Intellectual Property

  • February 24, 2025

    USPTO Trademark Head, Ex-Solicitor To Depart This Week

    Two more senior leaders are leaving the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office — the current commissioner for trademarks, who is concluding his five-year term, and a longtime agency attorney who said he's departing as part of President Donald Trump's federal worker "deferred resignation" program. 

  • February 24, 2025

    Tax Software Co. Says Rival Is The Real Trade Secrets Thief

    Corporate-focused tax preparation software company Avalara, accused by Vertex Inc. of poaching workers to steal trade secrets, has asked to file counterclaims, arguing Vertex has actually done the illegal poaching.

  • February 24, 2025

    Placement Co. Hit With False Ads Suit Over Referral Model

    A company that places senior citizens in retirement homes was hit with proposed class claims alleging it falsely advertises free services and steers business away from communities that decline to participate in its "pay-to-play" business model. 

  • February 24, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Revives Irish Food Biz Kerry's Meat-Curing Patent

    Irish food flavoring business Kerry Group persuaded the Federal Circuit on Monday to order administrative patent board judges to take another look at a patent the company owns covering a purportedly new way to prepare cured meats.

  • February 24, 2025

    Filmmaker Seeks New IP Trial Against Shyamalan, Others

    A filmmaker has asked for a new copyright infringement trial against writer-director M. Night Shyamalan and his co-defendants Friday after a jury found that they did not have access to the film she claimed they infringed, arguing that the court failed to answer a crucial question from the jury before the verdict was delivered.

  • February 24, 2025

    Netflix Sinks Robocast Playlist Patents In Del. IP Suit

    A Delaware federal judge has sided with Netflix's arguments that a trio of Robocast patents covering playlist technology are invalid.

  • February 24, 2025

    Venable Litigator Jumps To Steptoe In California

    Steptoe LLP continues growing its West Coast team, announcing Monday it is bringing in a Venable LLP commercial trial lawyer as a partner in its Los Angeles and San Francisco offices.

  • February 24, 2025

    Supreme Court Skips Fee-Shifting, IP Web Scraping Questions

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected petitions involving fee-shifting in copyright cases, whether judges or juries should decide what can be copyrighted, and if scraping public information online should be considered hacking under the Defend Trade Secrets Act when it is done by a computer.

  • February 24, 2025

    High Court Declines To Review Reach Of Trade Secrets Law

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down a petition from a Chinese company asking it to review whether the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 can apply extraterritorially.

  • February 24, 2025

    Justices Nix Whistleblower Suit Over Arbitral Vacatur Limits

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a petition that raised questions about the standards under which courts can vacate or enforce arbitral awards, in a case brought by a whistleblower who sought to challenge an arbitral award favoring his former employer.

  • February 24, 2025

    Justices Won't Review Overturned Slicer Patent Verdict

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected Provisur Technologies Inc.'s appeal arguing that its right to a jury trial was violated when the Federal Circuit overturned a jury verdict that Weber Inc. willfully infringed its food slicer patents in a $10.5 million case.

  • February 24, 2025

    High Court Rejects Dish's Bid For Atty Fees For PTAB Work

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down Dish Network's appeal arguing that, after being cleared in a patent infringement case, it was entitled to attorney fees for its successful Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenge, and from the plaintiff's attorneys.

  • February 24, 2025

    Paul Hastings Adds Boston Co-Chair For New Tech Practice

    The former global vice chair of Latham & Watkins LLP's data and technology transactions practice has moved to Paul Hastings LLP as co-chair of its newly established technology transactions practice, the latter firm announced Monday.

  • February 21, 2025

    Pepperdine Says Netflix, WB Series Rips Off 'Waves' Athletics

    Netflix and Warner Bros. Entertainment ripped off Pepperdine University's intellectual property, including the colors and branding of its basketball team, to create their forthcoming comedy series "Running Point" and create a false sense of affiliation, the university alleges in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed Thursday in California federal court.

  • February 21, 2025

    Shkreli Avoids Sanctions Over 'Frustrating' Wu-Tang Tangle

    Convicted former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli won't have to pay sanctions after purportedly dragging his feet for nearly six months on complying with court orders to hand over copies of a Wu-Tang Clan album to the crypto project that bought it from him.

  • February 21, 2025

    ITC To Review Hoverboard Maker's Patent Case

    The U.S. International Trade Commission is going to look into the latest patent complaint from the inventor of a self-balancing hoverboard who is targeting rival products from China.

  • February 21, 2025

    Microsoft Says Encryption Suit Misunderstands Its Tech

    Microsoft says there's no longer any need for it to face a patent lawsuit over email encryption, telling a Washington federal court that it has become clear that its software "does not work" the way the plaintiff says it does.

  • February 21, 2025

    Trade Secrets Dispute Between Cell Tower Cos. Stays Alive

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Thursday narrowed a lawsuit between rival cell tower companies over the use of pricing information, dismissing trade secret claims stemming from leases that lacked confidentiality or nondisclosure provisions.

  • February 21, 2025

    Whirlpool Seeks More Damages And Fees After $27M TM Win

    Michigan-based appliance company Whirlpool Corp. has requested enhanced damages and attorney fees after a Texas federal jury found last month that Chinese company Shenzhen Sanlida Electrical Technology Co. Ltd. owed Whirlpool $27 million for willfully infringing and diluting the trademark for its iconic KitchenAid stand mixers.

