Intellectual Property

  • July 18, 2024

    Vidal Backs 'Egregious Abuse' Findings Against Vaccine Maker

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal has upheld a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision to punish Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics for "egregious abuse of the PTAB process," a status report in a Utah federal case indicates.

  • July 18, 2024

    Fed. Circ. OKs Gilstrap's Alice Ax Of Background Check Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday upheld Eastern District of Texas Judge Rodney Gilstrap's invalidation of a background check patent for claiming only an abstract idea, as well as his refusal to award attorney fees to the small Texas city that prevailed in the case.

  • July 18, 2024

    Comcast Gets PTAB To Eye Patent Despite EDTX Trial

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Thursday said it will look into a petition by Comcast asking it to invalidate claims in a patent organizing "content on a display device" that is tied to a $338.7 million jury verdict and is being asserted in another case set to go to trial later this year.

  • July 18, 2024

    Google Warns Fed. Circ. Panel Backed Manipulating Damages

    The Federal Circuit's decision to make Google pay EcoFactor $20 million for infringing a smart thermostat patent clears patent owners to "manufacture a royalty rate" and ignore both market realities and apportionment, Google told the full court in a bid for rehearing.

  • July 18, 2024

    Ye Brazenly Stole DJ Khalil's Music For 'Donda,' Suit Says

    The musical artist formerly known as Kanye West has been slapped with a lawsuit in California federal court claiming that he stole music from DJ Khalil and three other artists for two leading tracks on his blockbuster album "Donda."

  • July 18, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Deflate Air Mattress Patent Upheld At PTAB

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's conclusion that no claims of a Sun Pleasure Co. air mattress patent are invalid based on the grounds asserted by a Chinese company.

  • July 18, 2024

    Invalid Patents Sink Tech Co.'s Claims Against Lenovo

    A North Carolina federal judge has cut claims in an infringement suit over data transfer patents by wireless and video technology company InterDigital against Lenovo, finding some of the challenged patents are invalid.

  • July 18, 2024

    Del. Judge Overrules ViaTech's $34M Jury Win Against Adobe

    A Delaware federal judge has concluded that Adobe Inc. could not have infringed a ViaTech technologies licensing system patent, and threw out a jury's $33.8 million infringement verdict.

  • July 18, 2024

    Tech Giants Can't Sink Slide-To-Unlock Patent At Fed. Circ.

    Samsung, Apple and Google failed on Thursday to persuade a panel of Federal Circuit judges to kill a patent covering the idea of sliding-to-unlock a phone, purportedly developed by a small Sweden smartphone developer over a decade ago.

  • July 18, 2024

    US Cheerleading Org. Loses TM Fight Over 'Worlds' Marks

    A Florida federal judge handed a pair of cheerleading organizations a summary judgment win Wednesday in a trademark infringement lawsuit by U.S. All Star Federation that alleged the rivals ripped off the competitive cheerleading organizational body's signature event's name, finding the contested "Worlds" marks are too generic to be protected.

  • July 18, 2024

    Pool Co. Wants To Dig Into Rival's Alter Egos For $16M Verdict

    Pool supply company Hayward Industries Inc. is looking to force responses from the alter egos of bankrupt rival Blueworks Corp. regarding their assets, bank accounts and property so that Hayward can collect on its $16 million false advertising and unfair business practices judgment.

  • July 18, 2024

    Rising Star: Robins Kaplan's Emily Niles

    Emily Niles of Robins Kaplan LLP helped lead the trial team that scored a $71.4 million jury verdict on behalf of Taiwanese Christmas lights company Willis Electric against a rival in Hong Kong that is the world's largest maker of artificial Christmas trees, earning her a spot among the intellectual property law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 17, 2024

    T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon Accused Of Using Negotiating Cartel

    An intellectual property licensing business on Wednesday filed yet another suit against AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, this time accusing the telecommunications companies of wielding their market power and conspiring to refuse to license innovative 4G and 5G wireless communications system technology.

