Intellectual Property

  • July 26, 2024

    Copyright Cases To Watch In The Second Half Of 2024

    The first copyright trial arising from an artificial intelligence platform could provide intellectual property attorneys with insight into dozens of pending suits against AI companies, while the Tenth Circuit is reconsidering whether Netflix made fair use of a funeral clip in its "Tiger King" docuseries.

  • July 26, 2024

    NCAA's $2.8B NIL Deal, Revenue-Sharing Plan Sent To Judge

    A $2.78 billion deal to settle a massive class action targeting the NCAA's name, image and likeness compensation rules was submitted to a California federal judge for preliminary approval Friday, allowing for revenue sharing with athletes across all sports.

  • July 26, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Upholds PTAB Estoppel Rule, But Limits Its Reach

    The Federal Circuit on Friday upheld a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rule that can lead to Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions rendering patent claims invalid in later office proceedings, but found in a case involving Apple and Motorola that the rule doesn't apply to issued claims.

  • July 26, 2024

    Amazon And Google Face New Suits Over Japanese Patents

    A litigation outfit trying to cash out on patents issued to Japanese electronics company JVCKenwood has expanded its campaign against Amazon and Google with a second set of lawsuits in Virginia federal court.

  • July 26, 2024

    Del. Court Won't Let Generic Co. Walk Back Invalidity Promise

    Generic-drug maker Mankind Pharma is bound to its promise not to challenge the validity of a patent covering Allergan's glaucoma drug Lumigan after a federal judge in Delaware shot down its argument that recent rulings on obviousness-type double patenting altered the litigation landscape.

  • July 26, 2024

    Jam Band Phish Can Seize Bootleg Merch, Judge Says

    Jam band Phish has been given the green light by a Boston federal judge to confiscate counterfeit merchandise being sold outside its concerts this summer.

  • July 26, 2024

    HP Calls Dolby, Philips, Mitsubishi Patent Fees A 'Money Grab'

    Computer maker HP Inc. has claimed Dolby Laboratories, Mitsubishi and Philips are attempting a "money grab" by attempting to overcharge on licensing fees for ultra-high-definition streaming patents, according to a complaint filed in Massachusetts state court.

  • July 26, 2024

    Illinois Cases To Watch In 2024: Midyear Report

    Illinois attorneys say they are considering the path forward for Springfield corruption prosecutions following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling, as well as paying attention to what comes next in Motorola Solutions' trade secret contempt fight and potential new guidelines for music copyright cases. Here are the cases to watch in Illinois for the rest of 2024.

  • July 26, 2024

    Washington Cases To Watch 2024: A Midyear Report

    Two Washington tribes are testing whether they can hold Big Oil companies accountable in state court for climate change-related catastrophes, the attorney general is defending a ban on large-capacity gun magazines, and a key test of the state's anti-patent troll law is set for trial.

  • July 26, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen U.K. band The 1975 face action by Future Sound Asia after its performance in Malaysia resulted in a festival's cancelation, Spectrum Insurance hit by The Motoring Organization following their dispute over information misuse, and a former police constable pursue defamation against a colleague for allegedly instigating a campaign of harassment against her. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • July 25, 2024

    Blue Bottle Won't Be Sanctioned Or Pay Atty Fees In TM Row

    Blue Bottle won't be sanctioned nor ordered to pay $1.15 million in fees for losing its trademark suit against a company selling "Blue Brew" brand accessories, with a California federal judge ruling Wednesday that its infringement claims weren't frivolous and that its likelihood of confusion argument was "rooted in good faith."

  • July 25, 2024

    Pfizer Calls GSK Patents In COVID Vax Case Unenforceable

    Pfizer and BioNTech have fired back at GlaxoSmithKline's patent suit against them over the COVID-19 vaccine, saying GSK's patents are unenforceable because the company delayed in filing its applications and then crafted them to cover the blockbuster vaccine after it became available.

  • July 25, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs Penn. Jury Invalidating Sherwin-Williams IP

    A Pennsylvania federal judge rightfully invalidated claims of several Sherwin-Williams Co. paint coating patents after a jury trial, and properly barred inconsistent assertions from the company, the Federal Circuit held Thursday.

