Intellectual Property

  • July 16, 2024

    Skechers Targets LL Bean's Slip-On Shoes In IP Suit

    Privately held Maine retailer and lifestyle brand L.L. Bean Inc. is facing a lawsuit that accuses it of selling slip-on shoes that infringe heel design patents owned by footwear multinational Skechers USA Inc.

  • July 16, 2024

    Tesla Says Chinese Co. Sells 'Dangerous' Charging Adapter

    Tesla said on Monday that a Chinese company sells a "dangerous" charging adapter that lets owners of non-Tesla electric vehicles charge at its network, saying in a suit filed in California federal court that the device could injure consumers and damage the power infrastructure.

  • July 16, 2024

    USPTO Provides Guidance On AI And Patent Eligibility

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Tuesday unveiled guidance for when inventions involving artificial intelligence are eligible for patents, saying the guidelines are aimed at "providing further clarity and consistency" on the issue.

  • July 16, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Rejects APA Challenge To PTAB Panel Makeups

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of Arbor Global Strategies' processor module patent claims, shooting down the company's position that the board violated the Administrative Procedure Act when making its decision.

  • July 16, 2024

    SiriusXM Must Face Suit Over $150M In Unpaid Royalties In NY

    A Virginia federal judge has agreed to let Sirius XM move nonprofit royalty collector SoundExchange's suit to New York federal court, but refused to let it entirely escape claims that it owes more than $150 million in unpaid royalties.

  • July 16, 2024

    Columbia U. Aims To Keep $600M Patent Win Over Norton

    Columbia University has urged the Federal Circuit to preserve its $600 million willful patent infringement judgment against NortonLifeLock Inc., telling the court that Norton's "kitchen-sink" appeal "raises a slew of issues, hoping something will stick" and challenging Quinn Emanuel's appeal of a civil contempt ruling as "baseless and, ultimately, academic."

  • July 16, 2024

    Cold Brew Co. Inks Deal To End IP Suit Against Mug Maker

    A Colorado federal judge has signed off on a cold brew equipment maker and insulated mug company's request to dismiss a trademark infringement suit after the companies agreed to end the fight and pay for their own costs.

  • July 16, 2024

    Judge Spikes Fee Bid Pending Edible Arrangements Appeal

    A Georgia federal judge is denying for now 1-800-Flowers.com's push to recover up to $4.3 million in attorney fees, as its rival Edible Arrangements LLC appeals a ruling that ended its trademark infringement suit against the company.

  • July 16, 2024

    The 2024 Diversity Snapshot: What You Need To Know

    Law firms' ongoing initiatives to address diversity challenges have driven another year of progress, with the representation of minority attorneys continuing to improve across the board, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. Here's our data dive into minority representation at law firms in 2023.

  • July 16, 2024

    Rising Star: Morrison Foerster's Allyson Bennett

    Allyson Bennett of Morrison Foerster LLP has been on the front lines of legal efforts to expand fair use laws in cases involving large tech companies, including shielding Instagram from copyright lawsuits and defending OpenAI, earning her a spot among the intellectual property practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 16, 2024

    These Firms Have The Most Diverse Equity Partnerships

    Law360’s law firm survey shows that firms' efforts to diversify their equity partner ranks are lagging. But some have embraced a broader talent pool at the equity partner level. Here are the ones that stood out.

  • July 16, 2024

    Tesla Loses Bid To Sue Over 5G License Rate In UK

    A London court ruled Monday that Tesla can't sue InterDigital for a worldwide license covering 5G technology, throwing a wrench in the automaker's plans to launch 5G-equipped vehicles in the U.K.

  • July 15, 2024

    Acuitas Seeks Credit For IP Tied To COVID Vax

    Acuitas Therapeutics wants to set the record straight about its involvement in a handful of patents that Alnylam Pharmaceuticals asserts were swiped to create the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer, BioNTech and Acuitas, saying in a lawsuit in Delaware federal court Monday that Acuitas scientists should be listed as co-inventors.

  • July 15, 2024

    EDTX Judge OKs $445M Chip Verdict Against Micron

    U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap has said there is no reason for the Texas court to wait for the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to rule on the validity of a patent tied to part of a $445 million jury verdict against Micron Technology that came down in May.

  • July 15, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Filmmaker's Son Took Too Long To Probe Fraud

    The Ninth Circuit has affirmed a lower court order confirming an $8.7 million arbitral award in a long-running family dispute over a prominent Mexican film producer's film collection, saying the producer's son waited years too long to probe whether his siblings fraudulently tainted the award.

  • July 15, 2024

    Google Wants Antitrust Suit Over AI Features Tossed

    Google has urged a D.C. federal court to toss a suit from newspaper owners accusing the tech giant of violating antitrust law through its roll-out of generative artificial intelligence features, among other practices, saying the news outlets haven't alleged the existence of an online news market.

  • July 15, 2024

    Netgear Defends RICO, Antitrust Case Against Huawei

    Router maker Netgear is coming out in defense of its suit accusing the Chinese government-affiliated Huawei of racketeering and antitrust violations, saying that the tech company has attacked its claims by "overstating the pleading requirements and ignoring the law."

  • July 15, 2024

    GM Eyes Deal In Design Patent Fight At PTAB

    LKQ Corp. and General Motors Co. are looking to come to a deal to settle a legal dispute over GM's design patent covering fenders at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • July 15, 2024

    9th Circ. Centers On Atty's Duties In Winery TM Feud

    Ninth Circuit judges appeared skeptical Monday that a Houston lawyer could represent a prominent Napa Valley vintner while also claiming partial ownership rights to the name of its popular cabernet sauvignon, with one judge saying that conflict of interest rules for attorneys operating in California are "very strict."

