Intellectual Property

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How Penn State Trial Against Retailer Could Upend TM Law

The Pennsylvania State University and an online retailer of goods bearing retro logos and images of schools and sports teams are set to clash in a trademark trial next week that could upend how courts examine infringement claims.
November 12, 2024
'Sophie's Choice' Theater Rights Case Trimmed

A Massachusetts judge on Tuesday cut a playwright's tortious interference and breach of fiduciary duty claims from a lawsuit against the 95-year-old widow of "Sophie's Choice" author William Styron.
November 12, 2024
GOP Reps. Propose Another Bill On TRIPS Waivers

A new bill from Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives seeks to force the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative to file a report "before the negotiation of any international agreement relating to an intellectual property right."
November 12, 2024
Unsatisfied With $70M UTC Win, Sandoz Appeals To 3rd Circ.

Sandoz Inc. has moved to appeal its already $70 million-plus breach of contract damages win over biopharmaceutical firm United Therapeutics Corp., teeing up a Third Circuit request to ask for more damages and to revive antitrust claims previously tossed by a New Jersey federal court.
November 12, 2024
KFC Sues Chicken Rival Church's Over 'Original Recipe' TM

KFC lodged a trademark infringement suit seeking to stop Church's Texas Chicken from using the term "original recipe" to promote its fried chicken, saying in a complaint filed Friday in Texas federal court that the term has been synonymous with KFC's chicken for more than 50 years.
November 12, 2024
Designers Can Pursue RICO Claims Against Shein In IP Suit

A California federal judge has ruled that a group of independent designers can pursue racketeering claims against Shein Distribution Corp. and other defendants in a lawsuit where the plaintiffs accuse the online retailer of copyright and trademark infringement for allegedly copying and selling the designers' works.
November 12, 2024
Penn State TM Jury Asked To Ponder Sponsorship Confusion

A central Pennsylvania federal jury will have to weigh whether consumers are likely to be confused by a Seattle-based online retailer's use of historic logos and art associated with Pennsylvania State University, with opening arguments Tuesday promising dueling experts on consumer surveys and interpretations of trademark law.
November 12, 2024
White Stripes Drop Suit Over Trump's 'Seven Nation Army' Use

Disbanded rock band The White Stripes has agreed to drop their case targeting President-elect Donald Trump over his use of the iconic introductory riff of the Grammy-winning song "Seven Nation Army" on a social media clip without permission.
November 12, 2024
Navajo Co. Says Paralegal Blocking Return Of Privileged Docs

A Navajo Nation natural resources company is suing a former paralegal in Colorado state court to enforce a settlement requiring the return of confidential documents that she allegedly emailed to herself, accusing the paralegal of "erecting unreasonable roadblocks" to their agreement.
November 12, 2024
Vidal To Leave USPTO For Private Sector

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal is stepping down from her role at the agency and will be heading back to the private sector in mid-December, she said in a Tuesday letter.
November 12, 2024
Trial Consultant Agrees To Keep Ex-Employer's Biz Info Secret

An ex-employee for jury analysis firm Jury-X has agreed to avoid using the company's confidential information while its trade secrets lawsuit unfolds, according to a stipulation filed Tuesday in North Carolina federal court.
November 12, 2024
Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Billable Hours Patent Against RELX

The Federal Circuit won't undo a New York federal judge's finding that a Realtime Tracker Inc. patent for tracking billable hours was invalid as an abstract idea, backing a win for LexisNexis parent company RELX.
November 08, 2024
Apple Didn't Hire Cercacor CTO To Steal Watch IP, Ex-VP Says

A retired Apple executive defended the tech giant Friday in Masimo's trade secret suit over pulse oximetry technology, testifying in California federal court that Apple didn't hire a Masimo spinoff's chief technology office in order to obtain confidential information for the Apple Watch and never received any such information.
November 08, 2024
Justices Urged To Review Fed. Circ.'s 1-Word PTAB Decisions

