Intellectual Property

  • January 13, 2025

    IPRs Aren't 'Voluntary,' Dish Tells Justices In Fee Fight

    Dish Network LLC is kicking up a fight at the U.S. Supreme Court over the question of whether filing petitions at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is "voluntary" or not, in a bid to get "exceptional" plaintiffs to pay for litigation costs there.

  • January 13, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Told Google Making Up 'New Rules Of Evidence'

    A smart-home energy startup says Google and its supporters are trying to use a Federal Circuit appeal in a $20 million patent case to "craft entirely new rules of evidence out of whole cloth."

  • January 13, 2025

    Microsoft, Patent Firm Ramey Lose Dueling Sanctions Bids

    A Texas federal judge denied dueling sanctions motions Monday in a post-litigation spat between Microsoft and prolific patent firm Ramey LLP, holding that neither party met the standard to win disciplinary fees from the other.

  • January 13, 2025

    Justices Urged To Uphold 'Sanctity' Of $11M Patent Verdict

    The Federal Circuit disrespected "the sanctity of jury verdicts" when ordering a jury to revisit Provisur Technologies' $10.5 million willful infringement award, the company told the U.S. Supreme Court in a new petition.

  • January 13, 2025

    Vimeo Defeats Recording Owners' DMCA Appeal At 2nd Circ.

    The Second Circuit said Monday it won't revive copyright claims from a group of music rights holders over lip-sync videos posted on Vimeo by its users, saying a safe harbor under federal copyright law protects the website.

  • January 13, 2025

    Hytera Pleads Guilty To Stealing Motorola Trade Secrets

    Hytera Communications Corp. Ltd. pled guilty Monday to one count of conspiracy to steal trade secrets from Motorola Solutions relating to its digital mobile radios, avoiding a trial scheduled next month in Chicago federal court.

  • January 13, 2025

    Ozempic Maker Says Atlanta Clinic Misuses TM To Sell Meds

    Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company that makes weight loss drugs Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy, filed suit against an Atlanta anti-aging treatment center in Georgia federal court Friday, alleging trademark infringement, false advertising, unfair competition and deceptive trade practices.

  • January 13, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Mulls ITC Domestic Industry Rule In Lashify Case

    A Federal Circuit panel on Monday questioned the U.S. International Trade Commission's holding that sales and marketing activities by eyelash extension company Lashify weren't enough to allow it to prevail in a patent suit, with one judge saying the ITC's reading "makes no sense."

  • January 13, 2025

    NC Judge Rebuffs Redo In Pool Co.'s $16M False Ads Trial

    A North Carolina federal court said Monday it did not err in letting a Chinese pool parts supplier's American rival introduce evidence that its "Made in the USA" claims misled customers, denying the company a do-over on a false advertising and unfair business practices trial that resulted in a $16 million judgment against it.

  • January 13, 2025

    Sunoco Wants More From Butane Blending Infringement

    Sunoco told a Federal Circuit panel that a Delaware jury vastly undervalued its patented system for blending butane with gasoline when it awarded just $12 million in damages for infringement by Magellan Midstream and its joint venture, claiming the district court unfairly excluded its expert's analysis, driving the undercount.

  • January 13, 2025

    They Don't Do IP Like That In Europe, Justices Told

    The U.S. manufacturing lobby has told the U.S. Supreme Court that a recent Federal Circuit decision that wiped out patents covering an artificial sweetener used in Coke Zero is inconsistent with patent laws in Europe, China and other Asian countries. 

  • January 13, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Crypto Exec Doesn't Belong On Mining IP

    A Delaware federal judge properly found that a cryptocurrency company's founder shouldn't be added as an inventor onto a rival company's energy consumption patent, the Federal Circuit affirmed Monday.

  • January 13, 2025

    'Moana 2' Spurs New Copyright Suit From Aggrieved Animator

    The Walt Disney Co.'s release of box office juggernaut "Moana 2" has added another front to its long-running copyright battle with an animator, who has filed suit in California federal court alleging the second franchise installment continues to rip off his Polynesian adventure epic.

  • January 13, 2025

    Acting USPTO Chief Won't Review Seed IP Challenge Denial

    The acting leader of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office shot down a bid by a Cambridge, Massachusetts, gene-editing startup to review decisions rejecting its challenges to patents covering purportedly novel corn seeds developed by a unit of DowDuPont spin-off Corteva.

  • January 13, 2025

    Goodwin Procter Adds NY IP Attys From Fenwick, Desmarais

    Goodwin Procter LLP announced Monday that it was expanding its intellectual property practice in New York with two scientifically talented lawyers, one from Fenwick & West LLP, the other from Desmarais LLP.

  • January 13, 2025

    Houston Jury Clears Austin Whiskey Maker In Landry TM Row

    A Texas state court jury ruled Monday that an Austin whiskey company's use of the "Landry" name did not cause a likelihood of confusion with a conglomerate of hospitality brands owned by Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta.

  • January 13, 2025

    Supreme Court Won't Hear Broker's Fee Bid In Copyright Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a Florida real estate broker's bid for attorney fees incurred defending himself from a copyright infringement suit by an aerial photography company, leaving in place a ruling saying he was not a prevailing party once the case was voluntarily dismissed.

  • January 13, 2025

    Justices Won't Eye 7th Circ.'s Stay Of Trade Secrets Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review whether the Seventh Circuit correctly paused an Illinois trade secrets case involving a company that sells nail polish while a dispute over who owns the business plays out in New Jersey state court.

