Intellectual Property

  • June 18, 2024

    Starbucks Among Eateries Facing IP Suits Over Ordering Tech

    Starbucks, Denny's and three other restaurants are the latest to face a patent-licensing company's lawsuits in Texas for allegedly infringing a patent that lets customers place mobile orders on an app or website using a real-time menu that can make personalized suggestions.

  • June 18, 2024

    ITC To Eye Samsung Loss In LCD Patent Suit Against Rival

    The U.S. International Trade Commission decided Monday to review several issues in a judge's decision that cleared Manufacturing Resources International Inc. in a suit by Samsung accusing it of infringing LCD digital display patents.

  • June 18, 2024

    Rival Pool Supply Co. Looks To Duck Blueworks Ch. 11 Stay

    Pool supply company Hayward Industries Inc. has asked a bankruptcy court for a reprieve from the automatic stay protecting its bankrupt rival Blueworks Corp. as it seeks to secure final orders upholding a $16 million false advertising and unfair business practices judgment.

  • June 18, 2024

    Justices Urged To Take Case On USPTO Home Address Rule

    Five organizations have expressed support for a small North Carolina law firm asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision to require trademark applicants to disclose their home addresses — a decision that should have had public input, according to amicus briefs filed over the past week.

  • June 18, 2024

    Uber And Lyft Dodge Tracking Patent Litigation

    A California federal court has issued a pair of patent eligibility rulings that have ended an inventor's infringement litigation against ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft.

  • June 18, 2024

    Ex-Yukos Oil Investors Auction Russian Vodka TMs For €1.6M

    The former shareholders of Yukos Oil Co. said Monday they have auctioned the Benelux rights to trademarks for 18 Russian vodka brands, including Stolichnaya and Moskovskaya, as they continue their effort to enforce $50 billion in arbitral awards against Russia.

  • June 18, 2024

    Samsung Bioepis Denies Infringing Blood Treatment Patent

    Samsung Bioepis has fought back against a bid by Alexion to prevent it from selling a biosimilar version of a patented blood treatment drug by a rival, telling a court that this will not infringe the protections of an AstraZeneca subsidiary over the medicine.

  • June 17, 2024

    Startup Wants To Add More Than $200M To Boeing IP Verdict

    Zunum Aero Inc. is urging a Washington federal judge to significantly boost a $72 million jury verdict against the Boeing Co. for misappropriating the electric jet startup's trade secrets, including adding $162.5 million in exemplary damages and nearly $52 million in legal costs and interest.

  • June 17, 2024

    Microsoft Renews Sanctions Bid Against Texas IP Law Firm

    Microsoft asked a Texas federal court Friday to order Ramey LLP to pay its $100,000 attorneys' fees tab for "vexatiously" pursuing infringement litigation against it, even when the patent plaintiffs firm's now-former client CTD Networks LLC called for it to end.

  • June 17, 2024

    NJ Firm Defends Lien On Ex-Client's Patents After Unpaid Bills

    A major New Jersey law firm said it has a "common law" right to place a lien on its former client's patents without telling it, after the "failed" biopharmaceutical startup fired the firm and stopped paying its outstanding legal bills.

  • June 17, 2024

    Judge Cements Decision Clearing Cisco From $2.75B Ruling

    There will be not be a third trial for a cybersecurity startup that has seen its multibillion-dollar patent win turn into nothing at all, a Virginia federal judge has decided, after a second trial found that Cisco wasn't actually infringing its patents.

  • June 17, 2024

    'Anderson Method' Copyright Claim Gets Cut Ahead Of Trial

    A California federal judge has handed Tracy Anderson's former employee Megan Roup a summary judgment win on the celebrity fitness trainer's copyright claim accusing Roup of ripping off her "Tracy Anderson Method" exercise routines, but concluded a jury should decide Anderson's sole remaining breach-of-contract claim in an upcoming November trial.

  • June 17, 2024

    Male Enhancement Pills Infringe RAW Trademark, Co. Says

    HBI International, the American distributor of the RAW line of smoking products, has filed a lawsuit in Georgia federal court alleging Mash Enterprise LLC used "identical copies" of its trademarks, trade dress and copyrighted packaging to sell male enhancement pills and beverages.

  • June 17, 2024

    Top Patent Eligibility Rulings In The Decade Since Alice

    The U.S. Supreme Court's Alice v. CLS Bank decision 10 years ago this week led to scores of inventions being found ineligible for patenting, and rulings since then have fleshed out the law on the contentious topic. Here's a look at the most notable patent eligibility decisions after Alice.

  • June 17, 2024

    Huawei Slams Netgear's 'Tenuous' RICO Case

    Huawei has responded to a racketeering and antitrust case from a major U.S. maker of Wi-Fi routers by calling it "rife with tenuous legal and factual claims" and comparing its reworking of patent infringement allegations to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission's failed antitrust case against Qualcomm.

  • June 17, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Says Errors Led To Injunction In Trade Secrets Suit

    A Federal Circuit panel on Monday overturned a preliminary injunction against a South Korean insulin pump patch manufacturer that allegedly stole trade secrets from a rival, saying a Massachusetts federal court made a series of errors in its determination to grant an injunction.

  • June 17, 2024

    Boeing, Virgin Can't Agree To Injunction's Scope In IP Row

    Boeing and Virgin Galactic have clashed over whether Virgin can share information with outside contractors gleaned as part of a failed aircraft development contract, as Boeing's suit accusing Virgin of breaching the deal and misappropriating trade secrets moves forward in Virginia federal court.

