Intellectual Property

  • December 02, 2024

    Miss America CEO Files $500M Suit Alleging Bankruptcy Fraud

    The producer of the Miss America pageant and its related entities have filed a $500 million racketeering suit in Florida accusing developer Glenn Straub of fraudulently pushing the organization into bankruptcy in an effort to take over its assets.

  • December 02, 2024

    Pool Co. Says Rival CEO Fled To China To Duck Paying $16M

    A bankrupt Chinese pool parts supplier has been accused by an American competitor of going to great lengths to skirt a $16 million false advertising and unfair business practices judgment in continued violation of court orders, including allegedly funneling assets and allowing its owner to flee to China.

  • November 27, 2024

    Starbucks, Baker Botts Partner Accused Of Defaming Inventor

    An executive for a patent-licensing company that's pursuing infringement litigation against numerous restaurants over a patent that lets customers place mobile orders using a real-time menu that can make personalized suggestions accused Starbucks and its Baker Botts LLP attorney in a lawsuit Wednesday of making defamatory statements about him.

  • November 27, 2024

    PTAB Finds Hormone Treatment Patent Claims Invalid

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. was able to show that all the claims in a patent owned by biotechnology company Spruce Biosciences Inc. relating to the treatment of a hormonal disorder were invalid.

  • November 27, 2024

    'Vanderpump Rules' Star Neglecting Her TM Case, Judge Says

    A California federal judge says Bravo TV star Lala Kent missed a deadline for moving forward with a trademark case against a cosmetics consultant accused of running the "Give Them Lala" brand without her permission.

  • November 27, 2024

    Full Fed. Circ. Urged To Set Tighter Rules On Patent Damages

    Numerous major companies and industry groups have asked the full Federal Circuit to rule that district judges must carefully scrutinize expert testimony seeking large damages in patent cases and exclude unreliable opinions, rather than allowing juries to decide how much weight to give them.

  • November 27, 2024

    Comcast Foe Warns Fed. Circ. About Patent Testimony Ruling

    A small California tech company is arguing that a Federal Circuit panel created a "rigid new rule" when a panel majority upheld a decision rejecting so-called "because I said so" trial testimony from the company's expert in patent infringement litigation against Comcast's Xfinity app.

  • November 27, 2024

    Deloitte Posed As Consultant To Steal Vax Software, Suit Says

    An inventor has accused Deloitte Consulting LLP in New York federal court of stealing her proprietary vaccination management system and securing a multimillion-dollar government contract for rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, saying the firm colluded with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to pilfer the technology.

  • November 27, 2024

    Citi Gets TRO On Banker Accused Of Poaching Atty Clients

    A California federal judge on Tuesday granted Citibank NA's request for a temporary restraining order against one of its former bankers who it alleges jumped to a rival with confidential information on law firm and attorney clients, but denied the request regarding a second banker as "too speculative."

  • November 27, 2024

    AI Co. Seeks To Dismiss Actors' Class Action Over Voice Use

    A startup that makes software to create voice-over narrations has asked a Manhattan federal judge to dismiss an amended class action that accuses the company of using actors' voices without permission, saying the updated complaint takes a "kitchen-sink approach" by adding several claims but "very few new relevant facts."

  • November 27, 2024

    Miss America Ch. 11 Dismissal Hearing To Wait For Event

    A hearing on a motion to dismiss the Chapter 11 case of an entity tied to the Miss America pageant will wait until after the competition wraps up in January, a Florida bankruptcy judge ruled Wednesday, allowing for discovery among two parties disputing the proper ownership of the organization.

  • November 27, 2024

    Vidal Lays Out Reasoning For Reviving Lighting IP Challenge

    Binding Luminex International Co. Ltd. to one of its customers in a way that would block the company from challenging a Signify Holdings BV lighting patent at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board could lead to situations of patent owners launching infringement suits to dodge certain patent challenges, the head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has found.

  • November 27, 2024

    Ford Can't Throw Out $13M IP Verdict, InterMotive Says

    California-based vehicle technology supplier InterMotive Inc. has urged a Michigan federal judge not to touch a $13 million verdict it won after a jury found Ford profited from the misappropriation of a trade secret related to its interface module, saying the jurors made their decision based on sufficient evidence.

  • November 27, 2024

    Injury Law Firm Accuses Rival Of Stealing 'Call Sam' Slogan

    Michigan-based personal injury law firm Sam Bernstein Law has launched a trademark infringement lawsuit in California federal court against rival personal injury law firm Sam & Ash LLP, alleging its competitor has ripped off its longtime advertising taglines, "Call Sam" and "1-800-Call-Sam."

  • November 27, 2024

    Better, Faster, Stranger: What Attys Think Of Our AI Future

    Law firms are increasingly embracing the use of artificial intelligence, wary of its limitations but enchanted by its potential to transform the practice of law through smaller headcounts and cheaper litigation.

  • November 27, 2024

    IP Atty, Wife Say Mich. Pot Co.'s Defamation Suit Is Too Old

    A Montana intellectual property attorney and his wife have urged a Michigan federal judge to dismiss a cannabis company's lawsuit alleging the couple posted falsehoods about the business on social media and made false tips to Michigan cannabis authorities, arguing that the claims are time-barred.

  • November 27, 2024

    Ballard Spahr Hires Fintech Assistant GC In Atlanta

    Ballard Spahr LLP has brought on the assistant general counsel for financial technology company Fidelity National Information Services Inc. to its Atlanta office, strengthening its intellectual property litigation focus with an attorney who has litigated patents extensively.

  • November 26, 2024

    X Partially Revives Lawsuit Against Israeli Data Scraping Firm

    X Corp. partially revived its lawsuit Tuesday against Israeli data scraping firm Bright Data after a California federal judge allowed the social media company to amend some of its claims and add new ones, finding X now plausibly alleges the defendant's "sophisticated efforts" to access the platform caused harm.

