Intellectual Property

  • December 20, 2024

    The Most Significant Trade Secrets Cases Of 2024

    Insulet Corp. became the latest company to notch a colossal trade secrets award, and a new presidential administration has attorneys wondering what will become of the Federal Trade Commission's pending proposal to ban employee noncompete agreements. Here's a look at trade secrets cases that defined 2024 and what to expect from the FTC in the coming year.

  • December 20, 2024

    DC Circ. Says Toxic Subtances Rule Threatens Trade Secrets

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Friday threw out a facet of new Toxic Substances Control Act regulations that the judges said could lead to the unwanted disclosure of chemical manufacturers' trade secrets.

  • December 20, 2024

    Womble Bond Atty Held In Contempt For Unfixed Falsities

    A North Carolina federal judge on Friday temporarily suspended the admission of a Womble Bond Dickinson partner to practice in his district after finding the attorney failed to correct misrepresentations to a Dutch tribunal in parallel litigation involving a software developer and its former Dutch partner.

  • December 20, 2024

    Sports Merch Cos. Fight Penn State TM Ban And Fee Bids

    Two sports merchandise companies found to have infringed The Pennsylvania State University's trademarks slammed the school's motions for attorney fees and a ban on selling the infringing products, saying the former is based on "half-truths and misstatements" and the latter is "breathtakingly broad."

  • December 20, 2024

    Off The Bench: Jordan's NASCAR Dunk, NIL Attys' Payday

    In this week's Off The Bench, Michael Jordan's racing team scores an early-stage win in its antitrust battle with NASCAR, attorneys engineering a historic settlement with the NCAA seek more than half a billion dollars in fees, and the fracas over college sports realignment makes headaches for the Mountain West Conference.

  • December 20, 2024

    Split Del. Jury Clears Qualcomm In Arm Ltd. Chip Fight

    A federal jury in Delaware on Friday rejected semiconductor design and licensing giant Arm Ltd. Inc.'s claims that Qualcomm Inc. breached Arm's chip architecture licensing and trademark rights, but was declared hung on matching claims against Nuvia Inc., acquired by Qualcomm in 2021

  • December 20, 2024

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

    This past week in London has seen the University of Southampton sue a drone-maker over the rights to an uncrewed aircraft patent, Importers Service Corp. and its subsidiary ISC Europe take action against a former director who allegedly owes the company over £1.1 million ($1.4 million), and DAC Beachcroft face a fraud claim by a "prolific litigant." 

  • December 20, 2024

    7th Circ. Upholds $900K Punitive Damages Award In TM Case

    The Seventh Circuit has affirmed $900,000 in punitive damages against a nutritional company and its owners for infringing the "Diesel Test" trademark of a testosterone-boosting product from a former competitive body builder, saying the defendant's conduct merited the award.

  • December 20, 2024

    MoFo, Irell Latest Firms To Unveil Competitive Bonuses

    Morrison Foerster LLP and litigation boutique Irell & Manella LLP have joined a chorus of firms announcing associate bonuses that meet or exceed the BigLaw standard for associate bonuses this year, with MoFo offering up to $218,200 and Irell handing its lawyers as much as $175,000.

  • December 20, 2024

    Top North Carolina Cases Of 2024: Bias, Fraud And False Ads

    North Carolina saw a host of heavy-hitting civil trials in 2024, from back-to-back multimillion-dollar jury verdicts in suits over false advertising and employment discrimination, to a substantial bench ruling in a much-watched bias suit against the federal judiciary.

  • December 20, 2024

    Skyscanner Blasts French Rival Over 'Flyscanner' TM

    Scottish company Skyscanner has accused a French rival of using similar trademarks in a move to mislead internet users and draw traffic to its own, less reputable, search engine for cheap flights.

  • December 20, 2024

    Watershed NCAA, UFC Settlements Highlight 2024's 2nd Half

    The second half of 2024 saw the sunset of several yearslong lawsuits that will significantly impact the world of sports, including the settlement of the NCAA's name, image and likeness antitrust litigation and the closing of the UFC's legal battle with current and former fighters. Here, Law360 explores the top sports and betting moments from the second half of 2024.

  • December 19, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Seeks Denial Of Newman Bid To Unseal Documents

    The Federal Circuit judges asked the D.C. Circuit on Thursday to reject U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's request to unseal documents about her suspension for refusing to participate in an investigation into her fitness, saying they are of "questionable relevance" and will be released soon anyway.

  • December 19, 2024

    Music Publishers Will Likely See AI Copyright Case Cut Back

    A California federal judge said Thursday she was inclined to toss a portion of a copyright suit from music publishers claiming their song lyrics were ripped off to train artificial intelligence company Anthropic's chatbot, saying some allegations were "so general" while adding that she'd give leave to amend.

  • December 19, 2024

    Foley Adds Tech, Life Sciences Partner From IP Boutique

    Foley & Lardner LLP has hired a longtime partner from intellectual property boutique Lerner David LLP to strengthen both the transactional and litigation arms of its technology and life science practices in New York.