  • June 17, 2024

    Repeat Violations Land Ore. Forwarder Export Denial Order

    An Oregon-based package forwarder has lost export privileges just days before clearing a three-year probationary period for alleged unlicensed rifle scope exports, after an audit revealed 176 new violations, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced Monday.

  • June 17, 2024

    Tesla Slaps Supplier With $1B EV Battery Trade Secrets Suit

    Tesla is accusing one of its suppliers of corporate espionage in a $1 billion California federal lawsuit, saying that Matthews International has even tried to claim it invented the stolen trade secrets for manufacturing electric vehicle batteries by incorporating the confidential information into patent filings.

  • June 14, 2024

    Meta Halts AI Tech Debut In EU After Regulatory Backlash

    Meta Platforms Inc. said Friday that it was putting on hold plans to expand its artificial intelligence offerings to the European market after the Irish privacy regulator raised concerns about the company's efforts to use public content posted on Facebook and Instagram to fuel these models.

  • June 14, 2024

    Tata Must Pay $168M For Trade Secret Theft, Texas Judge Says

    A Texas federal judge has ordered Tata Consultancy to pay $168 million for willfully misappropriating an IT company's trade secrets concerning source code and life insurance software documentation, plus $25 million in prejudgment interest.

  • June 14, 2024

    Amazon Slams Co.'s Bid For $180M Interest On $525M IP Win

    Amazon urged an Illinois federal judge Thursday to reject software company Kove IO Inc.'s demand for $180 million in interest and fees on top of a $525 million infringement verdict relating to cloud data storage patents, arguing Kove delayed bringing its case for years since it sought to start a business venture with Amazon.

  • June 14, 2024

    Amazon On Hook For $122M In Ad Patent Case, Jury Says

    A federal jury in Waco, Texas, said Friday that Amazon should pay a small advertising software outfit almost $122 million, which was on the lower end of a request that stretched upward to $348 million.

  • June 14, 2024

    Motif Gets Most Of Impossible Foods Patent Trimmed At PTAB

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has invalidated claims of an Impossible Foods Inc. meat-substitute patent that food technology company Motif Foodworks Inc. had challenged, finding they were obvious.

  • June 14, 2024

    Samsung Can't Get Stay After PTAB Axes IP In $303M Verdict

    A Texas federal judge has refused to stay a case in which Samsung was found to have infringed computer memory patents that were later invalidated in parallel proceedings at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. 

Expert Analysis

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • Supply Chain Considerations For Companies Deploying AI

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    Many businesses will risk failure by embracing artificial intelligence without fully understanding the risks, and the value of a five-step AI supply chain analysis cannot be overstated, say Brooke Berg and Nathan Staffel at Nardello & Co.

  • How Real Estate Cos. Can Protect Their IP In The Metaverse

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    The rise of virtual and augmented reality creates new intellectual property challenges and opportunities for real estate owners, but certain steps, including conducting a diligence investigation to develop an understanding of current obligations, can help companies mitigate IP issues in the metaverse, says George Pavlik at Levenfeld Pearlstein.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In April

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    Four Federal Circuit decisions in April that reversed or vacated underlying rulings provide a number of takeaways, including that obviousness analysis requires a flexible approach, that an invalidity issue of an expired patent can be moot, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • How To Use Exhibits Strategically Throughout Your Case

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    Exhibits, and documents in particular, are the lifeblood of legal advocacy, so attorneys must understand how to wield them effectively throughout different stages of a case to help build strategy, elevate witness preparation and effectively persuade the fact-finders, say Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie and Colorado prosecutor Adam Kendall.

  • Tips For Companies Tapping Into Commercial Cleantech

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    A recent report from the European Patent Office and European Investment Bank examining the global financing and commercialization of cleantech innovation necessary for the green energy transition can help companies understand and solve the issues in developing and implementing the full potential of cleantech, says Eleanor Maciver at Mewburn Ellis.

  • Opinion

    USPTO's Proposed Disclaimer Rule Would Harm Inventors

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recently proposed rule on terminal disclaimers will make the patent system less available to inventors and will unfairly favor defendants in litigation, say Stephen Schreiner at Carmichael IP and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • 15 Quick Tips For Uncovering And Mitigating Juror Biases

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    As highlighted by the recent jury selection process in the criminal hush money trial against former President Donald Trump, juror bias presents formidable challenges for defendants, and attorneys must employ proactive strategies — both new and old — to blunt its impact, say Monica Delgado and Jonathan Harris at Harris St. Laurent.

  • Tips For Keeping Trade Secrets In The Vault

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    Key practices aimed at maintaining confidentiality can help companies establish trade secret status as the Federal Trade Commission's ban on noncompetes makes it prudent to explore other security measures, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Reducing Patent Litigation Costs Starts With Early Strategy

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    With the average cost ranging from $1 million to $4 million, defending a patent case can create a serious strain on resources, particularly for midsize or smaller companies, so certain cost-cutting steps should be considered at the outset — even if some seem counterintuitive, say Jeffrey Ahdoot and Wendy Verlander at Verlander.

  • Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate

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    With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.

  • Opinion

    'Natural Person' Or Not, AI-Made IP Deserves Protection

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    The entire legal edifice rests on a determination that an artificial system is not a so-called natural person, and although this may appear to be straightforward on its face, rapid advances in technology may soon force us to revisit our understanding of a natural person, says Manav Das at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • Lessons On Challenging Class Plaintiffs' Expert Testimony

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    In class actions seeking damages, plaintiffs are increasingly using expert opinions to establish predominance, but several recent rulings from California federal courts shed light on how defendants can respond, say Jennifer Romano and Raija Horstman at Crowell & Moring.

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