Intellectual Property

  • March 26, 2025

    Copyright Claims Against Anthropic Over Lyrics Axed For Now

    A California federal judge on Wednesday dealt a blow to several music publishers that have accused artificial intelligence company Anthropic of ripping off lyrics in developing its large language model Claude, dismissing some copyright claims less than a day after denying a request to prohibit Anthropic from using their content for training.

  • March 26, 2025

    Whirlpool's Mixer TM Award Of $27M Is Enough, Judge Says

    A Texas federal judge has permanently barred two Chinese companies from infringing the exterior design of Whirlpool's iconic KitchenAid stand mixer but denied Whirlpool's request to increase a $27 million award it recently won at trial, saying Whirlpool's award, along with the permanent injunction, was more than enough.

  • March 26, 2025

    NCAA Can't Use NY Case To Halt NC State '83 Team's NIL Suit

    North Carolina's business court refused to pause an antitrust lawsuit brought by members of the 1983 North Carolina State University men's basketball national championship team who accuse the NCAA of illegally using their likenesses, ruling the organization had failed to show it would suffer a "substantial injustice" without a stay.

  • March 26, 2025

    Toronto Exchange Says Court In Texas Can't Hear TM Suit

    The Toronto Stock Exchange says a Texas federal court lacks jurisdiction over the Texas Stock Exchange's trademark lawsuit, telling the court it only submitted a cease-and-desist letter to stop the nascent stock exchange from using allegedly similar marks.

  • March 26, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Apple PTAB Win Over Location-Tracking IP

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board finding that Apple was able to show numerous claims in a patent covering location-tracking beacons were invalid, handing another win to the tech giant in an intellectual property fight with the patent owner.

  • March 26, 2025

    2nd Circ. Finds Pieces Missing From Lego IP Ruling

    The Second Circuit instructed a Connecticut federal judge Wednesday to rethink his decision that an injunction blocking the sale of a Lego competitor's figurines also applies to a later design, saying the lower court's failure to explain its decision suggests it "may have simply imported its prior reasoning."

  • March 26, 2025

    Venable Nabs 2 More Axinn IP Attorneys In San Francisco

    Venable LLP has added two more San Francisco-based attorneys from Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP for its intellectual property litigation-technology group.

  • March 25, 2025

    Medical Image Co. Gets Fed. Circ. To Back Ax Of Rival's IP

    A Federal Circuit ruling Tuesday affirmed administrative patent board holdings that wiped out claims in patents that cover a 3D photography system used in medical imaging and clinical trials.

  • March 25, 2025

    Intel Says Trial Should Answer License Issue In VLSI Case

    Intel Corp. told U.S. District Judge Alan Albright that a trial in its high-stakes patent infringement fight with VLSI Technology should focus on teasing out a disputed ownership structure that could inform whether the technology company has a license to use the chip patents.

  • March 25, 2025

    PTAB Leader Explains Denial Policy After Withdrawn Memo

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's chief judge has provided guidance to the board's other members on how to decide whether to use discretion to deny review of patents based on related litigation, after a previous memo on the issue was withdrawn last month.

  • March 25, 2025

    Realtek Loses Sanctions Bid Over Alleged Patent Suit Abuse

    Taiwan's Realtek Semiconductor Corp. lost its bid in California federal court to punish a pair of patent-holding companies for "wasting party and judicial resources" in an antitrust lawsuit over a licensing deal and a series of purportedly sham patent suits in Texas.

  • March 25, 2025

    Oprah's Network Faces Suit Over 'Christmas Fumble' IP Spat

    The Oprah Winfrey Network, a Georgia production company and the spouse of the company's president were sued in federal court for allegedly stealing a Georgia screenwriter's copyrighted material to create the movie "A Christmas Fumble."

  • March 25, 2025

    Google, OpenAI Can Toss State Law Claims In IP Row

    A California federal judge has agreed to dismiss allegations made under California and Massachusetts law in suits claiming Google and OpenAI copied YouTube creators' videos to train large language models, while the creators have agreed to drop a similar case against Nvidia altogether.

