Squires Vows To Open USPTO Doors To AI Technologies

By Ivan Moreno

New U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires said Friday his agency will embrace artificial intelligence technologies during his tenure, telling attorneys at the American Intellectual Property Law Association's annual gathering in Washington, D.C., that AI is "the most transcendent and transformative technology of our time — perhaps of any time."

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Banking, Business Groups Call For Federal AI Regulations

By Sarah Jarvis

Business and banking industry groups are calling for federal legislation to preempt what they say is a patchwork of state and local regulations on artificial intelligence, throwing their support behind the Trump administration's policy blueprint for "winning the AI race."

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Analysis

In The World Of Deepfake Porn, Tech Moves Faster Than Law

By Corey Rothauser

When a 14-year-old New Jersey student discovered her classmates had used an app to generate nude deepfakes of her and other girls, she and her mother confronted her high school and found no relevant law and little recourse for victims. What followed helped spark state legislation that pairs criminal penalties with civil remedies, part of a national reckoning over AI's misuse.

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Sandisk Urges Fed. Circ. To Take On 'Settled Expectations'

By Ryan Davis

Sandisk Technologies Inc. has again told the Federal Circuit that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's denial of patent reviews based on the owner's "settled expectations" violates the law, asserting it's "now or never" for court action, since most decisions will no longer be explained.

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OpenAI Opposes 'Cookie-Cutter' Google Search Fixes

By Bryan Koenig

OpenAI waded into the Justice Department's case against Google's search monopoly Friday to urge the D.C. federal judge to apply flexibility to mandates requiring Google to syndicate its search results to would-be rivals, arguing that permitting Google's more rigid "ten blue links" proposal would stifle "innovative uses."

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Troutman Owes $3.5M For Malpractice, Med Tech Co. Says

By George Woolston

A healthcare tech company urged a New Jersey state judge on Friday to have Troutman Pepper Locke LLP pay the more than $3.5 million in counsel fees and costs the company and its managing partner incurred successfully litigating legal malpractice claims against the firm, arguing the path to a trial win was lengthy and complex.

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Florida Firm Blasts Bid For More Sanctions In IP Fight

By Rose Krebs

Peter Ticktin, Ticktin Law Group PA and a client are urging a Florida federal judge to reject a bid by two smart glass companies for sanctions and an estimated $700,000 in attorney fees in a patent infringement case, calling the request an attempted "double recovery" after a $321,000 sanction was already levied.

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Roblox Sued Over Suicide Of Child Targeted By Predator

By Bonnie Eslinger

Roblox has been hit with another lawsuit over a child's suicide, from a woman telling a Texas federal court that her son's suicide resulted from a connection he made with a child predator through the online gaming platform.

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IP-Focused Judges Say Less Is More In Patent Litigation

By Theresa Schliep

Attorneys litigating patent cases should exercise discretion when redacting documents, limit the length and volume of motions, and talk to judges the way they talk to juries about complicated intellectual property issues, a panel of IP-focused judges advised Thursday.

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Getty Inks AI Pact As Regulators Eye $3.7B Shutterstock Deal

By Al Barbarino

Getty Images said Friday it has signed a multiyear image licensing agreement with artificial intelligence-powered search engine company Perplexity, in a move that comes as the visual media giant's $3.7 billion merger with Shutterstock remains under regulatory review.

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FCC Plans To Drop More Regs Covering 'Obsolete' Techs

By Nadia Dreid

When the Federal Communications Commission convenes for its monthly meeting in November, it will vote on a measure that would nix nearly two dozen more rules that the agency has deemed obsolete in one fell swoop.

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Federal Action Sought To Boost Low Earth Orbit Satellites

By Christopher Cole

Federal officials need to update rules governing low Earth orbit satellites to allow the space-based communications industry to keep expanding at a time of rising congestion, according to a pair of think tanks.

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Community 'Anchors' Set Sights On More Connectivity Funds

By Christopher Cole

Advocates for school, library and healthcare connectivity said Friday they're optimistic about their public policy goals and, despite a few recent setbacks, are focused on making sure broadband funding continues to go toward community "anchors."

