Intellectual Property

  • January 30, 2025

    Takeaways From Jack Daniel's Latest Dog Toy Win

    Jack Daniel's won the latest round last week in its long-running legal battle against the maker of a squeaky, poop-themed dog toy that mimics the whiskey maker's famous bottles, with an Arizona federal judge ruling that VIP Products' parody tarnishes Jack Daniel's brand by associating it with feces.

  • January 30, 2025

    Samsung Gets PTAB To Review 2 Smart Ring Patents

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has agreed to hear Samsung's challenge to a pair of patents owned by a company that makes smart rings, finding there was a reasonable chance the electronics giant could potentially prevail in the fight.

  • January 30, 2025

    Food Co. Says Ex-Manager Hoodwinked Customers For Rivals

    The former general manager of a chicken processing plant allegedly double-crossed his employer by working with two competing food distributors to poach customers through deceptive sales pitches and pocketing company funds through off-the-book rental agreements, according to a newly designated North Carolina Business Court complaint.

  • January 30, 2025

    WB's 'The Pitt' Is 'Absolutely' An 'ER' Reboot, Crichton Says

    Counsel for the widow of "ER" creator Michael Crichton urged a California state judge on Thursday not to toss allegations that Warner Bros. Discovery's new medical drama "The Pitt" is an unauthorized reboot, saying the now-streaming show's development history proves it "absolutely derived" from the 1990s and early 2000s hit.

  • January 30, 2025

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Sanctions Miss, Philip Morris Refund

    In the second half of January, the North Carolina Business Court tussled with sanctions against a biogas company, heard claims an insurer tried to deliberately embarrass Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and ordered an $11 million tax refund for Philip Morris.

  • January 30, 2025

    Ex-Charter Communications IT Exec Says Noncompete Is Void

    A former Charter Communications Inc. executive has asked a Connecticut federal judge to throw out the company's trade secrets claims against him or at least transfer the case to Colorado, arguing that his ex-employer has failed to say what secrets he allegedly took to his new job and that his noncompete agreement is void.

  • January 30, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs Valentino $200K Award In Copyright Feud

    The Second Circuit on Thursday affirmed the enforcement of a Milanese arbitral award favoring Italian luxury fashion house Valentino following a copyright dispute with a New York-based designer, agreeing with a lower court that the parties' contract delegated jurisdictional questions to an arbitrator.

  • January 30, 2025

    Nelson Mullins Grows In Houston With Osha Bergman IP Duo

    Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP has grown its Houston attorney roster to more than 30 since setting up shop in the city last year and is continuing that expansion with two experienced intellectual property lawyers from Osha Bergman Watanabe & Burton LLP.

  • January 29, 2025

    Motorola Says Hytera Owes It $14.6M For IP Infringement

    Motorola on Tuesday urged an Illinois federal court to have its Chinese rival Hytera Communications pay no less than $14.6 million in copyright infringement damages in their long-running spat over digital two-way radios, saying Hytera had not met its burden of disputing the amount Motorola had already reduced from $46 million.

  • January 29, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Delaying Biosimilars For Regeneron's Eylea

    A West Virginia federal judge has the power to oversee patent infringement litigation against drugmakers from South Korea and Germany and stop them from launching biosimilar versions of Regeneron's blockbuster eye disease treatment Eylea, the Federal Circuit said Wednesday.

  • January 29, 2025

    Spotify Beats Suit Challenging 'Bundling' Royalty Structure

    A New York federal judge tossed a challenge to Spotify's new method for calculating artist royalties Wednesday, finding that the streaming giant followed the law in "bundling" a premium subscription that gives users access to both music and audiobooks.

  • January 29, 2025

    USPTO Backlog 'Unacceptable,' Trump's Commerce Pick Says

    Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's backlog of unexamined patent applications is "unacceptable," and pledged to work to reduce it so that patents are issued more quickly.

  • January 29, 2025

    Labcorp Can't Flip Patent Board Loss At Fed. Circ.

    Labcorp had no luck Wednesday trying to convince Federal Circuit judges to overturn a patent board decision that refused to invalidate a host of claims in a patent covering a way of detecting genetic disorders.

  • January 29, 2025

    LG Foe Loses Fed. Circ. Appeal On Image Processing Patent

    The Federal Circuit shot down an appeal launched by a face detection technology patent owner over how a lower court construed claim terminology in the patent, handing a win Wednesday to LG in a suit accusing it of infringement.

  • January 29, 2025

    Comet Lands $17M Fee Award After $40M Trade Secret Win

    A California federal judge has ordered Singapore-headquartered XP Power to pay $17 million to Comet Technologies USA for the tech company's legal fees in the wake of Comet's $40 million trial win, saying the award will deter "malicious trade secret misappropriation" and "encourage trade secret defendants to make reasonable litigation decisions."

  • January 29, 2025

    Tom Goldstein Seeks To Shield DC Home In Tax Crimes Case

    Appellate lawyer and SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein asked a Maryland federal judge Wednesday if he could put up three South Carolina properties as collateral for his pretrial release in place of his Washington, D.C., home as he faces charges of tax evasion and mortgage fraud.