  • November 26, 2024

    Patent Biz Cleans Up $10M Jury Verdict From Scrubber Maker

    A Minnesota company that makes commercial floor scrubbers was ordered by a jury to pay a little under $10 million to a small licensing company that owns reissued patents that cover the idea of using "tiny bubbles" as a way of "oxygenating flowing water."

  • November 26, 2024

    Apple, Shyamalan Can't Dodge IP Suit Over 'Servant' Series

    A California federal judge refused to toss an indie director's claims that filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan copied her movie to make a TV show for Apple TV+, agreeing with the Ninth Circuit that the issue of whether the two works are substantially similar will need to be resolved by a jury.

  • November 26, 2024

    Gilead Gets $31.8M In Calif. Case Over Counterfeit HIV Drugs

    Gilead Sciences Inc. has won nearly $32 million in a case involving a scheme to wrongfully repackage HIV treatments and sell them off as counterfeit Gilead products, a California federal judge has ruled.

  • November 26, 2024

    Judge Heads Off Misleading Solicitation In NCAA NIL Deal

    The California federal judge overseeing the NCAA name, image and likeness class action that is nearing closure issued guidelines Tuesday for third-party servicing companies offering to help student athletes secure their portion of a preliminarily approved $2.78 billion settlement.

  • November 26, 2024

    Oracle Says Crypto Co. Is Flouting 2020 Settlement Of TM Suit

    Oracle Corp. claimed in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed in California federal court that cryptocurrency consulting company Crypto Oracle has resumed using the "Crypto Oracle" name four years after it agreed to stop using the "Oracle" marks in an earlier suit from Oracle Corp.

  • November 26, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Review Rejection Of Dish's $3.9M Fees Award

    The full Federal Circuit declined Tuesday to reconsider a panel's ruling that vacated a $3.9 million attorney fees award to Dish Network for its successful defense against a Realtime Adaptive Streaming patent suit.

  • November 26, 2024

    Justices Told To Review Fight Over PTAB Panel Makeups

    A company that had its processor module patent claims thrown out by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is arguing at the U.S. Supreme Court that the way the board is set up flouts the Administrative Procedure Act.

Expert Analysis

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • 8 Tech Tips For Stress-Free Remote Depositions

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    Court reporter Kelly D’Amico shares practical strategies for attorneys to conduct remote depositions with ease and troubleshoot any issues that arise, as it seems deposition-by-Zoom is here to stay after the pandemic.

  • How AstraZeneca Ruling Could Change Dosage Patent Claims

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    If affirmed on appeal, the rationale employed by the Delaware federal court in Wyeth v. AstraZeneca to find "unit dosage"-related patent claims invalid could lead to a significant paradigm shift in how active-ingredient-focused patent applications are drafted and litigated, say Matthew Zapadka and John Schneible at Arnall Golden.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Unclear Criteria, Data Rights, Conflicts

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    Liam Bowers at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims examining the use of unstated evaluation criteria, an agency's investigation of its own data rights and unequal access to information about an organizational conflict of interest.

  • Failed W.Va. Patent Challenge Reveals Secret Prior Art's Risks

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    A West Virginia federal court's recent ruling — that references used by a patent challenger to establish an ordinarily skilled artisan's existing knowledge must be published before a patent's filing — may discourage claim construction challenges based on secret prior art and steer drafters away from externally defined terms, says Brianna Potter at Baker Botts.

  • 4 Ways Attorneys Can Emotionally Prepare For Trial

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    In the course of litigation, trial lawyers face a number of scenarios that can incite an emotional response, but formulating a mental game plan in advance of trial can help attorneys stay cool, calm and collected in the moment, says Rachel Lary at Lightfoot Franklin.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • TM Suit Over Google AI Name Points To New Branding Issues

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    Gemini Data’s recent lawsuit in California federal court alleging Google’s rebranded artificial intelligence chatbot stole its name may have broader implications for the scope of trademark rights for AI-related products and highlights that an evolving marketplace may force companies to recalibrate how they protect their brands, say attorneys at ArentFox Schiff.

  • Presidential Campaign Errors Provide Lessons For Trial Attys

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    Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign employed numerous strategies that evidently didn’t land, and trial attorneys should take note, because voters and jurors are both decision-makers who are listening for how one’s case presentation would affect them personally, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • How Patent Landscape Analysis Drives Business Growth

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    Keegan Caldwell at Caldwell Law explores how patent landscape analysis serves as a key driver of sustainable growth — examining how its components, strategic advantages and implementation best practices are reshaping innovation leadership.

  • Marching In On Orange Book Drugs May Have Limited Effect

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    Statistical analysis shows that marching in on Orange Book drug patent holders to require additional licensees would have a relatively minimal impact on drug prices, and should be weighed against the harms it could have on pharmaceutical innovation, say researchers at Competition Dynamics.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

  • Navigating DOJ's Patchwork Whistleblower Regime

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    In the past few months, the U.S. Department of Justice and several individual U.S. attorney’s offices have issued different pilot programs aimed at incentivizing individuals to blow the whistle on misconduct, but this piecemeal approach may create confusion and suboptimal outcomes, say attorneys at BakerHostetler.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • When Arbitration Is Effective For Employment And IP Cases

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    Widespread adoption of arbitration has revolutionized conflict resolution in employment law, and the benefits of speed, expertise and confidentiality make it an increasingly attractive alternative for resolving patent conflicts — but arbitration is not a silver bullet, say Brandon Miller at Fisher Phillips and Camilla Bykhovsky at Turner Boyd.

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