Intellectual Property

  • July 29, 2024

    Reebok Rips Shoe Rival's 'Underhanded' Conduct In TM Case

    Reebok asked a Massachusetts federal judge to sanction an Italian shoemaker and strike nearly three dozen witnesses who were disclosed at the last minute in a trademark case, the latest claim by the shoe and apparel giant of "underhanded" tactics.

  • July 26, 2024

    Apple Commits To White House Guidelines For Responsible AI

    Apple Inc. has signed onto the Biden administration's voluntary guidelines for "responsible" artificial intelligence innovation, joining the likes of Amazon.com Inc., Google LLC, Microsoft Corp. and a dozen other leading tech companies, the White House announced Friday.

  • July 26, 2024

    Off The Bench: NBA Signs Mega Deals, Jerry Jones Settles

    In this week's Off The Bench, the NBA signed $77 billion worth of telecast and streaming deals while longtime league broadcaster TNT challenged the decision, Jerry Jones' suit against his alleged daughter settled while jurors were at lunch, and Pennsylvania's high court agreed to hear an appeal relating to Pittsburgh's jock tax, a fee applied to nonresident professional athletes.

  • July 26, 2024

    Copyright Cases To Watch In The Second Half Of 2024

    The first copyright trial arising from an artificial intelligence platform could provide intellectual property attorneys with insight into dozens of pending suits against AI companies, while the Tenth Circuit is reconsidering whether Netflix made fair use of a funeral clip in its "Tiger King" docuseries.

  • July 26, 2024

    NCAA's $2.8B NIL Deal, Revenue-Sharing Plan Sent To Judge

    A $2.78 billion deal to settle a massive class action targeting the NCAA's name, image and likeness compensation rules was submitted to a California federal judge for preliminary approval Friday, allowing for revenue sharing with athletes across all sports.

  • July 26, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Upholds PTAB Estoppel Rule, But Limits Its Reach

    The Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rule that can lead to Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions rendering patent claims invalid in later office proceedings, but found in a case involving Apple and Motorola that the rule doesn't apply to issued claims.

  • July 26, 2024

    Amazon And Google Face New Suits Over Japanese Patents

    A litigation outfit trying to cash out on patents issued to Japanese electronics company JVCKenwood has expanded its campaign against Amazon and Google with a second set of lawsuits in Virginia federal court.

  • July 26, 2024

    Del. Court Won't Let Generic Co. Walk Back Invalidity Promise

    Generic-drug maker Mankind Pharma is bound to its promise not to challenge the validity of a patent covering Allergan's glaucoma drug Lumigan after a federal judge in Delaware shot down its argument that recent rulings on obviousness-type double patenting altered the litigation landscape.

  • July 26, 2024

    Jam Band Phish Can Seize Bootleg Merch, Judge Says

    Jam band Phish has been given the green light by a Boston federal judge to confiscate counterfeit merchandise being sold outside its concerts this summer.

  • July 26, 2024

    HP Calls Dolby, Philips, Mitsubishi Patent Fees A 'Money Grab'

    Computer maker HP Inc. has claimed Dolby Laboratories, Mitsubishi and Philips are attempting a "money grab" by attempting to overcharge on licensing fees for ultra-high-definition streaming patents, according to a complaint filed in Massachusetts state court.

  • July 26, 2024

    Illinois Cases To Watch In 2024: Midyear Report

    Illinois attorneys say they are considering the path forward for Springfield corruption prosecutions following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, as well as paying attention to what comes next in Motorola Solutions' trade secret contempt fight and potential new guidelines for music copyright cases. Here are the cases to watch in Illinois for the rest of 2024.

  • July 26, 2024

    Washington Cases To Watch 2024: A Midyear Report

    Two Washington tribes are testing whether they can hold Big Oil companies accountable in state court for climate change-related catastrophes, the attorney general is defending a ban on large-capacity gun magazines, and a key test of the state's anti-patent troll law is set for trial.

  • July 26, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen U.K. band The 1975 face action by Future Sound Asia after its performance in Malaysia resulted in a festival's cancelation, Spectrum Insurance hit by The Motoring Organization following their dispute over information misuse, and a former police constable pursue defamation against a colleague for allegedly instigating a campaign of harassment against her. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • July 25, 2024

    Blue Bottle Won't Be Sanctioned Or Pay Atty Fees In TM Row

    Blue Bottle won't be sanctioned nor ordered to pay $1.15 million in fees for losing its trademark suit against a company selling "Blue Brew" brand accessories, with a California federal judge ruling Wednesday that its infringement claims weren't frivolous and that its likelihood of confusion argument was "rooted in good faith."

  • July 25, 2024

    Pfizer Calls GSK Patents In COVID Vax Case Unenforceable

    Pfizer and BioNTech have fired back at GlaxoSmithKline's patent suit against them over the COVID-19 vaccine, saying GSK's patents are unenforceable because the company delayed in filing its applications and then crafted them to cover the blockbuster vaccine after it became available.

  • July 25, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs Penn. Jury Invalidating Sherwin-Williams IP

    A Pennsylvania federal judge rightfully invalidated claims of several Sherwin-Williams Co. paint coating patents after a jury trial, and properly barred inconsistent assertions from the company, the Federal Circuit held Thursday.

  • July 25, 2024

    DC Panel Upholds FDA's Win Against Ipsen's Generics Suit

    A D.C. panel declined to revive Ipsen's challenge to regulators' refusal to classify its acromegaly drug as a biologic, which would have blocked generic versions of it, finding Thursday the drug's active ingredient doesn't meet the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act's definition of a protein to be considered a biologic.

