Intellectual Property

  • June 08, 2026

    Archer Can't Ditch Trimmed Joby Air Taxi Trade Secrets Suit

    A California federal judge has said Joby Aviation can forge ahead with a pared-down lawsuit alleging rival electric air taxi developer Archer Aviation misappropriated its trade secrets, but has tossed Archer's "shotgun pleadings" counterclaims alleging Joby misclassified imports to evade tariffs and concealed its China ties.

  • June 08, 2026

    Warranty Seller Wins Injunction For Rival's Deceptive Calls

    An Illinois federal judge has enjoined a Chicago-area extended auto warranty service's rival from violating trademark and competition laws in a dispute over its allegedly deceptive customer calls and web impersonation, saying the company is likely to prove the conduct was illegal.

  • June 08, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Apple PTAB Win In Voice Recognition Case

    The Federal Circuit on Monday refused to revive claims in a Zentian Ltd. patent related to voice recognition technology, backing a split Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision in favor of Apple.

  • June 08, 2026

    Shoals Solar Patent Dispute Kept Alive By NC Court

    A North Carolina federal court has refused to find that three Shoals Technologies Group solar energy patents were unenforceable in the company's infringement suit but said the court would keep certain issues in mind should the case result in a damages verdict.

  • June 08, 2026

    Epic Games Skirts TM Suit Over Fortnite Messaging Tech

    A North Carolina federal judge ended a patent dispute between a California technology company and Fortnite-maker Epic Games Inc., finding that patent claims related to the game's player-to-player messaging options were directed to an "abstract idea" under U.S. Supreme Court precedent.

  • June 08, 2026

    High Court Ruling Won't Back Winery TM Win, 2nd Circ. Says

    The Second Circuit Monday vacated a $1.3 million judgment against a California winery in a trademark dispute brought by an Italian winemaker, rejecting a district judge's order holding that the U.S. Supreme Court's B&B Hardware decision blocked relitigation of a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruling.

  • June 08, 2026

    Womble Bond Adds Alston & Bird Patent Atty To IP Team

    Womble Bond Dickinson has brought on an Alston & Bird LLP partner to its Atlanta office, strengthening its patent prosecution and litigation practice.

  • June 08, 2026

    ITC Probing Amazon Smart Devices For AI Patent Infringement

    The U.S. International Trade Commission will investigate claims by artificial intelligence company Cerence AI that Amazon's smart devices infringe a collection of patents and thus should be subject to a limited exclusion order.

  • June 08, 2026

    Roche To Pay Nurix Up To $2.3B In Cancer Drug Deal

    Swiss healthcare giant Roche said Monday that it will pay U.S. biopharmaceutical company Nurix up to $2.3 billion to codevelop and sell a therapy being developed to treat certain cancers and autoimmune diseases through targeted protein degradation.

  • June 05, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Asks If Co. Argued Capability Equals Infringement

    The Federal Circuit appeared to have doubts Friday morning about patent-licensing outfit PACT XPP Schweiz's position it had argued below that an Intel product could violate its patent even if it never performed an infringing action but was capable of doing so.

  • June 05, 2026

    Streamer's 'Lazy Reaction' Video May Be Fair Use, Judge Says

    A California federal judge said Friday he is inclined to toss a YouTube creator's copyright suit over a Twitch user's livestreamed response to a documentary, finding that what the plaintiff characterized as "lazy reaction" content that siphoned views from the original work is covered by fair use because of the defendant's real-time criticism, commentary and mockery.

  • June 05, 2026

    Chinese Co. Barred From Claiming Connection To Olympics

    A Chinese company and affiliates were blocked by a California federal court judge from using trademarks associated with the Olympics or claiming to have any affiliation with the games, after the International Olympic Committee claimed they were falsely using marks to sell products with purported health benefits.

  • June 05, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Unsure Where State 'Bad Faith' Patent Cases Belong

    At arguments Friday in a dispute between Micron Technology Inc. and Netlist Inc., a Federal Circuit panel appeared uncertain whether suits under state laws against "bad faith" patent infringement claims belong in state or federal courts, analyzing the impact on patent law of each approach.

