Intellectual Property

  • August 21, 2024

    Full 3rd Circ. Won't Hear Distillery Investor's RICO Case

    An investor in a Pennsylvania craft distillery who accused his former business partner and a bevy of associates of racketeering, fraud and trade secret violations has failed to persuade a Third Circuit panel or the full court to take another look at his arguments about reviving the dismissed case.

  • August 21, 2024

    11th Circ. Affirms Toss Of Banana Wall Art Copyright Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit affirmed an Italian artist's win over a pro-se copyright lawsuit from California-based artist Joe Morford concerning art pieces the two made that both incorporate duct-taped fruits, holding they were not "strikingly similar."

  • August 21, 2024

    Telecom Will Pay $1M For Carrying Biden Deepfake Robocalls

    Lingo Telecom will pay the FCC $1 million for not properly validating the caller ID information of a Democratic consultant who used a deepfake of President Joe Biden's voice to make robocalls urging voters not to participate in the New Hampshire primary, the commission announced Wednesday.

  • August 21, 2024

    AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile Accused Of Blocking Wi-Fi Calling

    A patent-holding company said Wednesday it has filed a lawsuit accusing AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom of blocking the emergence of a market for Wi-Fi calling by tying the service to voice and text offerings.

  • August 21, 2024

    USPTO Beats Atty's FOIA Suit Over Ethics Probe

    A California trademark lawyer who says he has been facing a disciplinary matter at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office over whether his associates let their assistants sign for them on trademark applications could not use a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit to get more information from the agency about the origins of that accusation.

  • August 21, 2024

    Photographer Sues Music Fest For Using Image Of Bull Riders

    A Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, country music festival and an advertising firm it hired used a photographer's photo of two women riding a mechanical bull to market the festival without permission, according to a new copyright infringement suit brought in North Carolina federal court on Wednesday.

  • August 21, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Says Apple Can't Ship Haptic Tech IP Case To Calif.

    Apple on Wednesday lost its appeal to move a lawsuit accusing it of infringing another company's haptic feedback device patents from the Western District of Texas to California, with the Federal Circuit holding that U.S. District Judge Alan Albright's denial of the transfer showed no clear abuse of discretion.

  • August 21, 2024

    Photographer, De La Hoya Co. End Lennox Lewis Pic Bout

    A photographer who sued a promotion business owned by boxer Oscar de la Hoya for using a picture of Lennox Lewis without his permission has reached a settlement, according to a letter sent to the New York federal judge overseeing the case.

  • August 21, 2024

    Shein Says Temu Engaged In Coordinated IP Theft

    Fashion firm Shein hit the companies behind e-commerce platform Temu with an intellectual property suit alleging Temu trains suppliers to specifically infringe Shein's copyrights and trademarks and misappropriate its trade secrets to help secure "an unearned and illicit foothold" in the U.S. market."

  • August 20, 2024

    Amazon Stuck With $525M IP Loss, Plus $148M In Interest

    An Illinois federal judge on Tuesday refused to disturb a jury's $525 million verdict in favor of software company Kove IO Inc. in a dispute with Amazon over cloud data storage patents, rejecting Amazon's argument that there wasn't enough evidence and holding that Kove is entitled to roughly $147.7 million in prejudgment interest.

  • August 20, 2024

    OnePlus Gets Do-Over For 'Excessive' $10M Pantech Verdict

    Chinese phone company OnePlus can have a new trial on damages after it was hit with a $10 million infringement verdict in Pantech Corp.'s patent dispute over technology used to comply with 5G wireless standards, a Texas federal judge ruled, saying, "There is no question this verdict is excessive."

  • August 20, 2024

    Vans, MSCHF Settle 'Wavy Baby' Sneaker TM Suit

    Vans told a New York federal judge Tuesday that it resolved its trademark suit lodged over artist collective MSCHF's Wavy Baby sneaker, urging the court to approve an agreed-upon permanent injunction barring the collective from using Vans' side stripe mark and other elements of its decades-old Old Skool shoes.

  • August 20, 2024

    PTAB Keeps Online Ad Display Patent Intact

    A panel of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Monday in a final written decision upheld a patent covering a purportedly novel way of loading advertisements on websites.

  • August 20, 2024

    Realtek Suit Is Just 'Litigation Over Litigation,' IP Biz Says

    Litigation business Future Link says the latest version of an antitrust lawsuit in California federal court from Taiwanese chipmaker Realtek over claims of a conspiracy with a different Taiwanese chipmaker to fund purported "patent troll" lawsuits is just more "litigation over litigation."

