The Federal Circuit is set to hear several intellectual property cases in January, including one over a nine-figure patent judgment against cybersecurity company Gen Digital tied to a contempt finding against a major law firm that represented it, and another over the tech industry's long-running crusade against patent review denials based on related litigation.
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Intellectual Property
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2025 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

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Analysis

3 Federal Circuit Clashes To Watch In January

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit is set to hear several intellectual property cases in January, including one over a nine-figure patent judgment against cybersecurity company Gen Digital tied to a contempt finding against a major law firm that represented it, and another over the tech industry's long-running crusade against patent review denials based on related litigation.

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Dem Sens. Blast Idea Of Charging Value-Based Patent Fees

By Elliot Weld

A group of Democratic U.S. senators has asked Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick not to move forward with a proposed overhaul of the U.S. patent fee system that reportedly would implement fees based on a patent's value, saying such changes would create a "prohibitive bar to innovation for start-ups and other small-to-mid-size businesses."

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Fed. Circ. Won't Let Delayed Review Doom Ford's PTAB Wins

By Dani Kass

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board was right to invalidate claims of three Massachusetts Institute of Technology fuel management patents during a challenge from Ford Motor Co., the Federal Circuit affirmed Tuesday.

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Justices Urged To Spurn SG's Call To Tackle 'Skinny Labels'

By Ryan Davis

Amarin Pharma Inc. on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to reject the U.S. solicitor general's call to hear a patent case involving generic drug "skinny labels," saying the dispute over the company's heart drug Vascepa deals with factual issues not suitable for high court review.

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Justices Urged To Review 'Bike+' TM Suit Against Peloton

By Ivan Moreno

A fitness company with a cycling app called Bike+ has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit decision dismissing its trademark infringement claims against Peloton, saying the appeals court erred in assessing the likelihood of confusion and should have let a jury decide the matter.

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ITC Atty's 1st Kids' Book Imagines A Santa-Less Christmas

By Dani Kass

Michelle Klancnik, assistant general counsel at the U.S. International Trade Commission, spends her days looking into when imports should be banned for violating intellectual property rights, but outside work, she​'s focused on one big question: What would happen if Santa took a year off?

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PATENTS

Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Claims In Internet Voice Patent

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision in a reexamination requested by Cisco Systems Inc. that claims in a widely asserted Estech Systems IP LLC patent on voice over internet protocol telephone systems are invalid.

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Gilstrap Won't Pause Patent Case, But Hints At Delaying Trial

By Elliot Weld

U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap on Tuesday denied a request from Apple to pause a patent infringement case brought by Optis Cellular Technology LLC to wait for the outcome of a case between the same parties in the U.K., but he set a briefing schedule that suggested the Jan. 9 trial date could be pushed back.

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Squires Will Review If Hydrafacial's ITC Win Should End IPR

By Dani Kass

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has paused the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's review of a Hydrafacial LLC skin treatment patent to consider the effect of a related U.S. International Trade Commission decision.

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COPYRIGHTS & TRADEMARKS

Yankees Defend 'Iconic' Logo Against Cannabis Apparel Seller

By Alex Lawson

The New York Yankees are hoping to stifle a cannabis apparel seller's effort to secure a trademark registration for his products, telling the Federal Circuit that the application was correctly denied for copying the team's "iconic" logo.

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Fed. Circ. Urged To Erase Aaron Judge's TM Phrases Win

By Ivan Moreno

A Long Island man seeking to register trademarks for the judiciary-themed expressions "All Rise" and "Here Comes The Judge" has asked the Federal Circuit to overturn the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's rejection of his applications, arguing it erroneously concluded that New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge has priority over the phrases.

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IP Lawyer Aims To Toss Amazon's Claims Of Trademark Abuse

By Ben Adlin

A U.S. intellectual property lawyer living in Japan asked a Washington federal court on Tuesday to throw out Amazon.com Inc.'s lawsuit accusing him of conspiring with a Chinese company to use his legal credentials to circumvent a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rule requiring that foreign trademark applicants be represented by U.S. counsel.

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RIGHTS OF PUBLICITY

Analysis

The Court Cases That Defined Sports Law In 2025

By Alex Lawson

From a landmark settlement that looks to reshape the future of college athletics to an eye-popping victory for a golf legend, the sports legal world was teeming with cases that commanded attorneys' attention throughout 2025.

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Estate Of 1970s Cannabis Pioneer Sues Publisher Over IP Use

By Jonathan Capriel

The family of cannabis legalization activist and author Jack Herer is seeking to wrestle back control of his IP, filing a lawsuit in California state court which claims the patriarch's name, image and likeness have been "fraudulently" taken.

