Intellectual Property

  • October 24, 2024

    Split Fed. Circ. Rejects Expert's 'Because I Said So' Testimony

    A Delaware federal jury was wrong to find Comcast infringed a NexStep "digital butler" patent, and the trial judge properly overruled it, a split Federal Circuit panel said Thursday.

  • October 24, 2024

    IP Forecast: Inhibrx Co-Founder Faces Biotech Secrets Trial

    A Wilmington federal jury next week will hear a trade secrets lawsuit that accuses a biotech executive of helping himself to confidential information about cancer treatment antibodies while being employed as an expert in an unrelated $200 million arbitration proceeding. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • October 24, 2024

    USPTO Is Using AI — And More IP Takeaways From Vidal

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal fielded tough questions before a crowd of attorneys Thursday to start the American Intellectual Property Law Association annual meeting, covering topics from her agency's cybersecurity challenges to the backlog of patent and trademark applications.

  • October 24, 2024

    PTAB Largely Ends 2 Telecom Patents After Cisco Challenge

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has fully thrown out an Orckit Corp. link aggregation patent and mostly invalidated another telecommunications patent following challenges from Cisco, finding their claims were too obvious to warrant patent protection.

  • October 24, 2024

    Calif. Judge Urged To Uphold $262M Hard Drive IP Verdict

    MR Technologies has asked a California federal judge to deny Western Digital's bid to toss a $262 million patent infringement verdict in a dispute over disk drive storage technology, saying the hard drive behemoth's desire for a redo is outweighed by its failure to present any legal errors or abuse of discretion by the court.

  • October 24, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Revives Lenovo Bid For SEP Anti-Suit Injunction

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday gave Lenovo a new shot at securing an order that could bar Ericsson from enforcing injunctions in South America amid the companies' globe-spanning standard-essential patent dispute, faulting a lower court's reasoning for rejecting Lenovo's request.

  • October 24, 2024

    Walmart Hid Patent Evidence, Co.'s Sanctions Bid Claims

    Zest Labs wants Walmart sanctioned in a suit claiming the retail giant stole the startup's trade secrets related to shelf-freshness technology, telling an Arkansas federal judge that Walmart hid important evidence about patents it had filed applications for.

  • October 24, 2024

    Scam PAC Uses Rick Scott's Name To Trick Donors, Suit Says

    The National Republican Senatorial Committee has filed a false advertising and likeness misappropriation complaint in California federal court accusing a political action committee of fraudulently fundraising millions of dollars in contributions from unwitting donors who think they're supporting prominent conservative lawmakers like Sen. Rick Scott. 

  • October 24, 2024

    3 Insurance Execs Beat Ex-Employer's Trade Secrets Suit

    A North Carolina federal judge has ruled Sherbrooke Corporate Ltd. failed to properly allege three former executives it accused of stealing confidential, proprietary software to start their own company actually used that software or kept how it worked a secret.

  • October 24, 2024

    ITC Bans Foreign Counterfeit Tourniquets

    The U.S. International Trade Commission banned foreign counterfeits of a tourniquet used by the U.S. military, finding that a broad exclusion order was necessary to protect the domestic manufacturers' intellectual property.

  • October 24, 2024

    Huawei Trade Secrets Trial Pushed Back To 2026

    A Washington federal judge on Thursday approved a request from Huawei and the government to delay a trial until October 2026 in a case alleging the company stole T-Mobile's trade secrets.

  • October 24, 2024

    Crowe & Dunlevy Hires Oklahoma City IP Law Professor

    Crowe & Dunlevy has picked up a politically ambitious intellectual property professor from Oklahoma City University School of Law who has previously worked as a litigator for nonpracticing entities and as a patent examiner.

  • October 24, 2024

    MVP: Debevoise & Plimpton's David Bernstein

    David Bernstein of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP helped a beverage mogul avoid a Texas jury, beat the government on behalf of the Snapchat brand and tries to find ways to sprinkle a little bit of "magic" into his career as a trademark litigator, earning him a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Intellectual Property MVPs.

  • October 23, 2024

    TriZetto Gets New Damages Trial After Ax Of $200M Awards

    A New York federal judge Wednesday agreed to hold a new damages trial in Cognizant affiliate TriZetto's trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement dispute with Syntel, a development that comes after the judge wiped out $200 million in damages awards in favor of TriZetto earlier this year.

  • October 23, 2024

    Court Denies Fees In 'Objectively Specious' Trade Secrets Suit

    A Seattle federal judge has agreed that a dental health insurer litigated an "objectively specious" trade secrets lawsuit against two of its former company officials, but ruled that not enough showed it was pursuing the case "in bad faith."

  • October 23, 2024

    Amazon Challenges Expert In $136M Ad Patent Case Defeat

    Amazon has asked U.S. District Judge Alan Albright to overturn a jury verdict behind a $136 million judgment it owes for infringing patents covering online ad space auctions, saying the small advertising software plaintiff's expert couldn't back up his infringement finding.

  • October 23, 2024

    Patent Owner Fed Up With Fed. Circ's 1-Word Decisions

    A patent owner has urged the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit's one-word decision affirming summary judgment in favor of TD Ameritrade in a high-stakes patent fight, saying the appellate court is routinely and summarily affirming orders that ignore factual disputes in patent cases, without explanation.

  • October 23, 2024

    'Where's The Puff?' Judge Asks In Little Caesars IP Battle

    An Illinois federal judge asked Little Caesars Wednesday what was so puffy about its recent "Crazy Puffs" products, as a Chicago-based company that makes "Pizza Puffs" argued the chain is infringing trademarks it has held for nearly half a century.

