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Intellectual Property
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Featured
Vidal's Sanctions Make It Clear: Don't Mess With The PTAB
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has only faced a handful of instances where sanctions took center stage, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director's rulings have made attorneys increasingly aware that pushing ethical boundaries at the board could put their cases and their careers at risk.
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August 15, 2024
Eminem Publisher Chided By Judge In Losing Spotify IP Fight
A Tennessee federal judge on Thursday granted summary judgment to Spotify in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by Eminem's music publisher, with the judge chiding the music publisher for using a "wait-and-sue strategy" to increase the potential damages owed by the music-streaming behemoth.
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August 15, 2024
Baker Botts, Sumner Schick $14M Fee Hit As 'Unreasonable'
Baker Botts LLP and Sumner Schick LLP's request for $14.3 million in attorney fees plus $1.8 million in costs following their client Computer Sciences Corp.'s $168.4 million trade secrets verdict against Tata Consultancy Services is "facially unreasonable," the consulting firm told a Texas federal judge Wednesday.
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August 15, 2024
Philips' Fitness Tracker Patent Suit Is Back On Course
The Federal Circuit on Thursday breathed new life into a patent suit by electronics giant Philips targeting fitness trackers made by Garmin.
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August 15, 2024
Hytera Says Diligent Radio Retool Should Head Off Contempt
Hytera Communications Corp. Ltd. says it should not be held in contempt for allegedly failing to pay Motorola Solutions royalties on mobile radios it redesigned after getting slapped with a trade secret theft verdict, arguing that evidence proves that Hytera redesigned its products "module by module, line by line."
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August 15, 2024
Nvidia Illegally Scraped Videos To Train AI, YouTuber Says
Artifical intelligence technology titan Nvidia Corp. has been collecting millions of YouTube videos without creators' permission and using them to train its deep-learning AI software, according to a proposed class action filed Wednesday in California federal court.
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August 15, 2024
Trump's Use Of Isaac Hayes Song Sparks IP Political Tension
Donald Trump’s habit of closing his speeches with the song "Hold On (I’m Coming)” has angered the family of the late legendary soul singer Isaac Hayes, the latest election-year example of political candidates upsetting artists or their families who don’t want their music associated with a particular campaign.
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August 15, 2024
Yearbook Site Has 'Tortured View' Of Suit Waiver, Judge Says
A Washington federal judge criticized the company behind Classmates.com on Thursday for arguing someone could've waived their right to sue the company for using their photo without ever visiting the website, calling it a "tortured view" of the Terms of Services language.
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August 15, 2024
You Can Drive 100 Miles, Albright Tells Texas Instruments
Dallas-based Texas Instruments Inc. failed Thursday to persuade U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas to let a patent lawsuit leave his jurisdiction, in part because of the "less than 100 miles" between Waco and the federal courthouse in Dallas.
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August 15, 2024
'What Is An NFT?': 9th Circ. Mulls Novel Bored Ape TM Fight
A Ninth Circuit judge considering whether a trial court correctly found artists owe millions for ripping off trademarks on the Bored Ape Yacht Club nonfungible token collection questioned Thursday whether the NFT market is comparable to typical consumer markets, rhetorically asking, "What are we even talking about? What is an NFT?"
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August 15, 2024
Juul License Doesn't Negate R.J. Reynolds' Royalties, Altria Says
The parent company of Philip Morris is pushing back on what it described as a delayed bid by R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. to skirt paying royalties on a pod-style vape, telling a North Carolina federal court that an "after-the-fact sublicense" with Juul isn't enough to undo the ongoing payments.
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August 15, 2024
Ex-Mushroomhead Singer Sues Bandmate Over Royalties
The co-founder of metal band Mushroomhead has filed a copyright infringement and breach of contract suit in Ohio federal court accusing his fellow co-founder of failing to pay him royalties and income from tours and merchandise sales, and failing to rightfully attribute his ownership of many of the band's original musical works.
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August 15, 2024
No Dismissal Yet In Dispute Over Education Law Firm TM
A Philadelphia-based education law firm's suit seeking to cancel registration for its competitor's trademark "The Education Lawyers" must continue because open questions remain, a Pennsylvania federal judge said.