  • February 21, 2025

    MSN Calls Novartis' Entresto Delisting Protest 'Disingenuous'

    Novartis' claim that there's no rush to decide whether a patent covering its blockbuster cardiovascular drug Entresto should be removed from a key drug database is "disingenuous and a complete about-face," MSN Pharmaceuticals has told a Delaware federal judge.  

  • February 21, 2025

    Puma, Brooks End IP Fight Over 'Nitro' Running Shoes

    Puma and Brooks Sports have agreed to drop dueling intellectual property claims over "Nitro"-branded sole foam technology used by both athletic apparel retailers to market running shoes, according to a notice filed in federal court in Seattle on Friday.

  • February 21, 2025

    Eli Lilly Has Exclusivity Over Weight Loss Drug, FDA Says

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration asked a Texas federal court to reject a request for an injunction that would allow compounding pharmacies to produce a lucrative weight loss drug, saying the agency based its decision on sound facts and it was within its authority.

  • February 21, 2025

    6 Things To Know About Shein's Fast Fashion Feuds

    Ultra-fast fashion behemoth Shein is facing accusations of infringing intellectual property in dozens of cases from plaintiffs ranging from major fashion brands to individual artists. Here are six things to know about Shein's intellectual property battles.

  • February 21, 2025

    Harry Manbeck, Former USPTO Head, Dies At 98

    Former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leader and chief patent counsel at General Electric Co., Harry F. Manbeck Jr., died Wednesday. He was 98.

  • February 21, 2025

    9th Circ. Revives Atty's Ownership Claims Over Calif. Winery

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Friday revived an attorney's ownership claims over a California winery, finding factual disputes over an alleged oral agreement with the winery's former owner require a trial, while also upholding a jury's verdict that found a breach fiduciary duty claim against the attorney that awarded no damages.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Craft Strong Prong 2 Arguments For AI Patent Apps

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recent guidance update on subject matter eligibility for artificial intelligence inventions highlights that the key to overcoming rejection lies in the analysis under Prong 2, which practitioners should consider leading their arguments with, says Sean Lee at Baker Botts.

  • IP Concerns For Manufacturing Semiconductors In Low Orbit

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    With space habitation companies working to launch private space stations in the near future, semiconductor manufacturers aiming to execute research and development in low or microgravity must consider the unique claim drafting and patent protection issues that will emerge, says Greg Miraglia at Quinn Emanuel.

  • 6 Tips For Trying Cases Away From Home

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    A truly national litigation practice, by definition, often requires trying cases in jurisdictions across the country, which presents unique challenges that require methodical preparation and coordination both within the trial team and externally, say Edward Bennett and Suzanne Salgado at Williams & Connolly.

  • 3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim

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    The Second Circuit's recent opinion in Match Group v. Beazley Underwriting, overturning Tinder's victory on its insurer's motion to dismiss a coverage action, reinforces three best practices policyholders purchasing claims-made coverage should adhere to in order to avoid late-notice defenses, say Lynda Bennett and Alexander Corson at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • USPTO Guidance Suggests 2 Strategies For AI Inventions

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    Analyzing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent guidance, it appears that there are at least two paths for establishing that an artificial intelligence invention is eligible for protection, and that which strategy to use may turn on how broadly the invention is applied, says William Morriss at Frost Brown.

  • A Blueprint For Structuring An Effective Plaintiff Case Story

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    The number and size of nuclear verdicts continue to rise, in part because plaintiffs attorneys have become more adept at crafting compelling trial stories — and an analysis of these success stories reveals a 10-part framework for structuring an effective case narrative, says Jonathan Ross at Decision Analysis.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: The MDL Map

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    An intriguing yet unpredictable facet of multidistrict litigation practice is venue selection for new MDL proceedings, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation considers many factors when it assigns an MDL venue, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.

  • Boeing Ruling Is A Cautionary Tale For Trade Secret Litigants

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    A Washington federal court’s recent ruling canceling a $72 million jury award against Boeing because Zunum Aero had failed to properly identify its trade secrets highlights the value of an early statement of alleged secrets, amended through discovery and used as a framework at trial, says Matthew D'Amore at Cornell.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Courts Will Still Defer To Feds On Nat'l Security

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    Agencies with trade responsibilities may be less affected by Chevron’s demise because of the special deference courts have shown when hearing international trade cases involving national security, foreign policy or the president’s constitutional authority to direct such matters, say attorneys at Venable.

  • A Look At The Economic Impact Of Drug Patent Differentiation

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    Given the Federal Trade Commission’s recent emphasis on unfair competition based on disputed patent listings, pharmaceutical market participants are likely to require nuanced characterizations of actual and but-for market competition when multiple patents differentiate multiple products, say economists at Competition Dynamics.

  • Google And The Next Frontier Of Divestiture Antitrust Remedy

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    The possibility of a large-scale divestiture in the Google search case comes on the heels of recent requests of business breakups as remedies for anticompetitive conduct, and companies should prepare for the likelihood that courts may impose divestiture remedies in the event of a liability finding, say Lauren Weinstein and Nathaniel Rubin at MoloLamken.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • Defamation Law Changes May Be Brewing At Supreme Court

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's significant rightward shift has produced dramatic changes in many areas of the law, and the long-standing "actual malice" standard protecting speech about public figures could be the next precedent to fall, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.

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