Intellectual Property

  • November 26, 2024

    Meta Wipes Out Some Claims In WDTX Patent Case

    Meta has scored a ruling from Waco's U.S. District Judge Alan Albright finding that some of the language in patents connected to a failed mobile fitness brand, asserted against Meta's virtual reality headsets, fails to hold up in court.

  • November 26, 2024

    MLBPA, FanDuel Ink Licensing Deal After Settling Legal Spat

    The Major League Baseball Players Association, FanDuel and OneTeam Partners on Tuesday announced that they are teaming up on a product and marketing licensing agreement, a move that comes just weeks after FanDuel was dropped from an MLBPA lawsuit over the alleged use of players' photos to promote sports gambling.

  • November 26, 2024

    Newman's Own's Quick IP Win Bid Meets Skeptical Judge

    A Connecticut Superior Court judge on Tuesday appeared skeptical of Newman's Own Foundation's early win request in a licensing feud with two of late actor Paul Newman's daughters, criticizing the charity for using the wrong court proceeding to challenge the daughters' rights to sue while hinting a trial is likely needed.

  • November 26, 2024

    Navajo Nation's Diné College Awarded 2nd Medical Patent

    The School of STEM at Diné College has secured a second patent for a device designed to measure and record various electric signals from the body's organs for diagnostic purposes, making it the only tribal college or university in the nation to receive such patents.

  • November 26, 2024

    Chinese Rival Stole Umbrella Design, Georgia Maker Says

    An Atlanta-based patio furniture company alleged in a new lawsuit filed Monday that a Chinese competitor that has sold to retailers including Costco has ripped off its design for a cantilevered outdoor umbrella.

  • November 26, 2024

    DraftKings Wants Damages In NFLPA's Licensing Suit Axed

    DraftKings Inc. wants partially tossed a suit launched by the NFL Players Association alleging the sports betting giant failed to make good on a licensing agreement related to nonfungible tokens, saying that the players are not entitled to any damages but that as a threshold matter, the maximum potential damages should be capped.

  • November 25, 2024

    Gibson Dunn Treated Crypto Client Like 'Hot Potato,' Suit Says

    Crypto trading firm Swan Bitcoin hit Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP with a malpractice lawsuit in California court Friday, alleging Gibson Dunn dumped Swan "like the proverbial 'hot potato'" in underlying trade secret litigation and tried to take on Swan's rival as a client after a lateral hire created a conflict of interest.

  • November 25, 2024

    Samsung Inks Deal In Suit Nixed Over Rival's Atty Misconduct

    Samsung has reached a settlement with patent owner Techiya, a deal that comes after Samsung defeated the $300 million patent infringement suit based on attorney misconduct by former in-house counsel that a Texas federal judge called "repugnant to the rule of law," according to a motion filed Sunday.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Jury Delivers $35M Verdict In Eyedrop Trademark Row

    A Tennessee pharmaceutical company convinced a California federal jury that a rival owes it about $35 million for infringing its trademarks on brands of post-surgical eyedrops.

  • November 25, 2024

    Credit Bureaus Freed From VantageScore Antitrust Suit

    An Illinois federal judge has ruled there is no evidence the three major credit bureaus conspired with the Fair Isaac Corporation to engage in a monopoly, reasoning there was no impetus for them to do so, but also found that credit score buyers sufficiently backed some of their antitrust claims against FICO. 

  • November 25, 2024

    Amazon Settles Co.'s Patent Infringement Suit Over Alexa

    Two Amazon companies have reached a settlement with a company that accused them of patent infringement over the voice processing technology used in the Amazon virtual assistant Alexa, according to a minute entry entered Monday.

  • November 25, 2024

    Judge Bemoans 'Chaotic' Contracts In Jack Nicklaus IP Case

    The New York state judge presiding over golf legend Jack Nicklaus' intellectual property lawsuit on Monday signaled he may not be able to untangle a set of contradictory contracts, which could lead to a trial over who can use the "Golden Bear's" name and likeness.

  • November 25, 2024

    Hormone Therapy Co. Jilted Actress Over Image Use, Suit Says

    A commercial actress has accused a hormone treatment company and its affiliates of improperly using her image and likeness in promotional materials touting its therapies, telling a Texas state court the business "blatantly misappropriated" her personal brand.

  • November 25, 2024

    ITC Bans Imports Of Nortek Garage Door Openers In IP Case

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has agreed with an administrative law judge's finding that Nortek Inc. violated U.S. trade law by importing products that infringe on a rival's intellectual property, putting a ban on imports of certain garage door openers.

  • November 25, 2024

    Calif. Panel Scraps Ex-Medical Supply Exec's $533K Fee Win

    A California appeals court has found that an Orange County judge was wrong to order a medical supply company to pay out half a million dollars in legal fees to a former executive who a jury found took confidential files out the door with him.

  • November 25, 2024

    Tesla Nears Deal In Trade Secret Suit Against EV Rival Rivian

    Tesla said in a notice filed in California state court that it would be settling its lawsuit accusing rival electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian Automotive of recruiting its employees, who allegedly took Tesla's trade secrets with them to the defendant to use for its plans to release an electric truck.

  • November 25, 2024

    'Sham' Patent Charges Bog Down Holiday Light Fight

    Amid a multi-front intellectual property fight between a China-based holiday light manufacturer and a so-called "patent troll," the company told a Georgia judge Monday that the patent holder had impermissibly tried to engineer jurisdiction by signing over to itself one of the patents at issue just minutes before filing its counterclaim.

  • November 25, 2024

    Stolen Hitler Question Suit Barred By Immunity, MSU Says

    Michigan State University said it's immune from claims that it used a trivia quiz containing a question about Adolf Hitler without the creator's permission during a sold-out rivalry football game, which sparked negative publicity for the creator and his company.