  • March 25, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Meta's PTAB Win On Xerox Message Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday shot down Xerox Corp.'s bid to overturn a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that claims in its message distribution patent were invalid, handing a win to Meta in the tech giant's challenge to the patent.

  • March 25, 2025

    Drug Co. Wants Fed. Circ. To Undo Pfizer COVID Patent Win

    A Boston drug developer that lost its infringement case against Pfizer over the New York company's blockbuster Paxlovid COVID-19 treatment has told the Federal Circuit that a contentious issue regarding a typo in a patent document should have gone to a jury.

  • March 25, 2025

    Colo. Judge Rejects Sanctions Against Oil Co. In Patent Fight

    A Colorado federal judge said Tuesday that an oil and gas equipment company was in no position to seek sanctions against a competitor after making "contradictory and potentially unfounded" arguments in a patent fight, rejecting a magistrate judge's finding that the competitor violated a disclosure rule. 

  • March 25, 2025

    Sam Smith Tune Gets Close Listen In 9th Circ. Copyright Fight

    A Ninth Circuit panel considered Tuesday whether to resurrect a copyright lawsuit over pop stars Sam Smith and Normani's 2019 hit "Dancing With a Stranger," with one appellate judge observing that the song's hook shares lyrics, pitches and rhythm with that of a 2015 track called "Dancing With Strangers."

  • March 25, 2025

    ITC, Chinese Co. Urge Justices To Skip Coke Sweetener Case

    A Chinese company and the U.S. International Trade Commission are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a case from the company that developed the artificial sweetener used in Coke Zero and that wants to keep patents that were filed at the patent office after the drinks went on sale.

  • March 25, 2025

    Atty Says Netflix's Boy Scout Doc Copied Style, Not Just Facts

    A New Jersey trial lawyer who accused Netflix Inc. of infringing his copyright in its documentary about sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts of America pushed back against the streaming giant's dismissal bid, arguing the film copied the storytelling framework used in his own documentary.

  • March 25, 2025

    Doctor Defends Exam Saying Judge Newman Is Fit To Serve

    A neurosurgeon who examined Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman and declared her fit to serve on the bench pushed back Tuesday on criticism of his evaluation made by doctors retained by the appeals court's other judges, who have suspended the 97-year-old jurist.

  • March 25, 2025

    Meta Says Using Authors' Books For AI Training Is Fair Use

    Meta Platforms has urged a California federal judge to find that it did not violate copyright law in using material from books by more than a dozen authors to train its large language models named "Llama," saying the dispute "presents a question of existential importance" to the development of generative artificial intelligence in the U.S.

  • March 25, 2025

    Baker Botts Atty Says Patent Exec Can't Prove Defamation

    A Baker Botts LLP lawyer is contending that a Florida federal court cannot side with a patent-licensing company executive on his defamation claim against the attorney over her comments in a news article about a patent suit against Starbucks, saying she didn't say anything false.

  • March 25, 2025

    Retired Texas Federal Judge Joins Shook Hardy

    Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP announced Tuesday that a retired U.S. magistrate judge for Texas' Eastern District has joined its complex litigation strategic counseling practice, boosting the firm's ability nationwide to handle class actions, governmental investigations and intellectual property matters.

  • March 25, 2025

    Womble Bond Atty's Contempt Order Isn't Final, 4th Circ. Told

    A federal judge's order holding a Womble Bond Dickinson partner in contempt of court over misrepresentations he allegedly made to a foreign tribunal isn't a final decision capable of being appealed, a software company told the Fourth Circuit in seeking to have the appeal tossed.

  • March 25, 2025

    Coffee Drink Co. Asks Justices To Review TM Fight With Pepsi

    A company that makes nitro-brewed coffee drinks called "Rise" has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to answer whether the strength of a trademark is a question of law to be decided by judges after the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit against PepsiCo.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Ways Women Attorneys Can Build A Legal Legacy

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    This Women’s History Month, women attorneys should consider what small, day-to-day actions they can take to help leave a lasting impact for future generations, even if it means mentoring one person or taking 10 minutes to make a plan, says Jackie Prester, a former shareholder at Baker Donelson.

