Intellectual Property

  • September 26, 2024

    Helicopter-Maker Claims Supplier Had 'Reliability Issues'

    A former Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. engineer claimed a supplier at the center of a $100 million trade secrets lawsuit delivered parts that had "reliability issues," saying Thursday during a trial in Texas state court that the supplier had long-standing problems.

  • September 26, 2024

    Judge Recommends Axing Disbarred NC Atty's FOIA Suit

    A disbarred North Carolina attorney's sprawling Freedom of Information Act lawsuit over U.S. Patent and Trademark Office documents should be tossed, a magistrate judge recommended Thursday, finding the government immune and most of the claims already litigated.

  • September 26, 2024

    NC Medical Equipment Maker Can't Ditch Unfair Biz Suit

    The North Carolina Business Court has denied a medical equipment maker's bid to get a win based on the pleadings in a fraudulent concealment and unfair trade practices lawsuit alleging that it stole the business model and a pregnancy support garment design from a rival.

  • September 26, 2024

    OpenAI Gets Most Counterclaims Against It Axed In TM Fight

    OpenAI has defeated most counterclaims filed by a man who the company alleges is preventing it from registering its name as a trademark, after a California federal judge ruled that Guy Ravine and his company, Open Artificial Intelligence Inc., "spill much proverbial ink pontificating about their view on artificial intelligence," but most of it is irrelevant to their claims.

  • September 26, 2024

    Judge Finds Golf Simulator Original Enough, At Least for Now

    A judge overseeing a copyright case in the Southern District of New York has decided that the makers of a golf simulator had developed an interface that could, at least on paper, meet the "modest requirements of originality."

  • September 26, 2024

    Senate Patent Bill Markups Delayed Until After Election

    Congressional hearings scheduled for Thursday to mark up several bills related to patents, including measures dealing with patent eligibility, validity challenges and drug patents, have been postponed until after Election Day due to the Senate's adjournment.

  • September 26, 2024

    Nobel Winners Behind Gene Editor Seek To Nix Own Patents

    The scientists credited with inventing the gene-editing tool CRISPR have voluntarily requested that two key patents be revoked in Europe, after officials suggested they might get nixed over technical issues.

  • September 26, 2024

    Judge Tosses Hyundai EV Battery Trade Secrets Suit

    A California federal judge threw out a trade secrets suit brought against Hyundai Motor Co. by a startup company claiming it misappropriated its electric vehicle battery technology and violated a nondisclosure agreement, ruling that the Golden State is not the proper venue for the claims against the South Korean automaker.

  • September 25, 2024

    Senate Bill Wants CBP To Share More On Counterfeit Products

    A new bill in Congress would expressly give U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents the ability to share more "nonpublic information" about allegedly counterfeit products with "any other party with an interest in the merchandise."

  • September 25, 2024

    Albright Bumps Up Amazon Patent Loss To $136M

    Amazon now owes a small advertising software outfit a total of $136 million after losing a jury trial in June in Waco, Texas, in a lawsuit over patents that purportedly made it more efficient to place bids on the same pieces of ad space.

  • September 25, 2024

    All Mariah Carey Wants Is To Ax 'Christmas' IP Row For Good

    Mariah Carey and Sony Music Entertainment hope to finally put to bed a copyright infringement suit over the now-decades-old Christmas hit "All I Want For Christmas Is You," telling a California federal judge this week that the accusing musicians have not shown the similarities are anything more than common holiday tropes.

  • September 25, 2024

    Consultant Wants NC Packaging Patent Fight Tossed

    A consultant and owner of a cold-packaging company accused of lying about his patent rights is doubling down on his bid to ditch a rival business's federal lawsuit under North Carolina's abusive patent law, saying he has no intention of accusing the business of infringement.

  • September 25, 2024

    Walgreens' TM Suit Can Proceed Against Founder's Relative

    Walgreen Co. can move forward with its trademark infringement suit against the great-grandson of the company's founder for operating Walgreen Health Solutions after an Illinois federal judge denied his motion to dismiss, finding the drugstore chain has shown a likelihood of confusion between the two brands.

  • September 25, 2024

    Judge Connolly Sticks By Fining Paralegal Patent Owner

    Delaware's top federal judge won't budge on ordering a Texas paralegal to pony up $53,000 for refusing to appear for months to answer questions about a patent litigation outfit that was registered to her name, after he grilled her lawyer over who he was representing at a hearing she did show up to last week. 

  • September 25, 2024

    Rapper Says Mike Jones, Houston Texans Stole Song

    The owner of the unofficial Houston anthem "Still Tippin'" told a Harris County court this week that rapper Mike Jones and others have ripped off his 2002 song for use by the Houston Texans football team without his permission.

  • September 25, 2024

    Hairbrush Co.'s Patent Suit Over Straighteners Settles

     A hairbrush company and an investment firm that together filed several lawsuits accusing various companies of "poisoning" the market with knockoffs of their patented ceramic straightening brush asked a California federal judge Wednesday to dismiss the last of those cases, stating that the claims have been settled.

  • September 25, 2024

    Marriott Gets $8M Default Win In TM Robocall Scam Case

    A Virginia federal judge has granted Marriott International Inc. the maximum damages that the law allows for the company's trademark infringement claims against a pair of Mexican firms it accused of using its "Marriott Marks" for a robocall scam, ending the claims with an $8 million default judgment.

  • September 25, 2024

    NC State '83 Basketball Champs Drop TV Networks In NIL Suit

    Members of the 1983 North Carolina State University men's basketball team, known as the Cardiac Kids, dropped CBS and TNT from their suit in North Carolina state court accusing the NCAA of exploiting their names, images and likenesses from their national championship run during the annual promotion of March Madness.