  • November 25, 2024

    Solicitor General's Input Sought On Music Cos., ISP Petitions

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday asked the solicitor general to weigh in on a copyright dispute involving Cox Communications and a group of music publishers that won a $1 billion jury verdict of infringement against the internet service provider.

  • November 25, 2024

    TD Ameritrade Urges High Court To Reject Patent Case

    TD Ameritrade said there is no reason for the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Federal Circuit decision in its favor in high-stakes litigation over computerized banking patents, pushing back at arguments that the justices should look at the circuit court's one-line orders in patent cases.

  • November 25, 2024

    Ex-Epstein Becker Healthcare Ace Joins Polsinelli Team

    Polsinelli has added a former Epstein Becker Green partner to its healthcare litigation team as a shareholder, where he'll bring experience in managed care, payor disputes and intellectual property to the firm's Nashville, Tennessee office.

  • November 25, 2024

    Justices Reject Patent Case Challenging Newman Suspension

    The U.S. Supreme Court refused Monday to hear an appeal by a company that owns a background check patent invalidated for claiming only an abstract idea and that argued it was deprived of a fair hearing at the Federal Circuit due to the suspension of U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman.

  • November 22, 2024

    Wellness Software Co. Not Immune From IP Suit, Judge Says

    A federal judge in San Antonio says the Patent Act's immunity protecting physicians from patent lawsuits is "broad, but it is not limitless," and it does not extend to a wellness software licensing company that "only licenses its product to medical providers."

  • November 22, 2024

    Jury Awards Netlist $118M In Patent Case Against Samsung

    A Texas federal jury on Friday said computer memory company Netlist Inc. should get $118 million after finding that South Korean electronics giant Samsung infringed a trio of computer memory module patents.

  • November 22, 2024

    New Design Patent Treaty Comes Out Of Riyadh

    Delegates from the world's major intellectual property groups signed a treaty Friday that would, if approved, establish new rules to facilitate the filing of design patents.

Expert Analysis

  • Key Territory-Split Licensing Lessons For Life Sciences Cos.

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    Territory-split deals can allow life sciences companies to maximize products' potential across a range of geographic areas, but these deals also present unique challenges requiring highly bespoke structures that can make or break the value of an asset, say attorneys at Covington.

  • A Look At 2024 NIL Rights And Economies In College Sports

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    Permutations in the arena of name, image and likeness affecting collegiate athletics have continued unabated this year, and practitioners and industry representatives should anticipate significant activity at schools and continuing legal changes at the state level, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Legislation Most Likely To Pass In Lame Duck Session

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    As Congress begins its five-week post-election lame duck session, attorneys at Greenberg Traurig break down the legislative priorities and which proposals can be expected to pass.

  • Copyright Questions Surround AI Music Platform Suits

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    If recent lawsuits filed by the Recording Industry Association of America against two artificial intelligence music platform developers — who maintain that use of copyrighted works to train AI models constitutes fair use — go to trial, this novel issue will make for potentially precedent-setting decisions, says intellectual property lawyer Eric Lane.

  • Patent Marking Steps After Fed. Circ. Opens Lanham Act Door

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    Following the Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Crocs v. Effervescent, which seemingly revives private actors’ ability to bring false patent marking claims under the Lanham Act, marketing and legal teams should be careful to avoid advertisement language that implies nonexistent patent rights, says Jeffrey Ratinoff at Spencer Fane.

  • Litigation Strategies In View Of New Double Patenting Rulings

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    Recent Federal Circuit decisions, including in Allergan v. MSN, raise several issues that patent owners should understand and consider addressing proactively regarding obviousness-type double patenting, at least in their prosecution strategies, say attorneys at Dentons.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • Tracking The Slow Movement Of AI Copyright Cases

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    The tech community may be expecting a prompt resolution on whether products generated by artificial intelligence are a fair use of copyrighted works, but legal history shows that a response to this question — at the heart of over 30 pending cases — will take years, say attorneys at White & Case.

  • The EU Design System Changes US Cos. Need To Know About

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    With a number of major reforms to the European Union's design protection system set to take effect in the first half of 2025, U.S. companies need to stay informed about specific details to maintain effective intellectual property management in the EU market, say lawyers at Finnegan.

  • Curious Case Of FTC's Amicus Brief In Teva Fed. Circ. Appeal

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    Attorneys at BCLP explore the Federal Trade Commission's backing of Amneal's Orange Book-delisting efforts on Teva ahead of a key Federal Circuit hearing in a case between the two pharmaceutical companies, and wonder if the FTC amicus brief indicates a future trend, especially in the next administration.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Metadata

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    Several recent rulings reflect the competing considerations that arise when parties dispute the form of production for electronically stored information, underscoring that counsel must carefully consider how to produce and request reasonably usable data, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • When 'Patented' Goes Beyond Inventorship In False Ad Cases

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    The Federal Circuit's recent false advertising holding in Crocs v. Effervescent is significant because it offers a nuanced yet realistic understanding of what false claims about a product's status as "patented" can mean, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • The Fed. Circ. In October: Aetna And License-Term Review

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision that Aetna's credit card licensing agreement with AlexSam did not give the insurer immunity from patent infringement claims serves to warn licensees to read their contracts carefully, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Opinion

    PREVAIL Bill Is Another Misguided Attempt To Restrict PTAB

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    The decade-long campaign against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Patent Trial and Appeal Board — currently focused on the PREVAIL Act that's slated for markup in the Senate — is not really about procedural issues, and it is not aimed at securing more accurate patentability decisions, says Clear IP's Joseph Matal, former acting director at the USPTO.

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