Intellectual Property

  • August 28, 2024

    Game-Maker Zynga Can't Ax IBM Patent Ahead Of Sept. 9 Trial

    The video game developer behind "Farmville" and "Words with Friends" failed Wednesday to convince a Delaware federal judge that claims in an IBM patent cover ideas too routine for patent protection, allowing the tech giant to bring those claims before a jury trial scheduled for early next month.

  • August 28, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Make ITC Reopen Drill Patent Suit

    The Federal Circuit said Wednesday that a Japanese company that makes power drills can't force the U.S. International Trade Commission to finish adjudicating a patent case from a rival after the infringement allegations were dropped.

  • August 28, 2024

    2nd Circ. Affirms Ex-GE Engineer's Espionage Conviction

    A General Electric Co. engineer convicted of conspiracy to commit economic espionage lost his bid Wednesday to undo his conviction, with a three-judge panel on the Second Circuit affirming the judgment of the New York district court.

  • August 28, 2024

    High Court Told Tyvaso Row Petition Based On 'False' Premise

    A small pharmaceutical startup behind a drug that would compete with the blockbuster high blood pressure treatment Tyvaso says United Therapeutics is making a "fundamentally false" argument to the U.S. Supreme Court about why an appeals court rejected United Therapeutics' case.

  • August 28, 2024

    Detroit Car Service Slams Rival's 'Metro Cars' TM Actions

    A Detroit chauffeuring business said it's being unfairly accused of flouting a court order and infringing a competitor's "Metro Cars" trademark despite doing all it can to scrub the phrase from its web presence, calling a recent contempt motion a disingenuous money grab.

  • August 28, 2024

    Regeneron Sues Sandoz Over Dozens Of Eye Drug Patents

    Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. has taken competing biomedical company Sandoz Inc. to New Jersey federal court with an extensive complaint asserting 46 patents and claiming Sandoz infringed them all with a biosimilar alternative to Regeneron's Eylea brand ophthalmic disorder drug.

  • August 28, 2024

    Chinese Cos. Say Clipboards Don't Infringe MedInfo's Patent

    Two China-based online vendors that sell clipboard products on Amazon.com have sued rival clipboard supplier MedInfo Inc. in federal court, saying the Colorado-based clipboard distributor put their business at risk by falsely reporting to Amazon they were infringing a MedInfo patent.

  • August 28, 2024

    Mug Maker Sues Fla. Rival Over Leopard Print Design

    A Denver-based company that makes insulated beverage containers and coolers took a Florida competitor to Colorado federal court for allegedly ripping off a print design for some of its products, which the suit says includes insulated water bottles that compete directly with the Centennial State company's own offerings.

  • August 28, 2024

    Judge Adds $2.4M To $2M IP Verdict Against Mining Co.

    A Texas federal judge ordered a Norwegian mining company to pay $2.4 million, on top of a $2 million jury verdict, covering oil drilling device sales made after they were found to infringe a rival's intellectual property.

  • August 28, 2024

    USPTO Atty Union Loses Bid For Right To Review Settlements

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office must give its attorneys' union a copy of any settlements it reaches in cases involving the attorneys' work conditions, but the agency does not have to let the union review those settlements in advance, an arbitrator held.

  • August 27, 2024

    'Real Martha' Of 'Baby Reindeer' Says Netflix Must Face Suit

    A Scottish lawyer who alleges that Netflix's "Baby Reindeer" series defamed her through its portrayal of a violent stalker character urged a California federal judge Monday not to toss her lawsuit, arguing that the hate mail and death threats she's received prove that the public believes that the portrayal of her is true.

  • August 27, 2024

    'ER' Creator's Widow Says Warner Bros. Ripped Off Show

    The widow of late "ER" creator Michael Crichton on Tuesday accused Warner Bros. Television of abandoning talks to reboot the popular hospital television series, only to turn around and launch a ripped-off version called "The Pitt," a move she called a "brazen disregard" of Crichton's estate's rights.

  • August 27, 2024

    USPTO Sued For Rejecting Blood Pressure Drug Patent

    A small drug developer has hit the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with a second lawsuit in Virginia federal court over the agency's latest rejection of the company's efforts to patent a different dosage of a drug the company markets to treat low blood pressure.

  • August 27, 2024

    Take Another Look At Video Game Patent, Vidal Tells PTAB

    The director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says a split administrative patent board got a phrase wrong when it ruled in April not to institute a review of a video game patent, ordering it to rethink its decision.

  • August 27, 2024

    Philip Morris' Vape Brand Loses ITC Decision In Juul Fight

    The operator of the Philip Morris brand said Tuesday that it disagrees with a ruling from a U.S. International Trade Commission judge who found that the company's vape brand infringes patents owned by rival Juul.

  • August 27, 2024

    Revlon Says Ex-Workers Stole Britney Spears Fragrance Deal

    Global beauty and cosmetics brand Revlon sued several former fragrance marketing executives and upstart competitor Give Back Beauty in New York federal court, alleging they stole trade secrets and breached contracts when luring Britney Spears' perfume line away from Revlon.

  • August 27, 2024

    Clark Hill Adds Atty In NYC From Schoeman Updike

    Clark Hill PLC said Tuesday that it is bringing a litigator to its New York City office as a member, one with a focus on financial services and business disputes as well as experience ranging from intellectual property to real estate issues.

  • August 27, 2024

    ITC To Look Into Infineon's Patent Claims Against Innoscience

    The U.S. International Trade Commission launched an investigation Tuesday into certain semiconductor devices and products that use gallium nitride technology after semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies accused China-based chipmaker Innoscience of infringing several patents.

