order issued Thursday in D.C. federal court.

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Analysis

As Backlogged SEC Reopens, Attys Jostle To 'Get In Line'

By Jessica Corso

Thousands of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission employees who were sent home last month finally returned to their offices Thursday, and experts say it will likely take at least a month for them to catch up with a backlog of casework and submissions for initial public offerings.

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Rumble Cites Judge's Longtime Friendship With Google VP

By Bryan Koenig

Rumble asked a California federal judge to consider recusal should the Ninth Circuit revive its antitrust lawsuit against Google, citing a yearslong friendship with Google's top in-house litigation chief that involved the judge officiating at her wedding and their ongoing participation in a fantasy football league.

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Pipe Maker Names 2nd Firm In Asbestos RICO Suit

By Emily Field

A Los Angeles pipe manufacturer has added Massachusetts-based Sokolove Law to its civil racketeering lawsuit in Illinois federal court accusing Simmons Hanly Conroy LLP and others of orchestrating a scheme to fill the law firms' coffers by bringing baseless asbestos claims, alleging the Sokolove firm acted to find the cases.

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NY Gov't Ethics Watchdog Called To Testify Against AG James

By Andrea Keckley

The federal government subpoenaed the New York State Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government on Wednesday to testify in its case against New York Attorney General Letitia A. James.

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Judge Denies NJ Lawmaker's Bid To Toss ICE Facility Charges

By Parker Quinlan

A New Jersey federal judge on Thursday refused to toss the criminal indictment filed against U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., following a confrontation with federal agents at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Newark.

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SEC's Northeast Deputy Enforcement Head To Depart Agency

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that the deputy director of the enforcement division for the Northeast will leave the agency, following stints as the regional director of the New York office and acting deputy director of the enforcement division.

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Minn. Chief Federal Judge To Take Semi-Retired Status In July

By Courtney Bublé

Chief Judge Patrick Schiltz of the District of Minnesota will take semi-retired status next summer, according to an update on Thursday from the federal judiciary.

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Del. US Atty Tapped For Acting Role After Interim Term Expires

By Jake Maher

Delaware's former interim U.S. attorney has been appointed acting U.S. attorney after the district court declined to keep her as the top federal prosecutor in the First State when her term expired.

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