Intellectual Property

  • December 05, 2024

    NCAA's NIL Settlement 'Illegal' In Many States, Lawmakers Say

    The National Collegiate Athletic Association's $2.78 billion settlement with athletes over name, image and likeness compensation, now awaiting final court approval, would be "illegal" in several states because of their current NIL laws, a group of current and former lawmakers said Thursday.

  • December 05, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Unlikely To Help Realtek Pursue ITC Sanctions

    A Federal Circuit panel seemed baffled Thursday as a K&L Gates attorney argued that the U.S. International Trade Commission wrongly stopped his client from pursuing sanctions, with the panel repeatedly noting that the semiconductor company wasn't even a party in the import dispute.

  • December 05, 2024

    9th Circ. Skeptical Starz Ripped Off Play For Strip Club Drama

    A Ninth Circuit panel appeared dubious Thursday of a playwright's bid to revive claims that Starz Entertainment copied her stage musical for the strip club drama series "P-Valley," with one of the appellate judges noting that the works "could not be more different."

  • December 05, 2024

    PrizePicks Faces Second Claim Of Fantasy Platform Ripoff

    Atlanta-based sports betting platform PrizePicks has been hit with a second lawsuit in as many years from business-to-business sports tech company Vetnos, claiming Wednesday that PrizePicks ripped off its concept of daily fantasy betting games with the help of a former Vetnos employee.

  • December 05, 2024

    Skadden Adds A&O Shearman IP Litigator In Silicon Valley

    Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP continues expanding its technology team, announcing Thursday it has brought in an Allen Overy Shearman Sterling intellectual property litigator as a partner in its Silicon Valley office.

  • December 05, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs Mixed PTAB Ruling In Circuit Patent Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Dutch semiconductor maker NXP was able to show that some claims in a pair of Bell Semiconductor circuit patents were invalid but was unable to prove other claims were unpatentable.

  • December 05, 2024

    Insulet Wins $452M In Trade Secret Theft Trial

    A Massachusetts federal jury has awarded Insulet Corp. $452 million after concluding that a South Korean company stole its trade secrets for a wearable insulin patch pump, marking one of the largest trade secrets verdicts of the decade.

  • December 04, 2024

    Withers IP Partners Hop To Sullivan & Worcester

    Sullivan & Worcester LLP has said the Boston firm picked up a team of five intellectual property lawyers, including two partners, from Withers who have expertise in filing patents and working on deals for biotech startups. 

  • December 04, 2024

    Intel, VLSI Agree To Pause Del. IP Fight Ahead Of Texas Trial

    Prodded by a federal judge in Delaware, Intel Corp. and VLSI Technology LLC agreed Wednesday to stay motions to dismiss or transfer an Intel Corp. suit over claims that it already holds licenses to patents that VLSI asserts it controls, as a similar patent battle moves forward in Texas.

  • December 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Sinks Patent Fight Over Intel's CPU Chips

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday rubber-stamped a ruling out of Delaware federal court that cleared Intel of allegations that the chipmaker infringed patents by a University of Maryland professor who purportedly developed an important idea in the world of "parallel computing" in 2006.

  • December 04, 2024

    Novartis Fails To Stop Generic Drug Release At Fed. Circ.

    Novartis could not persuade Federal Circuit judges to grant an injunction Wednesday protecting its blockbuster heart failure medication from facing generic competition, with the appeals court backing a Delaware federal judge's opinion that it was unlikely that one of the generic drug's ingredients is "amorphous."

  • December 04, 2024

    JSR Wins As Fed. Circ. Axes Cytiva Antibody Isolation Patents

    In a precedential opinion, the Federal Circuit held Wednesday that all the claims that JSR Corp. challenged in three Cytiva Bioprocess antibody isolation patents are invalid as obvious, backing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's invalidation of many claims while reversing its decision to uphold others.

  • December 04, 2024

    Meta Persuades PTAB To Ax 2 Earphone Patents

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found that Meta was able to show that every claim in a pair of earphone patents owned by Eight kHz is invalid, holding they are obvious.

  • December 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Sends UC System LED Patent Claims Back To PTAB

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board has to partially rethink its finding that claims in a filament LED light bulb patent owned by the University of California system were too obvious to warrant patent protection.

  • December 04, 2024

    Penn State Eyes Ban, Atty Fees After Trial Win Against Retailer

    The Pennsylvania State University has asked a federal court in the Keystone State to permanently block an online retailer and its owner from selling merchandise that a jury found infringed the university's trademarks, and said it is entitled to attorney fees from the "serial infringers."

  • December 04, 2024

    Fleetwood Mac Producer, Playwright Settle IP Dispute

    A producer of the 1977 Fleetwood Mac album "Rumours" and the author of the play "Stereophonic" have resolved claims that the Broadway show infringed copyrighted material from a memoir about making the record, according to a filing in New York federal court.

  • December 04, 2024

    Amazon, Stanley Tumbler Maker Sue Alleged Counterfeiters

    Amazon and the maker of the popular "Stanley" tumbler are suing several marketplace vendors in Washington federal court, accusing them of peddling counterfeit drink ware in the e-commerce platform's latest legal push to crack down on brand-stealing sellers.

  • December 04, 2024

    Ace Hardware Looks To Nail Screw-Selling Rival Over TM Use

    Ace Hardware Corp. said Tuesday that a home improvement chain sharing the Ace name is watering down its decades of name recognition and goodwill while creeping in on Ace's turf and leading confused consumers astray.

  • December 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Judge Condemns 'Nonsense' Law In Antibody Fight

    U.S. Circuit Judge Todd Hughes called the Federal Circuit's case law on interpreting preambles in patent claims "nonsense" on Wednesday, expressing frustration as a panel tried to work through whether Xencor Inc.'s antibody patent application was too broad.