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Industry Groups Seek More Time To Comment On PTAB Rules

By Elliot Weld

A coalition of organizations representing the technology, automotive and pharmaceutical sectors has urged U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires to allow 30 additional days of public comments regarding new proposed rules that would curtail the number of Patent Trial and Appeal Board reviews.

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Bank Group Cautions OCC On Fintech Trust Charter Bids

By Jon Hill

Another major banking trade group is pushing back on efforts by a string of digital asset and payment firms to obtain federal banking charters from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, warning that granting the charters would invite legal and systemic risks.

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Social Media Co., Instacart Cut Deal To End 'Fizz' TM Suit

By Adam Lidgett

Social media platform Fizz Social Corp. has reached a deal to end its trademark infringement and anti-cybersquatting suit accusing Instacart Inc. and Partiful Co. of ripping off its "FIZZ" mark to launch a rival "Fizz" beverage-delivery app targeting the Gen Z demographic.

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4 Mass. Rulings You May Have Missed In October

By Julie Manganis

Massachusetts state court judges in October dealt with missing details in a trade secrets case, missing lawyers in a proposed class action over COVID-19-related refund demands, and missing evidence during summary judgment proceedings.

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Valve Wants Sanctions In 'Patent Troll' Suit In Wash.

By Adam Lidgett

Video game company Valve Corp. has asked for sanctions against a patent-licensing company executive in a lawsuit over alleged patent trolling, saying he hasn't properly responded to requests for information in the case.

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Students Defend Law School Application Fee Antitrust Suit

By James Boyle

Plaintiffs in a proposed class action accusing the Law School Admission Council of fixing application fees with its member schools claim in a new filing their complaint is strong enough to survive a motion to dismiss.

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Alphabet Investors Seek Class Cert. In Google Probe Suit

By Katryna Perera

Alphabet Inc. investors have asked a California federal judge to grant class certification in a suit against the Google parent company and its CEO, Sundar Pichai, over an allegedly false statement made to Congress in 2020 about the fairness of ad auctions, arguing it is a "textbook example of a case warranting class action treatment."

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Pregnancy Bias Drove Microsoft Worker's Firing, Suit Says

By Grace Elletson

A former Microsoft employee hit the tech giant with a discrimination suit in California state court, claiming she faced a barrage of micromanagement and criticism from a newly hostile boss when she returned from maternity leave and was terminated after announcing she would be having a second child.

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Drone Co. Says 'Disgruntled' Ex-VP Tried To Torpedo Funding

By Hayley Fowler

A manufacturer of emergency response drones is characterizing a state court lawsuit brought by its former vice president of sales that claims he was shortchanged on pay and commissions as the grumblings of a "disgruntled" ex-employee who allegedly tried to sabotage the company.

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Tech Co. Employees Bring Florida Suit Over Data Breach

By David Minsky

Several current and former employees of a California technology company have brought a proposed class action in Florida state court, alleging they weren't notified that their personal information was stolen in a data breach. 

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Immigrant Says Ogletree Botched Work Authorization

By James Boyle

A Pittsburgh-based Meta employee and Carnegie Mellon University graduate claims mishandled paperwork by attorneys at Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC forced him to temporarily leave the U.S. after an extension of his legal status was denied.

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Ex-Tech Co. VP Claims She Was Fired For Not Joining Church

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A female former executive at a clean energy technology company has claimed in Pennsylvania federal court that she was terminated from her job after refusing her boss' alleged attempts to convert her to the Church of Latter Day Saints, and that she was told that women are "better suited staying home."

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Brief

1st Circ. Refuses To Transfer FCC Prison Phone Rate Case

By Christopher Cole

The First Circuit declined Friday to move multidistrict litigation over prison phone rate caps to the Fifth Circuit, rejecting an argument from phone service providers.

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Brief

Headwater, Apple Reach Deal To Close Some Patent Cases

By Elliot Weld

Headwater Research LLC and Apple Inc. have settled at least some of the patent claims asserted by the former company after it alleged that many of the functions in the tech giant's key products infringed its patents.

