Intellectual Property

  • October 17, 2024

    Temu Says Shein Launched IP Theft Suit To Stifle Competition

    The companies behind e-commerce platform Temu have fired back at fast fashion company Shein's intellectual property infringement claims against them, accusing Shein of filing a meritless suit to interfere with Temu's business and stifle its competition "by any means possible."

  • October 17, 2024

    USPTO Told More Clarity Needed On AI And Patent Eligibility

    Numerous companies and industry groups have said they welcome the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's new guidance on when inventions involving artificial intelligence are eligible for patents, but many urged the agency to provide additional clarity and practical examples.

  • October 17, 2024

    Microsoft Fights IP, Antitrust Suit Alleging Cartel With Nvidia

    Microsoft slammed a lawsuit brought by a startup accusing it, Nvidia and a third company of engaging in patent infringement and an illegal buyers' cartel suppressing the price of graphic processing units used in powering artificial intelligence, urging a Texas federal judge Wednesday to deny an injunction bid due to lack of evidence.

  • October 17, 2024

    How Muhammad Ali's Ex-Photog Won $2.7M From Brand Co.

    When Muhammad Ali's former personal photographer brought a copyright suit against a powerful brand management company, his attorneys faced a daunting challenge at trial: How can they convince jurors that Authentic Brands Group was liable for willful infringement?

  • October 17, 2024

    Gov't Tells Justices To Reject Return Mail's Alice Petition

    The federal government says the U.S. Supreme Court should not hear a small Alabama company's appeal of a lower court's invalidation of claims in its patent on processing undeliverable mail, arguing that the claims were not patent eligible.

  • October 17, 2024

    Hospital Can Use TM Fraud Claim As Shield, Not Sword

    A North Carolina hospital and healthcare provider can't pursue a trademark fraud counterclaim in a weight loss clinic's infringement dispute but can assert the claim as an affirmative defense, a federal judge ruled.

  • October 17, 2024

    Justices Urged To Fix 'Novel Misreading' Of IP Safe Harbor

    Edwards Lifesciences is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to rein in what's covered under a drug-development safe harbor to avoid patent infringement, saying the Federal Circuit wrongfully expanded it in a "novel misreading" of the law.

  • October 17, 2024

    Cisco Foe Takes Computer Security Patent Feud To Fed. Circ.

    A cybersecurity startup that saw its multibillion-dollar patent win against Cisco erased is pinning the failure, in part, on a new judge's "eleventh-hour, sua sponte claim construction" and is asking the Federal Circuit to overturn it.

  • October 17, 2024

    Northwestern Hits Moderna With Patent Suit Over COVID Vax

    Northwestern University has launched a patent infringement lawsuit in Delaware federal court accusing Moderna of wrongly taking research that the school did when the company was making its COVID-19 vaccine.

  • October 17, 2024

    Texans Say Rapper Is Tripping With Suit Over 'Still Tippin'

    The Houston Texans are asking a Texas federal judge to toss a suit lodged by a rapper who claims the NFL team stole his song, "Still Tippin," characterizing his claims as "frivolous" and "not viable."

  • October 17, 2024

    Jury Says Phillips 66 Owes $605M In Fuel Trade Secrets Fight

    A jury in California state court said Wednesday a retailer of low-carbon fuels is owed $604.9 million after finding that Phillips 66 swiped trade secrets relating to data, such as sales information and pricing methods.

  • October 17, 2024

    Google Asks 9th Circ. To Immediately Pause Epic Injunction

    Google filed an emergency motion late Wednesday in its antitrust battle with Epic Games Inc. asking the Ninth Circuit to stay a lower court's injunction that's set to take effect Nov. 1 requiring Google to open up its Play Store to competing app stores, slamming the injunction as harmful and "unworkable."

  • October 17, 2024

    Moderna Wants Fees For 'Frivolous' COVID-19 Vax Suit

    Moderna is asking a Delaware federal judge to award it about $2.8 million in legal costs for its defense of claims in a patent suit brought by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals over its coronavirus vaccine, arguing the Boston-based company pursued "frivolous" claims that wasted court resources.

