Mealey's Intellectual Property
-
October 28, 2024
Federal Judge Dismisses Last Count In Butter Trademark Row At Plaintiff’s Request
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a plaintiff food company’s request to voluntarily dismiss a New York state law claim for trade dress dilution against a defendant food company it accused of infringing on the packaging of competing Irish butter brands after previously granting the defendant company’s motion for summary judgment as to all other counts.
-
October 25, 2024
Federal Circuit Majority Says Comcast Didn’t Infringe On Online Phone Patent
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 24 affirmed a federal judge’s entry of judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) finding that Comcast Cable Communications LLC did not infringe on one of two patents related to internet-based phone calls, but the panel disagreed on whether the judge should have granted Comcast’s post-trial JMOL request on the other patent.
-
October 25, 2024
Judge Dismisses Entirety Of Professors’ Copyright Claim Against University
BUFFALO, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York modified a magistrate judge’s recommendation to dismiss in part six former professors’ copyright infringement claim against a university in upstate New York, instead dismissing the complaint in its entirety; the judge held that the professors failed to show that the university’s use of copyrighted materials created by the professors exceeded the scope of a license.
-
October 24, 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 usage of ChatGPT and other third-party AIs, OpenAI entities tell a federal judge in New York in a letter motion seeking to compel production.
-
October 24, 2024
Judge: Defamation, Other Counterclaims Survive In Copyright Infringement Dispute
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee on Oct. 23 denied a plaintiff media company’s motion to dismiss a defendant company’s state law counterclaims of defamation and other counts against the plaintiff company and its executive in a copyright dispute, holding that the plaintiff company failed to show that the state law counterclaims are preempted by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA).
-
October 24, 2024
9th Circuit: Law Firm’s Online Ad Keywords Don’t Infringe On Competitor’s Name
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed an Arizona federal judge’s finding that a defendant law firm’s purchasing of a competitor’s trademark in Google keyword ads was not trademark infringement, agreeing that the plaintiff law firm failed to establish a likelihood of confusion caused by the ads; a judge on the panel issued a concurring opinion arguing that the Ninth Circuit should reconsider the relevant case law.
-
October 23, 2024
Container Computing Suit Against Hewlett Packard Dismissed As To 1 Patent
MARSHALL, Texas — Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE) saw its motion to dismiss a patent infringement suit against it partially granted, with a Texas federal judge determining that the patent holder failed to sufficiently plead either constructive or actual notice for one of two container computing patents asserted in its complaint.
-
October 23, 2024
10th Circuit: Covenant Not To Sue Did Not Obviously Apply To Canadian Patent
DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a Colorado federal magistrate judge’s findings in a contract dispute stemming from claims of patent infringement, holding that the magistrate judge committed no error in finding that a covenant not to sue between two competing fuel supply companies may not apply to the relevant Canadian patent; a federal jury held that the defendant company violated the covenant.
-
October 23, 2024
Some Counterclaims Axed As Improperly Pleaded In Stem Cell Therapy Patent Row
LOS ANGELES — Partly granting a biotechnology firm’s motion to dismiss a rival’s counterclaims against it in a dispute over stem cell therapy patents, a California federal judge found that two noninfringement claims failed to identify the relevant products or plead sufficient facts.
-
October 22, 2024
Real Estate Company: High Court Must Affirm $43M Disgorgement In Trademark Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A real estate company in an Oct. 22 brief urged the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision affirming a $43 million disgorgement award entered in its favor in a trademark infringement dispute with an entity it said infringed upon its marks, arguing that the Lanham Act empowers a court to “consider all competent evidence, including profits of affiliated entities when relevant.”
-
October 22, 2024
Formula 1 Team Owner Takes Trademark Row With Team Member To 9th Circuit
LOS ANGELES — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a docket number for a motor vehicle parts company’s appeal of a California federal judge’s holding that a former member of the company’s Formula 1 team and his publisher did not infringe on the company’s trademarks by including photos with the company’s logo in a book about the man’s time in F1.
-
October 22, 2024
Code Publisher Appeals Injunction Denial For Copyright Claim To 3rd Circuit
PHILADELPHIA — A publisher of technical standards for several industries on Oct. 21 appealed to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a Pennsylvania federal judge’s denial of the publisher’s request for a preliminary injunction against a company it claims posted copies of the plaintiff company’s codes online without permission in violation of copyrights.
-
October 22, 2024
Judge Dismisses News Outlet’s Counterclaims From Copyright Row With Photographer
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida dismissed multiple counterclaims brought by an online news outlet against a plaintiff photojournalist who accused the company of using some of his photos without permission, holding that some of the counterclaims hold no useful purpose.
