Intellectual Property

  • January 15, 2025

    Solar Power Biz Beats Shoals' Patent Case At ITC

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has cleared a North Carolina solar manufacturer from a patent case, flipping an administrative law judge's determination that a solar "trunk bus" transmission system infringes a rival's patent.

  • January 15, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Semiconductor Co.'s PTAB Win Over Chip IP

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board finding that semiconductor company Microchip Technology had shown that some claims of an HD Silicon Solutions microprocessor patent are invalid as obvious.

  • January 15, 2025

    Chancery Awards $1.6M To Food Recycler In Trade Secret Fight

    The former leaders of a now-defunct food waste company owe another company $1.6 million for misappropriating a process for turning waste into fertilizer and animal feed, a Delaware vice chancellor said in a decision released Wednesday, finding they "rode" that process "all the way to the bank."

  • January 15, 2025

    Michael Jackson Estate's Likeness Fight Stays In Vegas

    A Nevada federal judge has declared that her court will decide if an allegedly "lackluster Michael Jackson impersonator show" running at a Las Vegas casino is infringing the name, image or likeness of the late King of Pop.

  • January 15, 2025

    4th Circ. Says 'Moke' TM Generic Issue Needs Another Look

    A split Fourth Circuit panel has thrown out a lower court's finding that the term "moke" can't get trademark protection, saying a lower court needs to look further as part of a dispute between two companies fighting for the rights to use the word as a mark.

  • January 15, 2025

    Maxell Battery Patent Sinks At Federal Circuit

    Japanese consumer electronics outfit Maxell on Wednesday failed to persuade Federal Circuit judges to change anything about a patent board ruling that wiped out all the claims in a battery patent asserted in a suit against a Chinese rival.

  • January 15, 2025

    Acting USPTO Head Corrects Errors In PTAB Samsung Denial

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's acting director has found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board made incorrect statements when it refused to review a display patent challenged by Samsung due to an upcoming Texas trial, but still left the denial intact.

  • January 15, 2025

    Ex-Pot Co. Director Wants Trade Secrets Claims Tossed

    A former operations director for Curaleaf Inc. is asking a Colorado federal court to throw out the company's claims that he breached a confidentiality agreement and shared information with a former business partner.

  • January 14, 2025

    Abbott, Novartis Settle HIV Test Patent Beef Ahead Of Trial

    Abbott Laboratories, Novartis and Grifols have reached a settlement in a yearslong battle over a patent covering a method for replicating DNA, putting to rest the litigation less than a month before it was set to go to trial, according to an entry in Illinois federal court posted Monday.

  • January 14, 2025

    Judge Needs To Rethink Toddler Tub IP Case, Fed. Circ. Says

    A Japanese toy making giant persuaded Federal Circuit judges on Tuesday to revive a dispute over a patent covering a toy tub used by toddlers, with a panel majority deciding a Rhode Island federal judge did not define a claim correctly.

  • January 14, 2025

    Apple, Shyamalan Stole Indie Film Idea For 'Servant,' Jury Told

    Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, Apple and other "Hollywood elite" stole from an indie director's movie in order to make a TV show called "Servant" for Apple TV+, a California federal jury heard during opening statements of an $81 million copyright infringement trial. 

  • January 14, 2025

    Justices Told 'Copyrightability' Issues Must Be Left To Judges

    The justices have been asked by a defense contractor to wade into a split among circuit courts over "whether questions of copyrightability" should be decided by judges or juries.

  • January 14, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Judge Asks What's The Rush In Eylea Biosimilar Case

    Counsel for Amgen and a Federal Circuit judge got into a back-and-forth Tuesday concerning the pace of an appeal over a denied injunction on Regeneron's biosimilar of Eylea, with the judge wondering why the attorney was so eager to move things along.

  • January 14, 2025

    DOJ Says Software Co.'s $12.7M Copyright Win Is Sufficient

    The U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday defended a judge's decision to award a software developer $12.7 million after a federal contractor made unauthorized copies of its software, telling the Federal Circuit the award was correctly calculated.

  • January 14, 2025

    8th Circ. Backs Real Estate Agents' Win In Copyright Case

    The Eighth Circuit on Tuesday backed a lower court ruling that let real estate agents off the hook on claims they infringed a home designer's copyrights, agreeing that the inclusion of floor plans in listings of homes he designed were fair use.

  • January 14, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Judge Chides Attys For Omitting Key Argument

    The Federal Circuit's chief judge got frustrated Tuesday when neither party in a dispute over a 3G messaging patent had addressed what she considered to be the analysis' starting point.

  • January 14, 2025

    NCAA, Big Ten Argue Ex-Players' $50M NIL Suit Too Late

    The NCAA and Big Ten Network have asked a Michigan federal judge to toss a proposed class action from football players who are seeking more than $50 million in compensation for their names, images and likenesses, arguing their claims are untimely.

  • January 14, 2025

    9th Circ. Says Moveable Sculptures Protected By Copyright

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Tuesday revived a toy company's copyright infringement case against fashion retailer Aritzia over "kinetic" sculptures that appeared in window displays at its stores, rejecting Aritzia's arguments that the art pieces can't be considered "fixed" under copyright law just because they're manipulable.

  • January 14, 2025

    SEC Sues Elon Musk Over Late Twitter Buy-Up Disclosure

    Elon Musk violated securities laws by failing to timely disclose his initial buy-up of Twitter stock ahead of his $44 billion acquisition of the company, allowing him to purchase shares at artificially low prices, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleged in a D.C. federal lawsuit filed Tuesday.

