Mealey's Intellectual Property : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Intellectual Property

November 07, 2024
Lack Of Injury Dooms YouTube Scraping AI Suit, Nvidia Says

SAN FRANCISCO — A man can point to no injury from the alleged transcribing of YouTube videos for the use in the training of artificial intelligence, and any viable claims would be preempted by copyright law, dooming his California unfair competition law, so the court should dismiss the claims with prejudice, Nvidia Corp. argues.
November 06, 2024
Federal Judge: No Jury Would Find Infringement In Patent Dispute Over Chairs

PITTSBURGH — A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Nov. 5 dismissed with prejudice a patent infringement suit involving two furniture companies, holding that no reasonable jury could find that the defendant company infringed on the plaintiff company’s patents related to chair designs.
November 06, 2024
YouTube Entities Seek Dismissal Of UCL Claims In AI Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — California unfair competition law claims involving the alleged training of artificial intelligence on YouTube videos are preempted by copyright law, but even if they weren’t there is no injury or reliance on which to base them, Google LLC and related companies tell a federal judge in California in seeking dismissal.
November 06, 2024
AI Company Opposes Bid For Summary Judgment In Sci Fi-Based Name Battle

NEW YORK — Defendants asked a federal judge in New York for leave to file a motion for summary judgment in a trademark infringement case, saying their health care-based product is nothing like the plaintiff’s artificial intelligence and specialized microchip company. But in a motion to strike, the plaintiff said potential confusion among consumers is a fact-intensive analysis and that the court should strike the defendants’ pre-motion letter and deny the relief.
November 06, 2024
Judge: DMCA Claim Tossed From Copyright Dispute Over Architectural Designs

LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan federal judge granted a defendant architectural firm’s motion for partial summary judgment on a count brought against it by a plaintiff firm, holding that the plaintiff company failed to show that the defendant company violated the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) by copying elements of the design of a home after the homeowner switched design firms.
November 05, 2024
Federal Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment, Recusal Denial In Tech Patent Cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a pair of opinions, a panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed both a California federal judge’s entries of summary judgments of noninfringement in a set of related cases brought by a patent owner that accused multiple companies of infringing on a patent related to the automatic uploading of photos and the judge’s later order denying the patent owner’s motion for the judge’s recusal.
November 05, 2024
2nd Circuit Affirms Finding That Ed Sheeran Didn’t Infringe Marvin Gaye Song

NEW YORK — A 2014 hit single from English pop star Ed Sheeran did not infringe on the copyright related to a 1973 song from Marvin Gaye, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, affirming a New York federal judge’s finding of noninfringement.
November 04, 2024
Judge Consolidates AI Suits; Parties To Work Out Social Media Dispute

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York consolidated a fourth lawsuit brought by journalists challenging the use of their content to train artificial intelligence and ordered OpenAI entities and the parties suing them to attempt to resolve a discovery issue over production of personal social media messages. The ruling leaves undecided a motion from OpenAI entities seeking evidence of damages and any positive impact AIs have.
November 04, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Trademark Claims From Search Engine Operator

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 4 said it will not consider whether the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to affirm a Colorado federal judge’s rejection of arguments that Bank of America Corp. (BofA) infringed on an unregistered trademark related to the name “Erica” in relation to computer applications.
November 04, 2024
U.S. High Court Won’t Hear Inventorship Correction Arguments From Patent Owner

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rejecting a patent holder’s petition for a writ of certiorari, the U.S. Supreme Court on Nov. 4 let stand a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling affirming a Virginia federal judge’s order of a correction of inventorship for a patented container for transporting gaseous fluids.
November 04, 2024
Supreme Court OKs Government Participation In Trademark Arguments

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The United States government will be allowed to participate in oral argument as an amicus curiae regarding a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision affirming a $43 million disgorgement award entered in a real estate company’s favor in a trademark infringement dispute with an entity it said infringed its marks, the U.S. Supreme Court said in a Nov. 4 order.
November 04, 2024
Judge Tosses Copyright Suit Brought By Photographer Against TikTok, OKs Amendment

LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge dismissed a photographer’s copyright infringement complaint brought against social media giant TikTok Inc., holding that the photographer failed to show that TikTok infringed on some of her photos by failing to take down posts containing them.
November 01, 2024
Judge Rejects Online Sports Betting Company’s Request For Fees In Patent Dispute

WILMINGTON, Del. — While a federal judge in Delaware held that a defendant online sports gambling company is the prevailing party in a suit brought against it by a patent owner accusing it of infringement, he said the company is not owed attorney fees or other costs because the case is not “exceptional” as defined under the Patent Act.
October 31, 2024
Judge: Mattel Owed Damages For Chinese Stores’ Fake UNO Cards

