Intellectual Property

  • August 28, 2024

    USPTO Atty Union Loses Bid For Right To Review Settlements

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office must give its attorneys' union a copy of any settlements it reaches in cases involving the attorneys' work conditions, but the agency does not have to let the union review those settlements in advance, an arbitrator held.

  • August 27, 2024

    'Real Martha' Of 'Baby Reindeer' Says Netflix Must Face Suit

    A Scottish lawyer who alleges that Netflix's "Baby Reindeer" series defamed her through its portrayal of a violent stalker character urged a California federal judge Monday not to toss her lawsuit, arguing that the hate mail and death threats she's received prove that the public believes that the portrayal of her is true.

  • August 27, 2024

    'ER' Creator's Widow Says Warner Bros. Ripped Off Show

    The widow of late "ER" creator Michael Crichton on Tuesday accused Warner Bros. Television of abandoning talks to reboot the popular hospital television series, only to turn around and launch a ripped-off version called "The Pitt," a move she called a "brazen disregard" of Crichton's estate's rights.

  • August 27, 2024

    USPTO Sued For Rejecting Blood Pressure Drug Patent

    A small drug developer has hit the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with a second lawsuit in Virginia federal court over the agency's latest rejection of the company's efforts to patent a different dosage of a drug the company markets to treat low blood pressure.

  • August 27, 2024

    Take Another Look At Video Game Patent, Vidal Tells PTAB

    The director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office says a split administrative patent board got a phrase wrong when it ruled in April not to institute a review of a video game patent, ordering it to rethink its decision.

  • August 27, 2024

    Philip Morris' Vape Brand Loses ITC Decision In Juul Fight

    The operator of the Philip Morris brand said Tuesday that it disagrees with a ruling from a U.S. International Trade Commission judge who found that the company's vape brand infringes patents owned by rival Juul.

  • August 27, 2024

    Revlon Says Ex-Workers Stole Britney Spears Fragrance Deal

    Global beauty and cosmetics brand Revlon sued several former fragrance marketing executives and upstart competitor Give Back Beauty in New York federal court, alleging they stole trade secrets and breached contracts when luring Britney Spears' perfume line away from Revlon.

  • August 27, 2024

    Clark Hill Adds Atty In NYC From Schoeman Updike

    Clark Hill PLC said Tuesday that it is bringing a litigator to its New York City office as a member, one with a focus on financial services and business disputes as well as experience ranging from intellectual property to real estate issues.

  • August 27, 2024

    ITC To Look Into Infineon's Patent Claims Against Innoscience

    The U.S. International Trade Commission launched an investigation Tuesday into certain semiconductor devices and products that use gallium nitride technology after semiconductor manufacturer Infineon Technologies accused China-based chipmaker Innoscience of infringing several patents.

  • August 27, 2024

    NFL Union Sues DraftKings Over Broken NFT Licensing Deal

    The NFL Players Association has accused DraftKings Inc. of failing to make good on a licensing agreement when the online sportsbook decided to cease payments after shuttering its nonfungible token marketplace in the wake of a civil suit that argued DraftKings' NFTs offended securities laws.

  • August 27, 2024

    NC State Board Of Education Sued Over NIL Prohibition

    A North Carolina mother is challenging the state school board's ban on high school student-athletes using their name, image and likeness for commercial purposes, arguing the state has directed it to regulate, not prohibit, the practice.

  • August 27, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Speed Up Apple Watch Ban Appeal

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday denied Apple Inc.'s request to expedite oral arguments in its appeal challenging the U.S. International Trade Commission's decision banning the tech giant from selling Apple Watches with a "blood oxygen" feature in the Masimo patent case.

  • August 27, 2024

    Disney Wipes Out Verdict In Movie Graphics Copyright Suit

    Walt Disney Pictures does not have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in copyright infringement damages a jury said it owes to a digital-effects company after a California federal judge overturned the verdict and granted the entertainment company a post-trial victory.

  • August 27, 2024

    Google Wants Out Of IP Suit Over Pirated Books

    Google asked a Manhattan federal judge to dismiss allegations that it allowed advertisements to be shown to users from websites that sell pirated textbooks, claiming it has no ability to supervise those sites and isn't profiting from alleged pirating.