  • July 25, 2024

    Shkreli Says He Has Right To Use Wu-Tang Clan Album Copies

    Martin Shkreli pushed back on a crypto project's bid to force him to hand over copies of the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album he once owned, saying his original purchase agreement of the album entitled him to make the copies and the album's current crypto owner hasn't shown how Shkreli's duplicates irreparably harm the value of the original.

  • July 25, 2024

    Copyright Office OKs Group Registration For News Websites

    The U.S. Copyright Office has created a new group registration option for news websites that are updated frequently, allowing publications to register a group of updates as a collective work with portions of the work rather than all the website's content, according to the federal register.

  • July 25, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Axes 'Trump Too Small' Holding After Justices' Rule

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday vacated its 2022 ruling that California attorney Steve Elster should be allowed to register "Trump Too Small" as a trademark after the U.S. Supreme Court concluded he could not because the "names clause" of the Lanham Act prohibits registering a name as a mark without that person's permission.

  • July 25, 2024

    USPTO No Longer Wants To Change TM Response Deadlines

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Thursday it has decided to keep current post-registration response deadlines after the agency concluded that many trademark owners would not be subject to the proposed shorter response period.

  • July 25, 2024

    Both Sides Seek Fees After Jury Axes Elevated Stairs Patent

    Following a jury verdict this month invalidating a patent on elevated stairs used by law enforcement, both the patent owner and the accused infringer, his former employer, have moved for attorney fees, with each claiming the opposing side's arguments were baseless.

  • July 25, 2024

    Patent Atty Seeks Closure Over Ex-Firm's Back Wages

    Discovery in a patent attorney's suit against his former firm, Pittsburgh-based Keevican Weiss & Bauerle LLC, has produced enough evidence to support summary judgment on some of his claims, according to a new motion filed this week in Allegheny County.

  • July 25, 2024

    Tobacco Products Co. Hits Wash. Pot Business With TM Suit

    Wholesaler BBK Tobacco & Foods LLP has hit a Washington state cannabis company with a complaint in Arizona federal court that alleges it is infringing the "Juicy" trademark BBK uses for a variety of smoking and smoking-related products.

  • July 25, 2024

    The Biggest Copyright Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report

    The justices ruled there's no time limit for how far back copyright plaintiffs can pursue infringement damages as long as their claims are timely, and an Ohio jury said video game developers didn't infringe a tattoo artist's works by depicting the images on basketball players. Here's a look at some of the most notable copyright decisions so far in 2024.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • Lessons In High-Profile Jury Selection Amid NY Trump Trial

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    Richard Gabriel and Michelle Rey LaRocca at Decision Analysis consider how media exposure can affect a prospective juror in a high-profile case, the misunderstood nature of bias, and recommendations for jury selection in these unique situations as the Trump hush money trial continues in New York.

  • How AI Cos. Can Cope With Shifting Copyright Landscape

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    In the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, recent legal disputes have focused on the utilization of copyrighted material to train algorithms, meaning companies should be aware of fair use implications and possible licensing solutions for AI users, say Michael Hobbs and Justin Tilghman at Troutman Pepper.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • Supply Chain Considerations For Companies Deploying AI

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    Many businesses will risk failure by embracing artificial intelligence without fully understanding the risks, and the value of a five-step AI supply chain analysis cannot be overstated, say Brooke Berg and Nathan Staffel at Nardello & Co.

  • How Real Estate Cos. Can Protect Their IP In The Metaverse

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    The rise of virtual and augmented reality creates new intellectual property challenges and opportunities for real estate owners, but certain steps, including conducting a diligence investigation to develop an understanding of current obligations, can help companies mitigate IP issues in the metaverse, says George Pavlik at Levenfeld Pearlstein.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In April

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    Four Federal Circuit decisions in April that reversed or vacated underlying rulings provide a number of takeaways, including that obviousness analysis requires a flexible approach, that an invalidity issue of an expired patent can be moot, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • How To Use Exhibits Strategically Throughout Your Case

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    Exhibits, and documents in particular, are the lifeblood of legal advocacy, so attorneys must understand how to wield them effectively throughout different stages of a case to help build strategy, elevate witness preparation and effectively persuade the fact-finders, say Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie and Colorado prosecutor Adam Kendall.

  • Tips For Companies Tapping Into Commercial Cleantech

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    A recent report from the European Patent Office and European Investment Bank examining the global financing and commercialization of cleantech innovation necessary for the green energy transition can help companies understand and solve the issues in developing and implementing the full potential of cleantech, says Eleanor Maciver at Mewburn Ellis.

  • Opinion

    USPTO's Proposed Disclaimer Rule Would Harm Inventors

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recently proposed rule on terminal disclaimers will make the patent system less available to inventors and will unfairly favor defendants in litigation, say Stephen Schreiner at Carmichael IP and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • 15 Quick Tips For Uncovering And Mitigating Juror Biases

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    As highlighted by the recent jury selection process in the criminal hush money trial against former President Donald Trump, juror bias presents formidable challenges for defendants, and attorneys must employ proactive strategies — both new and old — to blunt its impact, say Monica Delgado and Jonathan Harris at Harris St. Laurent.

  • Tips For Keeping Trade Secrets In The Vault

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    Key practices aimed at maintaining confidentiality can help companies establish trade secret status as the Federal Trade Commission's ban on noncompetes makes it prudent to explore other security measures, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Reducing Patent Litigation Costs Starts With Early Strategy

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    With the average cost ranging from $1 million to $4 million, defending a patent case can create a serious strain on resources, particularly for midsize or smaller companies, so certain cost-cutting steps should be considered at the outset — even if some seem counterintuitive, say Jeffrey Ahdoot and Wendy Verlander at Verlander.

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