NEW YORK — Holding that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling on the extraterritoriality of certain portions of the Lanham Act does not apply, a federal judge in New York on Oct. 30 entered more than $400,000 in damages against Chinese companies that toy and game manufacturer Mattel Inc. said infringed on its trademarks and copyrights related to the card game UNO.
October 31, 2024
Federal Circuit Upholds PTAB’s Unpatentability Finding In Favor Of Vehicle Makers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a finding by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that an audio company’s claims are unpatentable in a dispute with a car manufacturer; the panel also denied as moot the company’s appeal of the PTAB’s finding of unpatentability in its dispute with a different manufacturer.
October 31, 2024
9th Circuit: No Fees For Defendant Who Settled Adult Film Copyright Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a California federal judge’s decision to deny attorney fees to a John Doe defendant who settled with a prodigiously litigious adult film company that accused Doe of copyright violations, but the panel disagreed as to why Doe was not due fees.
October 30, 2024
Federal Circuit Rejects Mandamus Bid From Plastics Company In Patent Fight

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Days before a trial is set to begin in a Massachusetts federal court, a panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 29 rejected in a per curiam order a plastics company’s bid for a writ of mandamus instructing the District Court to dismiss counterclaims by a defendant company in a patent dispute, holding that the plaintiff company did not satisfy the standard for a writ of mandamus.
October 30, 2024
Federal Circuit Rejects Mandamus Bid From Plastics Company In Patent Fight

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Days before a trial is set to begin in a Massachusetts federal court, a panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 29 rejected in a per curiam order a plastics company’s bid for a writ of mandamus instructing the trial court to dismiss counterclaims by a defendant company in a patent dispute, holding that the plaintiff company did not satisfy the standard for a writ of mandamus.
October 30, 2024
OpenAI Opposes Discovery Of Employees’ Personal Social Media Content

NEW YORK — Authors and writers in artificial intelligence copyright lawsuits filed against OpenAI Inc. asked a federal judge for access to employees’ personal social media accounts, saying the record shows work-related use of the accounts. But in response, the company says that the request strays far afield from the case’s central issues, that the company has no possession of or control over the requested information and that the plaintiffs are simply employing a scorched earth discovery process.
October 30, 2024
OpenAI Wants Evidence Of New York Times’ AI Damages, AI’s Positive Impact

NEW YORK — The New York Times Co. must produce evidence of any damages from artificial intelligence, as well as its use of ChatGPT and other third-party AIs, OpenAI entities tell a federal judge in New York in a letter motion seeking to compel production. Concurrently, the companies wrapped briefing on a motion to consolidate, with the newspaper saying it doesn’t object as long as the move doesn’t delay the case, and the defendants contending that adding a third case would ensure smooth handling of all cases.
October 30, 2024
Lenovo Can’t Dodge Patent Infringement Suits With Jurisdictional Arguments

MARSHALL, Texas — Technology firms from Canada and Ireland may proceed with their patent infringement claims against Lenovo Group Limited, a Texas federal judge found, concluding that the computer manufacturer had sufficient contacts with Texas to confer jurisdiction over the Chinese firm and to overcome the defendant’s motions to dismiss.
October 29, 2024
Judge: Design Company Failed To Establish Jurisdiction In Copyright Fight

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge granted a motion from a company that runs a store on Amazon’s website, dismissing a copyright infringement complaint brought against it by a company that says the defendant outfit is selling dresses that infringe on copyrighted designs, holding that the plaintiff company lacks personal jurisdiction; the judge also dissolved a preliminary injunction previously issued against the defendant company.
October 29, 2024
Parties To Google AI Copyright Suits Stipulate To Consolidation

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Parties in two California federal class actions challenging the use of data in the training of artificial intelligence stipulated to consolidation with previously related cases in the wake of a motion asking for such relief by Google LLC and its parent Alphabet Inc.
October 28, 2024
9th Circuit Says It Lacks Jurisdiction To Consider Patent Row Discovery Issue

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed Apple Inc.’s appeal of a California federal judge’s decision to grant an Australian patent holding company’s application for discovery for use in a yet-to-be-filed patent infringement suit in Germany; the panel held that it lacked appellate jurisdiction because the judge’s order was not final.
October 28, 2024
Federal Circuit Vacates Denial Of Injunction In Standard-Essential Patent Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a North Carolina federal judge’s decision to deny related technology companies an antisuit injunction to bar a patent holder from enforcing in the United States injunctions the patent holder obtained in Colombia and Brazil related to standard-essential patents (SEPs), finding that whether the patent holder complied with obligations related to the SEPs is a question before the court.