  • August 27, 2024

    NBA Star Can't Sidestep TM Dispute Over Signature Shoe

    NBA player LaMelo Ball, his family and Puma North America Inc. must face a trademark infringement suit brought against them over the athlete's signature shoes, a California federal judge has ruled, finding that there are factual disputes to resolve and that California federal court does have jurisdiction.

  • August 26, 2024

    $4.4M Award Against Cheat Code Site Upheld At 9th Circ.

    A website that circulated cheat codes for the video game "Destiny 2" failed to convince the Ninth Circuit on Monday that it got an unfair shake in front of an arbitrator who told the site to pay $4.4 million for breaking copyright and trademark laws.

  • August 26, 2024

    'Roller Lash' and 'Lash 'N Roll' Mascaras Face Off In TM Trial

    Benefit Cosmetics told a San Francisco federal judge at the start of a trademark and trade dress infringement bench trial Monday that rival e.l.f. Cosmetics sought the "holy grail" when it created a "Lash 'N Roll" mascara that ripped off Benefit's $300 million-blockbuster "Roller Lash" product.

  • August 26, 2024

    Samsung Urges Toss Of Netlist Contract Win Over Juror's Lies

    Samsung urged a California federal judge Monday to throw out a jury's verdict that it breached a contract with chipmaker Netlist by cutting off its supply of crucial memory products, arguing a new trial is required because one juror failed to disclose crucial information during the jury selection process.

  • August 26, 2024

    Pool Co. Secures $1.1M In Fees For False Ad Trial Win

    A North Carolina federal judge has granted $1.1 million in fees for attorneys from McCarter & English LLP and Womble Bond Dickinson who represented a swimming pool salt system supplier in a trial against a competitor, finding the case qualifies as exceptional since the opposing company acted "unreasonably."

  • August 26, 2024

    Printing Biz Can't Undo Invalidity Findings Despite Settlement

    A California federal judge says that he won't rethink a jury's conclusion earlier this year that claims in two patents covering a way of coating printer paper were invalid, even if the French printing company that owns them decided to settle with an accused infringer after losing at trial.

  • August 26, 2024

    Motorola Says Hytera Owes $58M For Radio Royalty Contempt

    Motorola Solutions told an Illinois federal judge Monday that Chinese rival Hytera Communications owes more than $58 million in royalties for a mobile radio it purportedly redesigned after a jury found it misappropriated trade secrets, asserting the radio's retooled source code is still improperly based on the same protected architecture.

  • August 26, 2024

    Jury Awards Lashify $31M In Worldbeauty Patent Case

    Lashify Inc., a California company that sells do-it-yourself eyelash extension kits, is entitled to more than $30.5 million in damages from a China-based rival that infringed three of its patents, a federal jury in Texas has found, potentially opening the door to more intellectual property litigation in the beauty industry.

  • August 26, 2024

    Hikma Urges Full Fed. Circ. To End Vascepa Skinny-Label Suit

    Hikma Pharmaceuticals has asked the full Federal Circuit to intervene after a panel determined it must face infringement litigation over its generic version of Amarin Pharma Inc.'s blockbuster cardiovascular drug Vascepa.

  • August 26, 2024

    Ramones Heir Says Widow Is Infringing Group's TMs

    The brother of late punk rocker Joey Ramone took his bandmate Johnny Ramone's widow to New York federal court for allegedly infringing several of the band's trademarks as part of what the suit says is an effort to boost her own celebrity image by "riding on the coattails of the Ramones."

  • August 26, 2024

    NJ Marine Fuel Co. Sues Rival Formed By Ex-Employees

    A New Jersey marine fuel buyer has accused two brothers who worked for the company of misappropriating trade secrets and illegally accessing confidential information when they resigned to form a new venture in the same market, according to a lawsuit filed in New Jersey federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Deploy AI In A Dangerous Threat Landscape

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    Businesses are feeling immense pressure to deploy generative artificial intelligence tools to accelerate profits and demonstrate their technological superiority to investors and consumers, and there are a few steps they can take when using AI tools to mitigate liability risks, say B. Stephanie Siegmann and Julianna Malogolowkin at Hinckley Allen.

