Intellectual Property

  • January 16, 2025

    2nd Circ. Revives Wonderful Pistachios' Trade Dress Case

    The Second Circuit revived a trademark infringement complaint from The Wonderful Co. LLC and Cal Pure Produce against pistachio-selling rival Nut Cravings Inc., saying Thursday that the plaintiffs plausibly alleged a likelihood of confusion in how each company's products are packaged, contrary to what a Manhattan federal judge concluded in dismissing the case.

  • January 16, 2025

    Google, Kove Settle Cloud Storage Patent Case

    Google and Kove IO Inc. have settled claims that the technology behemoth infringed three of the Chicago software company's patents covering cloud storage technologies, the parties told an Illinois federal court, concluding a dispute similar to another involving Amazon where Kove won a $673 million jury award, plus interest.

  • January 16, 2025

    EpiPen Direct Buyers, Mylan Ink $75M Antitrust Deal

    Mylan Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay $73.5 million to resolve claims it worked with Pfizer to inflate the price of the latter's popular auto-injecting emergency allergy medication EpiPen, a proposed class of direct purchasers told a Kansas federal judge Wednesday, bringing the total settlement to $123.5 million.

  • January 16, 2025

    USPTO Seeks Views On 'Traditional Knowledge' IP Treaty

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office requested comments Thursday on whether the U.S. should sign an international treaty that could require patent applicants to disclose if an invention draws on the traditional knowledge of indigenous people, which has concerned business groups.

  • January 16, 2025

    NPE Patent Litigation Increased By 22% In 2024

    Patent lawsuits launched by nonpracticing entities shot up in 2024, with the Eastern District of Texas being the primary hotbed for such cases, according to a new report.

  • January 16, 2025

    Swedish Match Wants 'Copycat' Sham Patent Suit Nixed

    Swedish Match urged a Virginia federal judge to toss a proposed class action it said largely parrots a since-settled antitrust suit from which consumers can draw no basis for claims the tobacco company used litigation to drive a nicotine pouch rival out of the market.

  • January 16, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Urged To Keep Block Of Sun Pharma Alopecia Drug

    Incyte Corp. has urged the Federal Circuit to leave in place an injunction a New Jersey judge imposed in November blocking Sun Pharmaceutical from launching the alopecia drug Leqselvi, saying the lower court was correct that the launch would give Sun an improper "head start."

  • January 16, 2025

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Judge Bids Adieu, TikTok Wants Out

    The North Carolina Business Court's former chief judge hung up his robes for the last time as the court entered the new year with a ruling that shapes the fate of beset real estate company MV Realty's consumer fraud trial and arguments by TikTok Inc. that its platform being "too engaging" isn't enough for the state to begin an enforcement action.

  • January 16, 2025

    US Olympic Committee, Logan Paul Drink Co. Settle TM Suit

    The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee has settled its trademark infringement case against Prime Hydration LLC, a sports drink company co-founded by social media influencer-turned-wrestler Logan Paul, leading to a Colorado federal court's dismissal of the case. 

  • January 16, 2025

    Economists Say USPTO Should Keep Fee-Setting Authority

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday announced it has provided Congress with an outside study arguing that the patent fee system is working well for small entities and that the agency should keep its power to set fees beyond the current 2026 expiration date.

  • January 16, 2025

    SCOTUSblog Publisher Tom Goldstein Indicted In Tax Case

    Tom Goldstein, a publisher of SCOTUSblog and one of the most experienced U.S. Supreme Court lawyers in the country, was indicted Thursday in Maryland federal court on charges he schemed to evade paying taxes for years and used funds from his boutique law firm to cover gambling debts. 

  • January 15, 2025

    Novartis Wins Temporary Stay Of MSN's Generic Heart Drug

    The D.C. Circuit late Wednesday temporarily halted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's approval of MSN Pharmaceuticals' generic version of Novartis' blockbuster heart failure drug Entresto, just after federal judges in D.C. and Delaware declined to block the launch of MSN's product.