  • December 19, 2024

    Judge Wrongly Axed $107M IP Verdict, Pfizer Tells Fed. Circ.

    A Pfizer unit has told the Federal Circuit that a federal judge got it wrong when he overturned a Delaware jury verdict that AstraZeneca owes $107.5 million for infringing two cancer drug patents.

  • December 19, 2024

    Teradata Antitrust, IP Suit Revived Against German Co.

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Thursday revived data analytics company Teradata Corp.'s antitrust and trade secret suit against German software company SAP, saying a lower court rejected the case despite there being factual disputes over key issues concerning market effects and confidential information. 

  • December 19, 2024

    VLSI Says PQA's Disclosure Fears Are Its Own Fault

    VLSI Technology LLC urged a Virginia federal judge Thursday to make Patent Quality Assurance LLC's ownership disclosure public, saying the company actively chose to remove the litigation to a forum where it knew those disclosures were required.

  • December 19, 2024

    Fed. Circ. OKs $95M Altria Vape Patent Win Against Reynolds

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday upheld a $95.2 million jury verdict against R.J. Reynolds for infringing Altria vape patents, rejecting Reynolds' arguments that the finding was not supported by the evidence and was based on expert damages testimony that was unreliable.

  • December 19, 2024

    E.l.f. Mascara Doesn't Confuse Consumers, Judge Rules

    A San Francisco federal judge has said showing that the e.l.f. cosmetics brand had an "intent to create a dupe" of a mascara tube made by its Louis Vuitton-owned rival is not enough to prove that it actually "dupes any consumers."

  • December 19, 2024

    2nd Circ. Affirms PepsiCo Win In TM Fight Over Energy Drink

    The Second Circuit on Thursday affirmed a lower court's dismissal of a trademark suit against PepsiCo, saying in a summary order that the beverage company's "Mtn Dew Rise Energy" did not infringe the mark of nitro-brewed canned coffee drinks called "Rise."

  • December 19, 2024

    Arm-Qualcomm Trademark, Breach Suit Goes To Jury In Del.

    Jurors headed to deliberations late Thursday after nearly four days of trial in Delaware federal court on Softbank Group subsidiary Arm Ltd.'s claims that Qualcomm Inc. and Nuvia Inc. breached a protective contract for microprocessor core technology licensing agreements.

  • December 19, 2024

    $18M TransUnion Loss 'Riddled With Defects,' 6th Circ. Says

    The Sixth Circuit said Wednesday that a jury's $18.3 million award in a dustup over intellectual property related to an online insurance quote marketplace was based on damages evidence that was sorely lacking, affirming that TransUnion is off the hook.

  • December 19, 2024

    $1.2B Sought From Phillips 66 After $605M Trade Secrets Win

    A retailer of low-carbon fuels has asked a California state court to add $1.2 billion to a $604.9 million trade secrets verdict against Phillips 66, arguing that the jury's conclusion that Phillips 66's misappropriation of confidential information was willful and malicious merits exemplary damages.

  • December 19, 2024

    Labcorp Settles Competition Suit Against Ex-Sales Exec

    Less than two weeks after Laboratory Corp. of America Holdings sued its former sales marketing executive and his new employer in North Carolina federal court for allegedly violating noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements, a deal has been reached to end the lawsuit.

Expert Analysis

  • Takeaways From Novo Nordisk's Fight For Market Exclusivity

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    Generic competitors’ challenge to Novo Nordisk’s patents in hopes of capturing a portion of the rapidly expanding Type 2 diabetes and obesity treatment market highlights the role of abbreviated new drug application litigation, inter partes review and multidistrict litigation in patent defense, says Pedram Sameni at Patexia.

  • Using Primacy And Recency Effects In Opening Statements

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    By understanding and strategically employing the primacy and recency effects in opening statements, attorneys can significantly enhance their persuasive impact, ensuring that their narrative is both compelling and memorable from the outset, says Bill Kanasky at Courtroom Sciences.

  • Opinion

    Bill Is Key To Protecting US Economy From Patent Piracy

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    It is critical that Congress pass a recently introduced bill that would protect U.S. investors from intellectual property theft by restoring court-ordered injunctions as the default remedy in patent infringement cases to ensure inventors get the justice they deserve, says Andrei Iancu at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Defending AI, Machine Learning Patents In Life Sciences

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    Ten years after the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Alice v. CLS Bank, artificial intelligence and machine learning technology remain at risk for Alice challenges, but reviewing recent cases can help life sciences companies avoid common pitfalls and successfully defend their patents, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • From Concept To Capital: 5 Stages Of Evolving IP Needs

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    Companies must understand the shifting intellectual property needs throughout an organization’s life cycle in order to protect innovation, which can be done by fortifying the IP portfolio, expanding and leveraging IP assets, and more, says Keegan Caldwell at Caldwell Law.

  • 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.

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