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Intellectual Property
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Featured
The Biggest Patent Rulings Of 2024: A Midyear Report
The Federal Circuit issued its first en banc patent decision since 2018, a circuit judge's suspension was solidified and courts shed further light on foreign damages and skinny labels. Here's a look back at these rulings and other top patent decisions from the first half of 2024.
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July 09, 2024
Chase Bank Reaches Deal In Data Security Patent Suit
JPMorgan Chase Bank NA indicated Tuesday that it has settled a lawsuit in Texas federal court over data security patents developed by a former Israeli air defense officer who worked on technological solutions for "survivability capabilities against systemic failures."
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July 09, 2024
HEC Can't Get Damages Over Injunction In Novartis Feud
A Delaware federal court on Tuesday shot down HEC Pharm Co.'s bid for damages stemming from a preliminary injunction against it over the launch of a generic version of Novartis Pharmaceuticals' blockbuster multiple sclerosis treatment Gilenya.
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July 09, 2024
Like Lions, Statue Co. Wants Out Of Barry Sanders Photo Row
The company responsible for sculpting a bronze statue of legendary Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders wants out of the lawsuit filed by a professional photographer who claims his copyrighted photo was the unauthorized inspiration for the structure.
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July 09, 2024
Steve Madden Blasts Skechers' TM Suit Over Shoes
The Steve Madden brand pushed back Tuesday against a lawsuit in California federal court from Skechers alleging that one of Steve Madden's companies, Dolce Vita Footwear, infringed its trademark and design patent rights, rejecting Skechers' contention that its "S" marks are famous.
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July 09, 2024
Fight Over Golf-Aid Sales Puts Amazon In RICO Hot Seat
A pair of golf marketing companies conspired with Amazon to cash in on the sale of popular equipment endorsed by top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler after tricking the manufacturer into selling it to them wholesale, the equipment-maker claimed in a fraud and RICO suit filed in California federal court on Tuesday.
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July 09, 2024
Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Patent Fights Against Dating Apps
The Federal Circuit on Tuesday quickly shot down appeals from a patent litigation outfit trying to breathe life back into its failed legal campaign against a handful of prominent dating apps.
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July 09, 2024
9th Circ. Lets Librarian's Suit Against Dun & Bradstreet Go On
The Ninth Circuit has backed a California federal court's decision not to throw out a suit claiming Dun & Bradstreet Holdings sold personal information of individuals without consent, saying the proposed class action can move forward.
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July 09, 2024
Newman Loses Suit Against Fed. Circ. Over Suspension
A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Tuesday dismissed the lawsuit Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman filed against her colleagues over her suspension for refusing to undergo medical tests, saying she failed to prove the judicial conduct law at issue is unconstitutional.
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July 08, 2024
5th Circ. Unstrings Gibson's Win In Guitar Design TM Fight
Gibson must retry its case alleging a rival guitar maker sold counterfeit instruments that infringed its trademark on the Flying V guitar and other iconic models, the Fifth Circuit ruled Monday, saying the district court improperly excluded evidence.
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July 08, 2024
NBC Settles IP Suit Over Documentary Of Landscaping Co.
NBC has reached a deal in a copyright infringement suit in New York federal court brought by the owners of a video showing Rudy Giuliani claiming voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, which was originally posted on YouTube before some of it appeared in a half-hour NBC documentary about how the press conference affected Four Seasons Total Landscaping.
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July 08, 2024
Biotech Slaps Intellia With IP Suit Over $100M Regeneron Deal
Biotechnology company BlueAllele Corp. sued Intellia Therapeutics Inc. in Delaware federal court Monday, claiming the rival has infringed on three of its patents related to gene editing and using its invented technology to reap over $100 million under a deal with another biotech, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.
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July 08, 2024
Smoke Shops Say Rivals Are Copying Name, Filching Goodwill
A Washington smoke chain has hit several rivals with trademark infringement lawsuits, accusing them of unauthorized use of its name, Smoke City, so they can lean on the goodwill it has developed with customers.
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July 08, 2024
Fed. Circ. Won't Let Charter Shake Off Texas Patent Suit
The Federal Circuit on Monday turned down an argument from Charter Communications to direct a lower court in Marshall, Texas, to toss a patent infringement suit it's facing — less than a year after the cable company lost a nearly identical argument in a different patent case before the appeals court.
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July 08, 2024
Ex-Worker Under Protective Order Stole Gym's Name, Suit Says
A former mixed martial arts gym employee with a protective order against him for threatening his boss and several other workplace misconduct violations stole the company's name to use in opening a competing gym and luring co-workers and clients away, according to a suit filed Friday in Colorado state court.
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July 08, 2024
Biotech Co. Alleges Arbitrator Conflict In Patent Award Fight
Pennsylvania-based biotechnology company Renmatix Inc. is urging the Delaware Court of Chancery to nix an arbitral award favoring Finnish company UPM-Kymmene Corp. in a long-running patent dispute, pointing to an allegedly undisclosed conflict of interest involving the Finnish company's counsel at DLA Piper.
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July 08, 2024
Patent Office Continues To Fight Smartflash's FOIA Suit
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has again said it shouldn't have to turn over documents an inventor is seeking about Patent Trial and Appeal Board reviews of his patents, saying that doing so would harm its ability to respond to public information requests.
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July 08, 2024
Netherlands-Based NXP Cos. Want Out Of Texas IP Suit
Semiconductor company NXP Semiconductors NV and NXP BV, which are both based in the Netherlands, have said a Texas federal judge should throw out a lawsuit claiming they infringed more than half a dozen patents owned by Redwood Technologies LLC, saying the court doesn't have authority over the foreign companies.
