Intellectual Property

  • March 05, 2025

    Disney Doesn't Allow IP Theft, 'Moana' Co-Creator Testifies

    One of the creators of "Moana" testified in a California federal copyright trial Wednesday that he "would never" use another writer's idea without permission, noting that one of his projects was killed after The Walt Disney Co. was unable to buy source material.

  • March 05, 2025

    Bezos' Satellite Co. Drops Docs Fight With His Newspaper

    Jeff Bezos' satellite company has ended a public records fight with the Bezos-owned Washington Post over Washington state labor department workplace investigation records, after both sides agreed on blacking out some details to shield trade secrets.

  • March 05, 2025

    NJ Panel Wrestles With Reviving Lorillard's Tax Refund Claim

    New Jersey state appeals court judges grappled Wednesday with whether to revive tax refund claims from Lorillard following a state Tax Court decision that said changes to a royalty addback and deduction rule retroactively fixed constitutional issues with the regulation.

  • March 05, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Says Marketing Costs Can Permit ITC Patent Suits

    The Federal Circuit ruled Wednesday that the U.S. International Trade Commission has wrongly prohibited domestic expenses related to sales, marketing and other activities from allowing companies to pursue ITC patent cases, and revived a suit brought by eyelash extension company Lashify.

  • March 05, 2025

    Parameters Set For Final NIL Deal Approval Hearing

    The California federal judge overseeing the massive $2.78 billion name, image and likeness settlement between the National Collegiate Athletic Association and former and current student-athletes has released guidelines for the deal's final approval hearing in April.

  • March 05, 2025

    Steven Madden Resolves Libel Dispute Over IP Allegations

    Parties in Steven Madden Ltd.'s lawsuit accusing Danish "affordable luxury" brand Ganni A/S of falsely claiming that two of its shoe designs infringed Ganni's intellectual property have reached an agreement to resolve the dispute, according to a filing Tuesday in New York federal court.

  • March 05, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Keeps Lenovo, Databricks Patent Fights In Texas

    The Federal Circuit has turned down efforts by Lenovo and Databricks to ship separate lawsuits they are facing from patent-holding companies out of the Eastern District of Texas.

  • March 05, 2025

    HBO Wins Initial Toss Of 'Chernobyl' IP Case

    A New York federal judge has dismissed a Ukrainian videographer's lawsuit accusing HBO and Sky UK of ripping off his video readout of a firefighter's call for its historical miniseries "Chernobyl," allowing him to file an amended complaint only for the copyright infringement claims.

  • March 05, 2025

    Broadcom Slams 'Meritless Retaliatory' Netflix Patent Suit

    Technology giant Broadcom blasted a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Netflix over five software patents Broadcom contends are invalid and urged a federal California court to toss the litigation, calling it a "meritless retaliatory case" meant to distract from Netflix's "rampant infringement of patents owned by Broadcom-related entities."

  • March 05, 2025

    Paul Newman's Daughters End IP Suit Against Newman's Own

    Late actor Paul Newman's daughters withdrew their lawsuit from Connecticut state court accusing the Newman's Own Foundation of trading off their father's name for non-food-related purposes and breaching its duty to fund their own foundations despite the deceased film star's intent.

  • March 05, 2025

    Alibaba Denies Control Over Copycat Dr. Martens Adverts

    E-commerce site Alibaba has told a London court that it played no part in creating sponsored online advertising containing trademarks owned by Dr. Martens, but claims that the iconic leather boot brand also has not genuinely used all its trademarks.

  • March 05, 2025

    Pfizer, BioNTech Get PTAB To Invalidate Moderna Vaccine IP

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board handed a massive victory to Pfizer and BioNTech on Wednesday, as it invalidated two Moderna patents covering its Spikevax COVID-19 vaccine, which the challengers stand accused of infringing.

  • March 05, 2025

    Court Finds StockX Liable In Counterfeit Nike Sneaker Suit

    Following oral arguments in New York federal court on Tuesday, a judge found sneaker reseller StockX LLC liable for selling counterfeit Nike shoes, ordering the companies to find available trial dates this year for the remaining allegations.

  • March 04, 2025

    Agencies Have 'Ultimate' Authority Over Firings, OPM Says

    The Office of Personnel Management on Tuesday issued a revised version of its January memo directing agency heads to identify all probationary employees, adding a disclaimer that OPM "is not directing agencies to take any specific performance-based actions" and that agencies "have ultimate decision-making authority."

  • March 04, 2025

    Car Cos. Need Facts, Not Opinions, In Patent Suit, Judge Says

    A Michigan federal judge on Tuesday pressed auto manufacturers for concrete proof that Neo Wireless investors withheld key information about a rival's project from patent officials, telling the carmakers they can't just fall back on an out-of-state judge's opinion to win the patent dispute.

  • March 04, 2025

    ITC To Weigh Essential Patent Import Bans In Amazon Row

    The U.S. International Trade Commission is seeking public comments on whether the owners of standard-essential patents should be able to obtain ITC import bans on infringing products, in a case where a judge found that Amazon TVs and tablets infringed Nokia video patents.

  • March 04, 2025

    PTAB Orders Mostly Backing Apple, Others Upheld On Appeal

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that Apple and others had shown most claims of a patent on using cameras to sense gestures by users are invalid, but said the board correctly upheld two claims.

  • March 04, 2025

    Phillips 66 'Trickery' Merits $1.2B More Damages, Judge Told

    A startup that won a $605 million trade secrets verdict against oil giant Phillips 66 argued Tuesday in California state court that its would-have-been acquirer owes an additional $1.2 billion for reprehensible conduct, including by in-house counsel who supposedly made "efforts to cover up" information theft.