  • June 05, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Thinking About EcoFactor In TP-Link's $38M Appeal

    A Federal Circuit panel on Friday seemed skeptical of a challenge by a pair of wireless networking device companies to the damages calculation supporting a $37.5 million patent infringement verdict against them, with one judge wondering if the court's EcoFactor decision did not "clean up" the issue of damages experts.

  • June 05, 2026

    Musicians Say UMG, Warner Stiffed Them On AI Licensing

    The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada claims Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group violated its members' collective bargaining agreement by licensing sound recordings to two artificial intelligence companies without compensating the musicians involved, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in New York federal court.

  • June 05, 2026

    GOP Lawmakers Target China With 2 Patent Bills

    Republican lawmakers are floating a pair of bills that would block anyone who is considered a national security threat from gaining a U.S. patent and require anyone with connections to "foreign adversaries" to list the association on an application.

  • June 05, 2026

    Judge Rejects Objectors' Bid For More Equity In NIL Proposal

    A California federal magistrate judge has turned down a group of athletes' objection to a proposed addition to the $2.78 billion settlement with the NCAA that the group said would disproportionately benefit men in major revenue college sports.

  • June 05, 2026

    TelevisaUnivision Sues To Stop Pirated World Cup Streams

    TelevisaUnivision sued several online streaming services Thursday, asking a Florida federal court to shut down plans to pirate the Spanish-language media company's exclusive broadcasts of the upcoming FIFA World Cup.

  • June 05, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs Melinta Patent Win In Injections Case

    Nexus Pharmaceuticals lost its appeal of an Illinois federal judge's finding that it infringed a pair of patents relating to a line of injections that treat infections, after the Federal Circuit on Friday shot down the drugmaker's challenge to the lower court's interpretation of key patent terms.

  • June 05, 2026

    4th Circ. Upholds Sanctions For Late Copyright Damages Info

    The Fourth Circuit affirmed a ruling that excluded a software company's damages evidence and granted summary judgment to its competitor, saying in a published opinion Friday that the plaintiff's repeated failure to disclose its damages calculation justified sanctions that effectively doomed its copyright, false advertising and contract claims.

  • June 05, 2026

    Fed. Circ. OKs Google, Microsoft Win Over Device Locator IP

    The Federal Circuit on Friday rejected an inventor's attempt to revive claims in her computer-locating patents challenged by Google and Microsoft, backing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's decisions that they were invalid.

  • June 05, 2026

    Judge Wants A Look At OnePlus-Pantech Deal In 5G SEP Suit

    A Texas federal judge told Chinese phone company OnePlus and its South Korean competitor Pantech Corp. to provide the court with the settlement agreement under which they want a case between them dismissed, after a jury awarded Pantech $1 million for patent infringement.

  • June 05, 2026

    Nortek Accuses Rival Of Stealing Data Center Cooling Secrets

    Ventilation company Nortek has hit a rival with allegations that, in response to the rising demand for cooling technology in data centers as a result of the artificial intelligence boom, it "raided" Nortek's employees and misappropriated trade secrets related to such technology.

  • June 05, 2026

    Will WDTX Remain A Patent Fixture Without Albright?

    Whether the Western District of Texas will continue drawing in hordes of patent cases after U.S. District Judge Alan Albright leaves this summer has attorneys torn, given that he's no longer the top patent judge in his district, let alone the country.

  • June 05, 2026

    ITC Opens Patent Probe Of Imported Pickleball Paddles

    The U.S. International Trade Commission announced it is opening an investigation into pickleball paddles made by Franklin Sports and 19 other companies that a Maryland manufacturer alleges violate two of its patents.