  • October 23, 2024

    Feds, Huawei Ask To Delay 'Complex' Trade Secret Theft Trial

    Washington federal prosecutors and Huawei have both asked to delay until 2026 a trial in a case accusing the company of stealing T-Mobile's trade secrets, noting the complexity of the case and difficulties the attorneys for the Chinese chipmaker have had communicating with witnesses.

  • October 23, 2024

    Ameriprise, Ex-Worker Duo To Arbitrate Stolen Docs Claims

    Financial services company Ameriprise will arbitrate claims that a father-son pair of ex-employees took confidential records "in the dark of the night" on their way out the door to work for a competitor, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has determined.

  • October 23, 2024

    Acer Wants To Erase $10M Verdict Over Computer Monitor IP

    Taiwan's Acer Inc. wants to wipe out a jury's $10.3 million award for U.S. rival SVV Technology Innovations Inc. over optical-film patents for monitors, telling a Texas federal judge a new trial is needed.

  • October 23, 2024

    Copyright Board Sees Steady Case Flow Since June 2022

    A division of the U.S. Copyright Office that started hearing disputes involving smaller dollar amounts about two years ago has seen a steady flow of claims being filed since it began, most of which focus on pictures and graphics, according to a new report.

  • October 23, 2024

    Athletes Pause TV Revenue Suit Until NIL Deal's Fate Is Clear

    A group of college athletes has agreed to stay its suit seeking a cut of NCAA television revenue in Colorado federal court, with a magistrate judge on Wednesday granting the two parties' request to pause the case while the landmark name, image and likeness settlement in a separate California case awaits approval.

  • October 23, 2024

    Jersey Shore Attractions Sued For Pay Over Iconic Phrase

    The woman whose voice has been played in a recording along a New Jersey shore town's boardwalk for over 45 years alleged in a revised state court complaint Wednesday she has never been paid more than few free tram car tickets despite it becoming an iconic slogan for the popular destination.

  • October 23, 2024

    MVP: Kirkland's Dale Cendali

    Dale Cendali of Kirkland & Ellis LLP's intellectual property practice won a precedent-setting trial on realistically depicting celebrities, preserved a soft drink giant's branding and protected a defense contractor's use of mission-critical software, earning her a spot as one of the 2024 Law360 Intellectual Property MVPs.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Ways To Confront Courtroom Technology Challenges

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    Recent cybersecurity incidents highlight the vulnerabilities of our reliance on digital infrastructure, meaning attorneys must be prepared to navigate technological obstacles inside the courtroom, including those related to data security, presentation hardware, video playback and more, says Adam Bloomberg at IMS Legal Strategies.

  • The Fed. Circ. In August: Secret Sales And Public Disclosures

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    Two recent Federal Circuit rulings — Sanho v. Kaijet and Celanese International v. ITC — highlight that inventors should publicly and promptly disclose their inventions, as a secret sale will not suffice as a disclosure, and file their patent applications within a year of public disclosure, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.

  • Trending At The PTAB: Obviousness In Director Reviews

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    Three July decisions from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office favoring petitioners indicate a willingness by the director to review substantive issues, such as obviousness, particularly in cases where the director believes the Patent Trial and Appeal Board provided incorrect or inadequate rationale to support its decisions, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • AI Art Ruling Shows Courts' Training Data Cases Approach

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    A California federal court’s recent ruling in Andersen v. Stability AI, where the judge refused to throw out artists’ copyright infringement claims against four companies that make or distribute software that creates images from text prompts, provides insight into how courts are handling artificial intelligence training data cases, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • FTC Focus: What Access To Patent Settlements Would Mean

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    Settling parties should adopt a series of practice tips, including specifying rationales to support specific terms, as the Federal Trade Commission seeks to expand its access to settlements before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, say Shannon McGowan and David Munkittrick at Proskauer.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • Takeaways From UPC's Amgen Patent Invalidity Analysis

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    The Unified Patent Court Central Division's decision in Regeneron v. Amgen to revoke a patent for lack of inventive step is particularly clear in its reasoning and highlights the risks to patentees of the new court's central revocation powers, say Jane Evenson and Caitlin Heard at CMS.

  • How Cos. Can Leverage IP In Corporate Bankruptcy

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    In light of an increase in year-to-date Chapter 11 filings, businesses must understand the importance and value of intellectual property in corporate bankruptcy and restructuring, from contributing to enterprise value, to providing leverage in negotiations and facilitating recovery, says Gregory Campanella at Ocean Tomo.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Examining Patent Subject Matter Eligibility Of AI Inventions

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    In light of U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data showing that patent applications for artificial intelligence inventions are likelier to get rejected based on patent-ineligible subject matter, inventors seeking protection should be aware of the difficulties and challenges pertaining to patent eligibility, say Georgios Effraimidis at NERA and Joel Lehrer at Goodwin.

  • IP Hot Topic: The Intersection Of Trademark And Antitrust Law

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    Antitrust claims – like those in the U.S. Department of Justice’s recent case against Apple – are increasingly influencing trademark disputes and enforcement practices, demonstrating how antitrust law can dilute the power of a trademark, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • When Trauma Colors Testimony: How To Help Witnesses

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    As stress-related mental health issues continue to rise, trial attorneys must become familiar with a few key trauma-informed strategies to help witnesses get back on track — leaning in to the counselor aspect of their vocations, say Ava Hernández and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

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