  • January 15, 2025

    Gilead, Feds Resolve HIV Drug Patent Dispute Amid Appeal

    Gilead Sciences and the federal government have agreed to dismiss all claims and counterclaims in a yearslong intellectual property and contract battle over HIV prevention drugs Truvada and Descovy, according to stipulations of voluntary dismissal filed Wednesday in both the Federal Circuit and Delaware federal court.

  • January 15, 2025

    'Absolutely Not': Apple+ Show's Creator Denies Stealing Idea

    The screenwriter who created the Apple+ show "Servant" testified Tuesday in a California federal trial that he didn't steal the "reborn baby" concept from an indie film, telling the jury that he had not seen the plaintiff's movie when he added the new idea to a story he'd been working on for over a decade.

  • January 15, 2025

    Solar Power Biz Beats Shoals' Patent Case At ITC

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has cleared a North Carolina solar manufacturer from a patent case, flipping an administrative law judge's determination that a solar "trunk bus" transmission system infringes a rival's patent.

  • January 15, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Semiconductor Co.'s PTAB Win Over Chip IP

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board finding that semiconductor company Microchip Technology had shown that some claims of an HD Silicon Solutions microprocessor patent are invalid as obvious.

  • January 15, 2025

    Chancery Awards $1.6M To Food Recycler In Trade Secret Fight

    The former leaders of a now-defunct food waste company owe another company $1.6 million for misappropriating a process for turning waste into fertilizer and animal feed, a Delaware vice chancellor said in a decision released Wednesday, finding they "rode" that process "all the way to the bank."

  • January 15, 2025

    Michael Jackson Estate's Likeness Fight Stays In Vegas

    A Nevada federal judge has declared that her court will decide if an allegedly "lackluster Michael Jackson impersonator show" running at a Las Vegas casino is infringing the name, image or likeness of the late King of Pop.

  • January 15, 2025

    4th Circ. Says 'Moke' TM Generic Issue Needs Another Look

    A split Fourth Circuit panel has thrown out a lower court's finding that the term "moke" can't get trademark protection, saying a lower court needs to look further as part of a dispute between two companies fighting for the rights to use the word as a mark.

  • January 15, 2025

    Maxell Battery Patent Sinks At Federal Circuit

    Japanese consumer electronics outfit Maxell on Wednesday failed to persuade Federal Circuit judges to change anything about a patent board ruling that wiped out all the claims in a battery patent asserted in a suit against a Chinese rival.

  • January 15, 2025

    Acting USPTO Head Corrects Errors In PTAB Samsung Denial

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's acting director has found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board made incorrect statements when it refused to review a display patent challenged by Samsung due to an upcoming Texas trial, but still left the denial intact.

  • January 15, 2025

    Ex-Pot Co. Director Wants Trade Secrets Claims Tossed

    A former operations director for Curaleaf Inc. is asking a Colorado federal court to throw out the company's claims that he breached a confidentiality agreement and shared information with a former business partner.

  • January 14, 2025

    Abbott, Novartis Settle HIV Test Patent Beef Ahead Of Trial

    Abbott Laboratories, Novartis and Grifols have reached a settlement in a yearslong battle over a patent covering a method for replicating DNA, putting to rest the litigation less than a month before it was set to go to trial, according to an entry in Illinois federal court posted Monday.

  • January 14, 2025

    Judge Needs To Rethink Toddler Tub IP Case, Fed. Circ. Says

    A Japanese toy making giant persuaded Federal Circuit judges on Tuesday to revive a dispute over a patent covering a toy tub used by toddlers, with a panel majority deciding a Rhode Island federal judge did not define a claim correctly.

  • January 14, 2025

    Apple, Shyamalan Stole Indie Film Idea For 'Servant,' Jury Told

    Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan, Apple and other "Hollywood elite" stole from an indie director's movie in order to make a TV show called "Servant" for Apple TV+, a California federal jury heard during opening statements of an $81 million copyright infringement trial. 