  • July 25, 2024

    DC Panel Upholds FDA's Win Against Ipsen's Generics Suit

    A D.C. panel declined to revive Ipsen's challenge to regulators' refusal to classify its acromegaly drug as a biologic, which would have blocked generic versions of it, finding Thursday the drug's active ingredient doesn't meet the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act's definition of a protein to be considered a biologic.

  • July 25, 2024

    Shkreli Says He Has Right To Use Wu-Tang Clan Album Copies

    Martin Shkreli pushed back on a crypto project's bid to force him to hand over copies of the one-of-a-kind Wu-Tang Clan album he once owned, saying his original purchase agreement of the album entitled him to make the copies and the album's current crypto owner hasn't shown how Shkreli's duplicates irreparably harm the value of the original.

  • July 25, 2024

    Copyright Office OKs Group Registration For News Websites

    The U.S. Copyright Office has created a new group registration option for news websites that are updated frequently, allowing publications to register a group of updates as a collective work with portions of the work rather than all the website's content, according to the federal register.

  • July 25, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Axes 'Trump Too Small' Holding After Justices' Rule

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday vacated its 2022 ruling that California attorney Steve Elster should be allowed to register "Trump Too Small" as a trademark after the U.S. Supreme Court concluded he could not because the "names clause" of the Lanham Act prohibits registering a name as a mark without that person's permission.

  • July 25, 2024

    USPTO No Longer Wants To Change TM Response Deadlines

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said Thursday it has decided to keep current post-registration response deadlines after the agency concluded that many trademark owners would not be subject to the proposed shorter response period.

  • July 25, 2024

    Both Sides Seek Fees After Jury Axes Elevated Stairs Patent

    Following a jury verdict this month invalidating a patent on elevated stairs used by law enforcement, both the patent owner and the accused infringer, his former employer, have moved for attorney fees, with each claiming the opposing side's arguments were baseless.

  • July 25, 2024

    Patent Atty Seeks Closure Over Ex-Firm's Back Wages

    Discovery in a patent attorney's suit against his former firm, Pittsburgh-based Keevican Weiss & Bauerle LLC, has produced enough evidence to support summary judgment on some of his claims, according to a new motion filed this week in Allegheny County.

  • July 25, 2024

    Tobacco Products Co. Hits Wash. Pot Business With TM Suit

    Wholesaler BBK Tobacco & Foods LLP has hit a Washington state cannabis company with a complaint in Arizona federal court that alleges it is infringing the "Juicy" trademark BBK uses for a variety of smoking and smoking-related products.

  • July 25, 2024

    The Biggest Copyright Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report

    The justices ruled there's no time limit for how far back copyright plaintiffs can pursue infringement damages as long as their claims are timely, and an Ohio jury said video game developers didn't infringe a tattoo artist's works by depicting the images on basketball players. Here's a look at some of the most notable copyright decisions so far in 2024.

  • July 25, 2024

    7-Eleven Settles TM Suit Against Seven Eleven Law Group

    7-Eleven Inc. and a Chicago-based law practice called Seven Eleven Law Group have settled the trademark complaint the convenience store chain filed in November, alleging the firm was infringing its mark and causing consumer confusion.

  • July 24, 2024

    FTC Chair Wary AI Tools Can Be Used For Corporate Collusion

    Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan weighed in on a host of topics during a discussion Wednesday at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, expressing concerns about the agency's high legal bills for expert witnesses and describing AI price-setting tools as a potential loophole for collusion.

  • July 24, 2024

    NBA Reaches $76B, 11-Year Deal With Amazon, NBC, Disney

    The National Basketball Association announced Wednesday that it has negotiated new telecast and streaming agreements with Amazon, NBCUniversal and The Walt Disney Co. collectively worth $76 billion, bringing to an end the league's long-standing partnership with TNT, which has vowed to "take appropriate action."

Expert Analysis

  • Exploring A New Era Of IP Law Amid The Rise Of Generative AI

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    Attorneys at Hogan Lovells explore the effects of generative artificial intelligence in three areas of intellectual property, recent updates and emerging trends, and its significance on the IP landscape now and moving forward.

