Intellectual Property

  • October 10, 2024

    Owner Of Houston Music Co. Says He Was Pushed Out Of Biz

    A Houston hip-hop artist has accused his longtime business partner of engaging in a scheme to steal his music production company's funds before ousting him from the business, according to a complaint filed in Texas federal court on Thursday.

  • October 10, 2024

    5th Circ. Says ISP Liable For Piracy But Orders Damages Redo

    The Fifth Circuit has concluded that a Texas federal court correctly upheld a jury verdict finding internet service provider Grande Communications Networks LLC is liable for the willful contributory copyright infringement of 1,403 songs from several record labels but ordered that the nearly $47 million in damages be recalculated.

  • October 10, 2024

    NJ Atty Sues Netflix For Infringement Over Boy Scouts Movies

    A trial lawyer who spent years litigating sexual abuse cases against the Boy Scouts is suing Netflix Inc. for copyright infringement after the streaming giant came out with a documentary on the abuse just nine months after his film premiered.

  • October 10, 2024

    Nike Rips Report In TM Suit, Rival Wants $6.75M In Fees

    Nike has pushed back on a report finding that its behavior toward a Pennsylvania apparel company during a trademark dispute was severe enough to support ordering Nike to pay attorney fees, with the smaller company saying it is owed about $6.75 million in fees.

  • October 10, 2024

    Lawmakers Want Calif. Colleges To Flex NIL Muscle

    As states across the country pass new laws for college athletes to earn money for their name, image and likeness, California lawmakers are encouraging universities there to make use of the considerable NIL provisions already on the books.

  • October 09, 2024

    Kingston Paid Royalties For SPEX's Data Security IP, Jury Told

    The founder of Spyrus Inc., which assigned its data security patents to SPEX Technologies, Wednesday told California federal jurors in the infringement trial against Western Digital that Kingston Technology paid a royalty rate of $20 per flash drive sold to license the patent and never challenged its validity.

  • October 09, 2024

    Shkreli Hasn't Obeyed Wu-Tang Album Order, Crypto Co. Says

    The crypto project suing Martin Shkreli for allegedly harming the value of a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album on Wednesday once again told a New York federal judge that the notorious pharmaceutical executive hasn't complied with an order directing him to account for all copies of the album he may have made.

  • October 09, 2024

    Amid Copyright Suit, Authors Guild Eyes Licensing To AI Cos.

    The rise of generative artificial intelligence has led to a tsunami of copyright lawsuits by authors alleging OpenAI and other tech companies are ripping off their works, but on Wednesday the nation's largest professional organization for writers announced a new plan of attack: Help writers license their works to AI companies.

  • October 09, 2024

    Cisco Gets PTAB To Wipe Out Most Of Network Patent

    An administrative patent board has trimmed most of a patent that was issued to a since bankrupt Tel Aviv telecom supplier and later eventually asserted against Cisco.

  • October 09, 2024

    Caterpillar Settles Wirtgen IP Row After Judge's $19.5M Ruling

    Caterpillar and machinery manufacturer Wirtgen have reached a deal to resolve their legal fight after a Delaware court held that Caterpillar owes about $19.5 million in a patent case over road-milling machines.

  • October 09, 2024

    9th Circ. Judge Open To Rebooting CoStar Antitrust Fight

    A Ninth Circuit judge on a three-judge panel appeared open Wednesday to reviving counterclaims alleging CoStar monopolizes commercial real estate information markets, telling CoStar's counsel repeatedly that the lower court's ruling "reads more like summary judgment" than the granting of a motion to dismiss and improperly draws inferences in favor of CoStar.

  • October 09, 2024

    Judge Finalizes $65.7M Verdict Against Cisco In IP Case

    A $65.7 million verdict from earlier this year against Cisco Systems has been finalized by a Western District of Texas judge, in a case where a jury found the company infringed Paltalk's patent related to hybrid audio servers.

  • October 09, 2024

    'Sophie's Choice' Theatrical Rights Deal Long Over, Court Told

    The 95-year-old widow of "Sophie's Choice" author William Styron urged a judge on Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that she broke a deal for the theatrical rights to the 1979 novel, saying the agreement signed between the playwright plaintiff and her late husband in 2005 and several later agreements expired more than five years ago.

  • October 09, 2024

    'San Francisco' In Oakland Airport Name Is Fair Use, Port Says

    The Port of Oakland has told a California federal judge that San Francisco's preliminary injunction bid should be rejected as the city is not likely to prevail on its trademark infringement claims over the renaming of Oakland's airport to "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport," saying it doesn't create confusion.

  • October 09, 2024

    Logan Paul Brand Can't Block Messi Drink Collab, Suit Says

    The maker of White Claw has sued social media influencer and pro wrestler Logan Paul's sports beverage company Prime Hydration, seeking a declaration from a New York federal court that its recent collaboration with soccer legend Lionel Messi on a beverage doesn't infringe Prime's trademarks.

  • October 09, 2024

    Thomson Reuters Again Seeks Win On ROSS' Pilfering

    Thomson Reuters on Tuesday filed a pair of renewed motions for partial summary judgment seeking to block ROSS Intelligence Inc. from claiming fair use, and hold it liable for copyright infringement, in a suit alleging ROSS ripped off the Westlaw research platform for its artificial intelligence product.