  • July 17, 2024

    Western Digital Owes $305M Over Hard Drive IP, Jury Told

    Hard drive goliath Western Digital owes $305 million for selling drives that infringe MR Technologies' patents for increasing storage capacity, MR's attorney told a California federal jury during opening statements Wednesday, while Western Digital's counsel said the patents are invalid and its products don't infringe anyway.

  • July 17, 2024

    'Hot Girl Walk' Says Rival Infringed, Set An 'Army' On Brand

    Hot Girl Walk, a social media-fueled walking organization, sued the founder of a group called Hot Walk Indy in Indiana federal court on Tuesday, claiming trademark infringement and a plot to "aggressively bully" and "take down" its brand.

  • July 17, 2024

    Zoho Gets PTAB To Cut Bulk Of Conference Call Patent Claims

    Several Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions have wiped out claims in patents covering ways of coordinating conference calls online, following a challenge from a major Indian software company that's facing an infringement lawsuit over the patents in Texas.

  • July 17, 2024

    PTAB Tears Down Roof Measurement Patent On Remand

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found that Nearmap was able to show that all the challenged claims of an EagleView Technologies Inc. patent on measuring roofs were invalid as obvious, a move that came after the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's director remanded the case.

  • July 17, 2024

    Dykema Faces Sony Sanctions Bid In Baseball Game TM Suit

    Sony has urged a Texas federal court to sanction a baseball training company and its counsel in a trademark dispute over the digital giant's use of the phrase "future star series" in a popular video game, claiming they launched a lawsuit without investigating material facts and refused to eliminate false allegations.

  • July 17, 2024

    ITC Affirms Lab Equipment Co.'s Patent Wasn't Infringed

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has upheld an administrative law judge's finding that a California biotechnology outfit did not infringe a German laboratory equipment supplier's patent.

  • July 17, 2024

    Many AI Patent Eligibility Issues Still Hazy After Guidance

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's new guidance on patent eligibility for inventions involving artificial intelligence provides some helpful details for patent applicants, but attorneys say it leaves unanswered questions that will likely require court decisions or legislation to sort out.

  • July 17, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Tells ParkerVision To Close Fla. Case Before Appeal

    The Federal Circuit has ordered ParkerVision and Qualcomm to make a Florida federal judge explicitly end counterclaims in long-running infringement litigation between the two before continuing with ParkerVision's appeal.

  • July 17, 2024

    CBP Clears Vilox Tiles Of Infringing Patents In Import Dispute

    U.S. Customs and Border Protection has ruled Vilox has shown its licensees' vinyl floor panels do not infringe Mohawk Industries Inc. patents and can be imported into the U.S.

  • July 17, 2024

    Steve Madden Raises IP, Libel Claims In Sandal Feud

    Steven Madden Ltd. has filed suit alleging Danish "affordable luxury" brand Ganni A/S falsely claimed two of the U.S. company's shoe designs infringed Ganni's intellectual property.

  • July 17, 2024

    Investigator Argues Mogul's Hacked Data Aren't Trade Secrets

    A private investigator accused of taking part in an international hacking conspiracy targeting airline mogul Farhad Azima is looking for a win after a protracted discovery battle, saying Azima has failed to prove the allegedly stolen data contained his trade secrets.

  • July 17, 2024

    Yet Another Patent Owner Wants High Court To Review Alice

    A small Alabama company that claims to have invented a new way of "processing returned mail" is the latest to complain to the U.S. Supreme Court about the state of patent eligibility law after the company was unable to enforce its patent against the U.S. Postal Service.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate

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    With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.

  • Opinion

    'Natural Person' Or Not, AI-Made IP Deserves Protection

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    The entire legal edifice rests on a determination that an artificial system is not a so-called natural person, and although this may appear to be straightforward on its face, rapid advances in technology may soon force us to revisit our understanding of a natural person, says Manav Das at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • Lessons On Challenging Class Plaintiffs' Expert Testimony

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    In class actions seeking damages, plaintiffs are increasingly using expert opinions to establish predominance, but several recent rulings from California federal courts shed light on how defendants can respond, say Jennifer Romano and Raija Horstman at Crowell & Moring.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

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