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PEOPLE

Baker Botts Hires 2 New DC Partners For Enviro, IP Team

By Jack Rodgers

Baker Botts LLP has hired two new partners in its intellectual property and environmental safety and incident response groups, who will both be based in the firm's Washington, D.C., office, Baker Botts said in recent announcements.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

3 Key Trends For The Legal Industry In 2025

By Tracey Read

Executive orders, updated office attendance policies and private equity interests were three top issues that shaped the industry this year.

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Ex-Oura CEO Pushes To DQ Quinn Emanuel In Firing Suit

By Emily Sawicki

The onetime CEO of fitness tracker company Oura Health is pushing to disqualify Quinn Emanuel from representing the smart ring maker in his compensation suit, telling a San Francisco federal judge that he shared confidential information when he consulted with the firm about his claims prior to filing suit.

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NYC Bar Issues Opinion On AI Use For Recording Client Calls

By Tracey Read

The New York City Bar Association's Professional Ethics Committee has issued an opinion addressing how the New York Rules of Professional Conduct impacts the use of artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and create summaries of conversations in audio and video calls between attorneys and their clients.

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Ex-DOJ Employees Fight Gov't Bid To Toss Their Firing Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

An ex-assistant U.S. attorney and two other former Justice Department employees urged a Washington, D.C., federal court on Tuesday to deny the government's motion to dismiss their lawsuit claiming they were unlawfully fired, arguing an internal government employment board isn't appropriate for their cases and is controlled by President Donald Trump.

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Top Delaware Chancery Cases Of 2025: A Year-End Report

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court closed out 2025 amid a period of institutional uncertainty, as landmark cases addressing fiduciary duty, executive compensation, board oversight and the limits of equitable power unfolded against the backdrop of sweeping legislative changes to the Delaware General Corporation Law.

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Hub Hires: Cooley, Morgan Lewis, Nixon Peabody

By Chris Villani

The end of the year marked the beginning of new chapters for plenty of Boston attorneys, as Cooley added more than 30 professionals to its life sciences team, Morgan Lewis snagged an intellectual property partner, and Nixon Peabody beefed up its cybersecurity practice.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

A&O Shearman

Alston & Bird

Arnall Golden

Baker Botts

Buchanan Ingersoll

Burakiewicz & DePriest

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

Cowan Liebowitz

Davis Wright Tremaine

Dechert LLP

Dentons

Duane Morris

Dynamis LLP

Foley & Lardner

Gillam Smith

Goodwin Procter

Gray Reed

Hargrove Firm

Herrick Feinstein

Heslin Rothenberg

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Irell & Manella

Jenner & Block

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Lowell & Associates

Mark S. Zaid PC

McCarter & English

McDermott Will & Schulte

McKool Smith

Milbank LLP

Morgan Lewis

Nixon Peabody

Oliff PLC

Paul Weiss

Perkins Coie

Pillsbury Winthrop

Quinn Emanuel

Sheppard Mullin

Shipman & Goodwin

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Skadden Arps

Susman Godfrey

Verso Law Group

Williams Simons

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

Wilson Elser

Winston & Strawn

Wolf Greenfield

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Activision Blizzard Inc.

Aesthetic Management Partners

Amazon.com Inc.

Apple Inc.

BNP Paribas SA

Cisco Systems Inc.

Dialpad Inc.

Estech Systems Inc.

Ford Motor Co.

Fordham University

Gen Digital Inc.

George Washington University

Getty Images Holdings Inc.

Google LLC

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC

Hydrafacial

Insulet Corp.

Insulet Corporation

LVMH Moet Hennessy

Las Vegas Raiders LLC

LinkedIn Corp.

Major League Baseball Players Association

Management Consulting Inc.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Miami Dolphins

Microsoft Corp.

NASCAR Digital Media LLC

NFL Enterprises LLC

National Collegiate Athletic Association

New York City Bar Association

New York Yankees

Nike Inc.

NortonLifeLock Inc.

Peloton Interactive Inc.

Polycom Inc.

Sinclair Pharma PLC

Stanford University

Tesla Inc.

The Boeing Co.

The Trade Desk Inc.

TripAdvisor Inc.

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

City of New York

Delaware Court of Chancery

Delaware General Assembly

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Executive Office of the President

Food and Drug Administration

International Trade Commission

Patent Trial and Appeal Board

Supreme Court of Nevada

U.S. Attorney's Office

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court