Intellectual Property

  • December 02, 2024

    Pot Co. Says Ex-Director Shared Secrets With Ex-Partner

    Cannabis cultivator Curaleaf Inc. and a subsidiary are suing a former director of operations, accusing him of sharing confidential information with a former business partner, among other alleged contract breaches.

  • December 02, 2024

    Miss America CEO Files $500M Suit Alleging Bankruptcy Fraud

    The producer of the Miss America pageant and its related entities have filed a $500 million racketeering suit in Florida accusing developer Glenn Straub of fraudulently pushing the organization into bankruptcy in an effort to take over its assets.

  • December 02, 2024

    Pool Co. Says Rival CEO Fled To China To Duck Paying $16M

    A bankrupt Chinese pool parts supplier has been accused by an American competitor of going to great lengths to skirt a $16 million false advertising and unfair business practices judgment in continued violation of court orders, including allegedly funneling assets and allowing its owner to flee to China.

  • November 27, 2024

    Starbucks, Baker Botts Partner Accused Of Defaming Inventor

    An executive for a patent-licensing company that's pursuing infringement litigation against numerous restaurants over a patent that lets customers place mobile orders using a real-time menu that can make personalized suggestions accused Starbucks and its Baker Botts LLP attorney in a lawsuit Wednesday of making defamatory statements about him.

  • November 27, 2024

    PTAB Finds Hormone Treatment Patent Claims Invalid

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. was able to show that all the claims in a patent owned by biotechnology company Spruce Biosciences Inc. relating to the treatment of a hormonal disorder were invalid.

  • November 27, 2024

    'Vanderpump Rules' Star Neglecting Her TM Case, Judge Says

    A California federal judge says Bravo TV star Lala Kent missed a deadline for moving forward with a trademark case against a cosmetics consultant accused of running the "Give Them Lala" brand without her permission.

  • November 27, 2024

    Full Fed. Circ. Urged To Set Tighter Rules On Patent Damages

    Numerous major companies and industry groups have asked the full Federal Circuit to rule that district judges must carefully scrutinize expert testimony seeking large damages in patent cases and exclude unreliable opinions, rather than allowing juries to decide how much weight to give them.

  • November 27, 2024

    Comcast Foe Warns Fed. Circ. About Patent Testimony Ruling

    A small California tech company is arguing that a Federal Circuit panel created a "rigid new rule" when a panel majority upheld a decision rejecting so-called "because I said so" trial testimony from the company's expert in patent infringement litigation against Comcast's Xfinity app.

  • November 27, 2024

    Deloitte Posed As Consultant To Steal Vax Software, Suit Says

    An inventor has accused Deloitte Consulting LLP in New York federal court of stealing her proprietary vaccination management system and securing a multimillion-dollar government contract for rolling out COVID-19 vaccines, saying the firm colluded with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to pilfer the technology.

  • November 27, 2024

    Citi Gets TRO On Banker Accused Of Poaching Atty Clients

    A California federal judge on Tuesday granted Citibank NA's request for a temporary restraining order against one of its former bankers who it alleges jumped to a rival with confidential information on law firm and attorney clients, but denied the request regarding a second banker as "too speculative."

  • November 27, 2024

    AI Co. Seeks To Dismiss Actors' Class Action Over Voice Use

    A startup that makes software to create voice-over narrations has asked a Manhattan federal judge to dismiss an amended class action that accuses the company of using actors' voices without permission, saying the updated complaint takes a "kitchen-sink approach" by adding several claims but "very few new relevant facts."

  • November 27, 2024

    Miss America Ch. 11 Dismissal Hearing To Wait For Event

    A hearing on a motion to dismiss the Chapter 11 case of an entity tied to the Miss America pageant will wait until after the competition wraps up in January, a Florida bankruptcy judge ruled Wednesday, allowing for discovery among two parties disputing the proper ownership of the organization.

  • November 27, 2024

    Vidal Lays Out Reasoning For Reviving Lighting IP Challenge

    Binding Luminex International Co. Ltd. to one of its customers in a way that would block the company from challenging a Signify Holdings BV lighting patent at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board could lead to situations of patent owners launching infringement suits to dodge certain patent challenges, the head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has found.