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Brief

Samsung Gets Further Relief After Dodging $112M IP Verdict

By Dani Kass

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has invalidated most claims Samsung challenged in two Maxell Ltd. smart device patents, which were the subject of a since-overturned $112 million jury verdict.

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Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Skadden, Davis Polk

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, American Water Works Co. and Essential Utilities announce a merger, semiconductor companies Skyworks and Qorvo combine to create an industry giant, and Terex Corp. and REV Group team up to form a specialty equipment manufacturer.

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Meta Boosts Bond Offering To $30B Amid AI, Data Push

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta has priced an upsized $30 billion bond offering, a move that comes as the company has been ramping up spending on artificial intelligence investment and data center construction partnerships.

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TXSE Boasts $250M Total Capital After Latest Funding Round

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

TXSE Group, a company preparing to launch a Texas-based stock exchange similar to the likes of the New York Stock Exchange, revealed Friday it has raised more than $250 million in total capital following its second financing round that welcomed new investor J.P. Morgan.

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Monthly Merger Review Snapshot

By Bryan Koenig

The Justice Department battled with state attorneys general trying to peek behind its controversial settlement clearing Hewlett Packard Enterprise's Juniper purchase, United Kingdom officials deepened their probe into Getty's proposed acquisition of Shutterstock and Pfizer cried foul when Novo Nordisk tried to swoop in over its Metsera purchase.

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Trending At The PTAB: A Potential Barrier To Serial Challenges

New rules proposed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may appear similar to previous rules at first glance, but are actually much broader in how they would limit petitioners' ability to challenge a patent more than once, say attorneys at Finnegan.

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TikTok Divestiture Deal Revolves Around IP Considerations

The divestiture deal between the U.S. and China to resolve a security dispute over TikTok's U.S. operations is seen as a diplomatic breakthrough, but its success hinges on the treatment of intellectual property and may set a precedent in the global contest over digital sovereignty and IP control, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

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CFIUS Trends May Shift Under 'America First' Policy

The arrival of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' latest annual report suggests that the Trump administration's "America First" policy will have a measurable effect on foreign investment, including improved trendlines for investments from allied sources and increasingly negative trendlines for those from foreign adversary sources, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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What CFTC Push For Tokenized Collateral Means For Crypto

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's recent request for comment on the use of tokenized products as collateral in derivatives markets signals that it is expanding the scope and form of eligible collateral, and could broaden the potential use cases for crypto-assets held in tokenized form, say attorneys at Dechert.

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Munger Tolles Names New Co-Managing Partners

By James Mills

Munger Tolles & Olson LLP announced Monday it has tapped two veteran trial lawyers, one the former U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, to be the firm's new co-managing partners.

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Goodwin Requiring 4 Days In Office, But Removes Tracker

By Anna Sanders

Goodwin Procter LLP will stop using certain technology to monitor in-office attendance while joining a growing list of BigLaw firms requiring U.S. attorneys to work in person at least four days a week, according to a memo obtained by Law360 Pulse.  

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ABA Changes DEI Scholarship Requirement Amid Lawsuit

By Emily Sawicki

A law school scholarship once meant for a "member of an underrepresented racial and/or ethnic minority" is now open to applicants who "have demonstrated a strong commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion," according to a change broadcast by an organization suing the American Bar Association over the scholarship's "categorical exclusion" of whites.

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Roundup

The Top In-House Hires Of October

By Michele Gorman

Legal department hires over the past month included high-profile appointments at Starbucks, Hertz and Fannie Mae. Here, Law360 Pulse looks at some of the top in-house announcements from October.

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Cannabis Cos. Allege Hinckley Allen Malpractice Cost $25M

By Adrian Cruz

A group of cannabis companies have claimed that Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP's alleged malpractice stemming from the purported decision to prioritize the personal interests of a manager in a 2017 investor suit ended up costing them over $25 million in damages.

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Fire Forced Search Of Murder Suspect's Home, NJ Justices Told

By George Woolston

Prosecutors urged the New Jersey Supreme Court on Monday to reverse a lower court's suppression of evidence in the case of a Garden State man accused of killing his brother and his brother's family, arguing that an ongoing fire at the home where the evidence was recovered justified the warrantless seizure.

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