Intellectual Property

  • January 31, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Aerospace Co. Code Meets Fair Use Standard

    Aerospace contractor Astronics has convinced Ninth Circuit judges that the code used in its replacement parts is covered by the same fair use protections created by the U.S. Supreme Court's Google v. Oracle decision.

  • January 31, 2025

    Up, Up And Away Again: New 'Superman' IP Suit Takes Flight

    The heirs of "Superman" co-creator Joseph Shuster on Friday launched another intellectual property fight, this time alleging that DC Comics has continued to exploit the foreign copyrights to the original character and story even though, in a handful of countries, those rights automatically reverted to his estate years ago.

  • January 31, 2025

    Supreme Court Eyes Its 'Next Frontier' In FCC Delegation Case

    A case about broadband subsidies will give the U.S. Supreme Court the chance to revive a long-dormant separation of powers principle that attorneys say could upend regulations in numerous industries and trigger a power shift that would make last term's shake-up of federal agency authority pale in comparison. And a majority of the court already appears to support its resurrection.

  • January 31, 2025

    Off The Bench: NIL Deal Skeptics, Padres Feud, Rozier Probe

    In this week's Off The Bench, critics get their knives out for the NCAA's $2.78 billion class action settlement with college athletes over name, image and likeness rights, the family feud over ownership of the San Diego Padres intensifies, and a federal gambling probe ensnares Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier.

  • February 14, 2025

    Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2025 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2025 editorial advisory boards.

  • January 31, 2025

    Goldstein Case Raises The Stakes For A DOJ Office In Tumult

    The bombshell tax-crimes case of U.S. Supreme Court lawyer Tom Goldstein landed at a U.S. Department of Justice outpost in Maryland that has been plagued in recent years by botched cases and internal strife — pitting a beleaguered U.S. attorney against a pair of former Donald Trump attorneys itching for a fight.

  • January 31, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen another claim by Woodford investors against Hargreaves Lansdown in the widening £200 million ($248 million) dispute over the fund's collapse, a solicitor barred for his role in a suspected advance fee fraud face action by a Swiss wholesaler, and The Resort Group, which markets investments in luxury hotel resorts, hit with a claim by a group of investors. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • January 31, 2025

    Trump's DEI Cuts Threaten USPTO Innovation Goals

    President Donald Trump's recent actions to purge diversity programs from the federal government and private sector could undermine one of the top objectives of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in recent years: expanding access to innovation.

  • January 31, 2025

    Construction Co. Denies Infringing UK Biz's 'Briticom' TM

    A construction business has denied infringing a U.K. company's "Briticom" trademark on counterfeit supplies for a building project in Benin, telling a court that it did not procure any goods unlawfully bearing the brand.

  • January 30, 2025

    Pharmacy Says Its Ex-GC Destroyed Trade Secrets Evidence

    Texas-based Empower Pharmacy on Thursday pressed for sanctions against its former general counsel — who also happens to be a former assistant district attorney in San Antonio — claiming that the lawyer intentionally destroyed a hard drive that contained evidence relevant to Empower's trade secrets suit against a rival pharmacy.

  • January 30, 2025

    Calif. Panel Counsels Female Attys Seeking The First Chair

    Female lawyers seeking to become first-chair trial attorneys must advocate for themselves just as they would for a client, a federal judge said during a Federal Bar Association panel Thursday in San Francisco.

  • January 30, 2025

    Telecom Giants Must Face March Trial In 4G LTE Patent Fight

    A Minnesota federal judge on Thursday refused to hand a group of telecommunications companies a summary judgment win in the University of Minnesota's patent suit over wireless communications technology used in 4G LTE network services, determining that the dispute must be decided by a jury in an upcoming March trial.

  • January 30, 2025

    House Rep. Introduces Bill To Create New Piracy Sites Laws

    Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren, who represents Silicon Valley in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced a bill that seeks to create new site-blocking laws that require U.S. internet service providers to make "a good faith effort" to disable access to pirate websites and seek relief in federal court.

  • January 30, 2025

    Supreme Court Urged To Clarify Alice, End 1-Line Orders

    The owner of a pair of invalidated patents covering medical machinery has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to look at what it called "confusion" stemming from the high court's Alice decision and also at the Federal Circuit's practice of issuing one-line orders.

