Intellectual Property

  • December 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Judge Condemns 'Nonsense' Law In Antibody Fight

    U.S. Circuit Judge Todd Hughes called the Federal Circuit's case law on interpreting preambles in patent claims "nonsense" on Wednesday, expressing frustration as a panel tried to work through whether Xencor Inc.'s antibody patent application was too broad.

  • December 04, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs NY Judge In Freeing Meta From Patent Suit

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday wouldn't revive a software company's suit claiming Meta Platforms Inc. infringed patents on digital data storage and organization, agreeing with a decision that the evidence couldn't back a finding that the Meta features at issue covered all parts of the patent claims.

  • December 03, 2024

    Samsung Foe Wants More Money After $192M Patent Win

    A small Silicon Valley outfit that makes wireless chargers wants U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap to potentially triple the $192 million willful infringement verdict the company won against Samsung, citing the smartphone maker's "egregious" conduct during trial in Texas federal court in Marshall.

  • December 03, 2024

    Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action

    December's appellate forecast calls for a squall of showdowns in a tiny time period before the holidays, including arguments involving recent U.S. Supreme Court cases, Big Tech's patents and popular purveyors of health food. In addition, winds of change are swirling around the White House's litigation posture and judicial nominations, and we'll quiz you on the latter in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing.

  • December 03, 2024

    Bearing Maker Settles With RTX, Rival In Trade Secrets Case

    A Connecticut roller bearing company has settled its lawsuits accusing military supplier RTX and a competitor of misusing trade secrets related to the design of a U.S. military bomb, after earlier delays in reaching an agreement.

  • December 03, 2024

    Meta, Jawbone Strike Deal Ending VR Headset Patent Case

    Meta Inc. said Tuesday it has reached a settlement with Jawbone Innovations to end a lawsuit in Texas federal court claiming its virtual reality headsets infringe a series of Jawbone's patents.

  • December 03, 2024

    USPTO Abandons Polarizing Proposal Over Double Patenting

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has withdrawn an extremely controversial proposal tied to double patenting, citing "resource constraints" in a Federal Register notice set to be published Wednesday.

  • December 03, 2024

    OpenAI Must Disclose Execs' Messages To News Orgs.

    The New York Times, Daily News, other news organizations and writers can gain access to the social media messages of executives at OpenAI in their litigation accusing the company of using copyright-protected material to train ChatGPT after a New York judge rejected efforts to block the disclosure of the messages.

  • December 03, 2024

    Fla. Vape Maker Sues Colo. Rival Alleging Infringed Patent

    Florida-based VPR Brands LP sued O.Pen Vape LLC in Colorado federal court on Tuesday, alleging that the Colorado-based seller is distributing electronic cigarettes that infringe a VPR patent.

  • December 03, 2024

    Vidal Aimed To Put USPTO Rulemaking In The Spotlight

    Kathi Vidal's tenure as director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has been marked by dedication to making the agency's decisions and processes more transparent, attorneys said ahead of her mid-December departure.

  • December 03, 2024

    2nd Circ. Says It's Too Late To Fight Over Funkadelic Songs

    The Second Circuit has decided that it's a few decades too late for the courts to weigh in on a "genuine" copyright dispute between two feuding record labels that both claim to own some songs written by Funkadelic bandleader George Clinton in the late 1960s.

  • December 03, 2024

    Colo. Judge Says Oil Co. Misled Competitor In Patent Fight

    A federal magistrate judge in Colorado has recommended that an oil and gas equipment maker be sanctioned in a contentious patent dispute it brought against a rival business, finding the manufacturer knowingly misled the competitor about the priority dates for a trio of patents.

  • December 03, 2024

    Intel's License Fight With VLSI In Texas Gets May Trial Date

    A Texas federal judge has set a May trial date for Intel's claim that it already has a license to VLSI's chip patents in their multibillion-dollar dispute.

  • December 03, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Vehicle Security Patent Suit

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday backed a lower court's finding that a vehicle security patent owned by consumer electronics company VOXX International Corp. was invalid as abstract, handing a win to a company it targeted in an infringement suit.

  • December 03, 2024

    No Standing In 'Threadbare' Voice Assistant Suit, Google Says

    Google wants a D.C. federal judge to toss a lawsuit accusing the tech giant of blocking rival voice assistant products from running on Android and other devices, contending that the complaint has failed to articulate an injury "with even a modicum of detail."

  • December 03, 2024

    Nike Drops $4M Damages Bid In Air Jordan Knockoff Suit

    Nike has dropped its bid for $4 million in damages from a small clothing company and its founder, who were blocked by a New Jersey federal judge last month from selling knockoffs of the brand's iconic Air Jordan 1 High sneakers.