  • January 29, 2025

    Farmers' Antitrust Claims Trimmed In Pesticides Case

    A North Carolina federal court has cut one set of federal antitrust claims from a suit brought by farmers accusing major pesticide manufacturers Syngenta AG and Corteva Inc. of blocking competition but allowed a slew of other claims to proceed.

  • January 29, 2025

    SCOTUSBlog Publisher Faces Tough Odds In Tax Crimes Case

    SCOTUSblog publisher Tom Goldstein, an expert U.S. Supreme Court lawyer accused of paying gambling debts with funds from his law firm and dodging taxes, faces an uphill battle given the considerable amount of evidence the government has already included in an indictment against him, attorneys told Law360. 

  • January 29, 2025

    Full Fed. Circ. Won't Allow MSN To Launch Generic Entresto

    The Federal Circuit is standing by its decision to bar MSN Pharmaceuticals from launching a generic version of Novartis' bestseller, the cardiovascular drug Entresto, as Novartis tries to persuade the court that it deserves an injunction through July. 

  • January 29, 2025

    Hollywood Talent Co. Calls CAA's Info Theft Suit Retaliation

    Upstart Hollywood talent management firm Range Media Partners has asked a California judge to toss Creative Artists Agency's information theft and poaching claims, saying the lawsuit is a mere power grab and retaliation by the entertainment industry behemoth "to penalize its longtime employees for leaving."

  • January 29, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Ax Of Patent Atty's Allergan FCA Fight

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed the dismissal of a patent attorney's False Claims Act lawsuit alleging Allergan and Adamas Pharma fraudulently obtained patents to block generic competition for two Alzheimer's drugs, finding the information he disclosed was already publicly available and so his FCA claims are barred.

  • January 29, 2025

    Retailers Back Intel, OpenSky In VLSI IP Fight At Fed. Circ.

    A retail trade association has urged the Federal Circuit to affirm the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision not to throw out a challenge to a VLSI chip patent that ended up being invalidated, saying there was nothing wrong with allowing Intel to join the fight.

  • January 29, 2025

    Japanese Candy Biz Loses Trademark Fight With Rival Seller

    A Japanese candy exporter failed Wednesday to sway Federal Circuit judges to overturn a trademark board ruling as part of its fight with a rival company over who can use the Japanese word for "feudal lord" in order to sell candy.

  • January 29, 2025

    Uber Can't Duck Mass. Tech Company's Trade Secrets Suit

    A Massachusetts state judge ruled Wednesday that a forum selection clause can't protect Uber from answering claims that it stole a Boston technology company's trade secrets after partnering with it on rider safety pilot projects in Brazil.

  • January 29, 2025

    AI Art Needs Human Input For Copyrights, Gov't Report Says

    Simply directing artificial intelligence platforms to make art, music, videos and other creative works is not enough for users of AI systems to be considered authors entitled to copyright protection, the U.S. Copyright Office said Wednesday in a report that's part of a broader agency initiative to explore legal issues raised by the revolutionary technology.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Litigation Strategies In View Of New Double Patenting Rulings

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    Recent Federal Circuit decisions, including in Allergan v. MSN, raise several issues that patent owners should understand and consider addressing proactively regarding obviousness-type double patenting, at least in their prosecution strategies, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • Tracking The Slow Movement Of AI Copyright Cases

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    The tech community may be expecting a prompt resolution on whether products generated by artificial intelligence are a fair use of copyrighted works, but legal history shows that a response to this question — at the heart of over 30 pending cases — will take years, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • The EU Design System Changes US Cos. Need To Know About

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    With a number of major reforms to the European Union's design protection system set to take effect in the first half of 2025, U.S. companies need to stay informed about specific details to maintain effective intellectual property management in the EU market, say lawyers at Finnegan.

  • Curious Case Of FTC's Amicus Brief In Teva Fed. Circ. Appeal

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    Attorneys at BCLP explore the Federal Trade Commission's backing of Amneal's Orange Book-delisting efforts on Teva ahead of a key Federal Circuit hearing in a case between the two pharmaceutical companies, and wonder if the FTC amicus brief indicates a future trend, especially in the next administration.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • When 'Patented' Goes Beyond Inventorship In False Ad Cases

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    The Federal Circuit's recent false advertising holding in Crocs v. Effervescent is significant because it offers a nuanced yet realistic understanding of what false claims about a product's status as "patented" can mean, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • The Fed. Circ. In October: Aetna And License-Term Review

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision that Aetna's credit card licensing agreement with AlexSam did not give the insurer immunity from patent infringement claims serves to warn licensees to read their contracts carefully, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Opinion

    PREVAIL Bill Is Another Misguided Attempt To Restrict PTAB

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    The decade-long campaign against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board — currently focused on the PREVAIL Act that's slated for markup in the Senate — is not really about procedural issues, and it is not aimed at securing more accurate patentability decisions, says Clear IP's Joseph Matal, former acting director at the USPTO.

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