  • Fed. Circ. Defines Foreign IP Damages, Raises New Questions

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    In Brumfield v. IBG, the Federal Circuit recently clarified which standard determines the extraterritoriality of the patent statute after the U.S. Supreme Court's WesternGeco decision, opening a new avenue of damages for foreign activities resulting from certain domestic activities while also creating some thorny questions, say Amol Parikh and Ian Howard at McDermott.

  • Series

    Being An Equestrian Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond getting experience thinking on my feet and tackling stressful situations, the skills I've gained from horseback riding have considerable overlap with the skills used to practice law, particularly in terms of team building, continuing education, and making an effort to reset and recharge, says Kerry Irwin at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Teach Your Party Representative The Art Of Nonverbal Cues

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    As illustrated by recent reports about President Donald Trump’s nonverbal communication in court, jurors notice what’s happening at counsel table, which may color their perceptions of the case as a whole, so trial attorneys should teach party representatives to self-monitor their nonverbal behaviors, says Clint Townson at Townson Consulting.

  • Fintiv Denials Are On The Rise At PTAB

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    Following last year's CommScope v. Dali decision, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board is increasingly using Fintiv factors to discretionarily deny inter partes review petitions — and attorneys ignore it at their peril, say Josepher Li and Michelle Armond at Armond Wilson.

  • 4 Ways To Refresh Your Law Firm's Marketing Strategy

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    With many BigLaw firms relying on an increasingly obsolete marketing approach that prioritizes stiff professionalism over authentic connection, adopting a few key communications strategies to better connect with today's clients and prospects can make all the difference, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law.

  • What Law Firms Should Know Amid Rise In DQ Motions

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    As disqualification motions proliferate, law firms need to be aware of the types of conflicts that most often lead to disqualification, the types of attorneys who may be affected and how to reduce their exposure to these motions, says Matthew Henderson at Hinshaw.

  • What Have We Learned In The Year Since Warhol?

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    In the almost year since the U.S. Supreme Court decided Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, which was widely seen as potentially chilling to creative endeavors, seven subsequent decisions — while illuminating to some extent — do not indicate any trend toward a radical departure from prior precedents in fair use cases, says ​​​​​​​Jose Sariego at Bilzin Sumberg.

  • Practical Pointers After Fed. Circ. Double-Patenting Decision

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    With the Federal Circuit recently denying a full court review of In re: Cellect, a decision regarding obviousness-type double-patenting, affected patent family holders should evaluate their rights through both patent prosecution and future litigation lenses to minimize risks, say Austin Lorch and Jeff Wolfson at Haynes Boone.

  • Clemson's ACC Exit Fee Suit May Have Major Consequences

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    Clemson University's recent suit in South Carolina state court against the Atlantic Coast Conference, which challenges the ACC's $140 million exit fee and its ownership of member schools' media rights, would likely have enormous ramifications for ACC members in the event of a definitive court ruling, say William Sullivan and Alex Anderson at Pillsbury.

  • How Duty Of Candor Figures In USPTO AI Ethics Guidance

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    The duty of candor and good faith is an important part of the artificial intelligence ethics guidance issued last week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and serious consequences can visit patent and trademark applicants who violate that duty, not just their attorneys and agents, says Michael Cicero at Taylor English.

  • Patent Lessons From 8 Federal Circuit Reversals In March

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    A number of Federal Circuit patent decisions last month reversed or vacated underlying rulings, providing guidance regarding the definiteness of a claim that include multiple limitations of different scopes, the importance of adequate jury instruction, the proper scope of the precedent, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Tenn. Law Protecting Artists From AI Raises Novel Issues

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    Tennessee recently enacted a law that extends the right of publicity protection to individuals' voices in an attempt to control the proliferation of artificial intelligence in the music industry, presenting fascinating questions about the First Amendment, the fair use doctrine and more, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • A Look At Ex Parte Seizures 8 Years Post-DTSA

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    In the eight years since the Defend Trade Secrets Act was enacted, not much has changed for jurisprudence on ex parte seizures, but a few seminal rulings show that there still isn’t a bright line on what qualifies as extraordinary circumstances warranting a seizure, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Series

    Whitewater Kayaking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Whether it's seeing clients and their issues from a new perspective, or staying nimble in a moment of intense challenge, the lessons learned from whitewater kayaking transcend the rapids of a river and prepare attorneys for the courtroom and beyond, says Matthew Kent at Alston & Bird.

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