  • September 25, 2024

    Boies Joins Authors' Meta IP Suit After Judge Blasts Lead Atty

    Veteran litigator David Boies and a top member of his firm have joined the team heading a proposed class action against Meta Platforms Inc. for allegedly using copyrighted material to train its artificial intelligence product "Llama" — days after a California federal judge told the lead plaintiff's attorney, "You are not doing your job."

  • September 25, 2024

    IP Protection Firm's $426M SPAC Merger Is Scrapped

    Intellectual property management firm Zacco Holdings, formerly known as OpSec Group, and blank check company Investcorp Europe Acquisition Corp. I on Wednesday announced that they will be terminating their merger plans.

  • September 25, 2024

    Breaking IP Barriers: Q&A With Spencer Fane's DJ Healey

    Spencer Fane LLP partner DJ Healey came out as a transgender woman in 2017 — 30 years into her legal career — opening doors at a time when LGBTQ+ attorneys were gaining more acceptance from colleagues and clients.

  • September 25, 2024

    Vape Co. Sues Buchalter Alleging Malpractice After IP Action

    A Los Angeles-based cannabis company called Smoke Tokes LLC has filed a legal malpractice suit accusing Buchalter PC and two of its attorneys of causing a federal trademark action to drag on unnecessarily even after Smoke Tokes took all necessary steps to satisfy a judgment and injunction.

  • September 25, 2024

    Venable Brings On Baker McKenzie IP Litigator In DC

    A longtime Baker McKenzie intellectual property litigator whose work touches on sectors including medical devices, software, and the oil and gas industry has moved his practice to Venable LLP, the firm announced Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    Former Administrative Patent Judge Joins McGuireWoods

    McGuireWoods LLP has added a former administrative judge with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board as a partner in its Richmond, Virginia, office.

  • September 25, 2024

    Pfizer, BioNTech Get New Shot To Ax Moderna's MRNA Patent

    Pfizer and BioNTech have won another shot at challenging the validity of one of Moderna's key mRNA vaccines as a judge ruled Wednesday that their appeal had a reasonable prospect of success.

Expert Analysis

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • When The Supreme Court Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

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    Instead of grousing about the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions overturning long-standing precedents, attorneys should look to history for examples of how enterprising legal minds molded difficult decisions to their advantage, and figure out how to work with the cards they’ve been dealt, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Fed. Circ. Resolves Post-AIA Question On Prefiling Activity

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    For more than a decade, patent attorneys have worried about what the America Invents Act means for specific prefiling activities, but two recent Federal Circuit decisions suggest the enumerated prefiling activities in Section 102(a)(1) will not affect validity if done within a year of filing the application, says Howard Skaist at Berkeley Law.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • Fed. Circ. Patent Ruling Clarifies Section 101 Procedures

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Mobile Acuity v. Blippar affirming a dismissal at the pleading stage illustrates important considerations and potential pitfalls for both filing and opposing a Section 101 motion to dismiss, say Thomas Sprankling and Vikram Iyer at WilmerHale.

  • What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires

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    Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.

  • Foreign Threat Actors Pose Novel Risks To US Tech Cos.

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    A recent bulletin jointly issued by several U.S. intelligence agencies warns technology startups and the venture capital community about national security risks posed by foreign threat actors, so companies interested in raising foreign capital should watch for several red flags, say Robert Friedman and Jacob Marco at Holland & Knight.

  • Open Questions 3 Years After 2nd Circ.'s Fugitive Ruling

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    The Second Circuit’s 2021 decision in U.S. v. Bescond, holding that a French resident indicted abroad did not meet the legal definition of a fugitive, deepened a circuit split on the fugitive disentitlement doctrine, and courts continue to grapple with the doctrine’s reach and applicability, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert.

  • Replacing The Stigma Of Menopause With Law Firm Support

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    A large proportion of the workforce is forced to pull the brakes on their career aspirations because of the taboo surrounding menopause and a lack of consistent support, but law firms can initiate the cultural shift needed by formulating thoughtful workplace policies, says Barbara Hamilton-Bruce at Simmons & Simmons.

  • Series

    After Chevron: The Future Of AI And Copyright Law

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    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to overrule the Chevron doctrine, leaders in the artificial intelligence industry may seek to shift the balance of power to courts to exercise more independent statutory interpretation without constraints from the U.S. Copyright Office, says Greg Derin at Signature Resolution.

  • Leveraging Policy Changes To Achieve AI Patent Eligibility

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    With the latest U.S. Patent and Trademark Office guidance in hand and legislation looming in Congress, innovators should file their artificial intelligence patent applications now — and five strategies can maximize their chances of success, says Nicholas Gallo at Troutman Pepper.

  • Planning Law Firm Content Calendars: What, When, Where

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    During the slower month of August, law firms should begin working on their 2025 content calendars, planning out a content creation and distribution framework that aligns with the firm’s objectives and maintains audience engagement throughout the year, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Prior Art Takeaways From Fed. Circ. Public Disclosure Ruling

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    While the Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Sanho v. Kaijet clarified that a private sale is not a public disclosure under patent law, there remains significant room for advocacy, as the opinion lacked meaningful guidance on how to satisfy the public disclosure exception to prior art, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Series

    Playing Golf Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Golf can positively affect your personal and professional life well beyond the final putt, and it’s helped enrich my legal practice by improving my ability to build lasting relationships, study and apply the rules, face adversity with grace, and maintain my mental and physical well-being, says Adam Kelly at Venable.

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

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