The U.S. Supreme Court must reckon with the Federal Circuit's "disconcerting pattern" of affirming decisions from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board with one-word orders, patent holder ParkerVision Inc. has told the justices, saying that by failing to explain its reasoning, the court is creating uncertainty that is stifling innovation.
November 08, 2024
PPG Seeks $23M Fees In Sherwin-Williams Coating IP Suit

PPG Industries told a Pennsylvania federal judge Friday that Sherwin-Williams should pay it $23 million in attorney fees after the Federal Circuit backed a jury's verdict invalidating five paint coating patents, saying the litigation was "premised on directly contradicting" admissions Sherwin made to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
November 08, 2024
Fed. Circ. Backs Invalidation Of Geolocation IP Under Alice

The Federal Circuit won't breathe new life into GeoComply's infringement suit against its geolocation competitor XPoint over an anti-location-spoofing patent, affirming a lower court's dismissal.
November 08, 2024
Fed. Circ. Unclear If Teva Inhaler IP Belongs In Orange Book

A trio of Federal Circuit judges took a complex question tied to whether Teva should be able to include inhaler patents in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book and tried to make it simple: Does owning a patent for a steering wheel mean you claim the whole car?
November 08, 2024
Facts In Emails Aren't Confidential For Deposition, Judge Says

A government contractor implicated in allegations that the U.S. infringed patents for contactless data carriers must turn over portions of a former employee's emails because the correspondence contains facts not protected by attorney-client privilege, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims has ruled.
November 08, 2024
Ex-Elanco IP Lawyer Lodges Gender Discrimination Suit

A female former in-house intellectual property lawyer at Elanco Animal Health Inc. sued the pharmaceutical company for gender discrimination in Indiana federal court, alleging she was passed over for a promotion in favor of a less qualified man who later mistreated the women on staff.
November 08, 2024
Chancery Tosses Microchip Co.'s Tech Licensor Challenge

A Delaware vice chancellor on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by Swiss microchip maker u-blox AG against tech licensor InterDigital Inc., finding among other points that u-blox was barred from moving forward with potentially unsettled claims arising from the same issues in a California federal court case.
November 08, 2024
Justices Urged To Review Amazon Patent Program Case

A company alleging patent infringement through Amazon's patent evaluation program is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up its appeal of a Federal Circuit ruling that said it had to face a declaratory judgment suit in the purported infringer's home state.
November 08, 2024
White & Case Adds Life Sciences IP Atty From A&O Shearman

A veteran life sciences patent litigator has jumped from Allen Overy Shearman Sterling to White & Case LLP in New York, expanding the firm’s capabilities to represent medical and pharmaceutical industry clients in complex litigation.
November 08, 2024
Logan Paul's Drink Co. Blasts Olympic Committee's TM Suit

Prime Hydration, a sports beverage company co-founded by social media influencer and wrestler Logan Paul, has struck back at a trademark infringement complaint from the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee, accusing it of taking a "shotgun pleading" approach without supporting its claims.
November 08, 2024
New Patent Filings Hit Global Record, WIPO Says

A new report from the World Intellectual Property Organization has found that new patent filings worldwide reached a record high in 2023, as patent applications exceeded 3.5 million for the first time.
November 08, 2024
Disney Hit With Suit Over Streaming Media Patents

The Walt Disney Co. and subsidiaries like Hulu and ESPN have been hit with a federal lawsuit claiming that the entertainment giant's various streaming services infringe a series of media patents owned by Adeia Technologies Inc.
November 08, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

This past week in London has seen collapsed German airline Air Berlin take action against its former auditor KPMG, the associate editor at The Spectator hit with a libel claim by a mosque over the far-right riots that took place in August and British licensing authority the Performing Right Society sue Parklife Manchester and four other festival organizers. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

Editor's Picks

Why Many Drugs Remain Pricey 40 Years After Hatch-Waxman

In the four decades since Congress passed the Hatch-Waxman Act in an effort to make generic drugs more available, the pharmaceutical industry has used patent thickets, "evergreening" and pay-for-delay tactics to block competition and keep prices of life-saving specialty drugs astronomical, several legal experts told Law360, while the industry argues other parties shoulder more of the blame.
Full Fed. Circ. Looks To Clarify Damages In Google Case

The full Federal Circuit has agreed to review EcoFactor's $20 million infringement award against Google, a move that attorneys say should provide much-needed guidance for both judges and parties when calculating damages.
Who Wore '8' Better? Jackson, Aikman Locked In TM Battle

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is banking his popularity will make consumers think of him when they see the number "8" on products he sells, but a beer company associated with Hall of Fame quarterback Troy Aikman — who wore the same jersey number — doesn't see it that way, as the players square off in a trademark fight.