  • January 13, 2025

    Supreme Court Turns Away IP Safe Harbor Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday said it won't consider whether the Federal Circuit has overexpanded a safe harbor for drug development, in litigation where Meril Life Sciences escaped allegations that it infringed Edwards Lifesciences' heart valve patents.

  • January 13, 2025

    Justices Snub Roku Patent Feud Over ITC Power

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it will not consider Roku Inc.'s challenge to a ruling that upheld a U.S. International Trade Commission decision blocking the importation of certain streaming products deemed to infringe a Universal Electronics Inc. patent, in a case that targeted the scope of the ITC's authority to issue such orders.

  • January 13, 2025

    High Court Skips 9th Circ. Sesame Oil TM Decision

    The U.S. Supreme Court said Monday it would not consider an India-based sesame oil company's challenge to a Ninth Circuit opinion siding against it in its trademark infringement case against a New Jersey business.

  • January 10, 2025

    4 Lessons For Contractors From The Bitmanagement Saga

    A software company's damages award of just $150,000 after years of litigation over the U.S. Navy violating a licensing deal offers several lessons for federal software contractors about carefully negotiating contractual terms and making sure they can adequately enforce those terms.

  • January 10, 2025

    Microsoft Pushes To Thwart 'Scheme' To Bypass AI Security

    A Virginia federal judge has authorized Microsoft Corp. to seize a website that the tech giant alleges has been instrumental to a "sophisticated scheme" by foreign-based cybercriminals to circumvent safety guardrails built into artificial intelligence services in order to create offensive and harmful content, according to court filings made public Friday. 

  • January 10, 2025

    GSK Hits Back At Moderna Counterclaims In Patent Feud

    GlaxoSmithKline wants a Delaware federal court to quickly reject some of the counterclaims leveled by Moderna in response to patent suits over the company's mRNA vaccines.

  • January 10, 2025

    Masimo, Apple Fight Over Watch IP In Post-Bench Trial Briefs

    Masimo and Apple have submitted dueling briefs to a California federal judge following a trade secret retrial over health sensing technology in Apple's smartwatches, with Masimo maintaining Apple poached its employees to steal its intellectual property and Apple contending Masimo failed for years to "back up their spurious claims" of misappropriation.

Expert Analysis

  • Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In August

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    The Federal Circuit’s seven vacated or reversed cases from August provide helpful clarity on obviousness-type double patenting, written description and indefiniteness, and suggest improved practices for petitioners and patent owners in inter partes review, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys

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    Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.

  • Opinion

    Congress Can And Must Enact A Supreme Court Ethics Code

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    As public confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court dips to historic lows following reports raising conflict of interest concerns, Congress must exercise its constitutional power to enact a mandatory and enforceable code of ethics for the high court, says Muhammad Faridi, president of the New York City Bar Association.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Justice Lebovits On Gilbert And Sullivan

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    Characters in the 19th century comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan break the rules of good lawyering by shamelessly throwing responsible critical thought to the wind, providing hilarious lessons for lawyers and judges on how to avoid a surfeit of traps and tribulations, say acting New York Supreme Court Justice Gerald Lebovits and law student Tara Scown.

  • ​​​​​​​Trending At The PTAB: Evolution Of Granting Stays Post-AIA

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    Kara Specht and Guanshi Li at Finnegan take a look at the evolving trends in the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's authority to grant stays in parallel reexamination and reissue proceedings under the America Invents Act since 2019, showing that it has become exceedingly difficult to successfully argue against a stay in most cases.

  • 2nd Circ. American Girl Ruling Alters Test Purchase Norms

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    The Second Circuit's recent ruling in American Girl v. Zembrka overturns years of precedent that required completed test purchase shipments to establish jurisdiction in infringement cases, but litigators shouldn't abandon the strategy entirely, say Robert Wasnofski and Sara Gates at Dentons.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • The Shifting Role Of Patent Attorneys In The Age Of AI

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    The integration of artificial intelligence into patent drafting represents a significant change in how legal work is performed, and patent attorneys must shift from manual drafting to a strategy-oriented approach, says Ian Schick at Draft Builders.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • 2nd Circ. Provides NY Pathway For Fighting Foreign Infringers

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    A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit provides a road map for expeditiously obtaining personal jurisdiction in New York against foreign trademark infringers based on a single purchase of counterfeit goods, meaning the Second Circuit could now be the preferred venue for combating foreign infringement, says Jeffrey Ratinoff at Spencer Fane.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art

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    Commissioning public art for real estate projects can provide many benefits to real estate developers and the public, but it's important to understand the unique legal and contracting aspects of the process to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget, says Sarah Conley Odenkirk at ArtConverge.

  • A Look At The PTAB's Assessment Of Prior Art Exceptions

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    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's approach over the last 10 years to assessing Section 102(b) prior art exceptions reveals a few trends, including that evidence of common ownership may have a higher likelihood of successfully disqualifying prior art under Section 102(b)(2)(C) at the institution stage, say Louis Panzica and David Holman at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • How Patent Litigation Is Changing Amid Decline In Filings

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    Marked by a notable decline in case filings and preferred venue shifts, patent litigation has undergone significant changes over the last decade and litigation hot spots have shifted, encouraging a more strategic approach to patent disputes, says Saishruti Mutneja at Winston & Strawn.

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