Intellectual Property

  • September 05, 2024

    MGA's O.M.G. Dolls Imitated Girl Group's Looks, Member Says

    Toy company MGA Entertainment Inc.'s line of O.M.G. dolls imitated the signature looks of a pop group created by rapper T.I. called OMG Girlz, a member of the singing group testified Thursday in a California federal court retrial of a long-running intellectual property fight.

  • September 05, 2024

    NCAA's $2.78B NIL Deal Misses 1st Shot At Initial OK

    A California federal judge declined Thursday to preliminarily approve a $2.78 billion deal to settle an antitrust class action targeting the NCAA's name, image and likeness compensation rules, saying counsel must "go back to the drawing board" on some of the deal's terms.

  • September 05, 2024

    TM Ruling Creates Way To Pierce Corporate Veil, Justices Told

    A conservative legal group says that a Fourth Circuit ruling the justices have agreed to review over a $43 million trademark award in a fight between two businesses that use the name "Dewberry" provides a new way to pierce the corporate veil that "veers far from acceptable legal principles."

  • September 05, 2024

    Lupin Infringes Exeltis Contraceptive Patents, Judge Finds

    Mumbai-based generic-pharmaceuticals company Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. has infringed five patents of the estrogen-free contraceptive Slynd, a Delaware federal judge said Wednesday, finding in favor of Spanish pharmaceutical company Insud Pharma and its New Jersey-based division Exeltis USA Inc. on all asserted claims.

  • September 05, 2024

    ITC To Investigate Synthetic Hair Cos. For Patent Violations

    The U.S. International Trade Commission said it's launching an investigation after Atlanta-based JBS Hair Inc. claimed rival companies are importing synthetic hair that infringes ts patents.

  • September 05, 2024

    Guess What? The Guess Who Settled Their Intra-Band TM Suit

    The trademark dispute between two halves of the Canadian rock band The Guess Who ended Thursday when the four rockers filed a joint stipulation asking a California federal judge to toss the lead singer and lead guitarist's claims that their two former bandmates were using the group's trademarks without permission.

  • September 05, 2024

    OpenAI Slams YouTuber's AI Training Class Action

    OpenAI told a California federal judge that a proposed class action accusing it of unjustly enriching itself by training its large language model programs with transcripts of YouTube videos is just a "carbon copy" of similar claims already thrown out by the courts, arguing the complaint should be dismissed.

  • September 05, 2024

    Norton, Quinn Emanuel Decry $600M Patent, Contempt Ruling

    NortonLifeLock and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP again urged the Federal Circuit to overturn a $600 million patent infringement verdict against the company that was in part based on the firm's being held in contempt, with both saying the holding has serious flaws.

  • September 05, 2024

    Shoemaker Can't Avoid Birkenstock's Copycat Suit

    A Massachusetts-based shoemaker and its manufacturer must face almost every intellectual property claim brought against it by Birkenstock after a federal judge declined to dismiss all but one claim in the popular brand's suit alleging design patent, trademark and trade dress infringement.

  • September 05, 2024

    UK Screen Directors Tap Ex-Disney GC To Seek Royalties

    One year ago this month, Peter Wiley walked away from his job as chief international counsel for the Walt Disney Co., saying he wanted to "take a short break." And he did.

  • September 05, 2024

    Veteran Atty Launches Solo Patent Boutique In Va.

    Longtime patent attorney Michael Kiklis — a former partner at both Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and Oblon McClelland Maier & Neustadt LLP who has represented companies including SLB, Thermo Fisher Scientific's Life Technologies Corp. and Steuben Foods Inc. — has launched his own patent boutique in Alexandria, Virginia.

  • September 05, 2024

    Ex-Siemens Exec Concedes Trade Secret Caper Merits Prison

    A former executive of Siemens Energy Inc. has told a Virginia federal judge that he recognizes that a period of incarceration is merited after he pled guilty to stealing trade secrets from General Electric Co. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. to undercut their bids to build a gas turbine plant.

  • September 05, 2024

    Chile Approves Trade Protections For US Cheeses, Meats

    Chile approved an agreement with the U.S. that will allow U.S. exporters to continue selling prosciutto, cheddar and dozens of other meats and cheeses under their current names in the Chilean market.

  • September 12, 2024

    Bird & Bird Recruits M&A Partner In Frankfurt Amid Growth

    Bird & Bird LLP has hired a business expert as a partner in Frankfurt as the firm bolsters its growing corporate practice internationally, with a keen eye on its new office in Japan.

  • September 04, 2024

    'I Was Blown Away': Tiny Harris Says MGA Stole Group's Look

    Tameka "Tiny" Harris testified Wednesday in California federal court that she was taken aback the first time she saw MGA Entertainment's line of O.M.G. dolls because she believed they ripped off the OMG Girlz pop group she created, and said a survey of her Instagram followers confirmed her reaction.

  • September 04, 2024

    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.

  • September 04, 2024

    Leech Tishman Combines With Calif. Firm Nelson Hardiman

    Leech Tishman is set to add California-based healthcare and life science law firm Nelson Hardiman's 17 attorneys to its Los Angeles office this fall and will do business in the Golden State under the combined name Leech Tishman Nelson Hardiman, the firm announced Tuesday.

  • September 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Told To Skip Dish's Review Bid Of $3M Fee Ruling

    A patent litigation company and its former counsel have shot back at an attempt to get the full Federal Circuit to weigh in on whether Dish Network LLC can collect more than $3 million in legal fees directly from the lawyers who filed the failed patent case.

