Intellectual Property

  • August 02, 2024

    US Cheerleading Org. Faces Fees Bid After Losing TM Suit

    Bush Ross PA and the Underwood Law Firm PC are seeking more than $800,000 in attorney fees after a Florida federal judge handed their clients a summary judgment win in a trademark infringement lawsuit brought by the U.S. All Star Federation against its rivals, saying they deserve to be reimbursed for costs related to the case because it was "exceptional."

  • August 02, 2024

    Akin Debuts AI Law & Regulation Info Tracker

    Global BigLaw firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP launched a tracker to help monitor changing policies related to artificial intelligence in various fields including intellectual property, data privacy, health and national security.

  • August 02, 2024

    PTAB Told To Punish Mylan For Allegedly Breaking Fintiv Vow

    Novo Nordisk is urging the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to sanction Mylan for pursuing claims to invalidate a patent covering the blockbuster diabetes and weight loss drug Ozempic in Delaware district court, despite an explicit promise not to do so.

  • August 02, 2024

    DC Circ. Rejects Speech Rights Challenge To DMCA

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday knocked down a challenge to a provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that bars circumventing digital locks on copyrighted material, ruling that the law is in line with the First Amendment.

  • August 02, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen insurance broker Marsh sue the collapsed Greensill Bank, the former chair of the Islamic Students Association of Britain pursue a defamation case against the Jewish Chronicle, Berkshire Hathaway and Lloyd's face action from a shipping company, and alleged fraudster Ronald Bauer hit a loan company with a claim. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • August 01, 2024

    11th Circ. Affirms Zurich Needn't Pay Judgment Against Agent

    In a pair of opinions issued Thursday, the Eleventh Circuit revived a copyright claim by Compulife but rejected the software company's bid to force Zurich American Insurance Co. to pay for a judgment against an insurance agent who allegedly helped three others misappropriate the company's trade secrets.

  • August 01, 2024

    Amazon Scores Default Win Against Counterfeit Sellers

    Amazon secured a default judgment Thursday in Washington federal court against sellers of counterfeit luxury goods who worked with social media influencers to promote fake Hermes, Chanel and Christian Dior products, after the sellers failed to respond to Amazon's complaint by deadline.

  • August 01, 2024

    Ohio Judge Must Add Overhead-Door Patent Owner To IP Suit

    An Ohio federal judge must attach Cold Chain LLC to patent infringement litigation its licensee has filed against companies tied to commercial trucking, the Federal Circuit held Thursday.

  • August 01, 2024

    Philip Morris Regains PTAB Win After Fed. Circ. Loss

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has again invalidated an R.J. Reynolds unit's vape patent in a challenge initiated by Philip Morris Products SA, following a brief respite for the patent owner at the Federal Circuit.

  • August 01, 2024

    TTAB Won't Allow Retail TM For Amazon Affiliate Site

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board in a precedential decision Wednesday upheld a refusal to register a trademark to an Amazon affiliate site that provides referrals but is not actually engaged in retail, delivering a blow to the owner of a culinary website who earns commissions for directing consumers to products sold by third parties.

  • August 01, 2024

    Alter Egos Say Rival Pool Co. Jumped The Gun On Discovery

    The alter egos of bankrupt pool supply company Blueworks Corp. have rebuffed claims that they "simply refuse to answer" requests for discovery from rival Hayward Industries Inc. in its quest to secure a $16 million false advertising and deceptive trade practices judgment.

  • August 01, 2024

    Journalist Don Lemon Hits X, Musk Over Axed Talk Show Deal

    Elon Musk and his social media platform X unlawfully plied former CNN anchor Don Lemon with "false promises and representations" to reel him into a partnership to produce a talk show and other exclusive content, then proceeded to unceremoniously cancel the deal before it could get off the ground, the journalist alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday. 

  • August 01, 2024

    AliveCor Asks 9th Circ. To Revive Apple Watch Antitrust Case

    Medical monitoring startup AliveCor Inc. told the Ninth Circuit that Apple Inc. should not be immunized from antitrust claims over the removal of access to heart rate data on the Apple Watch because the change was intended to block competition and not improve the device.

  • August 01, 2024

    Merchandising Co. Says Ex-VP Sunk $47M Deal With Lowe's

    An ex-merchandising company executive exploited trade secrets to sabotage a $47 million deal with home improvement giant Lowe's Cos. Inc., the executive's former employer has alleged in a federal lawsuit in North Carolina.