Expert Analysis

  • Consider The Impact Of Election Stress On Potential Jurors

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    For at least the next few months, potential jurors may be working through anger and distrust stemming from the presidential election, and trial attorneys will need to assess whether those jurors are able to leave their political concerns at the door, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • How Judiciary Can Minimize AI Risks In Secondary Sources

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    Because courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence and other safeguards do not address the risk of hallucinations in secondary source materials, the judiciary should consider enlisting legal publishers and database hosts to protect against AI-generated inaccuracies, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.

  • 3 Steps For Companies To Combat Task Scams

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    On the rise in the U.S., the task scam — when scammers offer a victim a fake work-from-home job — hurts impersonated businesses by tarnishing their name and brand, but companies have a few ways to fight back against these cons, says Chris Wlach at Huge.

  • False Patent Marking Claims Find New Home In Lanham Act

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    While the Patent Act may have closed the courthouse doors for many false patent marking claims, the Federal Circuit, in its recent decision in Crocs v. Effervescent, may be opening a window to these types of claims under the Lanham Act, says John Cordani at Robinson & Cole.

  • A Look At Calif. Biz Code And The Fight Over Customer Lists

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    To ensure Uniform Trade Secret Act security, California staffing agencies and their attorneys should review Section 16607 of the state Business Code, which prohibits contracts that restrain employees from engaging in other lawful types of business, to understand the process for determining whether a customer list constitutes a trade secret, says Skye Daley at Buchalter.

  • How Attorneys Can Break Free From Career Enmeshment

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    Ambitious attorneys can sometimes experience career enmeshment — when your sense of self-worth becomes unhealthily tangled up in your legal vocation — but taking the time to discover and realign with your core personal values can help you recover your identity, says Janna Koretz at Azimuth Psychological.

  • Bankruptcy Decision Exemplifies Venue Issue For Franchisees

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    A California bankruptcy court's decision earlier this month in Pinnacle Foods and a lingering circuit split on assumption of executory franchise contracts highlights the issue of whether franchisee debtors can qualify for case venue in friendlier circuits, says David Gamble at Parkins Rubio.

  • Key Healthcare Issues That Hinge On The Election Outcome

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    The 2024 presidential race, while not heavily dominated by healthcare issues compared to past elections, holds significant implications for the direction of healthcare policy in a potential Harris or Trump administration, encompassing issues ranging from Medicare to artificial intelligence, says Miranda Franco at Holland & Knight.

  • Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In September

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    Cases that were reversed or vacated by the Federal Circuit last month provide helpful clarity on collateral estoppel, patent eligibility, construction of claim terms that have different boundaries across different claims, and the role of courts as neutral arbiter, say attorneys at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Lawyers With Disabilities Are Seeking Equity, Not Pity

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    Attorneys living with disabilities face extra challenges — including the need for special accommodations, the fear of stigmatization and the risk of being tokenized — but if given equitable opportunities, they can still rise to the top of their field, says Kate Reder Sheikh, a former attorney and legal recruiter at Major Lindsey & Africa.

  • Trademark Food For Thought When Rebranding

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    Brand makeovers like the one underway by Campbell Soup Co. can have a significant effect on a company's intellectual property rights, particularly as it relates to their trademarks, but with thoughtful strategizing, companies can anticipate seamless rebrands and hopefully avoid becoming cautionary tales, says Annie Allison at Haynes Boone.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Committee Best Venue For Litigation Funding Rules

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    The Advisory Committee on Civil Rules' recent decision to consider developing a rule for litigation funding disclosure is a welcome development, ensuring that the result will be the product of a thorough, inclusive and deliberative process that appropriately balances all interests, says Stewart Ackerly at Statera Capital.

  • The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO

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    The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling May Signal Software Patent Landscape Shift

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    The Federal Circuit's recent ruling in Broadband iTV, despite similarities to past decisions, chose to rely on prior cases finding patent-ineligible claims directed to receiving and displaying information, which may undermine one of the few areas of perceived predictability in the patent eligibility landscape, say attorneys at King & Wood.

  • How 2 Proposed Bills Could Transform Patent Law

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    The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act and the Prevail Act may come up for vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee after the election, and both offer benefits and challenges for inventors and companies seeking to obtain patents, says Philip Nelson at Knobbe Martens.

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