Intellectual Property

  • October 01, 2024

    IBM Targets Take-Two In IP Suit After $45M Win Against Zynga

    Less than a month after obtaining a $45 million verdict against San Francisco game company Zynga over patents related to online advertisements, IBM launched a new lawsuit in Delaware federal court against the developer's parent company over different video games. 

  • October 01, 2024

    Nonprofit Finds Bad Patent 'Epidemic' Is Just A Myth

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is more likely to reject patent applications with valid claims than approve applications with invalid claims, according to a new report commissioned by former USPTO directors and Federal Circuit judges who were concerned about an alleged "epidemic" of bad patents. 

  • October 01, 2024

    Fla. Judge Sends 2 Live Crew Rights Dispute To Jury

    A Florida federal judge has trimmed trademark and copyright infringement claims from a suit by music label Lil' Joe Records against members of the hip-hop group 2 Live Crew but said he would send the issue of whether the termination of the label's rights to the songs was effective to a jury next week.

  • October 01, 2024

    Amazon Gets $47M Voice Patent Verdict Slashed By $7M

    Amazon was able to shave off about $7 million from a nearly $47 million verdict against it in a voice software technology patent case by a defunct startup after convincing a Delaware federal court that there was a hole in expert testimony over the online retail giant's Alexa software.

  • October 01, 2024

    Buchalter Grows In Atlanta With Taylor English IP Litigators

    Buchalter PC has continued its expansion in Georgia with the addition of two intellectual property litigators from Taylor English Duma LLP.

  • October 01, 2024

    Febreze Jingle IP Claim Doesn't Pass 2nd Circ. Smell Test

    The Second Circuit on Tuesday rejected an appeal from a New York composer who claims Procter & Gamble's advertisement jingle for Febreze ripped off five notes from a song he wrote in the 1980s, saying those notes by themselves are not protectable under copyright law.

  • October 01, 2024

    After 72 Years, Browdy & Neimark Moves To FisherBroyles

    The Washington, D.C., intellectual property boutique Browdy & Neimark PLLC is closing its doors after 72 years in business, as the firm's four attorneys move their practices to FisherBroyles LLP.

  • October 01, 2024

    Foley Adds 2 DLA Piper Business Litigators In San Francisco

    Foley & Lardner LLP is expanding its business litigation team in Northern California, announcing Monday it has brought in two DLA Piper trade secrets experts as partners in its San Francisco office.

  • October 01, 2024

    Crypto Developers Take Aim At 'Patent Trolls' In New Deal

    A cryptocurrency collective said Tuesday it has inked a deal with Unified Patents to help stop "patent trolls" from registering intellectual property that risks hampering blockchain innovation.

  • September 30, 2024

    Verizon Gets $847M Patent Verdict Set Aside, Wins New Trial

    Verizon Wireless and Ericsson will get another shot at convincing a Texas federal jury that they did not infringe intellectual property owned by a Dallas patent business, U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap ruled Monday, setting aside a previous jury's $847 million verdict against the telecom giants.

  • September 30, 2024

    USPTO Hears Praise, Worry About Experimental Use Defense

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's request for comment on whether legal precedent that experimental uses of patented inventions do not constitute infringement should be enshrined in a statute has drawn a variety of reactions, with both proponents and critics weighing in.

  • September 30, 2024

    Siemens Will Pay $104M For Stealing GE, Mitsubishi Secrets

    Siemens Energy on Monday pled guilty to wire fraud and agreed to pay $104 million to put to rest federal prosecutors' case accusing the company of misappropriating the confidential information of General Electric and Mitsubishi, a plea deal that comes after multiple former Siemens executives pled guilty in related cases.

  • September 30, 2024

    Takeda End Payors, Direct Buyers Win Antitrust Class Cert.

    A New York federal judge Monday adopted a magistrate judge's recommendation to certify two classes of direct purchasers and end payors in consolidated antitrust actions accusing Takeda Pharmaceuticals Co. of unlawfully inflating the price of its diabetes treatment Actos by delaying entry of generic alternatives.

  • September 30, 2024

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    The year's spookiest month is looking scary-good for appellate aficionados, as famed oral advocates joust in October over net neutrality and Uber's extraordinary bid to unravel multidistrict litigation — just two of the high-profile arguments previewed in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing. October also begins with former President Jimmy Carter turning 100, and we'll test your knowledge of his profound impact on the judiciary.

  • September 30, 2024

    Calif. Court Finds Snapchat Can Seek 'Spectacles' TM

    Following a three-day bench trial earlier this year, a California federal judge has told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reverse its refusal to grant Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. trademark protection covering its "Spectacles" brand of digital glasses.

  • September 30, 2024

    AI Co.'s Antitrust Claims Against Thomson Reuters Tossed

    A Delaware federal court dismissed antitrust counterclaims being brought by tech startup ROSS Intelligence in a case from Thomson Reuters alleging ROSS ripped off the Westlaw research platform for its artificial intelligence product.

  • September 30, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Keeps Patent Case Against Sony In EDTX

    The Federal Circuit on Monday rejected Sony's bid to move a patent suit against it over a newer line of wireless PlayStation 5 controllers out of a Texas federal court, finding that it failed to show that the Northern District of California was a more convenient forum.

  • September 30, 2024

    USPTO Locks In Director Review Rule, 3 Years After Arthrex

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal issued a final rule Monday on the agency's process for having the director review certain Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions, solidifying a mandate laid out by the U.S. Supreme Court three years ago. 