  • January 30, 2025

    Patent Lawyer Moves From DLA Piper To Kilpatrick

    A Seattle lawyer who does patent work for branded drug developers is taking her practice to Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP from DLA Piper.

  • January 30, 2025

    Meta VR Headsets Are Not 'Wireless Telephones,' Judge Says

    A federal judge in the Western District of Texas has decided Meta's Quest brand of virtual reality headsets can't be considered "wireless telephones" in a patent lawsuit just because they come preinstalled with the Messenger app, which can take calls.

  • January 30, 2025

    Objection To NCAA's NIL Deal Sparks Attorney War Of Words

    A group of athletes claimed Wednesday that the $2.78 billion settlement with the NCAA over college athlete compensation illegally limited payments and broke antitrust laws, in an objection that spurred the plaintiffs' attorney to accuse the objectors' representatives of failing the athletes in previous court challenges.

  • January 30, 2025

    Trade Court Bans Altria Vape Imports In Juul Patent Case

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has upheld a judge's August finding that Altria's NJOY brand vaping products infringe four patents owned by rival Juul, and further ordered a ban on imports of the infringing products.

  • January 30, 2025

    Takeaways From Jack Daniel's Latest Dog Toy Win

    Jack Daniel's won the latest round last week in its long-running legal battle against the maker of a squeaky, poop-themed dog toy that mimics the whiskey maker's famous bottles, with an Arizona federal judge ruling that VIP Products' parody tarnishes Jack Daniel's brand by associating it with feces.

  • January 30, 2025

    Samsung Gets PTAB To Review 2 Smart Ring Patents

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has agreed to hear Samsung's challenge to a pair of patents owned by a company that makes smart rings, finding there was a reasonable chance the electronics giant could potentially prevail in the fight.

  • January 30, 2025

    Food Co. Says Ex-Manager Hoodwinked Customers For Rivals

    The former general manager of a chicken processing plant allegedly double-crossed his employer by working with two competing food distributors to poach customers through deceptive sales pitches and pocketing company funds through off-the-book rental agreements, according to a newly designated North Carolina Business Court complaint.

  • January 30, 2025

    WB's 'The Pitt' Is 'Absolutely' An 'ER' Reboot, Crichton Says

    Counsel for the widow of "ER" creator Michael Crichton urged a California state judge on Thursday not to toss allegations that Warner Bros. Discovery's new medical drama "The Pitt" is an unauthorized reboot, saying the now-streaming show's development history proves it "absolutely derived" from the 1990s and early 2000s hit.

  • January 30, 2025

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Sanctions Miss, Philip Morris Refund

    In the second half of January, the North Carolina Business Court tussled with sanctions against a biogas company, heard claims an insurer tried to deliberately embarrass Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and ordered an $11 million tax refund for Philip Morris.

  • January 30, 2025

    Ex-Charter Communications IT Exec Says Noncompete Is Void

    A former Charter Communications Inc. executive has asked a Connecticut federal judge to throw out the company's trade secrets claims against him or at least transfer the case to Colorado, arguing that his ex-employer has failed to say what secrets he allegedly took to his new job and that his noncompete agreement is void.

  • January 30, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs Valentino $200K Award In Copyright Feud

    The Second Circuit on Thursday affirmed the enforcement of a Milanese arbitral award favoring Italian luxury fashion house Valentino following a copyright dispute with a New York-based designer, agreeing with a lower court that the parties' contract delegated jurisdictional questions to an arbitrator.

Expert Analysis

  • When Arbitration Is Effective For Employment And IP Cases

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    Widespread adoption of arbitration has revolutionized conflict resolution in employment law, and the benefits of speed, expertise and confidentiality make it an increasingly attractive alternative for resolving patent conflicts — but arbitration is not a silver bullet, say Brandon Miller at Fisher Phillips and Camilla Bykhovsky at Turner Boyd.

  • US Intellectual Property-Based Sanctions Could Be Imminent

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    A recent presidential delegation suggests that regulators may be ready to wield the sanctions authority found in the Protecting American Intellectual Property Act, which has been unutilized for the first 22 months of its life, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Key Territory-Split Licensing Lessons For Life Sciences Cos.

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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
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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

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