  • March 04, 2025

    Apple Seeks Ban Against Masimo's Original Smartwatch

    Apple has urged a Delaware federal judge to issue an injunction against a healthcare technology company found last year to have infringed two of the tech giant's design patents with its W1 smartwatch and charger, calling the defense's refusal to agree to the injunction "telling."

  • March 04, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms PTAB Decision Backing Stem Cell Patent

    A biotech research outfit failed Tuesday to persuade Federal Circuit judges to rethink an administrative board ruling that rejected a challenge mounted against a stem cell patent.

  • March 04, 2025

    Albright Rejects Transfer Bid In Another Apple Patent Feud

    U.S. District Judge Alan Albright rejected Apple and Qualcomm Inc.'s bid to transfer Red Rock Analytics' patent suit against them from the Western District of Texas to the Northern District of California, saying in a redacted order made public Tuesday that the tech companies have not established the case "would be clearly more convenient" in the preferred venue.

  • March 04, 2025

    Disney Animator Tells Jury 'Moana' Was His Original Idea

    A longtime animation director for The Walt Disney Co. testified in California federal court Tuesday that his blockbuster movie "Moana" was inspired by Polynesian mythology and extensive research into the region and its culture, not the work of another artist now suing for copyright infringement.

  • March 04, 2025

    Fla. Art Gallery Accused Of Stonewalling In Fake Warhol Suit

    A group of amateur art collectors alleging they were conned into buying $6 million of fake Andy Warhol paintings told a Florida state court judge Tuesday that a Miami gallery and its dealer stonewalled financial records requests, saying the objections cited to block their subpoenas are meant for crime victims.

  • March 04, 2025

    Anthropic CEO Must Sit For Depo In Authors' OpenAI Suit

    A California federal magistrate judge overseeing discovery in authors' high-stakes copyright suit against OpenAI ruled Tuesday that the CEO of AI startup Anthropic must sit for a six-hour deposition, after the authors argued that he previously worked at OpenAI and was responsible for the datasets used to train its machine-learning model.

  • March 04, 2025

    Moderna Faces MRNA Vax Patent Suits In Canada And Beyond

    Pennsylvania drug developer Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant Sciences have taken their COVID-19 vaccine litigation against Moderna worldwide, suing the pharmaceutical company in courts in Canada, Japan and Switzerland, along with the Unified Patent Court, alleging infringement.

Expert Analysis

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • TM Suit Over Google AI Name Points To New Branding Issues

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    Gemini Data’s recent lawsuit in California federal court alleging Google’s rebranded artificial intelligence chatbot stole its name may have broader implications for the scope of trademark rights for AI-related products and highlights that an evolving marketplace may force companies to recalibrate how they protect their brands, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Presidential Campaign Errors Provide Lessons For Trial Attys

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    Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign employed numerous strategies that evidently didn’t land, and trial attorneys should take note, because voters and jurors are both decision-makers who are listening for how one’s case presentation would affect them personally, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • How Patent Landscape Analysis Drives Business Growth

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    Keegan Caldwell at Caldwell Law explores how patent landscape analysis serves as a key driver of sustainable growth — examining how its components, strategic advantages and implementation best practices are reshaping innovation leadership.

  • Marching In On Orange Book Drugs May Have Limited Effect

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    Statistical analysis shows that marching in on Orange Book drug patent holders to require additional licensees would have a relatively minimal impact on drug prices, and should be weighed against the harms it could have on pharmaceutical innovation, say researchers at Competition Dynamics.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

  • Navigating DOJ's Patchwork Whistleblower Regime

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    In the past few months, the U.S. Department of Justice and several individual U.S. attorney’s offices have issued different pilot programs aimed at incentivizing individuals to blow the whistle on misconduct, but this piecemeal approach may create confusion and suboptimal outcomes, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • When Arbitration Is Effective For Employment And IP Cases

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    Widespread adoption of arbitration has revolutionized conflict resolution in employment law, and the benefits of speed, expertise and confidentiality make it an increasingly attractive alternative for resolving patent conflicts — but arbitration is not a silver bullet, say Brandon Miller at Fisher Phillips and Camilla Bykhovsky at Turner Boyd.

  • US Intellectual Property-Based Sanctions Could Be Imminent

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    A recent presidential delegation suggests that regulators may be ready to wield the sanctions authority found in the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act, which has been unutilized for the first 22 months of its life, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Key Territory-Split Licensing Lessons For Life Sciences Cos.

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    Territory-split deals can allow life sciences companies to maximize products' potential across a range of geographic areas, but these deals also present unique challenges requiring highly bespoke structures that can make or break the value of an asset, say attorneys at Covington.

  • A Look At 2024 NIL Rights And Economies In College Sports

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    Permutations in the arena of name, image and likeness affecting collegiate athletics have continued unabated this year, and practitioners and industry representatives should anticipate significant activity at schools and continuing legal changes at the state level, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Legislation Most Likely To Pass In Lame Duck Session

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    As Congress begins its five-week post-election lame duck session, attorneys at Greenberg Traurig break down the legislative priorities and which proposals can be expected to pass.

  • Copyright Questions Surround AI Music Platform Suits

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    If recent lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America against two artificial intelligence music platform developers — who maintain that use of copyrighted works to train AI models constitutes fair use — go to trial, this novel issue will make for potentially precedent-setting decisions, says intellectual property lawyer Eric Lane.

  • Patent Marking Steps After Fed. Circ. Opens Lanham Act Door

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    Following the Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Crocs v. Effervescent, which seemingly revives private actors’ ability to bring false patent marking claims under the Lanham Act, marketing and legal teams should be careful to avoid advertisement language that implies nonexistent patent rights, says Jeffrey Ratinoff at Spencer Fane.

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