  • October 17, 2024

    Industrial Pipe Co. Hits Rival, Ex-Exec With Trade Secrets Suit

    Industrial pipe manufacturer Atkore International Inc. took one of its former senior-level executives and the rival company he went to work for to North Carolina state court, alleging the former employee sabotaged operations on his way out the door and took valuable trade secrets with him.

  • October 17, 2024

    Randy Newman Sells Music Rights To Carlyle-Backed Litmus

    Musician and songwriter Randy Newman has sold his stake in his recorded music and publishing rights to Carlyle-backed music rights business Litmus Music, a transaction that includes decades of popular recordings and music from feature films, including the song "You've Got A Friend In Me" from 1995's "Toy Story," Litmus said Thursday.

  • October 16, 2024

    Spex Jury Can't Use Kingston Deal To Calculate IP Damages

    A California federal judge ruled Wednesday that jurors deciding whether Western Digital infringed Spex Technologies' data security patent can't consider Spex's 2009 licensing agreement with Kingston Technology to calculate potential damages, since there was no way to tease the value of the patent-at-issue out of the broader deal. 

  • October 16, 2024

    Nike Still Owes Fees In 'Cool Compression' TM Case

    A Pennsylvania federal judge on Wednesday ruled for a second time that Nike is on the hook for legal fees in a trademark lawsuit after the Third Circuit ordered him to take a closer look at the details of the case to determine if the outcome was truly "exceptional."

  • October 16, 2024

    Philips Says $12M Sanction Needed For Evidence Destruction

    A spoliation sanctions hearing for around $12 million in royalty damages turned terse when the owner of a medical device equipment sale and servicing company seemingly hedged his statements, with a Texas federal judge saying, "Oh my gosh, just answer the question," during the Wednesday hearing.

  • October 16, 2024

    Apple Heart Rate Monitor Patent Survives PTAB

    An administrative patent board has decided not to invalidate an Apple patent that the tech giant once asserted in its ongoing fight with a company in the smartwatch space.

  • October 16, 2024

    Judge Orders 'Starbuds' Co. To Grind Down Logo And Name

    A federal judge in Manhattan has ordered a cannabis food truck to destroy all of its "Starbuds" logos, after siding with coffee giant Starbucks Corp. in a copyright infringement lawsuit.

  • October 16, 2024

    Photog Tells 9th Circ. Miles Davis Tattoo Was Not Fair Use

    A photographer wants the Ninth Circuit to undo a California federal jury's finding that cleared celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D of claims she infringed a copyrighted photo of Miles Davis that he took, saying she failed to adequately show fair use.

  • October 16, 2024

    Bacardi Fends Off Cuban Co.'s 'Havana Club' TM Claim

    A D.C. federal judge tossed a Cuban state-owned company's counterclaim accusing Bacardi of infringing its "Havana Club" trademark, saying U.S. law barred the court from enforcing the mark.

  • October 16, 2024

    NC Beach Canopy Co. Throws Shade At Rival In Patent Suit

    A North Carolina-based beach canopy maker claims another Tar Heel State company has ignored its request to stop making a product that allegedly infringes a patent for its shading system.

  • October 16, 2024

    Mich. Panel Sinks Inventor's Atty Malpractice Appeal

    A Michigan appellate panel has held that the inventor of a swim training device did not prove he would have built a successful custom swim paddle business had his attorney secured him a patent, affirming the dismissal of a legal malpractice suit against the inventor's patent attorney and firm.

  • October 16, 2024

    PTAB Refuses To Review Pioneer Corn Seed Patent

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has said it won't review a challenge to a plant utility patent owned by a unit of a DowDuPont spin-off, handing another loss to a Massachusetts plant breeding startup in a larger legal fight over seed patents between the companies.