  • November 27, 2024

    Ford Can't Throw Out $13M IP Verdict, InterMotive Says

    California-based vehicle technology supplier InterMotive Inc. has urged a Michigan federal judge not to touch a $13 million verdict it won after a jury found Ford profited from the misappropriation of a trade secret related to its interface module, saying the jurors made their decision based on sufficient evidence.

  • November 27, 2024

    Injury Law Firm Accuses Rival Of Stealing 'Call Sam' Slogan

    Michigan-based personal injury law firm Sam Bernstein Law has launched a trademark infringement lawsuit in California federal court against rival personal injury law firm Sam & Ash LLP, alleging its competitor has ripped off its longtime advertising taglines, "Call Sam" and "1-800-Call-Sam."

  • November 27, 2024

    Better, Faster, Stranger: What Attys Think Of Our AI Future

    Law firms are increasingly embracing the use of artificial intelligence, wary of its limitations but enchanted by its potential to transform the practice of law through smaller headcounts and cheaper litigation.

  • November 27, 2024

    IP Atty, Wife Say Mich. Pot Co.'s Defamation Suit Is Too Old

    A Montana intellectual property attorney and his wife have urged a Michigan federal judge to dismiss a cannabis company's lawsuit alleging the couple posted falsehoods about the business on social media and made false tips to Michigan cannabis authorities, arguing that the claims are time-barred.

  • November 27, 2024

    Ballard Spahr Hires Fintech Assistant GC In Atlanta

    Ballard Spahr LLP has brought on the assistant general counsel for financial technology company Fidelity National Information Services Inc. to its Atlanta office, strengthening its intellectual property litigation focus with an attorney who has litigated patents extensively.

  • November 26, 2024

    X Partially Revives Lawsuit Against Israeli Data Scraping Firm

    X Corp. partially revived its lawsuit Tuesday against Israeli data scraping firm Bright Data after a California federal judge allowed the social media company to amend some of its claims and add new ones, finding X now plausibly alleges the defendant's "sophisticated efforts" to access the platform caused harm.

  • November 26, 2024

    Patent Biz Cleans Up $10M Jury Verdict From Scrubber Maker

    A Minnesota company that makes commercial floor scrubbers was ordered by a jury to pay a little under $10 million to a small licensing company that owns reissued patents that cover the idea of using "tiny bubbles" as a way of "oxygenating flowing water."

  • November 26, 2024

    Apple, Shyamalan Can't Dodge IP Suit Over 'Servant' Series

    A California federal judge refused to toss an indie director's claims that filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan copied her movie to make a TV show for Apple TV+, agreeing with the Ninth Circuit that the issue of whether the two works are substantially similar will need to be resolved by a jury.

  • November 26, 2024

    Gilead Gets $31.8M In Calif. Case Over Counterfeit HIV Drugs

    Gilead Sciences Inc. has won nearly $32 million in a case involving a scheme to wrongfully repackage HIV treatments and sell them off as counterfeit Gilead products, a California federal judge has ruled.

  • November 26, 2024

    Judge Heads Off Misleading Solicitation In NCAA NIL Deal

    The California federal judge overseeing the NCAA name, image and likeness class action that is nearing closure issued guidelines Tuesday for third-party servicing companies offering to help student athletes secure their portion of a preliminarily approved $2.78 billion settlement.

  • November 26, 2024

    Oracle Says Crypto Co. Is Flouting 2020 Settlement Of TM Suit

    Oracle Corp. claimed in a trademark infringement lawsuit filed in California federal court that cryptocurrency consulting company Crypto Oracle has resumed using the "Crypto Oracle" name four years after it agreed to stop using the "Oracle" marks in an earlier suit from Oracle Corp.

  • November 26, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Review Rejection Of Dish's $3.9M Fees Award

    The full Federal Circuit declined Tuesday to reconsider a panel's ruling that vacated a $3.9 million attorney fees award to Dish Network for its successful defense against a Realtime Adaptive Streaming patent suit.