  • August 27, 2024

    NFL Union Sues DraftKings Over Broken NFT Licensing Deal

    The NFL Players Association has accused DraftKings Inc. of failing to make good on a licensing agreement when the online sportsbook decided to cease payments after shuttering its nonfungible token marketplace in the wake of a civil suit that argued DraftKings' NFTs offended securities laws.

  • August 27, 2024

    NC State Board Of Education Sued Over NIL Prohibition

    A North Carolina mother is challenging the state school board's ban on high school student-athletes using their name, image and likeness for commercial purposes, arguing the state has directed it to regulate, not prohibit, the practice.

  • August 27, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Speed Up Apple Watch Ban Appeal

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday denied Apple Inc.'s request to expedite oral arguments in its appeal challenging the U.S. International Trade Commission's decision banning the tech giant from selling Apple Watches with a "blood oxygen" feature in the Masimo patent case.

  • August 27, 2024

    Disney Wipes Out Verdict In Movie Graphics Copyright Suit

    Walt Disney Pictures does not have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in copyright infringement damages a jury said it owes to a digital-effects company after a California federal judge overturned the verdict and granted the entertainment company a post-trial victory.

  • August 27, 2024

    Google Wants Out Of IP Suit Over Pirated Books

    Google asked a Manhattan federal judge to dismiss allegations that it allowed advertisements to be shown to users from websites that sell pirated textbooks, claiming it has no ability to supervise those sites and isn't profiting from alleged pirating.

  • August 27, 2024

    NBA Star Can't Sidestep TM Dispute Over Signature Shoe

    NBA player LaMelo Ball, his family and Puma North America Inc. must face a trademark infringement suit brought against them over the athlete's signature shoes, a California federal judge has ruled, finding that there are factual disputes to resolve and that California federal court does have jurisdiction.

  • August 26, 2024

    $4.4M Award Against Cheat Code Site Upheld At 9th Circ.

    A website that circulated cheat codes for the video game "Destiny 2" failed to convince the Ninth Circuit on Monday that it got an unfair shake in front of an arbitrator who told the site to pay $4.4 million for breaking copyright and trademark laws.

Expert Analysis

  • Businesses Should Take Their AI Contracts Off Auto-Renew

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    When subscribing to artificial intelligence tools — or to any technology in a highly competitive and legally thorny market — companies should push back on automatic renewal contract clauses for reasons including litigation and regulatory risk, and competition, says Chris Wlach at Huge Inc.

  • Del. IP Ruling May Mark Limitation-By-Limitation Analysis Shift

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    A Delaware federal court's recent ruling in Lindis Biotech v. Amgen, which involved complex technology where the complaint contained neither facts nor a specific allegation directed to a claim limitation, might spark a shift away from requiring a limitation-by-limitation analysis, say Ted Mathias and Ian Swan at Axinn.

  • Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy

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    The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Cell Therapy Cos. Must Beware Limits Of Patent Safe Harbors

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    Though developers of gene and cell therapy products commonly assume that a legal safe harbor protects them from patent infringement suits, recent case law shows that not all preapproval uses of patented technology are necessarily protected, say Natasha Daughtrey and Joshua Weinger at Goodwin.

  • ITC Ruling Has Serious IP Implications For Foreign Imports

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    While a recent U.S. International Trade Commission decision is a win for trade secret owners who can show injury to a U.S. domestic industry, the decision also means that companies operating in foreign jurisdictions will be subject to the requirements of U.S. trade secret law, say Paul Ainsworth and Cristen Corry at Sterne Kessler.

  • What The Justices' Copyright Damages Ruling Didn't Address

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Warner Chappell v. Nealy clarified when a copyright owner may recover damages in jurisdictions that apply the so-called discovery rule, it did not settle the overriding question of whether the Copyright Act even permits applying the rule, say Ivy Estoesta and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • How Clinical Trials Affect Patentability In US And Europe

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    A comparison of recent U.S. and European patent decisions — concerning the effect of disclosures in clinical trials on the patentability of products — offers guidance on good practice for companies dealing with public use issues and prior art documents in these commercially important jurisdictions, say lawyers at Finnegan.

  • TTAB Ruling Raises Foreign-Language Mark Questions

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    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's recent decision to cancel the Veuve Olivier registration due to its similarity to Veuve Clicquot brings new focus to the treatment of foreign terms and the doctrine of foreign equivalents, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • Measuring Early Impact Of Rule 702 Changes On Patent Cases

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    Since Federal Rule of Evidence 702 was amended to clarify the standards for admitting expert witness testimony five months ago, emerging trends in patent cases suggest that it may be easier to limit or exclude expert testimony, and hold key practice takeaways for attorneys, say Manuel Velez and Nan Zhang at Mayer Brown.

  • Protecting IP May Be Tricky Without Noncompetes

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    Contrary to the Federal Trade Commission's view, trade secret law cannot replace noncompetes' protection of proprietary information because intellectual property includes far more than just trade secrets, so businesses need to closely examine their IP protection options, say Aimee Fagan and Ching-Lee Fukuda at Sidley.

  • 8 Legal Issues Influencing Investors In The Creator Economy

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    The rapidly expanding digital creator economy — funding for which more than doubled in the U.S. in the first quarter — comes with its own set of unique legal issues investors must carefully consider before diving in, say Louis Lehot and Alan Pate at Foley & Lardner.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Copyright Office AI Standards Depart From Precedent

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    The U.S. Copyright Office's recent departure from decades of precedent for technology-assisted works, and express refusal to grant protection to artificial intelligence-assisted works, may change as the dust settles around ancillary copyright issues for AI currently pending in litigation, says Kristine Craig at Hanson Bridgett.

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