Intellectual Property

  • July 22, 2024

    Scanner Maker Tells 4th Circ. Contract Ends Honeywell Suit

    Laser technology company Opto Electronics urged the Fourth Circuit to overturn a jury finding that it was liable for ripping off Honeywell International over royalties for barcode scanners, arguing that a contract between the companies foreclosed the result as a matter of law.

  • July 22, 2024

    Midyear Report: Surveying Vast NCAA Litigation Landscape

    While the NCAA has never been a stranger to high-stakes litigation, the past six months have seen a deluge of courtroom intrigue as college athletes flex their legal muscle amid a quickly shifting consensus on the organization's overall business model.

  • July 22, 2024

    Litigation Funder Sues Wyoming Co. With Same Name

    Litigation funding company Parabellum Capital LLC has filed a trademark lawsuit in Colorado federal court against a Wyoming company called Parabellum Capital Inc., but the Wyoming company appears to be backing down.

  • July 22, 2024

    Olympic Committee Hits Logan Paul's Drink Co. With TM Suit

    The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee has sued a sports beverage company co-founded by social media influencer and wrestler Logan Paul, Prime Hydration, alleging that it is infringing on Olympic trademarks with an ad campaign featuring NBA star and Team USA member Kevin Durant.

  • July 22, 2024

    1st Circ. Doubts Calif. Law Governs DraftKings Job Fight

    A former DraftKings executive seeking to undo his noncompete contract appeared to make little headway with the First Circuit on Monday as he argued that Massachusetts law should take a backseat in the dispute to California's more worker-friendly statute.

  • July 19, 2024

    Platform Sciences Hit With $19M Omnitracs Patent Verdict

    A California federal jury on Friday determined that Qualcomm spin-off Omnitracs is entitled to $19.3 million in lost profits and a $140,000 royalty after a former executive's new company willfully infringed one of its fleet management software patents, but cleared it of infringing two other patents.

  • July 19, 2024

    House IP Committee Heads Unveil Drug Pricing Bill

    Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Hank Johnson, D-Ga., respectively the chair and top Democrat of the House intellectual property subcommittee, on Friday introduced a new bill that would change patent law to increase competition in the prescription drug market in order to lower patient costs.

  • July 19, 2024

    14 NBA Teams Hit With Copyright Suits Over Songs In Videos

    Fourteen NBA teams have been hit with complaints by several music companies that accuse the basketball franchises of using copyrighted songs in promotional videos without permission, according to lawsuits in Manhattan federal court.

  • July 19, 2024

    Jury Finds Booking.com Owes Ryanair $5K For Data Scraping

    Irish discount airline Ryanair has convinced a Delaware federal jury to find that online travel website giant Booking.com should pay $5,000 for using screen scraping software in a way that ran afoul of computer fraud laws, which the airline likened to "internet piracy."

  • July 19, 2024

    Judge Tosses Traders' Counterclaims In Trade Secrets Case

    A Manhattan federal judge has ruled that Millennium Management LLC and two of its employees cannot yet use the federal trade secrets law to claim attorney fees with their allegation that investment firm Jane Street Group LLC sued them in bad faith over a proprietary trading strategy.

  • July 19, 2024

    Boehringer Looks To Toss Inhaler Antitrust Case

    Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals Inc. urged a Massachusetts federal court to toss a proposed class action accusing it of blocking generic versions of two inhaler medications, saying it has valid patents protecting the products.

  • July 19, 2024

    Temple U.'s Ken Jacobsen On NCAA-House Deal, What's Next

    Even with a deal of such size and consequence — approximately $2.8 billion, more than 184,000 athletes in the class, all the Power Five conferences named and with decades of court rulings leading up to it — the settlement over name, image and likeness compensation in the Grant House-led class action against the NCAA is best seen as a beginning, rather than an end.

  • July 19, 2024

    PTAB Invalidates Claims In Amsted Railcar Patent

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has wiped out several claims in an Amsted Rail Co. Inc. patent covering a way of monitoring the performance of railcars, after the patent had become the subject of a suit between the railcar parts manufacturer and a former executive.

  • July 19, 2024

    Fla. Man Charged With Selling Fake Tribal Jewelry In Wis.

    A Florida man has been charged with several fraud-related counts after he was allegedly caught selling fake Native American jewelry at arts and crafts shows across the country, according to a grand jury indictment handed down in Wisconsin federal court.

  • July 19, 2024

    Calif. Alice Invalidations Block Koss' PTAB Appeal At Fed. Circ.

    The Federal Circuit on Friday said it won't review whether the Patent Trial and Appeal Board rightfully invalidated some claims of Koss Corp.'s wireless earphone patents, as the patents were definitively invalidated in California.