-
October 21, 2024
Federal Circuit: More Claim Construction Needed In Patent Row Over Utility Lines
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Oct. 18 that a California federal judge wrongly dismissed a complaint stemming from a dispute over patents related to buried utility lines, holding that the judge must conduct a “fuller claim-construction analysis” to “determine the scope of the dispute claim language” for the plaintiff company’s claim of patent infringement.
-
October 21, 2024
2nd Circuit Won’t Rethink Finding Of No Exception To Copyright Act Discovery Rule
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a design company’s bid for en banc rehearing, leaving in place a panel’s August decision vacating a New York federal judge’s finding that a photography studio’s copyright claims against the company were time-barred, rejecting the company’s arguments that the panel’s finding did not square with U.S. Supreme Court precedent.
-
October 18, 2024
Federal Circuit Reverses Judge’s Dismissal Of Patent Suit Involving Debit Cards
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Connecticut was wrong to dismiss a patent owner’s complaint that it brought against a health care company for allegedly marketing Mastercard and VISA products that infringe its patent, a panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, saying the judge erred while reviewing “a license agreement and failed to take all of the complaint’s well-pled factual allegations as true.”
-
October 18, 2024
Judge Approves Stay Of Patent Claims Over Neck Fan While Parties Prep Settlement
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois granted a joint motion from the holder of patents related to a fan device that hangs around a wearer’s neck and an electronics company it accused of infringing its patents to stay the infringement case while the parties prepare a stipulation for dismissal in the wake of a settlement agreement.
-
October 18, 2024
Magistrate: Video Game Creator Due More Than $35K In Awards In Copyright Case
NEW YORK — A federal magistrate judge in New York recommended that the creator of popular horror video game franchise be awarded more than $35,000 in statutory damages, attorney fees and costs from a defendant Chinese company that the creator said infringed his copyrights by selling unauthorized clothing items featuring characters he designed, due to the company’s failure to appear and defend itself from the complaint.
-
October 18, 2024
Google Defendants Want Pair Of AI Copyright Suits Consolidated
SAN FRANCISCO — Two cases challenging the data used to train artificial intelligence share sufficiently similar parties, facts and overlapping classes and should be consolidated, Google LLC and its parent Alphabet Inc. told a federal judge in California.
-
October 17, 2024
Drone Maker’s 2nd Patent Infringement Suit Barred By Res Judicata
SALT LAKE CITY — Granting a motion to dismiss by a drone technology firm, a Utah federal judge found that a second patent infringement lawsuit brought by a rival drone company was barred as impermissible claim splitting because the plaintiffs’ infringement claim over a third patent could have been brought in its nearly identical suit against the same defendant over the same technology.
-
October 17, 2024
Federal Circuit Vacates Noninfringement Finding In Semiconductor Patent Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 16 vacated a California federal judge’s finding of noninfringement in a patent dispute over a type of semiconductor light source, holding that the order was based on an improper term construction.
-
October 17, 2024
1st Circuit Won’t Reconsider Order Of New Trial In Copyright Case
BOSTON — The First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 16 rejected a guitar seller’s petition for rehearing or rehearing en banc, leaving in place a First Circuit panel’s July opinion ordering a new trial in a New Hampshire federal court on claims that the company infringed on a guitar manufacturer’s photo of guitar headstocks by uploading the photo to its own website.
-
October 17, 2024
Judge Says Cuban Company’s Counterclaim In Rum Mark Row Barred By Statute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Washington granted a motion from Bacardi & Co. Ltd. and its American subsidiary to dismiss a Cuban rum company’s counterclaim in a 20-year-old dispute over the mark HAVANA CLUB, agreeing with Bacardi that the Cuban company was barred from bringing the claim because the mark was confiscated from it.
-
October 17, 2024
Panel Issues Split Ruling In Tire Trade Dress Suit On Discovery, Daubert, Privilege
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a long-running trade dress dispute between two tire companies, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel partly affirmed a trial court ruling, deeming the asserted trade dress functional and, therefore, not protectable and upholding discovery sanctions and expert testimony exclusion, while reversing in part by finding that litigation privilege barred the defendant’s counterclaims.
-
October 16, 2024
Patent Holder’s Infringement Claims About Microscope Slides Survive Dismissal Bid
WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware denied a defendant laboratory company’s motion to dismiss a plaintiff patent holder’s infringement complaint against it, finding that the plaintiff company adequately substantiated its claim that the defendant infringed on patents related to the analysis of microscope slides to survive the motion.