  • Navigating The Growing Thicket Of 'Right To Repair' Laws

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    An emerging patchwork of state laws on the right to repair creates tensions with traditional intellectual property and competition principles, so manufacturers should plan proactively for legal disputes and minimize potential for rival third-party repairs to weaponize state laws, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • A Judge's Pointers For Adding Spice To Dry Legal Writing

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    U.S. District Judge Fred Biery shares a few key lessons about how to go against the grain of the legal writing tradition by adding color to bland judicial opinions, such as by telling a human story and injecting literary devices where possible.

  • Preparing For Disruptions To Life Sciences Supply Chains

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    Life sciences companies must assess how new and escalating tariffs — combined with other restrictions on cross-border activity singling out pharmaceutical products and medical devices — will affect supply chains, and they should proactively prepare for antitrust and foreign direct investment regulatory review processes, say attorneys at Weil.

  • Beware Risks Of Arguing Multiple Constructions In IP Cases

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    Defendants accused of patent infringement often argue for different, potentially contradictory, claim constructions before district courts and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, but the board may be clamping down on this strategy, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Unpacking Liability When AI Makes A Faulty Decision

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    As artificial intelligence systems become more autonomous and influential in decision-making, concerns about AI-related harms and problematic decisions are growing, raising the pressing question of who bears the liability, says Megha Kumar at CyXcel.

  • How To Create A Unique Jury Profile For Every Case

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    Instead of striking potential jurors based on broad stereotypes or gut feelings, trial attorneys should create case-specific risk profiles that address the political climate, the specific facts of the case and the venue in order to more precisely identify higher-risk jurors, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • IRS Scrutiny May Underlie Move Away From NIL Collectives

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    The University of Colorado's January announcement that it was severing its partnership with a name, image and likeness collective is part of universities' recent push to move NIL activities in-house, seemingly motivated by tax implications and increased scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • 6th Circ. Ruling Paves Path Out Of Loper Bright 'Twilight Zone'

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright ruling created a twilight zone between express statutory delegations that trigger agency deference and implicit ones that do not, but the Sixth Circuit’s recent ruling in Moctezuma-Reyes v. Garland crafted a two-part test for resolving cases within this gray area, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • A Reminder On Avoiding Improper Venues In Patent Cases

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    A Texas federal court's recent decision in the Symbology and Quantum cases shows that baseless patent venue allegations may be subject to serious Rule 11 sanctions, providing venue-vetting takeaways for plaintiffs and defendants.

  • Opinion

    NCAA Name, Image, Likeness Settlement Is A $2.8B Mistake

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    While the plaintiffs in House v. NCAA might call the proposed settlement on name, image and likeness payments for college athletes a breakthrough, it's a legally dubious Band-Aid that props up a system favoring a select handful of male athletes at the expense of countless others, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

  • Copyright Ruling Could Extend US Terminations Worldwide

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    If upheld on appeal, Vetter v. Resnik, a recent ruling from a Louisiana federal court, could extend the geographical scope of U.S. copyright termination rights to foreign territories, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • NIH Cuts To Indirect Costs May Stifle IP Generation

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    Although currently blocked by a preliminary injunction, the National Institutes of Health's new policy to cut down on indirect cost funding creates challenges for university research projects, and may hamper the development of intellectual property — which is considered an indirect cost — for years to come, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • Bankruptcy Ruling Provides Guidance On 363 Asset Sales

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    HE v. Avadim Holdings, a recent ruling from the District of Delaware, underscores the principle that rejection of executory contracts does not unwind completed transfers of property and the importance of clear and precise language in sale orders and asset purchase agreements in bankruptcy cases, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Dewberry Ruling Is A Wakeup Call For Trademark Owners

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dewberry v. Dewberry hones in on the question of how a defendant's affiliates' profits should be treated under the Lanham Act, and should remind trademark litigants and practitioners that issues involving monetary relief should be treated seriously, say attorneys at Finnegan.

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