  • October 09, 2024

    USPTO Won't Let Non-Patent Attys Take Lead At PTAB

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday announced it would not move forward with its proposal to allow attorneys who don't belong to the patent bar serve as lead counsel at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • October 09, 2024

    Frost Brown Ducks Malpractice Suit Over League Trademarks

    A Delaware Superior Court judge has tossed a malpractice suit alleging that Frost Brown Todd LLP failed to adequately investigate infringement issues with trademarks a football league sought to use in the relaunch of the United States Football League.

  • October 09, 2024

    Ousted AI Engineer Took Trade Secrets, Auto Service Co. Says

    A software engineer who was fired from auto services company Agero after just three months took hundreds of confidential files and other materials, according to a suit filed on Wednesday in Massachusetts state court.

  • October 09, 2024

    'Ghost' Florida Atty Left Long Trail Of Irked Judges, Clients

    A Florida lawyer accused in a state court suit of ignoring and defrauding dozens of clients who paid nonrefundable retainers has faced a series of similar allegations in federal court, drawing the ire of judges and opposing counsel.

  • October 09, 2024

    Final Treasury Rules Shut Off Inclusion For Repatriated IP

    The U.S. Treasury Department adopted final rules Wednesday that shut off an annual income inclusion associated with intangibles for companies in certain situations that have transferred intellectual property back to the U.S. from overseas.

  • October 08, 2024

    Western Digital Owes $334M Over Data Security IP, Jury Told

    Hard disk drive behemoth Western Digital owes up to $334 million for selling portable data security storage devices that infringe a SPEX Technologies patent, SPEX's attorney told California federal jurors during opening statements Tuesday, while defense counsel said the claimed invention has been in the public domain for years.

  • October 08, 2024

    Apple Loses Bid For Jury Trial In Masimo Trade Secrets Fight

    A California federal judge on Monday granted Masimo's request for a bench trial to address its trade secrets claims against Apple, noting that bench trials are almost always granted in situations where the plaintiff is seeking only equitable relief, and Apple hasn't convinced the court to deviate from that norm.

  • October 08, 2024

    'Alarming' AI Might Aid Research In Patent Fights, Judge Says

    A Federal Circuit judge on Tuesday told law school students at the University of California, Berkeley that while he finds artificial intelligence tools "a little alarming and frightening," he could see how they might be useful for finding prior art in patent disputes.

  • October 08, 2024

    Illumina Wants Unresponsive Plaintiff To Pay $200K, Atty Fees

    Biotechnology company Illumina Inc. asked a New Jersey federal court Tuesday to order a former graduate student to pay $200,000 in liquidated damages for allegedly failing to respond to attempts to finalize a settlement to his claims that attorneys from Latham & Watkins LLP and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP manipulated a patent case to steal his intellectual property.

Expert Analysis

  • Determining Who Owns Content Created By Generative AI

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    Adobe's recent terms-of-service update and ensuing clarification regarding its AI-training practices highlights the unanswered legal questions regarding ownership of content created using artificial intelligence, says John Poulos at Norton Rose.

  • Skip Versus File: The Patent Dilemma That Costs Millions

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    In the nearly 30 years since the inception of the provisional application, many have weighed the question of whether or not to file the provisional, and data shows that doing so may allow inventors more time to refine their ideas and potentially gain an extra year of protection, says Stanko Vuleta at Highlands Advisory.

  • Orange Book Warnings Highlight FTC's Drug Price Focus

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    In light of heightened regulatory scrutiny surrounding drug pricing and the Federal Trade Commission's activity in the recent Teva v. Amneal case, branded drug manufacturers should expect the FTC's campaign against allegedly improper Orange Book listings to continue, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Tracking China's Push To Invalidate Foreign Patents

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    China’s increasing use of courts and administrative panels to nullify patents in strategically important industries, such as technology, pharmaceuticals and rare-earth minerals, raises serious concerns about the intellectual property rights of foreign businesses operating there, say Rajat Rana and Manuel Valderrama at Selendy Gay.

  • 3 Ways To Fight Alice Rejections Of Blockchain Patents

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    With blockchain-related patent application filings on the rise, Thomas Isaacson at Polsinelli offers strategies for responding to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office determinations that the blockchain network is just a generic computer and patent-ineligible under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 Alice v. CLS Bank decision.

  • F1 Driver AI Case Sheds Light On Winning Tactics In IP Suits

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    A German court recently awarded damages to former F1 driver Michael Schumacher's family in an artificial intelligence dispute over the unlicensed use of his image, illustrating how athletes are using the law to protect their brands, and setting a precedent in other AI-generated image rights cases, William Bowyer at Lawrence Stephens.

  • 8th Circ. Insurance Ruling Spotlights Related-Claims Defenses

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    The Eighth Circuit’s recent Dexon v. Travelers ruling — that the insurer must provide a defense despite the policy’s related-acts provision — provides guidance for how policyholders can overcome related-acts defenses, say Geoffrey Fehling and Jae Lynn Huckaba at Hunton.

  • Counterfeits At The Olympics Pose IP Challenges

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    With the 2024 Olympic Games quickly approaching, the proliferation of counterfeit Olympic merchandise poses a difficult challenge to the protection of intellectual property rights and the preservation of the Olympic brand's integrity, says Kimiya Shams at Devialet.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.

  • Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In May

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    A look at recent cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court provide guidance on how to succeed on appeal by clarifying the obviousness analysis of design patents, the finality of a judgment, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • Momofuku Chili War May Chill Common Phrase TM Apps

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    Momofuku’s recent trademark battle over the “Chili Crunch” mark shows that over-enforcement when protecting exclusivity rights may backfire not just in the public eye, but with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as well, says Anthony Panebianco at Davis Malm.

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