  • January 14, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Says Patent App Becomes Prior Art At Filing Date

    When determining if a patent application counts as prior art, parties should look to the date the application was filed, not when it was published, the Federal Circuit held Tuesday in an appeal upholding the invalidation of Lynk Labs' LED patent claims.

  • January 14, 2025

    Meta Atty Quits IP Case Over Zuckerberg's 'Toxic Masculinity'

    An attorney helping defend Meta Platforms in copyright litigation brought by artists who claim their content was used to train the large language model Llama has dropped the tech company as his client, citing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's "descent into toxic masculinity and Neo-Nazi madness" in a LinkedIn post.

  • January 14, 2025

    Startup Drops Patent Case Against Google Ahead Of Trial

    An Oregon startup has agreed to drop its patent infringement case against Google, a month before the dispute was set to go before a jury in Waco, Texas.

  • January 14, 2025

    USPTO Outlines Vision On AI Work Moving Forward

    Federal intellectual property officials say they are finding ways to navigate the world of artificial intelligence by coming up with policies to push for more innovation in the space and make sure its own workforce is up to speed on the technology.

  • January 14, 2025

    Hytera Asks Justices To Check Whether DTSA Applies Abroad

    China-based Hytera Communications Corp. Ltd., which lost a trade secrets trial resulting in a $764 million jury award for Motorola Solutions that has since been reduced, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 can apply extraterritorially.

  • January 14, 2025

    Trade Secret Suit Sends New Zealand Software Co. Into Ch. 15

    A New Zealand company that develops actuarial software products supported by artificial intelligence commenced a Chapter 15 bankruptcy case in Delaware Tuesday, saying ongoing trade secrets litigation had harmed its sales and operations.

Expert Analysis

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

  • Breaking Down Director Review Timing At The PTAB

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    Attorneys at Fish & Richardson examine the complexities of director review of a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling, including timelines for requests and decisions, and how these factors influence related district court cases.

  • Calif. Bill, NTIA Report Illustrate Open-Model AI Safety Debate

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    The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s balanced recommendations for preventing misuse of open artificial intelligence models, contrasted with a more aggressive California bill, demonstrate an evolving regulatory debate about balancing democratic access to this powerful new technology against potential risks to the public, say Stuart Meyer and Fredrick Tsang at Fenwick.

  • Behind 3rd Circ. Ruling On College Athletes' FLSA Eligibility

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    The Third Circuit's decision that college athletes are not precluded from bringing a claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act raises key questions about the practical consequences of treating collegiate athletes as employees, such as Title IX equal pay claims and potential eligibility for all employment benefits, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In July

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    The Federal Circuit’s July reversal of four cases, all of which were Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions, highlights lessons for patent practitioners regarding the scope of estoppel provisions, potential issues with obtaining certain substitute claims, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Video Game Release Highlights TM Pitfalls Of App Store

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    The upcoming release of poker video game Balatro in Apple's App Store underscores the tradeoff of keyword advertising and trademark protection for indie developers who, unlike corporate counterparts, lack resources but seek to maximize the reach of their game, say Parmida Enkeshafi and Simon Pulman at Pryor Cashman.

  • 5 Credibility Lessons Trial Attys Can Learn From Harris' Run

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    In launching a late-stage campaign for president, Vice President Kamala Harris must seize upon fresh attention from voters to establish, or reestablish, credibility — a challenge that parallels and provides takeaways for trial attorneys, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Patent Owner Estoppel Questions In The Wake Of SoftView

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's seldom-litigated Rule 42.73(d)(3) on Patent Trial and Appeal Board estoppel was recently brought to the forefront in the Federal Circuit's SoftView v. Apple decision, highlighting uncertainties in this aspect of patent practice, say David Haars and Richard Crudo at Sterne Kessler.

  • Copyright Termination Opinion Departs From Long-Held Views

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    In Vetter v. Resnik, a federal court recently held for the first time that termination rights under Section 304 of the Copyright Act recapture domestic and foreign rights where the original grant was for "worldwide" rights — misinterpreting a basic principle of international copyright treaties, say Rebecca Benyamin and Eric J. Schwartz at Mitchell Silberberg.

  • 3 Patent Considerations For America's New Quantum Hub

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    Recent developments signal an incredibly bright future for Chicago as the new home of quantum computing, and it is crucial that these innovators — whose technology has the potential to transform many industries — prioritize intellectual property strategy, says Andrew Velzen at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Creates New Rule For Certification Marks

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    The Federal Circuit's decision last month in Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac v. Cologne & Cognac Entertainment is significant in that it establishes a new standard for assessing evidence of third-party uses of a certification mark in deciding whether the mark is famous, say Samantha Katze and Lisa Rosaya at Manatt.

  • A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President

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    For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • 11 Patent Cases To Watch At Fed. Circ. And High Court

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    As we head into fall, there are 11 patent cases to monitor, touching on a range of issues that could affect patent strategy, such as biotech innovation, administrative rulemaking and patent eligibility, say Edward Lanquist and Wesley Barbee at Baker Donelson.

  • Why India May Become A Major Patent Litigation Forum

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    India is reinventing itself with the goal of becoming a global hot spot for patent litigation, with recent developments at the Delhi High Court creating incentives for plaintiffs to assert patent rights in India, say Ranganath Sudarshan at Covington and IP litigator Udit Sood.

  • Opinion

    To Lower Drug Prices, Harris Must Address Patent Thickets

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    If Vice President Kamala Harris is serious about her pledge to address high drug prices, she must begin by closing loopholes that allow pharmaceutical companies to develop patent thickets that can deter generic or biosimilar companies from entering the market, says Tahir Amin at the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge.

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