  • July 15, 2024

    PTAB Will Review Money Clip IP Tied To Looming Import Ban

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has agreed to review if a Ridge Wallet LLC money clip patent should be invalidated, giving hope to a challenger facing an import ban for infringement of the same patent.

  • July 15, 2024

    Record Labels Sue Verizon Over Internet Users' File Sharing

    A group of the biggest music labels in the world is suing Verizon for allegedly profiting from what they call "pervasive" and "staggering" copyright infringement of the labels' music, saying in a complaint that the internet service provider "deliberately turned a blind eye" to music pirating on its network.

  • July 15, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Upholds Some HVAC Patent Claims In Google Fight

    The Federal Circuit has affirmed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that handed a partial win to EcoFactor Inc. in a patent challenge brought by Google LLC.

  • July 15, 2024

    Nike Suit Seeks More Than $60M From Counterfeit 'Empire'

    Nike filed a federal lawsuit on Monday for more than $60 million against a popular Los Angeles company producing pricey customized sneakers that the sportswear giant claims unlawfully uses Nike's designs and intellectual property, saying the company and its founder are even offering "Nike Counterfeiting 101" classes.

  • July 15, 2024

    Judge Keeps Most Of TM Suit Against Musk's X Corp. Intact

    Elon Musk's Twitter rebrand X Corp. suffered a setback Monday when a Florida federal judge kept intact most of a trademark infringement complaint by X Social Media LLC, an advertising agency for attorneys, with only one claim dismissed from the suit.

  • July 15, 2024

    Crocs Dodges Clog Competitor's Counterclaims In IP Battle

    A Colorado federal judge has tossed a pair of counterclaims alleging anticompetitive conduct by Crocs in the shoe company's intellectual property lawsuit against a smaller rival, with the judge concluding that the rival never claimed Crocs said anything untrue or in bad faith.

Expert Analysis

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

    Author Photo

    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

    Author Photo

    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Fed. Circ. Rulings Crystallize Polymorph Patent 'Obviousness'

    Author Photo

    A comparison of two recent Federal Circuit obviousness challenge decisions regarding polymorph patents provides helpful insight into the assessment of screening arguments, particularly the issue of reasonable expectation of success, say Michael Green and John Molenda at Steptoe.

  • 3 Infringement Defenses To Consider 10 Years Post-Nautilus

    Author Photo

    In the 10 years since the U.S. Supreme Court’s influential Nautilus ruling, the spirit of the “amenable to construction” test that the opinion rejected persists with many patent litigators and judges, so patent infringement defense counsel should always consider several key arguments, says John Vandenberg at Klarquist Sparkman.

  • Attys Beware 2 Commonly Overlooked NIL Contract Issues

    Author Photo

    As name, image and likeness deals dominate high school and collegiate sports, preserving a client's NCAA eligibility should be a top priority, so lawyers should understand the potentially damaging contract provisions they may encounter when reviewing an agreement, says Paula Nagarajan at Arnall Golden.

  • FTC Focus: Exploring The Meaning Of Orange Book Letters

    Author Photo

    The Federal Trade Commission recently announced an expansion of its campaign to promote competition by targeting pharmaceutical manufacturers' improper Orange Book patent listings, but there is a question of whether and how this helps generic entrants, say Colin Kass and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • Trending At The PTAB: Real Party In Interest And IPR

    Author Photo

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s recent Luminex v. Signify decision, finding a complaint seeking indemnification may be treated as a public demand sufficient to establish a real party-in-interest, shows that the board continues to apply a broad and expansive definition to that term, say Yicong (Eve) Du and Yieyie Yang at Finnegan.

  • Investors Can Aid In The Acceptance Of Psychedelic Medicine

    Author Photo

    Psychedelic medicine is ready to have its breakthrough moment, and although it still faces political, legal and communications challenges, private equity investors can play a significant role in changing the public perception on psychedelics from taboo to acceptance, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell, Charlie Panfil at the Daschle Group and Ethan Lutz at FTI Consulting.

  • 12 Keys To Successful Post-Trial Juror Interviews

    Author Photo

    Post-trial interviews offer attorneys an avenue to gain valuable insights into juror decision making and get feedback that can inform future litigation strategies, but certain best practices must be followed to get the most out of this research tool, say Alexa Hiley and Brianna Smith at IMS Legal.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

    Author Photo

    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • The Fed. Circ. In May: The Printed Matter Doctrine's Scope

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Ioengine v. Ingenico, which addressed the scope of the printed matter doctrine as applied to transmitted data or program code, restores the doctrine’s status as a relatively narrow part of patent law, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe Martens.

  • Fed. Circ. Scrapping Design Patent Tests Creates Uncertainty

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit last week discarded established tests for proving that design patents are invalid as obvious, leaving much unknown for design patent applicants, patentees and challengers, such as what constitutes analogous art and how secondary references will be considered and applied, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • Lessons In High-Profile Jury Selection Amid NY Trump Trial

    Author Photo

    Richard Gabriel and Michelle Rey LaRocca at Decision Analysis consider how media exposure can affect a prospective juror in a high-profile case, the misunderstood nature of bias, and recommendations for jury selection in these unique situations as the Trump hush money trial continues in New York.

  • How AI Cos. Can Cope With Shifting Copyright Landscape

    Author Photo

    In the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence, recent legal disputes have focused on the utilization of copyrighted material to train algorithms, meaning companies should be aware of fair use implications and possible licensing solutions for AI users, say Michael Hobbs and Justin Tilghman at Troutman Pepper.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Intellectual Property archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!