  • December 02, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Questions Reynolds' Bid To Undo $95M Patent Loss

    The Federal Circuit probed R.J. Reynolds' challenge to a $95 million damages award against it for infringing Philip Morris' vape patents, questioning Monday the company's argument that the amount was not supported by the evidence.

  • December 02, 2024

    Judge Isn't Seeing 'Good Faith' Compliance In Probiotic Feud

    A Maryland federal judge said Monday that a drug company is, yet again, failing to make "good faith substantial compliance" with the terms of an injunction that followed a $15 million jury verdict in a dispute over a proprietary probiotic formula.

  • December 02, 2024

    PTAB Presses Play On Playrix's Challenge To Video Game IP

    A ruling from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director changing the meaning of a claim in a video game patent was enough for the agency's administrative board to now move forward with a challenge over patented software cited in a Texas lawsuit lodged against mobile game developer Playrix.

  • December 02, 2024

    Influencer Hasn't Shown She's 'Special' In IP Row, Rival Says

    An influencer hasn't backed up her claims that she's "unique" and "special" in her case accusing a competitor of copying her social media aesthetic, the rival told a Texas federal court, asking it to reject a magistrate judge's recommendations to keep much of the case alive.

  • December 02, 2024

    Filmmaker Says He Didn't Infringe IP With Beirut Documentary

    An independent filmmaker and his company have launched a suit in Ohio federal court seeking a declaration that they never infringed any copyright owned by a nonprofit while making a documentary about the 1983 U.S. Marine barracks bombings in Beirut.

  • December 02, 2024

    ByteDance Says Ex-Worker Can't Avoid Counterclaims

    TikTok's parent company, ByteDance, says a former engineer shouldn't be able to dodge its counterclaims in a dispute stemming from his termination, arguing that just because he wants to drop his allegations doesn't mean those counterclaims are moot.

  • December 02, 2024

    Nvidia, Microsoft Accused Of Delay Game In AI Chip Fight

    Nvidia and Microsoft have traded barbs with a startup over its bid to put a 2025 trial on the calendar in its patent infringement and antitrust suit against them, telling a Texas federal court that the startup is trying to "barrel through the case" and eliciting accusations that they're playing a delay game.

  • December 02, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Affirms PTAB's Ax Of Telecom Patent Claims

    Federal Circuit judges decided Monday to keep intact three patent board decisions that had knocked out claims in a patent issued to Dutch mobile telecom developer Koninklijke KPN NV that covered a way of regulating access to a telecommunications network.

  • December 02, 2024

    NY Knicks, Rangers Sue Over Counterfeit Merch Vendors

    The New York Knicks and Rangers asked a Manhattan federal judge Monday to order unknown sellers of counterfeit team merchandise to cease their bootlegging activity during basketball and hockey games at Madison Square Garden.

Expert Analysis

  • Parsing NJ Court's Rationale For Denying Lipitor Class Cert.

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    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.

  • Opinion

    USPTO AI Patent Guidance Leaves Questions Unanswered

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    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.

  • Gilead Drug Ruling Creates Corporate Governance Dilemma

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    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.

  • Jarkesy Ruling May Redefine Jury Role In Patent Fraud

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    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.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    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.

  • Attorneys Can Benefit From Reverse-Engineering Their Cases

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    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.

  • Opinion

    Chevron Reversal May Protect IP Rights Under Bayh-Dole

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    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.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • How To Deploy AI In A Dangerous Threat Landscape

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    Businesses are feeling immense pressure to deploy generative artificial intelligence tools to accelerate profits and demonstrate their technological superiority to investors and consumers, and there are a few steps they can take when using AI tools to mitigate liability risks, say B. Stephanie Siegmann and Julianna Malogolowkin at Hinckley Allen.

  • Calif. Out-Of-State Noncompete Ban Faces Several Hurdles

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    California's attempt to bolster its noncompete law has encountered significant procedural and constitutional challenges, and litigating parties must carefully analyze not only the restrictive covenants contained in their agreements, but also the forum-selection and choice-of-law provisions, say Jennifer Redmond and Gal Gressel at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Defamation Suit Tests Lanham Act's Reach With Influencers

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    Recently filed in the Northern District of Texas, Prime Hydration v. Garcia, alleging defamation and Lanham Act violations based on the defendant's social media statements about the beverage brand, allows Texas courts and the Fifth Circuit to take the lead in interpreting the act as it applies to influencers, says attorney Susan Jorgensen.

  • Series

    Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.

  • Navigating The Murky Waters Of Patent Infringement Damages

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    Recent cases show that there is no easy way to isolate an infringed patent’s value, and it would serve all sides well for courts to thoroughly examine expert opinions of this nature and provide consistent guidance for future cases, say Manny Caixeiro and Elizabeth Manno at Venable.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

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