Expert Analysis

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step

    Author Photo

    From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Alice Step 2 Trends Show Courts' Extrinsic Evidence Reliance

    Author Photo

    A look at recent trends in how district courts are applying Step 2 of the Alice framework shows that courts have increasingly relied on extrinsic evidence to help determine whether a claimed invention is "well-understood, routine, and conventional," says Jonathan Tuminaro at Sterne Kessler.

  • Recent Settlement Shows 'China Initiative' Has Life After Death

    Author Photo

    Though the U.S. Department of Justice shuttered its controversial China Initiative two years ago, its recent False Claims Act settlement with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation demonstrates that prosecutors are more than willing to civilly pursue research institutions whose employees were previously targeted, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • How Orange Book Antitrust Scrutiny Is Intensifying

    Author Photo

    Pharmaceutical patent holders should be reviewing Orange Book listing practices, as the Federal Trade Commission takes a more aggressive antitrust approach with actions such as the Teva listing probe, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration calls attention to potentially improper listings, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Trending At The PTAB: 1 Year Of Denials Of Institution

    Author Photo

    An analysis of Patent Trial and Appeal Board denials of institutions between May 2023 and May of this year highlights the board’s common reasons for denial, which can provide insight to both petitioners and patent owners in future proceedings, say Kevin Rodkey and Victor Palace at Finnegan.

  • Questions Linger About DTSA's Scope After Motorola Ruling

    Author Photo

    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera, which held that the Defend Trade Secrets Act applies extraterritorially, does not address whether an act that furthers misappropriation must be committed by the defendant in order to satisfy the law's extraterritoriality requirement, say Ilissa Samplin and Grace Hart at Gibson Dunn.

  • Opinion

    Conception Is The Proper Test For AI-Assisted Inventions

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should adopt the conception standard for reviewing AI-assisted inventions, and require the disclosure of artificial intelligence prompts and responses because they are material to patentability, which would then simplify the patent examiner’s invention decision, says Thomas Hamlin at Robins Kaplan.

  • What High Court TM Rulings Tell Us About Free Speech

    Author Photo

    Recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings show tension between free speech and trademark law, highlighting that while political mockery is protected, established brands may be forced to adapt to evolving cultural values, says William Scott Goldman at Goldman Law Group.

  • Series

    Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Uncertainty In Scope Of ITC Oversight

    Author Photo

    The U.S. International Trade Commission's long-standing jurisprudence on some of the most disputed and controversial issues is likely to be reshaped by the Federal Circuit, which is no longer bound by Chevron deference in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision, say Kecia Reynolds and Madeleine Moss at Paul Hastings.

  • Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity

    Author Photo

    The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • How In-House IP Counsel Can Deal With AI's Rise

    Author Photo

    Generative artificial intelligence is poised to revolutionize intellectual property law, especially for smaller and midsize enterprises, meaning IP in-house counsel need to prioritize AI implementation to navigate the coming changes, says Friedrich Laub at Diasorin.

  • 7th Circ. Motorola Ruling Raises Stakes Of DTSA Litigation

    Author Photo

    The Seventh Circuit’s recent ruling in Motorola v. Hytera gives plaintiffs a powerful tool to recover damages, greatly increasing the incentive to bring Defend Trade Secrets Act claims against defendants with large global sales because those sales could generate large settlements, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • 1 Year At The UPC: Implications For Transatlantic Disputes

    Author Photo

    In its first year, the Unified Patent Court has issued important decisions on procedures like provisional measures, but complexities remain when it comes to coordinating proceedings across jurisdictions like the U.S. due to differences in timelines and discovery practices, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Patent Ruling Shows A Minor Typo Can Lead To A Major Loss

    Author Photo

    A federal court’s recent ruling in SIPCO v. Jasco, where patent infringement claims were dismissed because of a typo made during prosecution, highlights key moments in the terminal disclaimer application process where double-checking the patent number is especially crucial, say attorneys at Mintz.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Intellectual Property archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!