Intellectual Property

  • October 09, 2024

    Logan Paul Brand Can't Block Messi Drink Collab, Suit Says

    The maker of White Claw has sued social media influencer and pro wrestler Logan Paul's sports beverage company Prime Hydration, seeking a declaration from a New York federal court that its recent collaboration with soccer legend Lionel Messi on a beverage doesn't infringe Prime's trademarks.

  • October 09, 2024

    Thomson Reuters Again Seeks Win On ROSS' Pilfering

    Thomson Reuters on Tuesday filed a pair of renewed motions for partial summary judgment seeking to block ROSS Intelligence Inc. from claiming fair use, and hold it liable for copyright infringement, in a suit alleging ROSS ripped off the Westlaw research platform for its artificial intelligence product.

  • October 09, 2024

    USPTO Won't Let Non-Patent Attys Take Lead At PTAB

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday announced it would not move forward with its proposal to allow attorneys who don't belong to the patent bar serve as lead counsel at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • October 09, 2024

    Frost Brown Ducks Malpractice Suit Over League Trademarks

    A Delaware Superior Court judge has tossed a malpractice suit alleging that Frost Brown Todd LLP failed to adequately investigate infringement issues with trademarks a football league sought to use in the relaunch of the United States Football League.

  • October 09, 2024

    Ousted AI Engineer Took Trade Secrets, Auto Service Co. Says

    A software engineer who was fired from auto services company Agero after just three months took hundreds of confidential files and other materials, according to a suit filed on Wednesday in Massachusetts state court.

  • October 09, 2024

    'Ghost' Florida Atty Left Long Trail Of Irked Judges, Clients

    A Florida lawyer accused in a state court suit of ignoring and defrauding dozens of clients who paid nonrefundable retainers has faced a series of similar allegations in federal court, drawing the ire of judges and opposing counsel.

  • October 09, 2024

    Final Treasury Rules Shut Off Inclusion For Repatriated IP

    The U.S. Treasury Department adopted final rules Wednesday that shut off an annual income inclusion associated with intangibles for companies in certain situations that have transferred intellectual property back to the U.S. from overseas.

  • October 08, 2024

    Western Digital Owes $334M Over Data Security IP, Jury Told

    Hard disk drive behemoth Western Digital owes up to $334 million for selling portable data security storage devices that infringe a SPEX Technologies patent, SPEX's attorney told California federal jurors during opening statements Tuesday, while defense counsel said the claimed invention has been in the public domain for years.

  • October 08, 2024

    Apple Loses Bid For Jury Trial In Masimo Trade Secrets Fight

    A California federal judge on Monday granted Masimo's request for a bench trial to address its trade secrets claims against Apple, noting that bench trials are almost always granted in situations where the plaintiff is seeking only equitable relief, and Apple hasn't convinced the court to deviate from that norm.

  • October 08, 2024

    'Alarming' AI Might Aid Research In Patent Fights, Judge Says

    A Federal Circuit judge on Tuesday told law school students at the University of California, Berkeley that while he finds artificial intelligence tools "a little alarming and frightening," he could see how they might be useful for finding prior art in patent disputes.

  • October 08, 2024

    Illumina Wants Unresponsive Plaintiff To Pay $200K, Atty Fees

    Biotechnology company Illumina Inc. asked a New Jersey federal court Tuesday to order a former graduate student to pay $200,000 in liquidated damages for allegedly failing to respond to attempts to finalize a settlement to his claims that attorneys from Latham & Watkins LLP and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP manipulated a patent case to steal his intellectual property.

  • October 08, 2024

    ITC Erred With Oil Drilling Tech IP Ruling, Fed. Circ. Told

    US Synthetic Corp. on Tuesday urged the Federal Circuit to reverse a U.S. International Trade Commission decision that allows rivals to import a diamond oil drilling tool material the Utah-based company says infringes its intellectual property, arguing the agency wrongly found its drilling technology invention is abstract and patent-ineligible.