  • December 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs NY Judge In Freeing Meta From Patent Suit

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday wouldn't revive a software company's suit claiming Meta Platforms Inc. infringed patents on digital data storage and organization, agreeing with a decision that the evidence couldn't back a finding that the Meta features at issue covered all parts of the patent claims.

  • December 03, 2024

    Samsung Foe Wants More Money After $192M Patent Win

    A small Silicon Valley outfit that makes wireless chargers wants U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap to potentially triple the $192 million willful infringement verdict the company won against Samsung, citing the smartphone maker's "egregious" conduct during trial in Texas federal court in Marshall.

  • December 03, 2024

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    December's appellate forecast calls for a squall of showdowns in a tiny time period before the holidays, including arguments involving recent U.S. Supreme Court cases, Big Tech's patents and popular purveyors of health food. In addition, winds of change are swirling around the White House's litigation posture and judicial nominations, and we'll quiz you on the latter in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing.

  • December 03, 2024

    Bearing Maker Settles With RTX, Rival In Trade Secrets Case

    A Connecticut roller bearing company has settled its lawsuits accusing military supplier RTX and a competitor of misusing trade secrets related to the design of a U.S. military bomb, after earlier delays in reaching an agreement.

  • December 03, 2024

    Meta, Jawbone Strike Deal Ending VR Headset Patent Case

    Meta Inc. said Tuesday it has reached a settlement with Jawbone Innovations to end a lawsuit in Texas federal court claiming its virtual reality headsets infringe a series of Jawbone's patents.

  • December 03, 2024

    USPTO Abandons Polarizing Proposal Over Double Patenting

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has withdrawn an extremely controversial proposal tied to double patenting, citing "resource constraints" in a Federal Register notice set to be published Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Corporate Liability Issues To Watch In High Court TM Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a trademark dispute between Dewberry Group and Dewberry Engineers next week, presenting an opportunity for the court to drastically alter the fundamental approach to piercing the corporate veil, or adopt a more limited approach and preserve existing norms, say attorneys at Bracewell.

  • Trending At The PTAB: Collateral Estoppel Continues Evolving

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    We are starting to see brighter lines on collateral estoppel involving Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings, illustrated by two recent cases that considered whether collateral estoppel should apply to factual findings on prior art from the PTAB in a later district court litigation, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Series

    Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • What Fed. Circ. Ruling Means For Patent Case Dismissals

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    ​​​​​​​The Federal Circuit's recent decision in UTTO v. Metrotech is significant because it specifically authorizes district courts to dismiss patent infringement lawsuits without a separate Markman hearing, but only when the meaning of a claim term is clear and case-dispositive, says Peter Gergely at Merchant & Gould.

  • The Fed. Circ. In October: Anti-Suit Injunctions And SEPs

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    The Federal Circuit's holding in Ericsson v. Lenovo, a complex global case involving standard-essential patents, will likely have broad consequences for practitioners, including by making it easier to obtain an anti-suit injunction, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Declaring Unexpected Results: Pitfalls For Rule 132 At PTAB

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    Rule 132 declarations are frequently used in life sciences patent prosecution for rebutting obviousness rejections by establishing that an applicant's invention produces unexpected results, and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's Eidschun ruling highlights when this important tool may be ineffective, say attorneys at Morrison Foerster.

  • IP Ruling Likely To Limit Arguments Against Qualified Experts

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Osseo v. Planmeca, clarifying when experts may offer testimony from the perspective of a skilled artisan, provides helpful guidance on expert qualifications and could quash future timing arguments regarding declarants' expertise, says Whitney Jenkins at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Dissecting The Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Debate

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Allergan v. MSN highlights the ongoing evolution of the obviousness-type double patenting doctrine, revealing increasing tension between expiration-based interpretations and procedural flexibility, says Jeremy Lowe at Leydig Voit.

  • Series

    Flying Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Achieving my childhood dream of flying airplanes made me a better lawyer — and a better person — because it taught me I can conquer difficult goals when I leave my comfort zone, focus on the demands of the moment and commit to honing my skills, says Ivy Cadle at Baker Donelson.

  • 9th Circ.'s High Bar May Limit Keyword Confusion TM Claims

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    A recent Ninth Circuit ruling that a law firm did not infringe upon a competitor’s trademarks by paying Google to promote its website when users searched for the rival’s name signals that plaintiffs likely can no longer win infringement suits by claiming competitive keyword advertising confuses internet-savvy consumers, say attorneys at Mitchell Silberberg.

  • Trump Patent Policy May Be Headed In Unexpected Direction

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    While commentators have assumed that the patent policy of President-elect Donald Trump's second administration will largely mirror the pro-patent policy of his first, these predictions fail to take into account the likely oversized influence of Elon Musk, says Jorge Contreras at the University of Utah.

  • Best Practices For Influencer Trademark Protection

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    Though the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board recently decided that an influencer couldn't qualify for a retail services trademark registration for posting affiliate links to a third-party website, there are other trademark protections that influencers can pursue for their branding and marketing services, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.

  • What Trump's Next Term May Mean For Biz Immigration

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    Leonard D'Arrigo at Harris Beach discusses the employment-based immigration policies businesses can potentially expect during President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, based on policies enacted during his first administration, statements made during his campaign and proposals in Project 2025.

  • Racing Patents To The Fed. Circ.: Collateral Estoppel Lessons

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    As more and more parties find themselves in two different forums addressing the same issues and then competing in a race to the Federal Circuit, certain strategies can help despite unanswered questions on when Patent Trial and Appeal Board determinations trigger collateral estoppel, say attorneys at Akin.

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