  • August 20, 2024

    Cox, Music Publishers Ask Justices To Review Copyright Row

    Cox Communications and music publishers led by Sony Music Entertainment have petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fourth Circuit ruling — with music companies asking for clarity on the scope of liability for internet service providers for online piracy and Cox asking whether it can be responsible for copyright infringement for merely providing an internet connection.

  • August 20, 2024

    Advanced Bionics Sues Med-El At ITC Over Implant Patents

    Switzerland's Advanced Bionics has brought claims against Austria's Med-El at the U.S. International Trade Commission, alleging the rival maker of cochlear implants is infringing two patents on hearing aid technology and seeking an exclusion order banning Med-El's products from being imported into the U.S.

  • August 20, 2024

    Trade Judge Says Ban On Chocolate Mix Was Flouted

    The U.S. International Trade Commission found that four grocers violated a ban on selling an imported chocolate malt drink mix that infringed a New Jersey supplier's Bournvita mark, according to an announcement from the agency.

  • August 20, 2024

    SharkNinja Urges Mass. Court To Reject Dyson Patent Claims

    SharkNinja is asking a federal judge in Massachusetts to deem it has not infringed five patents held by rival vacuum-maker Dyson, three months after Dyson brought a patent infringement claim against SharkNinja in Texas over the same patents.

  • August 20, 2024

    PleasrDAO Wants Shkreli To Hand Over Wu-Tang Clan Album

    The cryptocurrency project that now owns a one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album has urged a New York federal judge to order Martin Shkreli to hand over any copies he made of the album while he possessed it since the album's value "depends almost entirely on its uniqueness, and the secrecy that surrounds it."

  • August 20, 2024

    Anthropic Hit With Another Copyright Suit Over LLM Training

    Anthropic PBC was hit with a proposed class action Monday in California federal court from a group of journalists and authors alleging the artificial intelligence giant is exploiting their copyrighted materials to train its large language model, Claude, without permission or a license, and has become enormously successful at their expense.

  • August 20, 2024

    Walt Disney, Marvel Freed From Shirtmaker's IP Row In NC

    The Walt Disney Co., Marvel Entertainment and a Marvel affiliate have been freed, for now, from a shirtmaker's trademark infringement lawsuit after a North Carolina federal judge ruled that the entertainment giants don't have enough ties to the Tar Heel State.

  • August 20, 2024

    Albertsons Stole 'Schedule & Save' Tech, Seattle Co. Says

    A Seattle software company is claiming Albertsons breached a deal to develop an automated service for customers to replenish their go-to purchases, saying the grocery giant abandoned the contract amid its pending merger with Kroger and launched a "nearly identical" system in a trade secret ripoff.

  • August 20, 2024

    Albright Won't Let Meta Patent Row Move To California

    U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas says the presence of some Texas-based Meta employees involved in developing its Quest headsets outweighs the tech company's bid to eject out of his court a lawsuit over patents once issued to a failed mobile fitness brand.

  • August 20, 2024

    Vax Patent Battles Heat Up As Attention On Pandemic Wanes

    It's been over four years since clinical trials began for COVID-19 vaccines, and while the shots have helped the pandemic recede, the lucrative technology has spurred numerous patent suits, many of which are still in the early stages. Here's a look at some of the key cases in the U.S.

  • August 20, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Flips Samsung's Win In 'Slide To Unlock' Patent Suit

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday revived part of a small smartphone company's patent suit against Samsung over its "swipe to unlock" feature, saying that one of Neonode Smartphone's core patent claims was more definite in its scope than the lower court gave it credit for.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • 8th Circ. Insurance Ruling Spotlights Related-Claims Defenses

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    The Eighth Circuit’s recent Dexon v. Travelers ruling — that the insurer must provide a defense despite the policy’s related-acts provision — provides guidance for how policyholders can overcome related-acts defenses, say Geoffrey Fehling and Jae Lynn Huckaba at Hunton.

  • Counterfeits At The Olympics Pose IP Challenges

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    With the 2024 Olympic Games quickly approaching, the proliferation of counterfeit Olympic merchandise poses a difficult challenge to the protection of intellectual property rights and the preservation of the Olympic brand's integrity, says Kimiya Shams at Devialet.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.

  • Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In May

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    A look at recent cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court provide guidance on how to succeed on appeal by clarifying the obviousness analysis of design patents, the finality of a judgment, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

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