Intellectual Property

  • November 01, 2024

    Unisys Settles Trade Secrets Dispute with Ex-Execs

    Information technology firm Unisys Corp. has agreed to settle claims that two former executives swiped confidential information and trade secrets before departing to work for a competitor.

  • November 01, 2024

    IBM Settles $19.5M EDTX Case Over 'Blockchain' Software

    IBM told U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap on Friday that it has reached a settlement in principle with an Oklahoma litigation outfit that won a $19.5 million patent verdict from a federal jury in Marshall, Texas, back in September.

  • November 01, 2024

    Hip-Hop Artist Madlib Says Biz Manager Is Holding IP Hostage

    Hip-hop producer Madlib has filed suit in California state court alleging his longtime business manager has engaged in "rank self-dealing" and is now holding the artist's music and intellectual property rights hostage.

  • November 01, 2024

    Fracking Services Co. Nitro Gets OK For $3M Equipment Sale

    Oil and gas fracking services provider Nitro Fluids LLC received approval Friday for a $3.25 million sale of some of its assets to stalking-horse bidder KLX Energy Services LLC.

  • November 01, 2024

    2nd Circ. Agrees Ed Sheeran Didn't Rip Off 'Let's Get It On'

    A Second Circuit panel on Friday said Ed Sheeran's hit "Thinking Out Loud" did not rip off Marvin Gaye's Motown classic "Let's Get It On," affirming a lower court's summary judgment order that concluded the musical building blocks of Gaye's song were not original enough to be protectable.

  • November 01, 2024

    Jury To Decide Timing Issue In Insulin Patch Trade Secret Row

    A Massachusetts federal judge has refused to trim some allegations in Insulet Corp.'s suit alleging that a South Korean insulin pump patch manufacturer stole trade secrets, while finding that a jury needs to decide when the clock started to tick on a federal trade secrets claim.

  • November 01, 2024

    'Shark Tank' Sweatshirt Biz Wants Rival Sanctioned

    The startup company behind The Comfy, a large and heavy sweatshirt featured in an episode of "Shark Tank," asked an Arizona federal judge to sanction the founder of a company it won an $18 million verdict against for infringing multiple design patents and trademarks for allegedly continuing to sell his enjoined products.

  • November 01, 2024

    College Athletes' Attorney Rebuffs NIL Settlement Critics

    A key architect of the landmark antitrust settlement forcing the National Collegiate Athletic Association to pay over $2.7 billion and set up a revenue-sharing system for athletes defended the deal against a slew of objectors Friday, explaining that the arrangement delivers a windfall for the athletes as quickly as possible.

  • November 01, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen two industry magnates take on the Gambling Commission, Ordinance Survey hit with a claim from a Swiss GPS maker, and China's largest oil company PetroChina face a claim from a Polish documentary maker. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • November 01, 2024

    Off The Bench: Horse Racing Ruling Halted, Fla. Betting Deal

    In this week's Off The Bench, supporters of the organization overseeing federal horse-racing laws got a helping hand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the feud between a Florida tribe and state casino interests ends in a truce, and the NBA wants the details of its disputed media rights deal kept out of the public eye.

  • November 01, 2024

    Chinese National Stole Investment Firm's Code, Feds Say

    A Chinese national has been indicted on charges he stole trade secrets from his employer, an unnamed global investment management company in Boston, to set up his own firm in China.

  • October 31, 2024

    Ex-Citadel Reps Can't Escape Trade Secrets Suit

    A New York federal judge has greenlighted most claims in Citadel Securities' lawsuit accusing a Swiss cryptocurrency trading firm founded by two of its former employees of stealing its trade secrets, while tossing those asserted against the firm's French angel investor for lack of jurisdiction.

  • October 31, 2024

    1st Amendment Protects 'Nevermind' Album Art, Judge Told

    The First Amendment protects Nirvana's 1991 "Nevermind" album art, the Recording Industry Association of America has told a California federal court in an amicus brief, warning that allowing child pornography claims by the man featured naked as a baby in the artwork threatens to broadly chill artistic expression.

  • October 31, 2024

    IP Forecast: Another Apple Watch Trial Kicks Off In California

    Apple and Masimo will face off next week in their long-running feud over whether the tech giant misappropriated Masimo's trade secrets for some of the health-monitoring features used in newer versions of the Apple Watch. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • October 31, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs PTAB Invalidation Of 3 Centripetal Patents

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday upheld a set of Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions that found three Centripetal Networks patents that cover detecting network threats were invalid, agreeing they were too obvious to warrant patent protection.

  • October 31, 2024

    Jury Awards Synopsys $550K In IP Suit Against Software Rival

    A California federal jury has awarded software company Synopsys Inc. nearly $550,000 in damages after its competitor, Real Intent Inc., was found to have breached contractual agreements by copying certain commands from Synopsys' software — but the defendants' counsel considers the damages award a victory.

  • October 31, 2024

    Tribal Nonprofit Says Employees Divulged Trade Secrets

    A Native American nonprofit is suing an Oregon environmental consulting firm, alleging that its founder and chief executive officer divulged the trade secrets information of tribes and others and made false accusations to donors that it was mismanaging funds.

  • October 31, 2024

    'Extraordinary' Fed. Circ. Ruling Revives Seirus Invalidity Row

    Seirus Innovative Accessories Inc. will be able to pursue its defense that a Columbia Sportswear clothing design patent is invalid as obvious "under the new, less-rigid approach" established by the Federal Circuit in an "extraordinary" decision earlier this year, a California federal judge ruled.