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August 15, 2024
Texas Trio Willfully Stole Lewis Brisbois Name, Judge Says
A Texas mediation service that named itself after BigLaw behemoth Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP and told the firm to "come and take it" has infringed Lewis Brisbois' trademark and must pay its attorney fees from the bitter suit, which racked up over 300 docket entries in under two years, a Texas federal judge has ruled.
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August 15, 2024
Pharma Co. TM Dispute Doesn't Belong In Florida, Judge Says
A trademark lawsuit between two drug companies with similar names does not belong in a Florida federal court, a judge in West Palm Beach has ruled.
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August 15, 2024
Partners Stole Dairy Product Co.'s Trade Secrets, Suit Says
A dairy farm products company has filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts federal court claiming its manufacturing and distribution partners used its trade secrets to develop and sell a competing line of infection prevention offerings.
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August 15, 2024
Delaware Judge Sends Tracking Tech IP Dispute To California
A Delaware federal judge sent a patent infringement suit brought by a company that sells truck driver tracking software to California federal court, questioning in her opinion whether the company "ever fully intended" to pursue its claims in the First State in the first place.
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August 14, 2024
Gilstrap Can't Keep IP Case Top Secret, Federal Circuit Told
Law professors and media groups are backing a nonprofit's legal quest at the Federal Circuit to unseal documents in a since-concluded patent lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas, arguing that keeping patent cases secret harms the public interest.
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August 14, 2024
Fla. Gratuity Platform Alleges Toast Stole Trade Secrets
Gratuity Solutions LLC accused Boston-based Toast Inc. of misappropriating trade secrets in a lawsuit brought Wednesday in Florida federal court, alleging that executives from the point-of-sale software company stole confidential information after a failed bid to merge the two companies.
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August 14, 2024
Cannabis Fertilizer Co. Says Rival Stole IP For Fake THC Study
A company that sells fertilizer to commercial cannabis growers has claimed a competitor used its trademarks as part of an unsanctioned co-branding campaign and on THC lab testing reports that falsely advertise its products as less effective, according to a suit filed in Washington federal court.
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August 14, 2024
Texas Atty Must Pay Volkswagen $200K In Fees For Patent Suit
A Texas federal judge has ordered litigation firm VDPP LLC and its counsel, Texas attorney William Ramey III of Ramey LLP, to pay Volkswagen $207,543 in fees stemming from a now-dismissed patent case after determining a fee multiplier that applies to "exceptional" cases was appropriate due to the suit's "obvious lack of merit."
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August 14, 2024
Novartis' $45B Biz Can Survive If Generic Debuts, Judge Says
A D.C. federal judge told Novartis to stop acting like it would be destroyed financially by having a generic version of its best-selling drug Entresto enter the market, saying the drugmaker will be fine if it loses $3 billion in U.S. sales out of its $45 billion global revenue.
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August 14, 2024
AstraZeneca Freed From $107.5M Verdict In Pfizer Patent Case
A federal judge on Wednesday overturned a Delaware jury verdict that AstraZeneca owes $107.5 million for infringing two cancer drug patents owned by a Pfizer unit, concluding that both patents are invalid for failing to provide sufficient information about the invention.
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August 14, 2024
Boeing Scraps Electric Jet Co.'s $72M Trade Secrets Trial Win
A Washington federal judge on Wednesday canceled a $72 million jury award against The Boeing Co. for misappropriating electric jet startup Zunum Aero Inc.'s trade secrets, finding Zunum offered "only vague and amorphous descriptions" of the trade secrets at trial.
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August 14, 2024
Fed. Circ. Says Fla. Judge 'Misread' Precedent In Elfbar Row
The maker of the popular Elfbar vape will get another shot at upending a court-imposed order banning it from selling under the "Elf" mark, the Federal Circuit ruled Wednesday, saying the district judge who ordered the injunction "misread" precedent and relied on a "deficient" legal analysis.
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August 14, 2024
Netgear Says Scammer Used Its TMs To Defraud Customers
An alleged online scammer is using Netgear Inc.'s trademarks to trick the computer networking company's customers into thinking they are buying products and services from Netgear itself, according to the company's $4 million complaint alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition.
Editor's Picks
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Fed. Circ.'s Fight With Newman: A Year In Review
One year has passed since it came to light that the Federal Circuit's judges were investigating whether their colleague, U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, was mentally competent to remain on the court. In that time, Judge Newman has garnered support from many in the patent community, but has faced a series of setbacks in her legal challenges.