  • October 08, 2024

    Jackson, Kagan Target Loper Bright In Ghost Gun Case

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was uncharacteristically quiet during initial arguments Tuesday over the federal government's authority to regulate ghost guns. While her colleagues debated whether kits of unassembled parts qualify as firearms, she waited patiently to post a different question: Can courts now toss agency interpretations they don't like?

  • October 08, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Mulls Trade Dress Fight Over Pink Hip Devices

    A Federal Circuit panel wrestled Tuesday with arguments from a German medical supplier that "late-breaking research" shows why the appearance of the color pink in a part of hip joint implants is not as functional as the company used to claim in the marketplace.

  • October 08, 2024

    2nd Circ. Won't Revive 1-800 Contacts, Warby Parker Row

    A Second Circuit panel affirmed a ruling Tuesday that found eyewear retailer Warby Parker did not infringe 1-800 Contacts Inc.'s trademarks by purchasing ads on search engines using its competitor's keywords.

  • October 08, 2024

    NY Is 'Fair Play' For Barry Sanders Statue IP Row, Judge Told

    A professional photographer suing over the alleged unauthorized use of his copyrighted photo to create a statue of legendary Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders urged a New York federal judge Tuesday not to drop the sculpture company from his lawsuit, arguing its jurisdictional claim lacks merit.

  • October 08, 2024

    Limp Bizkit's $200M Suit Says UMG Hid Royalties

    Rock band Limp Bizkit hit Universal Music Group Inc. on Tuesday with a suit seeking more than $200 million, alleging that the music company created and used technology that allows it to hide royalties from its artists and hoard profits.

  • October 08, 2024

    3rd Circ. Directs Court To Explain If Natera Ads 'Literally False'

    A Third Circuit panel on Tuesday sent allegations of false advertising against medical test maker Natera back to district court, directing the judge to determine whether a jury had sufficient evidence last year to find that eight of the company's advertisements were "literally false."

  • October 08, 2024

    Ex-Clients Say BakerHostetler Can't Keep Suit In Fed. Court

    Former clients of BakerHostetler strengthened their request to send to Georgia state court a suit alleging the firm mishandled their patent application for a smart wardrobe system, arguing that the case doesn't raise patent law questions and thus shouldn't remain in federal court.

  • October 08, 2024

    Judge Clarifies Licensing Curbs On Paul Newman Foundation

    The foundation established by the actor Paul Newman cannot license his publicity and intellectual property rights to any university or other nonprofit, studio or publisher or any luxury brand for advertising, a Connecticut state court judge has said, responding to a request to clarify a preliminary injunction she issued.

  • October 08, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Restores Debit Card Patent Suit Against Aetna

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday revived patent litigation targeting Aetna's Visa- and Mastercard-branded debit cards, while holding that certain aspects of dismissal decisions should be reviewed from scratch on appeal.

  • October 08, 2024

    NC Judge Scolds Clinic And Hospital Over Bids To Seal TM Case

    A North Carolina federal judge chastised a weight loss center, a hospital and a community health provider for their bids to seal a large swath of information in a trademark infringement lawsuit, invoking the secretive medieval court that gave rise to the phrase "star chamber."

  • October 08, 2024

    Exporting Chips To China Doesn't Merit 7 Years, 9th Circ. Told

    Counsel for a former UCLA electrical engineering professor urged the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday to reduce his seven-year prison sentence for illegally exporting high-powered semiconductor chips to China, saying the conduct did not amount to an evasion of national security controls.

  • October 08, 2024

    Axinn Rebrands Ahead Of NYC Relocation

    Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP announced Tuesday a new image rebrand in advance of the planned relocation of its New York office to Rockefeller Center at the end of the year.

  • October 07, 2024

    Apple Beats Masimo's Allegations Of Misleading USPTO

    Apple did not deceive the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office when obtaining design patents, a Delaware federal judge ruled Monday, shooting down a key argument from Masimo Corp. as the parties continue to fight over the market for smartwatches.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Deploy AI In A Dangerous Threat Landscape

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    Businesses are feeling immense pressure to deploy generative artificial intelligence tools to accelerate profits and demonstrate their technological superiority to investors and consumers, and there are a few steps they can take when using AI tools to mitigate liability risks, say B. Stephanie Siegmann and Julianna Malogolowkin at Hinckley Allen.