  • Calif. Out-Of-State Noncompete Ban Faces Several Hurdles

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    California's attempt to bolster its noncompete law has encountered significant procedural and constitutional challenges, and litigating parties must carefully analyze not only the restrictive covenants contained in their agreements, but also the forum-selection and choice-of-law provisions, say Jennifer Redmond and Gal Gressel at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Defamation Suit Tests Lanham Act's Reach With Influencers

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    Recently filed in the Northern District of Texas, Prime Hydration v. Garcia, alleging defamation and Lanham Act violations based on the defendant's social media statements about the beverage brand, allows Texas courts and the Fifth Circuit to take the lead in interpreting the act as it applies to influencers, says attorney Susan Jorgensen.

  • Series

    Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.

  • Navigating The Murky Waters Of Patent Infringement Damages

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    Recent cases show that there is no easy way to isolate an infringed patent’s value, and it would serve all sides well for courts to thoroughly examine expert opinions of this nature and provide consistent guidance for future cases, say Manny Caixeiro and Elizabeth Manno at Venable.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

  • 3rd Circ. Ruling Shows Benefits Of IP Licenses In Bankruptcy

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    The Third Circuit’s recent ruling in Mallinckrodt’s Chapter 11 filing, which held that Mallinckrodt could sever its obligations to pay Sanofi royalties on sales of an autoimmune disease drug, highlights the advantages of structuring transactions as nonexclusive licenses for developers of intellectual property, say Gregory Hesse and Kaleb Bailey at Hunton.

  • Opinion

    Unclear Intellectual Property Laws Are Stifling US Innovation

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    U.S. intellectual property law’s lack of predictability means far less job-creating investments for companies that need patent protection to compete, and Congress must step in with legislation like the Patent Eligibility Restoration Act to help address the problem, says Michael Gulliford at Soryn IP Capital Management.

  • The Fed. Circ. In June: More Liability For Generic-Drug Makers

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    The Federal Circuit’s June ruling in Amarin v. Hikma will likely result in more allegations of induced infringement by generic drugs postapproval, with more of those cases proceeding to at least the summary judgment stage instead of being cut off at the outset, say Jeremiah Helm and Sean Murray at Knobbe Martens.

  • Proposed NIL Deal Leaves NCAA Antitrust Liability Door Open

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    The proposed House v. NCAA settlement filed in California federal court creates the possibility of significant direct payments to student-athletes for the first time, but the resulting framework is unlikely to withstand future antitrust scrutiny because it still represents an agreement among competitors to limit labor cost, says Yaman Desai at Lynn Pinker.

  • Opinion

    Expert Witness Standards Must Consider Peer Review Crisis

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    For nearly two decades, the so-called replication crisis has upended how the scientific community views the reliability of peer-reviewed studies, and it’s time for courts to reevaluate whether peer review is a trustworthy proxy for expert witness reliability, say Jeffrey Gross and Robert LaCroix at Reid Collins.

  • USPTO Must Anticipate 'Black-Box Problem' For AI Inventions

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent guidance allows patents for inventions created with artificial intelligence, but inventors need to address the so-called black-box problem to ensure others can recreate the invention, thus meeting the enablement requirement, say Mark Basanta and Georg Reitboeck at Haug Partners.

  • Irish Businesses Should Act Now To Prepare For EU AI Act

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    Artificial intelligence is increasingly transforming the Irish job market, and proactive engagement with the forthcoming European Union AI Act, a significant shift in the regulatory landscape for Irish businesses, will be essential for Irish businesses to responsibly harness AI’s advantages and to maintain legal compliance, say lawyers at Pinsent Masons.

  • How To Grow Marketing, Biz Dev Teams In A Tight Market

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    Faced with fierce competition and rising operating costs, firms are feeling the pressure to build a well-oiled marketing and business development team that supports strategic priorities, but they’ll need to be flexible and creative given a tight talent market, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • Considerations For Federal Right Of Publicity As AI Advances

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    Amid rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence technology, Congress should consider how a federal right of publicity would interact with the existing patchwork of state name, image and likeness laws, as well as other issues like scope, harm recognized and available relief, says Ross Bagley at Pryor Cashman.

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