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Why IP Attys Are Watching This $2B Trade Secrets Battle
A case of alleged corporate espionage involving two software companies that resulted in a $2 billion verdict has all the hallmarks of a legal thriller, and attorneys are watching the appeal closely to see how it could impact trade secrets litigation.
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Trials After PTAB Invalidity Rulings Present Tricky Issues
A recent case illustrates that Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions finding patents invalid do not necessarily preclude a district court from holding an infringement trial on the same patents, though attorneys say such a scenario could raise some challenging issues.
Expert Analysis
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How Courts Split On Damages Analysis In Automotive Suits
As high-profile vehicle recalls and lawsuits alleging vehicle defects surge, many plaintiffs are turning to choice-based conjoint analysis to calculate damages, but a review of federal district court decisions reveals a range of views on the validity of this methodology, say Joshua Hochberg and Shireen Meer at Berkeley Research.
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2 Vital Trial Principles Endure Amid Tech Advances
Progress in trial technologies in the last 10 years has been transformative for courtroom presentations, but two core communication axioms are still relevant in today's world of drone footage evidence and 3D animations, say Adam Bloomberg and Lisa Walters at IMS Legal Strategies.
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7th Circ. Ruling Sheds Light On Extraterritoriality In IP Law
A recent Seventh Circuit decision involving the Defend Trade Secrets Act, allowing for broader international application of trade secrets laws, highlights a difference in how trade secrets are treated compared to other areas of intellectual property law, say Armin Ghiam and Maria Montenegro-Bernardo at Hunton.
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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
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Daubert Motion Trends In Patent Cases Reveal Damages Shift
A review of all 2023 Daubert decisions in patent cases reveals certain trends and insights, and highlights the complexity and diversity in these cases, particularly in relation to lost profits and reasonable royalty damages opinions, say Sherry Zhang and Joanne Johnson at Ocean Tomo.
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6 Factors That Can Make For A 'Nuclear' Juror
Drawing from recent research that examines the rise in nuclear verdicts, Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies identifies a few juror characteristics most likely to matter in assessing case risk and preparing for jury selection — some of which are long-known, and others that are emerging post-pandemic.
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Series
Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.
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Considerations When Using Publicly Available Data To Train AI
To maximize the benefits and mitigate the risks of using publicly available data to train artificial intelligence models, companies should maintain a balance between openness and protection, and consider certain best practices, says Michael Cole at Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America.
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Parsing NJ Court's Rationale For Denying Lipitor Class Cert.
A New Jersey federal court's recent Lipitor rulings granting summary judgment and denying motions for class certification for two plaintiff classes offer insight into the level of rigorous analysis required by both parties and their experts to satisfy the requirements of class certification, says Catia Twal at Edgeworth Economics.
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Opinion
USPTO AI Patent Guidance Leaves Questions Unanswered
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recent guidance on artificial intelligence patent eligibility is unlikely to answer many of the open questions that AI patent applicants face, as it includes nominally new analysis that applicants can adopt to analyze their inventions, say attorneys at Fenwick & West.
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Gilead Drug Ruling Creates Corporate Governance Dilemma
If upheld, a California state appellate court's decision — finding that Gilead is liable for delaying commercialization of a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on another drug — threatens to undermine long-standing rules of corporate law and exposes companies to liability for decisions based on sound business judgment, says Shireen Barday at Pallas.
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Jarkesy Ruling May Redefine Jury Role In Patent Fraud
Regardless of whether the U.S. Supreme Court’s Jarkesy ruling implicates the direction of inequitable conduct, which requires showing that the patentee made material statements or omissions to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the decision has created opportunities for defendants to argue more substantively for jury trials than ever before, say attorneys at Cadwalader.
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3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture
Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.
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Attorneys Can Benefit From Reverse-Engineering Their Cases
Trial advocacy programs often teach lawyers to loosely track the progression of a lawsuit during preparation — case analysis, then direct examination, then cross-examination, openings and closings — but reverse-engineering cases by working backward from opening and closing statements can streamline the process and also improve case strategy, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Opinion
Chevron Reversal May Protect IP Rights Under Bayh-Dole
The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of Chevron deference may block the Biden administration's nearly finalized guidance reinterpreting the Bayh-Dole Act, protecting intellectual property rights and preventing harm to innovation and economic activity, says Brian O'Shaughnessy at Dinsmore & Shohl.