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Intellectual Property
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September 30, 2024
Wheeling & Appealing: The Latest Must-Know Appellate Action
The year's spookiest month is looking scary-good for appellate aficionados, as famed oral advocates joust in October over net neutrality and Uber's extraordinary bid to unravel multidistrict litigation — just two of the high-profile arguments previewed in this edition of Wheeling & Appealing. October also begins with former President Jimmy Carter turning 100, and we'll test your knowledge of his profound impact on the judiciary.
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September 30, 2024
Calif. Court Finds Snapchat Can Seek 'Spectacles' TM
Following a three-day bench trial earlier this year, a California federal judge has told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reverse its refusal to grant Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. trademark protection covering its "Spectacles" brand of digital glasses.
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September 30, 2024
AI Co.'s Antitrust Claims Against Thomson Reuters Tossed
A Delaware federal court dismissed antitrust counterclaims being brought by tech startup ROSS Intelligence in a case from Thomson Reuters alleging ROSS ripped off the Westlaw research platform for its artificial intelligence product.
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September 30, 2024
Fed. Circ. Keeps Patent Case Against Sony In EDTX
The Federal Circuit on Monday rejected Sony's bid to move a patent suit against it over a newer line of wireless PlayStation 5 controllers out of a Texas federal court, finding that it failed to show that the Northern District of California was a more convenient forum.
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September 30, 2024
USPTO Locks In Director Review Rule, 3 Years After Arthrex
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal issued a final rule Monday on the agency's process for having the director review certain Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions, solidifying a mandate laid out by the U.S. Supreme Court three years ago.
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September 30, 2024
Netflix Must Face Trimmed 'Baby Reindeer' Defamation Fight
A California federal judge trimmed a Scottish lawyer's multimillion-dollar lawsuit alleging Netflix's popular stalker miniseries "Baby Reindeer" defamed her, tossing negligence and publicity claims but allowing the attorney's defamation and emotional distress allegations to proceed.
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September 30, 2024
Biz Owner Gets 18 Months For Tax Fraud On $2.8M In Income
The owner of a metal fabrication company who admitted to neglecting to report nearly $3 million in business income to the Internal Revenue Service was sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to Connecticut federal prosecutors.
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September 30, 2024
Generic-Drug Co. Says To Think Again About 'Double Patenting'
An Indian generic-drug maker wants the whole Federal Circuit to take a closer look at the issue of "double patenting," telling it that a recent panel ruling mistakenly breathed new life into pharmaceutical patents covering an anti-diarrhea drug.
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September 30, 2024
9th Circ. Asked To Interpret DMCA In GitHub Code Suit
A California federal court has asked the Ninth Circuit to determine if the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires an infringing copy be identical to the original to have an actionable claim for removing copyright management information, a key question in a case where developers sued Microsoft and GitHub for allegedly ripping off code to develop AI tools.
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September 30, 2024
Atari Can Pursue Copyright Claim Against State Farm Over Ad
Atari Interactive Inc. can pursue a copyright infringement claim against State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. because the insurer featured part of the 1980s arcade game Crystal Castles in a commercial, but a Texas federal judge tossed all the other claims in the suit from the pioneering game company.
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September 30, 2024
BakerHostetler Says Ethics Suit Must Stay In Ga. Fed. Court
BakerHostetler has asked a Georgia federal court not to remand a suit alleging the firm botched a patent application for a smart wardrobe system to state court, arguing that its former client's claims that the firm violated professional rules under U.S. patent law belong in federal court.
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September 30, 2024
Medical Device Co. Wins $25M Verdict In Poaching Trial
Medical device company Cynosure has won a $25 million jury award following a weekslong trial in Massachusetts federal court on its claims that a rival business raided its sales and marketing talent and caused the employees to breach their noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements.
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September 30, 2024
J&J Exec Accused Of File Heist Wants Pause Amid DOJ Case
A former competitive strategy director for Johnson & Johnson accused of stealing confidential files as he left the company to work for Pfizer asked a New Jersey federal court to pause the suit after learning he is under criminal investigation.
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September 27, 2024
7th Circ. Doubts Artist Proved French Montana Copied Work
Two Seventh Circuit judges seemed unsure Friday that they saw enough evidence of copying to reverse rapper French Montana's summary judgment win over claims that he infringed a California producer's sound recording copyright to make his song "Ain't Worried About Nothin'."
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September 27, 2024
IBM Owes $19.5M In EDTX Trial Over 'Blockchain' Software
A Texas federal jury told IBM on Friday that its blockchain software infringes two patents by a small tech developer and that it owes $19.5 million, far less than the $167 million the developer asked for.
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September 27, 2024
FCC Chief Quotes Taylor Swift In Tough Stance On Deepfakes
Federal Communications Commission chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel vowed during a speech Friday to take a strong position on enforcing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act against AI-generated robocalls and noted the FCC is considering new AI election-related disclosure regulations, quoting pop singer Taylor Swift who said, "The simplest way to combat misinformation is with the truth."
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September 27, 2024
Fla. Timeshare Biz Wins $1.3M Fee Award In False Ad Suit
A Florida federal judge has awarded more than $1.3 million in attorney fees to a timeshare company that prevailed in a lawsuit against a Wyoming company over a false advertising scheme encouraging customers to stop paying for their properties, after agreeing the marketers pursued an "exceptionally weak case" that would not succeed.
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September 27, 2024
Kappos' Bayh-Dole Warning To Clients Draws Debate
An advocate for lowering drug prices squared off Friday against a former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director about the potential risk of accepting government funds to develop drugs, as part of a discussion at New York University School of Law.