  • September 30, 2024

    Netflix Must Face Trimmed 'Baby Reindeer' Defamation Fight

    A California federal judge trimmed a Scottish lawyer's multimillion-dollar lawsuit alleging Netflix's popular stalker miniseries "Baby Reindeer" defamed her, tossing negligence and publicity claims but allowing the attorney's defamation and emotional distress allegations to proceed.

  • September 30, 2024

    Biz Owner Gets 18 Months For Tax Fraud On $2.8M In Income

    The owner of a metal fabrication company who admitted to neglecting to report nearly $3 million in business income to the Internal Revenue Service was sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to Connecticut federal prosecutors.

  • September 30, 2024

    Generic-Drug Co. Says To Think Again About 'Double Patenting'

    An Indian generic-drug maker wants the whole Federal Circuit to take a closer look at the issue of "double patenting," telling it that a recent panel ruling mistakenly breathed new life into pharmaceutical patents covering an anti-diarrhea drug.

  • September 30, 2024

    9th Circ. Asked To Interpret DMCA In GitHub Code Suit

    A California federal court has asked the Ninth Circuit to determine if the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires an infringing copy be identical to the original to have an actionable claim for removing copyright management information, a key question in a case where developers sued Microsoft and GitHub for allegedly ripping off code to develop AI tools.

  • September 30, 2024

    Atari Can Pursue Copyright Claim Against State Farm Over Ad

    Atari Interactive Inc. can pursue a copyright infringement claim against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. because the insurer featured part of the 1980s arcade game Crystal Castles in a commercial, but a Texas federal judge tossed all the other claims in the suit from the pioneering game company.

  • September 30, 2024

    BakerHostetler Says Ethics Suit Must Stay In Ga. Fed. Court

    BakerHostetler has asked a Georgia federal court not to remand a suit alleging the firm botched a patent application for a smart wardrobe system to state court, arguing that its former client's claims that the firm violated professional rules under U.S. patent law belong in federal court.

  • September 30, 2024

    Medical Device Co. Wins $25M Verdict In Poaching Trial

    Medical device company Cynosure has won a $25 million jury award following a weekslong trial in Massachusetts federal court on its claims that a rival business raided its sales and marketing talent and caused the employees to breach their noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Bill Is Key To Protecting US Economy From Patent Piracy

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    It is critical that Congress pass a recently introduced bill that would protect U.S. investors from intellectual property theft by restoring court-ordered injunctions as the default remedy in patent infringement cases to ensure inventors get the justice they deserve, says Andrei Iancu at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Defending AI, Machine Learning Patents In Life Sciences

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    Ten years after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Alice v. CLS Bank, artificial intelligence and machine learning technology remain at risk for Alice challenges, but reviewing recent cases can help life sciences companies avoid common pitfalls and successfully defend their patents, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • From Concept To Capital: 5 Stages Of Evolving IP Needs

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    Companies must understand the shifting intellectual property needs throughout an organization’s life cycle in order to protect innovation, which can be done by fortifying the IP portfolio, expanding and leveraging IP assets, and more, says Keegan Caldwell at Caldwell Law.

  • Allergan Ruling Reinforces Value Of Patent Term Adjustments

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Allergan v. MSN, which held that patent term adjustment awards for first-filed, first-issued patents cannot be stripped away by later-issuing child patents that expire earlier, means practitioners must consider the potential impact of any action that might reduce the adjustment amount, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • A Look At How De Minimis Import Rules May Soon Change

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    The planned implementation of executive actions focused on the de minimis rule as it applies to shipments means companies should use this interval to evaluate the potential applicability and impact of Section 301, Section 201 or Section 232 duties on their products, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How To Craft Strong Prong 2 Arguments For AI Patent Apps

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recent guidance update on subject matter eligibility for artificial intelligence inventions highlights that the key to overcoming rejection lies in the analysis under Prong 2, which practitioners should consider leading their arguments with, says Sean Lee at Baker Botts.

  • IP Concerns For Manufacturing Semiconductors In Low Orbit

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    With space habitation companies working to launch private space stations in the near future, semiconductor manufacturers aiming to execute research and development in low or microgravity must consider the unique claim drafting and patent protection issues that will emerge, says Greg Miraglia at Quinn Emanuel.

  • 6 Tips For Trying Cases Away From Home

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    A truly national litigation practice, by definition, often requires trying cases in jurisdictions across the country, which presents unique challenges that require methodical preparation and coordination both within the trial team and externally, say Edward Bennett and Suzanne Salgado at Williams & Connolly.

  • 3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim

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    The Second Circuit's recent opinion in Match Group v. Beazley Underwriting, overturning Tinder's victory on its insurer's motion to dismiss a coverage action, reinforces three best practices policyholders purchasing claims-made coverage should adhere to in order to avoid late-notice defenses, say Lynda Bennett and Alexander Corson at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • USPTO Guidance Suggests 2 Strategies For AI Inventions

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    Analyzing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent guidance, it appears that there are at least two paths for establishing that an artificial intelligence invention is eligible for protection, and that which strategy to use may turn on how broadly the invention is applied, says William Morriss at Frost Brown.

  • A Blueprint For Structuring An Effective Plaintiff Case Story

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    The number and size of nuclear verdicts continue to rise, in part because plaintiffs attorneys have become more adept at crafting compelling trial stories — and an analysis of these success stories reveals a 10-part framework for structuring an effective case narrative, says Jonathan Ross at Decision Analysis.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: The MDL Map

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    An intriguing yet unpredictable facet of multidistrict litigation practice is venue selection for new MDL proceedings, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation considers many factors when it assigns an MDL venue, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.

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