  • July 19, 2024

    Shoemaker Asks Court To Trim Birkenstock Copycat Claim

    A judge said Friday that she couldn't tell the difference between several popular styles of Birkenstock sandals and alleged "knockoff" versions made by a New Hampshire company based on photos, signaling potential trouble for the defendant in a trademark infringement lawsuit by the German footwear-maker.

  • July 19, 2024

    A Guide To The USPTO's Long List Of Requests For Comment

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has kept attorneys busy this year by seeking input on numerous patent issues and proposed rules. Here's a cheat sheet to the topics where feedback has been collected, from fee hikes to director reviews, and those with upcoming comment deadlines, including artificial intelligence.

  • July 19, 2024

    McCarter & English Pushes To End Biotech Malpractice Row

    McCarter & English LLP faced accusations Friday in New Jersey state court that it was making "fictitious" defenses in a malpractice suit by a biotechnology company, saying in response that it was being treated as a "scapegoat."

  • July 19, 2024

    Off The Bench: Trial Time For Jerry Jones, Sunday Ticket Row

    In this week's Off The Bench, Jerry Jones' legal battle with the woman claiming to be his daughter reaches a courtroom, Sunday Ticket subscribers clap back at the NFL, and soccer fans go after the stadium they could not enter for the Copa America final.

  • July 19, 2024

    Judge Recuses As Tech Firm Slams Dow Chemical's Request

    An Ohio federal judge has recused himself from a trade secrets case brought against Dow Chemical Co. after the technology firm that sued it showed the court a settlement offer without approval that would grant Dow Chemical's recusal motion, which the tech firm said was a "cavalier approach to a drastic remedy."

  • July 19, 2024

    Calif. Firm Beats Rival's Claims In 'Sweet Justice' TM Fight

    A California federal court on Thursday nixed a personal injury firm's countersuit against its rival in a battle over the trademark use of the term "Sweet Justice," ruling that the firm's counterclaims are a "mirror-image" of the underlying suit.

  • July 19, 2024

    Apple Wants Litigation Funder To Explain Role In Patent Row

    Apple Inc. wants a Delaware federal judge to order litigation funder Omni Bridgeway LLC to turn over documents explaining its relationship with Finnish company MPH Technologies Oy and its financial interest in MPH's ongoing patent litigation against Apple in California.

  • July 19, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen a libel clash between comedian Paul Currie and the Soho Theatre Company over allegations of anti-semitism, technology giant Huawei face a patents claim by Mediatek, Westfield Europe pursue action against Clearpay Finance for contract breaches and tour operating company Carnival hit chartered airline Maleth Aero for significant flight delays. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • July 18, 2024

    Abbott Wins Trust Asset Freeze To Collect $33M In TM Fight

    A New York federal judge has agreed to freeze trusts tied to a couple who owe Abbott Laboratories $33.4 million in sprawling trademark litigation over gray-market diabetes test strips, finding an asset freeze is necessary due to the defendants' "pervasive and repeated" use of the trusts for personal expenses and gambling.

  • July 18, 2024

    CoComelon Seeks Atty Fees And Sanctions After $23M IP Win

    The company behind the popular children's YouTube channel CoComelon urged a California federal judge Thursday to follow up its $23.4 million copyright trial win by ordering a Chinese rival to pay an additional $6.5 million in attorney fees and costs, plus $1 million more for the rival's litigation misconduct.

Expert Analysis

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

    Author Photo

    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Businesses Should Take Their AI Contracts Off Auto-Renew

    Author Photo

    When subscribing to artificial intelligence tools — or to any technology in a highly competitive and legally thorny market — companies should push back on automatic renewal contract clauses for reasons including litigation and regulatory risk, and competition, says Chris Wlach at Huge Inc.

  • Del. IP Ruling May Mark Limitation-By-Limitation Analysis Shift

    Author Photo

    A Delaware federal court's recent ruling in Lindis Biotech v. Amgen, which involved complex technology where the complaint contained neither facts nor a specific allegation directed to a claim limitation, might spark a shift away from requiring a limitation-by-limitation analysis, say Ted Mathias and Ian Swan at Axinn.

  • Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy

    Author Photo

    The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Cell Therapy Cos. Must Beware Limits Of Patent Safe Harbors

    Author Photo

    Though developers of gene and cell therapy products commonly assume that a legal safe harbor protects them from patent infringement suits, recent case law shows that not all preapproval uses of patented technology are necessarily protected, say Natasha Daughtrey and Joshua Weinger at Goodwin.

  • ITC Ruling Has Serious IP Implications For Foreign Imports

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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

    Author Photo

    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.

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!