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July 08, 2024
'Amazon Of Hemp' Wants Early Exit From NC Pot Farm Fight
An online hemp retailer is looking to ditch claims that it's passing off a North Carolina farm's hemp products as its own and has otherwise doctored THC test reports, calling the suit "fatally defective" and saying that other parts of the complaint contradict those claims.
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July 08, 2024
ITC Hands Innoscience Partial Loss In Semiconductor IP Row
A judge at the U.S. International Trade Commission has found that Innoscience flouted federal law by importing semiconductor technology that infringes an Efficient Power Conversion patent.
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July 08, 2024
DraftKings Hiding Ball On Noncompete Law, 1st Circ. Told
A former DraftKings executive fighting a noncompete so he can work for rival sports-betting upstart Fanatics has told the First Circuit his ex-employer is overlooking the importance of a California law that could unwind the restrictive covenant.
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July 08, 2024
Patent Holder Drops VoIP Suits Against Capital One, Fidelity
A small company that owns a voice recognition technology patent has agreed to drop its lawsuits in Texas federal court against Capital One and Fidelity.
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July 08, 2024
Puma Aims To Unveil Redacted Docs In Shoe IP Battle
Puma has pushed a rival sports gear company to turn over previously withheld and unredacted versions of documents in a trademark fight over shoes, telling a Washington federal judge that Brooks Sports Inc. already sent the materials to a third party.
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July 08, 2024
Calif. Realtor Sued Over Use Of Kanye West's Ranch Photos
A real estate photographer has accused a property listings site in California federal court of stealing his photos of a Hidden Hills, California, ranch home that used to be owned by controversial rap artist Kanye West.
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July 08, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Prince's heirs were left standing alone in a cold world last week after Delaware's Court of Chancery found their attempts to gain control of the late musician's estate too demanding. Delaware's court of equity also waved a wand for Walt Disney and slashed nearly $10 million from a damages award for Sears stockholders. In case you missed anything, here's a recap of all the latest news from Delaware's Chancery Court.
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July 05, 2024
GitHub, OpenAI Get Developers' Copyright Claim Tossed
A California federal judge has trimmed software developers' suit claiming OpenAI and Microsoft's GitHub ripped off their source code to build artificial intelligence tools, axing their claim under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, according to an order unsealed Friday.
Editor's Picks
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Fed. Circ.'s Fight With Newman: A Year In Review
One year has passed since it came to light that the Federal Circuit's judges were investigating whether their colleague, U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, was mentally competent to remain on the court. In that time, Judge Newman has garnered support from many in the patent community, but has faced a series of setbacks in her legal challenges.
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Why IP Attys Are Watching This $2B Trade Secrets Battle
A case of alleged corporate espionage involving two software companies that resulted in a $2 billion verdict has all the hallmarks of a legal thriller, and attorneys are watching the appeal closely to see how it could impact trade secrets litigation.
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Trials After PTAB Invalidity Rulings Present Tricky Issues
A recent case illustrates that Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions finding patents invalid do not necessarily preclude a district court from holding an infringement trial on the same patents, though attorneys say such a scenario could raise some challenging issues.
Expert Analysis
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Opinion
'Trump Too Small' Ruling Overlooks TM Registration Issues
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Vidal v. Elster, which concluded that “Trump Too Small” cannot be a registered trademark as it violates a federal prohibition, fails to consider modern-day, real-world implications for trademark owners who are denied access to federal registration, say Tiffany Gehrke and Alexa Spitz at Marshall Gerstein.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State
On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.
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Series
After Chevron: Expect Limited Changes In USPTO Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning Chevron deference will have limited consequences for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office given the USPTO's unique statutory features, but it is still an important decision for matters of statutory interpretation, especially those involving provisions of the America Invents Act, say Andrei Iancu and Cooper Godfrey at Sullivan & Cromwell.
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Fed. Circ. Skinny Label Ruling Guides On Infringement Claims
The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Amarin v. Hikma shows generic drug manufacturers must pay close attention to the statements in their abbreviated new drug application labels to put themselves in the best position in defending against an induced infringement claim, say Luke Shannon and Roshan Shrestha at Taft Stettinius.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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USPTO Disclaimer Rule Would Complicate Patent Prosecution
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's proposed changes to terminal disclaimer practice could lead to a patent owner being unable to enforce a valid patent simply because it is indirectly tied to a patent in which a single claim is found anticipated or obvious in view of the prior art, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.
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Series
Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.
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Opinion
Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.
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When Patents As Loan Collateral Can Cost You Standing
The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Intellectual Tech v. Zebra Technologies shines a light on loan default provisions' implications for patent infringement litigation, as a default may inadvertently strip a patent owner of constitutional standing to sue over a patent pledged as collateral, say Joseph Marinelli and Suet L. Lee at Irwin IP.
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3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron
The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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How Life Science Companies Are Approaching UPC Opt-Outs
A look at recent data shows that one year after its launch, the European Union's Unified Patent Court is still seeing a high rate of opt-outs, including from large U.S.-based life science companies wary of this unpredictable court — and there are reasons this strategy should largely remain the same, say Sanjay Murthy and Christopher Tuinenga at McAndrews Held.
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Series
After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking
The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.
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6 PTAB Events To Know From The Last 6 Months
The first half of 2024 brought a flurry of Patent Trial and Appeal Board developments that should be considered in post-grant strategies, including proposed rules on discretionary denial and director review, and the first decisions of the Delegated Rehearing Panel, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.
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Opinion
Atty Well-Being Efforts Ignore Root Causes Of The Problem
The legal industry is engaged in a critical conversation about lawyers' mental health, but current attorney well-being programs primarily focus on helping lawyers cope with the stress of excessive workloads, instead of examining whether this work culture is even fundamentally compatible with lawyer well-being, says Jonathan Baum at Avenir Guild.