Intellectual Property

  • August 01, 2024

    NC Musician Ends Unpaid Sample Suit With French Montana

    A North Carolina songwriter has dropped her lawsuit accusing rapper French Montana of failing to fork over cash for using her music as promised, according to a court filing.

  • August 01, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Denies PTAB Overreach In Voice Tech IP Invalidation

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board properly invalidated a Voice Tech Corp. patent directed to the use of voice commands and did not make up a new theory in favor of challenger Unified Patents LLC, the Federal Circuit said Thursday.

  • August 01, 2024

    Airbnb's $1.3B Bill From IRS Overvalues IP, Tax Court Told

    Airbnb is challenging a $1.3 billion tax bill tied to income the IRS allocated from overseas, telling the U.S. Tax Court the agency overvalued intellectual property the home-rental giant licensed to its Irish affiliate before going public.

  • August 01, 2024

    Turf Co.'s Injunction Bid Is Too Vague, Ga. Judge Rules

    A Georgia federal judge rejected a major artificial turf manufacturer's attempt to stop a rival turf company from using files allegedly stolen by one of its former executives before he jumped ship, saying the requested injunction was too vague and only sought to force the company to follow existing law.

  • August 01, 2024

    MoFo Adds 3-Atty IP Litigation Team In NY From Desmarais

    A trio of life sciences intellectual property litigation attorneys from Desmarais LLP have joined Morrison Foerster LLP in New York.

  • August 01, 2024

    Judge Kills Trade Secrets, Contract Suit Against Ex-Director

    A federal judge agreed on Wednesday to toss legal industry staffing company HIRECounsel D.C. LLC's breach of contract and trade secrets lawsuits against a former managing director of client relations, saying the company had not managed to prove actual or liquidated damages.

  • August 01, 2024

    Bipartisan Senator Team Reintroduces Anti-Deepfake Bill

    Four senators introduced an updated version of the Nurture Originals, Foster Art, and Keep Entertainment Safe Act of 2024, or the NO FAKES Act, to combat the creation and distribution of fake replicas of people without their consent, drawing major industry support and some backlash.

  • July 31, 2024

    Lewis Brisbois TM Foe Can't Ax Injunction, 5th Circ. Says

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday upheld an injunction against three Texans accused of ripping off the Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP name, saying it's clear the only reason the defendants created the infringing entity "was to ride on the back" of the BigLaw firm's reputation.

  • July 31, 2024

    Fla. Jury Awards $8.3M In Spat Over Sale Of Pro Player Brand

    A Florida jury has awarded Perry Ellis $8.3 million after finding that United Legwear Co. purposely depressed the value of Perry Ellis' Pro Player brand under a licensing agreement to avoid paying fair market value when it purchased the brand later.

  • July 31, 2024

    AI Prior Art Is Either Nothing New Or A Red Flag, USPTO Told

    Technology companies, drugmakers and various industry organizations have represented to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that they're torn on how artificial intelligence should be used when determining whether something is patentable over prior art.

  • July 31, 2024

    Del. Judge Clears Lupin's Generic Kidney Disease Drug

    A ruling out of a Delaware federal court on Wednesday prevented a major Japanese pharmaceutical company from using patent law to block an Indian rival's efforts to market a generic version of a blockbuster kidney disease treatment.

  • July 31, 2024

    Novartis Says FDA Wrongly OK'd Generic Heart Drug

    Pharmaceutical company Novartis alleges the U.S. Food and Drug Administration unlawfully approved a generic version of the drugmaker's heart failure medication Entresto in a new lawsuit in D.C. federal court.

  • July 31, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Sees No Disclosure In Private Sale Of Laptop Ports

    A "private" sale of some 15,000 laptop ports doesn't count as "a public disclosure," as far as patent law is concerned, the Federal Circuit ruled Wednesday, affirming a patent board panel's earlier ruling.

  • July 31, 2024

    Apple, Google Dropped From IP Suit Over PUBG Knockoffs

    A California federal judge has agreed to dismiss video game publisher Krafton's copyright suit accusing Google and Apple of distributing infringing versions of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds on their respective platforms, while Krafton and YouTube said they're close to resolving claims over an infringing film containing game footage.

  • July 31, 2024

    Trade Secrets Cases To Watch In 2024: A Midyear Report

    A Virginia appellate court reversed a historic $2 billion trade secrets verdict in a closely watched case, and the Seventh Circuit emphasized that the federal trade secrets law applies to conduct abroad, expanding the damages landscape. Here are some of the most notable trade secrets cases to watch for the rest of 2024.

  • July 31, 2024

    Senators Aim To Increase Injunctions In Patent Battles

    A new bipartisan bill in Congress would make it easier for federal courts to issue injunctions in patent cases, but critics say this would primarily help companies "that do not make any products or provide any services."

  • July 31, 2024

    Judge Rips 'Stinky' Business In Skiplagged Ticketing Suit

    A Texas federal judge gave early wins Wednesday to American Airlines Inc. and Skiplagged Inc. in the airline's suit alleging the booking site used a "loophole" in booking connecting flights to sell unauthorized tickets, but he made sure to note his issues with the ticketing firm's business practices.

  • July 31, 2024

    Authors' Suit Against OpenAI Trimmed To Copyright Act Claim

    A California federal judge on Wednesday cut an unfair competition claim from a proposed class action filed by a group of notable authors alleging that ChatGPT creator OpenAI Inc. is wrongly copying their protected works, a decision that leaves only the lawsuit's claim for direct copyright infringement.

  • July 31, 2024

    Inhaler Patents 'Must Be' In Orange Book, Teva Tells Fed. Circ.

    Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. urged the Federal Circuit to upend a lower court decision ejecting inhaler device patents from an important government database, arguing that the delisting, won by Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. in an infringement lawsuit, ignores broad protection envisioned under intellectual property law.

  • July 31, 2024

    Jury Instruction Error Kills $21M Verdict Over Noncompete

    Three former employees of a consulting group who jumped to a competitor in 2016 were let off the hook for a $21 million jury verdict Wednesday by an intermediate Massachusetts appellate court over a prejudicial error in jury instructions.

  • July 31, 2024

    Copyright Office Warns Of 'Urgent Need' For Deepfakes Law

    The U.S. Copyright Office said Wednesday that "there is an urgent need" for new federal legislation to tackle the proliferation of deepfakes created through artificial intelligence, saying in a long-awaited report with recommendations to Congress that "an era of sophisticated digital replicas has arrived."

  • July 31, 2024

    Experienced IP Atty Joins Lewis Brisbois From Fowler White

    Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP has announced the hire of a former Fowler White Burnett PA intellectual property attorney with over 20 years of experience as a partner in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

  • July 31, 2024

    1st Circ. Mostly Backs $5M Award In Biotech Recruiting Spat

    The First Circuit left intact the vast majority of a $5 million post-trial award against a life sciences recruiting firm found to have misappropriated trade secrets from a rival involving placements at Takeda and Vedanta Biosciences.

  • July 31, 2024

    5 Trials To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2024

    Upcoming high-profile trials over star lawyer Tom Girardi's alleged fraud, Hunter Biden's taxes and Washington state's "patent troll" law are among the cases to watch in the latter half of the year.

  • July 31, 2024

    Agribusiness Co. Says Ex-Employee Blatantly Stole Clients

    An agricultural firm has taken one of its former workers to Ohio federal court for allegedly telling over a dozen clients that he was "putting off" selling products and services to them while he awaited his move to the company's direct competitor, then urging those clients to leave with him.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Glassblowing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    I never expected that glassblowing would strongly influence my work as an attorney, but it has taught me the importance of building a solid foundation for your work, learning from others and committing to a lifetime of practice, says Margaret House at Kalijarvi Chuzi.

  • 3 Surprising Deposition Dangers Attorneys Must Heed

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    Attorneys often do not think of discovery as a particularly risky phase of litigation, but counsel must closely heed some surprisingly strict and frequently overlooked requirements before, during and after depositions that can lead to draconian consequences, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.

  • Careful Data Governance Is A Must Amid Enforcement Focus

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    Federal and state regulators' heightened focus on privacy enforcement, including the Federal Trade Commission's recent guidance on consumer protection in the car industry, highlight the importance of proactive risk management, compliance and data governance, say Jason Priebe and Danny Riley at Seyfarth.

  • The Unified Patent Court: What We Learned In Year 1

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    ​​​​​​​The Unified Patent Court celebrated its first anniversary this month, and while questions remain as we wait for the first decisions on the merits, a multitude of decisions and orders regarding provisional measures and procedural aspects have provided valuable insights already, says Antje Brambrink at Finnegan.

  • Opinion

    Paid Noncompetes Offer A Better Solution Than FTC's Ban

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    A better alternative to the Federal Trade Commission's recent and widely contested noncompete ban would be a nationwide bright-line rule requiring employers to pay employees during the noncompete period, says Steven Kayman at Rottenberg Lipman.

  • Opinion

    Flawed Fintiv Rule Should Be Deemed Overreach In Tech Suit

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    A pending federal lawsuit over the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's unilateral changes to key elements of the America Invents Act, Apple v. Vidal, could shift the balance of power between Congress and federal agencies, as it could justify future instances of unelected officials unilaterally changing laws, say Patrick Leahy and Bob Goodlatte.

  • How Associates Can Build A Professional Image

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    As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.

  • Determining Who Owns Content Created By Generative AI

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    Adobe's recent terms-of-service update and ensuing clarification regarding its AI-training practices highlights the unanswered legal questions regarding ownership of content created using artificial intelligence, says John Poulos at Norton Rose.

  • Skip Versus File: The Patent Dilemma That Costs Millions

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    In the nearly 30 years since the inception of the provisional application, many have weighed the question of whether or not to file the provisional, and data shows that doing so may allow inventors more time to refine their ideas and potentially gain an extra year of protection, says Stanko Vuleta at Highlands Advisory.

  • Orange Book Warnings Highlight FTC's Drug Price Focus

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    In light of heightened regulatory scrutiny surrounding drug pricing and the Federal Trade Commission's activity in the recent Teva v. Amneal case, branded drug manufacturers should expect the FTC's campaign against allegedly improper Orange Book listings to continue, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age

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    As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Tracking China's Push To Invalidate Foreign Patents

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    China’s increasing use of courts and administrative panels to nullify patents in strategically important industries, such as technology, pharmaceuticals and rare-earth minerals, raises serious concerns about the intellectual property rights of foreign businesses operating there, say Rajat Rana and Manuel Valderrama at Selendy Gay.

  • 3 Ways To Fight Alice Rejections Of Blockchain Patents

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    With blockchain-related patent application filings on the rise, Thomas Isaacson at Polsinelli offers strategies for responding to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office determinations that the blockchain network is just a generic computer and patent-ineligible under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 Alice v. CLS Bank decision.

  • F1 Driver AI Case Sheds Light On Winning Tactics In IP Suits

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    A German court recently awarded damages to former F1 driver Michael Schumacher's family in an artificial intelligence dispute over the unlicensed use of his image, illustrating how athletes are using the law to protect their brands, and setting a precedent in other AI-generated image rights cases, William Bowyer at Lawrence Stephens.

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