  • September 04, 2024

    Nonsolicits Don't Need Geographic Terms, Ga. Justices Say

    The Supreme Court of Georgia said on Wednesday that restrictive covenants don't need to contain an explicit territorial component for them to be deemed reasonable under state law, reviving a marketing organization's attempt to enforce a nonsolicitation provision in its contracts with independent agents.

  • September 04, 2024

    Dynapass Drops Patent Suit Against Bank Of America

    A litigation outfit has agreed to drop its patent infringement allegations against Bank of America, ending a lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas over the programming behind user-authentication software.

  • September 04, 2024

    Bid To Nix Expert Fails As Fed. Circ. OKs $2.3M Patent Verdict

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld a $2.3 million patent verdict against dental imaging device maker Planmeca USA Inc., rejecting the company's argument that plaintiff Osseo Imaging LLC's technical expert was not qualified because his experience came after the invention.

  • September 04, 2024

    Honda Again Loses Patent Challenge After Reprieve From Vidal

    Months after U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal said the Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly refused to review a Neo Wireless patent targeted by Honda because Volkswagen had already challenged it, the board again has rejected Honda's petition.

  • September 04, 2024

    CommScope Must Pay $5.4M Atop $11M IP Verdict

    A Texas federal judge has ordered North Carolina network infrastructure business CommScope Holding Co. Inc. and its related companies to pay $5.4 million in addition to the $11 million in patent infringement damages CommScope already must pay to a licensing company that prevailed in its claims asserting six patents.

  • September 04, 2024

    AI Co. Keeps Engine Supplier In Trade Secrets Suit

    An artificial intelligence software developer can continue pursuing a case seeking at least $500 million in Delaware state court from an engine manufacturer over claims that it misappropriated its trade secrets after canceling a deal they had to develop an AI tool.

  • September 04, 2024

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Blackbeard IP Fight, Firm Data Breach

    As summer winds down, the North Carolina Business Court tackled usage rights pertaining to footage and artifacts from Blackbeard's shipwreck while grappling with uncovering the details of a cyberattack that exposed the data of Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.

Expert Analysis

  • What 100 Federal Cases Suggest About Changes To Chevron

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    With the U.S. Supreme Court poised to overturn or narrow its 40-year-old doctrine of Chevron deference, a review of 100 recent federal district court decisions confirm that changes to the Chevron framework will have broad ramifications — but the magnitude of the impact will depend on the details of the high court's ruling, say Kali Schellenberg and Jon Cochran at LeVan Stapleton.

  • Patent Damages Jury Verdicts Aren't Always End Of The Story

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    Recent outcomes demonstrate that patent damages jury verdicts are often challenged and are overturned approximately one-third of the time, and successful verdict challenges typically occur at the appellate level and concern patent validity and infringement, say James Donohue and Marie Sanyal at Charles River.

  • Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws

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    Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.

  • Why High Court May Have Rejected IP Obviousness Appeal

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    Attorneys at Womble Bond analyze possible reasons the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Vanda Pharmaceuticals' request to review the Federal Circuit’s reasonable expectation of success standard for determining obviousness, including that the court was unpersuaded by the company's argument that Amgen v. Sanofi places a bind on drug developers.

  • Opinion

    Viral Deepfakes Of Taylor Swift Highlight Need For Regulation

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    As the nation grapples with addressing risk from artificial intelligence use, the recent circulation of AI-generated pornographic images of Taylor Swift on the social platform X highlights the need for federal legislation to protect nonconsenting subjects of deepfake pornography, say Nicole Brenner and Susie Ruiz-Lichter at Squire Patton.

  • A Guide To Using The DTSA For Misappropriation Recourse

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Nicholas Armington at Mintz explains the ins and outs of drafting a misappropriation complaint under the Defend Trade Secrets Act, and how and why companies should think strategically about federal and state law when filing a claim.

  • How Cos. Can Protect IP In Light Of FTC Noncompete Rule

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    While several groups are challenging the Federal Trade Commission’s recently approved rule banning noncompetition agreements, employers should begin planning other ways to protect their valuable trade secrets, confidential information and other intellectual property, says Thomas Duston at Marshall Gerstein.

  • The Fed. Circ. In April: Hurdles Remain For Generics

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent Salix v. Norwich ruling — where Salix's brand-name drug's patents were invalidated — is a reminder to patent practitioners that invalidating a competitor's patents may not guarantee abbreviated new drug application approval, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Series

    Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

  • The Secret Sauce For Trademarking Viral Food Products

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    Three recent high-profile trademark disputes in the food industry illustrate the importance of protecting brands early — especially for any company aiming for viral fame — and underscore the value of intent-to-use applications, say Elliot Gee and Matthew Dowd at Dowd Scheffel.

  • Chanel TM Ruling Shows Resellers Must Tread Carefully

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    The Southern District of New York's recent jury verdict in Chanel v. What Goes Around Comes Around, in which Chanel brought trademark infringement and false association claims, serves as a reminder that businesses must routinely ensure their practices are protected by the first sale and fair use doctrines, say Stephen Barrett and Gabriela Rios at Wilson Elser.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic

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    Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Shows Difficulty Of Proving Deceptive Intent

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent Freshub v. Amazon decision demonstrates how proving the deceptive intent requirement for inequitable conduct can be challenging, even when there is a five-year delay after abandonment before revival, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals

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    Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.

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