  • August 01, 2024

    AI Cos. Say Music Labels' IP Misuse Will Undo Copyright Suits

    Two artificial intelligence startups said Thursday that the major record labels' monopolistic hold on the music industry will doom their federal lawsuits claiming the AI companies infringed copyrighted works while training their neural networks to create original music from user prompts.

  • August 01, 2024

    Former Stimlabs Exec Doesn't Have To Hand Over Devices

    A Georgia federal judge on Thursday blocked a biomedical technology company's bid to seize the digital devices of a former executive accused of downloading thousands of internal files containing sensitive product information in the days and weeks leading up to her ouster from the company this year.

  • August 01, 2024

    PTAB Takes Out Last Patent From Google's $12M Trial Loss

    Google has persuaded the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to invalidate all Flypsi Inc. patent claims tied to the tech giant's $12 million infringement loss in the Western District of Texas.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • ITC Ruling Has Serious IP Implications For Foreign Imports

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    While a recent U.S. International Trade Commission decision is a win for trade secret owners who can show injury to a U.S. domestic industry, the decision also means that companies operating in foreign jurisdictions will be subject to the requirements of U.S. trade secret law, say Paul Ainsworth and Cristen Corry at Sterne Kessler.

  • What The Justices' Copyright Damages Ruling Didn't Address

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    While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Warner Chappell v. Nealy clarified when a copyright owner may recover damages in jurisdictions that apply the so-called discovery rule, it did not settle the overriding question of whether the Copyright Act even permits applying the rule, say Ivy Estoesta and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • How Clinical Trials Affect Patentability In US And Europe

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    A comparison of recent U.S. and European patent decisions — concerning the effect of disclosures in clinical trials on the patentability of products — offers guidance on good practice for companies dealing with public use issues and prior art documents in these commercially important jurisdictions, say lawyers at Finnegan.

  • TTAB Ruling Raises Foreign-Language Mark Questions

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    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's recent decision to cancel the Veuve Olivier registration due to its similarity to Veuve Clicquot brings new focus to the treatment of foreign terms and the doctrine of foreign equivalents, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • Measuring Early Impact Of Rule 702 Changes On Patent Cases

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    Since Federal Rule of Evidence 702 was amended to clarify the standards for admitting expert witness testimony five months ago, emerging trends in patent cases suggest that it may be easier to limit or exclude expert testimony, and hold key practice takeaways for attorneys, say Manuel Velez and Nan Zhang at Mayer Brown.

  • Protecting IP May Be Tricky Without Noncompetes

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    Contrary to the Federal Trade Commission's view, trade secret law cannot replace noncompetes' protection of proprietary information because intellectual property includes far more than just trade secrets, so businesses need to closely examine their IP protection options, say Aimee Fagan and Ching-Lee Fukuda at Sidley.

  • 8 Legal Issues Influencing Investors In The Creator Economy

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    The rapidly expanding digital creator economy — funding for which more than doubled in the U.S. in the first quarter — comes with its own set of unique legal issues investors must carefully consider before diving in, say Louis Lehot and Alan Pate at Foley & Lardner.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Copyright Office AI Standards Depart From Precedent

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    The U.S. Copyright Office's recent departure from decades of precedent for technology-assisted works, and express refusal to grant protection to artificial intelligence-assisted works, may change as the dust settles around ancillary copyright issues for AI currently pending in litigation, says Kristine Craig at Hanson Bridgett.

  • IP Considerations For Companies In Carbon Capture Sector

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    As companies collaborate to commercialize carbon capture technologies amid massive government investment under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a coherent intellectual property strategy is more important than ever, including proactively addressing and resolving questions about ownership of the technology, say Ashley Kennedy and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.

  • Does Expert Testimony Aid Preliminary IPR Responses?

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    Dechert attorneys analyze six years of patent owners' preliminary responses to inter partes review petitions to determine whether the elimination of the presumption favoring the petitioner as to preinstitution testimonial evidence affected the usefulness of expert testimony in responses.

  • Rebuttal

    Double-Patenting Ruling Shows Terminal Disclaimers' Value

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    While a recent Law360 guest article seems to argue that the Federal Circuit’s Cellect decision last year robs patent owners of lawful patent term, the ruling actually identifies how terminal disclaimers are the solution to the problem of obviousness-type double patenting, say Jane Love and Robert Trenchard at Gibson Dunn.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

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