Expert Analysis

Key Territory-Split Licensing Lessons For Life Sciences Cos.

Territory-split deals can allow life sciences companies to maximize products' potential across a range of geographic areas, but these deals also present unique challenges requiring highly bespoke structures that can make or break the value of an asset, say attorneys at Covington.
A Look At 2024 NIL Rights And Economies In College Sports

Permutations in the arena of name, image and likeness affecting collegiate athletics have continued unabated this year, and practitioners and industry representatives should anticipate significant activity at schools and continuing legal changes at the state level, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
Legislation Most Likely To Pass In Lame Duck Session

As Congress begins its five-week post-election lame duck session, attorneys at Greenberg Traurig break down the legislative priorities and which proposals can be expected to pass.
Copyright Questions Surround AI Music Platform Suits

If recent lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America against two artificial intelligence music platform developers — who maintain that use of copyrighted works to train AI models constitutes fair use — go to trial, this novel issue will make for potentially precedent-setting decisions, says intellectual property lawyer Eric Lane.
Patent Marking Steps After Fed. Circ. Opens Lanham Act Door

Following the Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Crocs v. Effervescent, which seemingly revives private actors’ ability to bring false patent marking claims under the Lanham Act, marketing and legal teams should be careful to avoid advertisement language that implies nonexistent patent rights, says Jeffrey Ratinoff at Spencer Fane.
Litigation Strategies In View Of New Double Patenting Rulings

Recent Federal Circuit decisions, including in Allergan v. MSN, raise several issues that patent owners should understand and consider addressing proactively regarding obviousness-type double patenting, at least in their prosecution strategies, say attorneys at Dentons.
Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

Excerpt from Practical Guidance

Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
Series

Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron.
Tracking The Slow Movement Of AI Copyright Cases

The tech community may be expecting a prompt resolution on whether products generated by artificial intelligence are a fair use of copyrighted works, but legal history shows that a response to this question — at the heart of over 30 pending cases — will take years, say attorneys at White & Case.
The EU Design System Changes US Cos. Need To Know About

With a number of major reforms to the European Union's design protection system set to take effect in the first half of 2025, U.S. companies need to stay informed about specific details to maintain effective intellectual property management in the EU market, say lawyers at Finnegan.
Curious Case Of FTC's Amicus Brief In Teva Fed. Circ. Appeal

Attorneys at BCLP explore the Federal Trade Commission's backing of Amneal's Orange Book-delisting efforts on Teva ahead of a key Federal Circuit hearing in a case between the two pharmaceutical companies, and wonder if the FTC amicus brief indicates a future trend, especially in the next administration.
E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.
When 'Patented' Goes Beyond Inventorship In False Ad Cases

The Federal Circuit's recent false advertising holding in Crocs v. Effervescent is significant because it offers a nuanced yet realistic understanding of what false claims about a product's status as "patented" can mean, say attorneys at McDermott.
The Fed. Circ. In October: Aetna And License-Term Review

The Federal Circuit's recent decision that Aetna's credit card licensing agreement with AlexSam did not give the insurer immunity from patent infringement claims serves to warn licensees to read their contracts carefully, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.
Opinion

PREVAIL Bill Is Another Misguided Attempt To Restrict PTAB

The decade-long campaign against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board — currently focused on the PREVAIL Act that's slated for markup in the Senate — is not really about procedural issues, and it is not aimed at securing more accurate patentability decisions, says Clear IP's Joseph Matal, former acting director at the USPTO.