  • October 31, 2024

    Judge Axes Disbarred NC Atty's Suit After Late Objection

    A North Carolina federal judge has thrown out a disbarred attorney's suit against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, stating that the former lawyer failed to timely object to a recommendation that the case be dismissed and that his stated reason for missing the deadline was "not credible."

  • October 31, 2024

    Everglades Scientist's Contempt Upheld Over Data Theft

    A Florida state appellate panel upheld indirect criminal contempt against an Everglades scientist after a lower court found he violated an order to return data he allegedly took upon resigning from his previous nonprofit job following a falling out with the CEO and went to work for a rival organization.

  • October 31, 2024

    Centripetal's $151.5M Patent Award Slashed To $113.6M

    A Virginia federal judge has ruled that cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks didn't infringe one of the patents in a case where a jury awarded rival Centripetal $151.5 million, reducing that amount to $113.6 million.

  • October 31, 2024

    Copyright Office Says Rest Of AI Report To Come By Year End

    The U.S. Copyright Office plans to submit the remainder of a report on the intersection of artificial intelligence and copyright law by the end of the year, the office told House lawmakers who expressed concern over what they said were late submissions.

  • October 31, 2024

    Textbook Cos. Fight To Keep Google Pirated Books Suit Alive

    Several textbook publishers have urged a Manhattan federal judge to keep their copyright and trademark infringement suit against Google intact, alleging the tech giant has profited from the sale of pirated textbooks it advertises in searches, contrary to the company's assertions.

  • October 31, 2024

    What DOJ's New National Security Obsession Means For Attys

    The Justice Department’s emerging criminal crackdown on corporate national security violations is putting increased pressure on white collar lawyers to be conversant, if not experts, on opaque, complex and swiftly evolving regulations.

  • October 31, 2024

    NFL Legend Barry Sanders Hit With Copyright Suit

    Famed former Detroit Lions running back Barry Sanders is the subject of a new copyright infringement lawsuit, with the same professional photographer who is separately suing the NFL team and other entities over the same alleged misuse of a copyrighted photo.

Expert Analysis

  • Allergan Ruling Reinforces Value Of Patent Term Adjustments

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Allergan v. MSN, which held that patent term adjustment awards for first-filed, first-issued patents cannot be stripped away by later-issuing child patents that expire earlier, means practitioners must consider the potential impact of any action that might reduce the adjustment amount, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • A Look At How De Minimis Import Rules May Soon Change

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    The planned implementation of executive actions focused on the de minimis rule as it applies to shipments means companies should use this interval to evaluate the potential applicability and impact of Section 301, Section 201 or Section 232 duties on their products, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • How To Craft Strong Prong 2 Arguments For AI Patent Apps

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s recent guidance update on subject matter eligibility for artificial intelligence inventions highlights that the key to overcoming rejection lies in the analysis under Prong 2, which practitioners should consider leading their arguments with, says Sean Lee at Baker Botts.

  • IP Concerns For Manufacturing Semiconductors In Low Orbit

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    With space habitation companies working to launch private space stations in the near future, semiconductor manufacturers aiming to execute research and development in low or microgravity must consider the unique claim drafting and patent protection issues that will emerge, says Greg Miraglia at Quinn Emanuel.

  • 6 Tips For Trying Cases Away From Home

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    A truly national litigation practice, by definition, often requires trying cases in jurisdictions across the country, which presents unique challenges that require methodical preparation and coordination both within the trial team and externally, say Edward Bennett and Suzanne Salgado at Williams & Connolly.

  • 3 Coverage Tips As 2nd Circ. 'Swipes Left' On Tinder Claim

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    The Second Circuit's recent opinion in Match Group v. Beazley Underwriting, overturning Tinder's victory on its insurer's motion to dismiss a coverage action, reinforces three best practices policyholders purchasing claims-made coverage should adhere to in order to avoid late-notice defenses, say Lynda Bennett and Alexander Corson at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • USPTO Guidance Suggests 2 Strategies For AI Inventions

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    Analyzing the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent guidance, it appears that there are at least two paths for establishing that an artificial intelligence invention is eligible for protection, and that which strategy to use may turn on how broadly the invention is applied, says William Morriss at Frost Brown.

  • A Blueprint For Structuring An Effective Plaintiff Case Story

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    The number and size of nuclear verdicts continue to rise, in part because plaintiffs attorneys have become more adept at crafting compelling trial stories — and an analysis of these success stories reveals a 10-part framework for structuring an effective case narrative, says Jonathan Ross at Decision Analysis.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: The MDL Map

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    An intriguing yet unpredictable facet of multidistrict litigation practice is venue selection for new MDL proceedings, and the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation considers many factors when it assigns an MDL venue, says Alan Rothman at Sidley Austin.

  • Boeing Ruling Is A Cautionary Tale For Trade Secret Litigants

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    A Washington federal court’s recent ruling canceling a $72 million jury award against Boeing because Zunum Aero had failed to properly identify its trade secrets highlights the value of an early statement of alleged secrets, amended through discovery and used as a framework at trial, says Matthew D'Amore at Cornell.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Courts Will Still Defer To Feds On Nat'l Security

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    Agencies with trade responsibilities may be less affected by Chevron’s demise because of the special deference courts have shown when hearing international trade cases involving national security, foreign policy or the president’s constitutional authority to direct such matters, say attorneys at Venable.

  • A Look At The Economic Impact Of Drug Patent Differentiation

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    Given the Federal Trade Commission’s recent emphasis on unfair competition based on disputed patent listings, pharmaceutical market participants are likely to require nuanced characterizations of actual and but-for market competition when multiple patents differentiate multiple products, say economists at Competition Dynamics.

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