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September 27, 2024
Western Digital Wants $262M Patent Verdict Thrown Out
Western Digital has asked a California federal court to either toss a jury's $262 million verdict against it and rule that the hard drive maker did not infringe any MR Technologies patents, or order a new trial in the dispute over technology that increases storage capacity of disk drives.
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September 27, 2024
Sen. Says Contractors Trying To Block DOD 'Right-To-Repair'
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has chided defense contractors for seeking to "sabotage" efforts to require them to cough up parts and data allowing the U.S. Department of Defense to repair its own equipment, while urging the DOD to take action on related restrictions.
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September 27, 2024
NC Biz Court Trims Pot Farm Fight With 'Amazon Of Hemp'
An online hemp retailer has narrowed a North Carolina farm's lawsuit alleging the retailer doctored its THC reports before listing the farm's products for sale online, with a state Business Court judge finding they aren't competitors and the farm otherwise failed to show the retailer tried to pass off the hemp producer's products as its own.
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September 27, 2024
Disney Calls Writer's 'Moana' Copyright Theft Suit Pure Fiction
Lawyers for The Walt Disney Co. urged a California federal judge Friday to throw out an animator and writer's lawsuit alleging the company stole his ideas for the hit movie "Moana," saying there's not a single piece of evidence meriting a jury trial.
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September 27, 2024
NRA, RNC Dropped From Isaac Hayes' IP Suit Against Trump
The estate of legendary soul singer Isaac Hayes agreed Friday to voluntarily dismiss three defendants from a copyright complaint alleging former President Donald Trump has been playing the Hayes-penned song "Hold On, I'm Comin'" at campaign events without permission.
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September 27, 2024
Why Many Drugs Remain Pricey 40 Years After Hatch-Waxman
In the four decades since Congress passed the Hatch-Waxman Act in an effort to make generic drugs more available, the pharmaceutical industry has used patent thickets, "evergreening" and pay-for-delay tactics to block competition and keep prices of life-saving specialty drugs astronomical, several legal experts told Law360, while the industry argues other parties shoulder more of the blame.
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September 27, 2024
Waco Jury Sticks ASUSTeK With $22M Patent Verdict
A Texas federal jury hit Taiwanese computer manufacturer ASUSTeK Computer Inc. with a $22 million judgment on Thursday for infringing patents for a film that redirects natural daylight owned by SVV Technology Innovations Inc., which had asked jurors for nearly $59 million.
Expert Analysis
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How Associates Can Build A Professional Image
As hybrid work arrangements become the norm in the legal industry, early-career attorneys must be proactive in building and maintaining a professional presence in both physical and digital settings, ensuring that their image aligns with their long-term career goals, say Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners and Estelle Winsett at Estelle Winsett Professional Image Consulting.
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Determining Who Owns Content Created By Generative AI
Adobe's recent terms-of-service update and ensuing clarification regarding its AI-training practices highlights the unanswered legal questions regarding ownership of content created using artificial intelligence, says John Poulos at Norton Rose.
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Skip Versus File: The Patent Dilemma That Costs Millions
In the nearly 30 years since the inception of the provisional application, many have weighed the question of whether or not to file the provisional, and data shows that doing so may allow inventors more time to refine their ideas and potentially gain an extra year of protection, says Stanko Vuleta at Highlands Advisory.
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Orange Book Warnings Highlight FTC's Drug Price Focus
In light of heightened regulatory scrutiny surrounding drug pricing and the Federal Trade Commission's activity in the recent Teva v. Amneal case, branded drug manufacturers should expect the FTC's campaign against allegedly improper Orange Book listings to continue, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Firms Must Rethink How They Train New Lawyers In AI Age
As law firms begin to use generative artificial intelligence to complete lower-level legal tasks, they’ll need to consider new ways to train summer associates and early-career attorneys, keeping in mind the five stages of skill acquisition, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing
When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Tracking China's Push To Invalidate Foreign Patents
China’s increasing use of courts and administrative panels to nullify patents in strategically important industries, such as technology, pharmaceuticals and rare-earth minerals, raises serious concerns about the intellectual property rights of foreign businesses operating there, say Rajat Rana and Manuel Valderrama at Selendy Gay.
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3 Ways To Fight Alice Rejections Of Blockchain Patents
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
With blockchain-related patent application filings on the rise, Thomas Isaacson at Polsinelli offers strategies for responding to U.S. Patent and Trademark Office determinations that the blockchain network is just a generic computer and patent-ineligible under the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 Alice v. CLS Bank decision.
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F1 Driver AI Case Sheds Light On Winning Tactics In IP Suits
A German court recently awarded damages to former F1 driver Michael Schumacher's family in an artificial intelligence dispute over the unlicensed use of his image, illustrating how athletes are using the law to protect their brands, and setting a precedent in other AI-generated image rights cases, William Bowyer at Lawrence Stephens.
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8th Circ. Insurance Ruling Spotlights Related-Claims Defenses
The Eighth Circuit’s recent Dexon v. Travelers ruling — that the insurer must provide a defense despite the policy’s related-acts provision — provides guidance for how policyholders can overcome related-acts defenses, say Geoffrey Fehling and Jae Lynn Huckaba at Hunton.
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Counterfeits At The Olympics Pose IP Challenges
With the 2024 Olympic Games quickly approaching, the proliferation of counterfeit Olympic merchandise poses a difficult challenge to the protection of intellectual property rights and the preservation of the Olympic brand's integrity, says Kimiya Shams at Devialet.
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Series
Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer
There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.
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Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In May
A look at recent cases where the Federal Circuit reversed or vacated decisions by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board or a federal district court provide guidance on how to succeed on appeal by clarifying the obviousness analysis of design patents, the finality of a judgment, and more, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.
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Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians
Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent
As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.