Expert Analysis

  • Your Next Litigation Hold Should Cover AI Chat Logs

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    The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision in Fortis Advisors v. Krafton to treat a CEO’s artificial intelligence chats as substantive evidence is being read as a discovery warning to litigators, but there is a second duty-to-preserve lesson that is especially pertinent to in-house counsel, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Opinion

    International Patent Licensing System Must Be Maintained

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    As foreign approaches to patent enforcement threaten to distort the licensing markets that underpin modern technology, courts and policymakers must take action to ensure that the standard essential patent framework is preserved, says Brian O'Shaughnessy at Dinsmore.

  • Series

    Studying Foreign Languages Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Studying Italian and Japanese has shown me that learning a new language can benefit a legal career in several ways, including by demonstrating the importance of approaching problems from a fresh perspective and the value of practicing patience with colleagues and clients, says Anna King at Genworth Financial.

  • 10 US Patent Pressure Points For EU Life Sciences Cos.

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    U.S.-specific patent issues can be challenging for European life sciences companies because they require decisions at the intersection of legal, scientific, regulatory and commercial functions, necessitating proactive, cross-functional steps from EU patent counsel, says Paul Calvo at Sterne Kessler.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: An MDL Realignment

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    With seven multidistrict litigation proceedings initiated so far this year, a review of venue locations suggests a shift away from the East Coast, a seeming reversal of last year's swing in that direction, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

  • NIL Contracts Test Limits On College Football Transfers

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    College football's new legal era of direct payments to players and fewer transfer restrictions has put contractual provisions in play, and stipulations such as termination clauses and repayment obligations require added scrutiny as the name, image and likeness system evolves, says Kevin Paule at Hill Ward Henderson.

  • Data Center Boom Brings New Patent Risk For Owners

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    As U.S. data center investment surges, owners and operators face rising patent infringement suits targeting entire facility designs rather than individual products — risks that standard vendor indemnities often fail to cover, say attorneys at V&E.

  • 'Anderson Method' Ruling Shows Copyright Limits In Fitness

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    The Ninth Circuit's ruling in Tracy Anderson Mind and Body v. Megan Roup, finding that sequences of exercises developed and recorded by Tracy Anderson were not copyrightable choreographic works, is a reminder that even highly creative fitness programming can fall outside the scope of copyright protection, says Meredith Bobber Strauss at Michelman & Robinson.

  • New USPTO Procedure May Be A Boon For Patent Owners

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's new ex parte reexamination procedure, allowing patent owners to file preorder papers to inform the EPR decision process, marks the first meaningful opportunity for owners to prevent EPR, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • What Fed. Circ.'s Poultry Patent Ruling Says About 'About'

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Enviro Tech v. Safe Foods highlights how approximation language in patent claims affects not only litigation outcomes, but also portfolio value, competitive positioning and prosecution strategy, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

  • Series

    NY Times Word Puzzles Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Every morning I let The New York Times humble me with word games, which offer a chance to recalibrate my brain before the day's chaos arrives and remind me that a solution — whether to a puzzle or employment law issue — almost always exists once I find the right angle, says Amy Epstein Gluck at Pierson Ferdinand.

  • Submitting Ideas To AI Platforms May Affect Patent Rights

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    Recent judicial developments suggest that disclosing an invention to a consumer artificial intelligence platform constitutes public disclosure, making disciplined use of such tools and early filing strategies essential to preserving patent rights, say attorneys at Day Pitney.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lesson: Diagnose Before Arguing

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    Law school often skips over explicitly teaching students how to determine what kind of problem a case presents before they commit to a particular doctrinal path, which risks building arguments that are internally coherent but externally misaligned, says Melanie Oxhorn at Kobre & Kim.

  • A Fed. Circ. Blueprint For Drafting Medical Device Patents

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    The Federal Circuit's decision in Constellation Designs v. LG last month, among other recent rulings, underscores the importance of emphasizing engineering, rather than clinical goals, when drafting patent claims for medical devices and software as a medical device, says Brandon Theiss at Volpe Koenig.

  • DTSA Data Shows Hidden Value Of Ex Parte Seizure Filings

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    Ten years of Defend Trade Secrets Act data indicate that although there is a low success rate for civil seizure applications, intellectual property litigators should continue filing them anyway in order to better their odds of obtaining other provisional relief, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

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