  • Calif. Out-Of-State Noncompete Ban Faces Several Hurdles

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    California's attempt to bolster its noncompete law has encountered significant procedural and constitutional challenges, and litigating parties must carefully analyze not only the restrictive covenants contained in their agreements, but also the forum-selection and choice-of-law provisions, say Jennifer Redmond and Gal Gressel at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Defamation Suit Tests Lanham Act's Reach With Influencers

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    Recently filed in the Northern District of Texas, Prime Hydration v. Garcia, alleging defamation and Lanham Act violations based on the defendant's social media statements about the beverage brand, allows Texas courts and the Fifth Circuit to take the lead in interpreting the act as it applies to influencers, says attorney Susan Jorgensen.

  • Series

    Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.

  • Navigating The Murky Waters Of Patent Infringement Damages

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    Recent cases show that there is no easy way to isolate an infringed patent’s value, and it would serve all sides well for courts to thoroughly examine expert opinions of this nature and provide consistent guidance for future cases, say Manny Caixeiro and Elizabeth Manno at Venable.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

  • 3rd Circ. Ruling Shows Benefits Of IP Licenses In Bankruptcy

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    The Third Circuit’s recent ruling in Mallinckrodt’s Chapter 11 filing, which held that Mallinckrodt could sever its obligations to pay Sanofi royalties on sales of an autoimmune disease drug, highlights the advantages of structuring transactions as nonexclusive licenses for developers of intellectual property, say Gregory Hesse and Kaleb Bailey at Hunton.

  • Opinion

    Unclear Intellectual Property Laws Are Stifling US Innovation

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    U.S. intellectual property law’s lack of predictability means far less job-creating investments for companies that need patent protection to compete, and Congress must step in with legislation like the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act to help address the problem, says Michael Gulliford at Soryn IP Capital Management.

  • The Fed. Circ. In June: More Liability For Generic-Drug Makers

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    The Federal Circuit’s June ruling in Amarin v. Hikma will likely result in more allegations of induced infringement by generic drugs postapproval, with more of those cases proceeding to at least the summary judgment stage instead of being cut off at the outset, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe Martens.

  • Proposed NIL Deal Leaves NCAA Antitrust Liability Door Open

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    The proposed House v. NCAA settlement filed in California federal court creates the possibility of significant direct payments to student-athletes for the first time, but the resulting framework is unlikely to withstand future antitrust scrutiny because it still represents an agreement among competitors to limit labor cost, says Yaman Desai at Lynn Pinker.

  • Opinion

    Expert Witness Standards Must Consider Peer Review Crisis

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    For nearly two decades, the so-called replication crisis has upended how the scientific community views the reliability of peer-reviewed studies, and it’s time for courts to reevaluate whether peer review is a trustworthy proxy for expert witness reliability, say Jeffrey Gross and Robert LaCroix at Reid Collins.

  • USPTO Must Anticipate 'Black-Box Problem' For AI Inventions

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent guidance allows patents for inventions created with artificial intelligence, but inventors need to address the so-called black-box problem to ensure others can recreate the invention, thus meeting the enablement requirement, say Mark Basanta and Georg Reitboeck at Haug Partners.

  • Irish Businesses Should Act Now To Prepare For EU AI Act

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    Artificial intelligence is increasingly transforming the Irish job market, and proactive engagement with the forthcoming European Union AI Act, a significant shift in the regulatory landscape for Irish businesses, will be essential for Irish businesses to responsibly harness AI’s advantages and to maintain legal compliance, say lawyers at Pinsent Masons.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Considerations For Federal Right Of Publicity As AI Advances

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    Amid rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence technology, Congress should consider how a federal right of publicity would interact with the existing patchwork of state name, image and likeness laws, as well as other issues like scope, harm recognized and available relief, says Ross Bagley at Pryor Cashman.

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