Expert Analysis

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

  • Breaking Down Director Review Timing At The PTAB

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    Attorneys at Fish & Richardson examine the complexities of director review of a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling, including timelines for requests and decisions, and how these factors influence related district court cases.

  • Calif. Bill, NTIA Report Illustrate Open-Model AI Safety Debate

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    The National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s balanced recommendations for preventing misuse of open artificial intelligence models, contrasted with a more aggressive California bill, demonstrate an evolving regulatory debate about balancing democratic access to this powerful new technology against potential risks to the public, say Stuart Meyer and Fredrick Tsang at Fenwick.

  • Behind 3rd Circ. Ruling On College Athletes' FLSA Eligibility

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    The Third Circuit's decision that college athletes are not precluded from bringing a claim under the Fair Labor Standards Act raises key questions about the practical consequences of treating collegiate athletes as employees, such as Title IX equal pay claims and potential eligibility for all employment benefits, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Patent Lessons From 4 Federal Circuit Reversals In July

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    The Federal Circuit’s July reversal of four cases, all of which were Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions, highlights lessons for patent practitioners regarding the scope of estoppel provisions, potential issues with obtaining certain substitute claims, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.

  • Video Game Release Highlights TM Pitfalls Of App Store

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    The upcoming release of poker video game Balatro in Apple's App Store underscores the tradeoff of keyword advertising and trademark protection for indie developers who, unlike corporate counterparts, lack resources but seek to maximize the reach of their game, say Parmida Enkeshafi and Simon Pulman at Pryor Cashman.

  • 5 Credibility Lessons Trial Attys Can Learn From Harris' Run

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    In launching a late-stage campaign for president, Vice President Kamala Harris must seize upon fresh attention from voters to establish, or reestablish, credibility — a challenge that parallels and provides takeaways for trial attorneys, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • Patent Owner Estoppel Questions In The Wake Of SoftView

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's seldom-litigated Rule 42.73(d)(3) on Patent Trial and Appeal Board estoppel was recently brought to the forefront in the Federal Circuit's SoftView v. Apple decision, highlighting uncertainties in this aspect of patent practice, say David Haars and Richard Crudo at Sterne Kessler.

  • Copyright Termination Opinion Departs From Long-Held Views

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    In Vetter v. Resnik, a federal court recently held for the first time that termination rights under Section 304 of the Copyright Act recapture domestic and foreign rights where the original grant was for "worldwide" rights — misinterpreting a basic principle of international copyright treaties, say Rebecca Benyamin and Eric J. Schwartz at Mitchell Silberberg.

  • 3 Patent Considerations For America's New Quantum Hub

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    Recent developments signal an incredibly bright future for Chicago as the new home of quantum computing, and it is crucial that these innovators — whose technology has the potential to transform many industries — prioritize intellectual property strategy, says Andrew Velzen at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Creates New Rule For Certification Marks

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    The Federal Circuit's decision last month in Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac v. Cologne & Cognac Entertainment is significant in that it establishes a new standard for assessing evidence of third-party uses of a certification mark in deciding whether the mark is famous, say Samantha Katze and Lisa Rosaya at Manatt.

  • A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President

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    For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • 11 Patent Cases To Watch At Fed. Circ. And High Court

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    As we head into fall, there are 11 patent cases to monitor, touching on a range of issues that could affect patent strategy, such as biotech innovation, administrative rulemaking and patent eligibility, say Edward Lanquist and Wesley Barbee at Baker Donelson.

  • Why India May Become A Major Patent Litigation Forum

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    India is reinventing itself with the goal of becoming a global hot spot for patent litigation, with recent developments at the Delhi High Court creating incentives for plaintiffs to assert patent rights in India, say Ranganath Sudarshan at Covington and IP litigator Udit Sood.

  • Opinion

    To Lower Drug Prices, Harris Must Address Patent Thickets

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    If Vice President Kamala Harris is serious about her pledge to address high drug prices, she must begin by closing loopholes that allow pharmaceutical companies to develop patent thickets that can deter generic or biosimilar companies from entering the market, says Tahir Amin at the Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge.

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