Intellectual Property

  • February 11, 2026

    Calif. Atty Wins $25K Fee Sanction Over AI Errors

    A California federal court has ordered $25,000 in fee sanctions for a litigator representing a mobile app platform in a copyright and contract suit as reimbursement for work he said went into responding to an error-ridden motion and further resulting motion practice.

  • February 11, 2026

    Lighting Co. Signify Nets $411K Verdict In Patent Case

    A Nevada federal jury found that lighting company Lepro owes nearly $411,000 in a suit brought by rival Signify over LED technology patents after finding the remaining three patents before the jury were infringed.

  • February 11, 2026

    Estee Lauder Hits Walmart With TM Suit Alleging Copycats

    Estee Lauder hit Walmart with a trademark infringement suit in California federal court Monday, accusing it of hawking copycat versions of its luxury personal care products, cosmetics and fragrance collections sold under popular brands including Clinique, La Mer and Tom Ford. 

  • February 11, 2026

    Squires Spurns 16 Petitions, Grants 6 In Latest Bulk Order

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires' latest summary decision instituted six petitions for America Invents Act patent challenges and denied 16 others, bringing his total of rejected petitions to 266.

  • February 11, 2026

    Miami World Cup Counsel Share Look At Prep Work, Impact

    Counsel representing the FIFA World Cup's Miami Host Committee gave Law360 an inside look at their multifaceted work preparing for the upcoming event, which organizers say could have the economic impact of multiple Super Bowls.

  • February 11, 2026

    Supreme Court Sets April Argument For 'Skinny Label' Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court has set an April 29 date for oral arguments in Hikma Pharmaceutical Inc.'s appeal of a decision that revived a patent case over its "skinny label" on a generic heart drug.

  • February 11, 2026

    7th Circ. Mulls Expiration Date Of Teva, Eli Lilly Patent Deal

    Seventh Circuit judges Wednesday pressed counsel for Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc. to address how long a settlement under which Eli Lilly & Co. agreed not block the approval and marketing of Teva's generic version of its osteoporosis drug Forteo could reasonably remain in effect, given Teva's drug wasn't ready for market until years after the underlying patent dispute.

  • February 11, 2026

    Shkreli Can't Add Wu-Tang Members To Fight With Crypto Co.

    "Pharma Bro" Martin Shkreli can't drag two members of the Wu-Tang Clan hip-hop group into a suit brought by a crypto firm that claims Shkreli improperly retained copies of an album that it bought the rights to, a Brooklyn federal judge ruled on Wednesday.

  • February 11, 2026

    MrBeast, Ex-IT Worker Resolve Trade Secret Theft Dispute

    YouTube star Mr. Beast's media company has told a North Carolina federal judge it has resolved its lawsuit accusing a former IT contractor of downloading thousands of confidential company documents ahead of his firing and leaving behind hidden cameras throughout the company's offices.

  • February 11, 2026

    AI Cos. Would Have To Disclose Training Under Bipartisan Bill

    A bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate would require technology companies to disclose copyrighted works that they use to train generative artificial intelligence models with the U.S. Copyright Office.

  • February 11, 2026

    Apple Keeps PTAB Win Over Fintiv Patent Claims At Fed. Circ.

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld Apple's Patent Trial and Appeal Board win in its challenge to claims in a patent issued to the defunct Austin, Texas-based mobile payment startup that would become Fintiv.

  • February 11, 2026

    Pegasystems Settles Mass. Shareholder Actions For $7M

    Pegasystems has agreed to pay $7 million to settle three shareholder derivative suits in Massachusetts state and federal courts alleging the software company's top officials sat on details of a 2020 trade secrets suit that led to a now-overturned $2 billion verdict.

  • February 11, 2026

    Bankruptcy Court Asked To Keep Nicklaus Biopic Deal Intact

    A film production company has urged a Delaware bankruptcy court to not allow any successful bidder for brand licensing rights of Jack Nicklaus to disturb a biopic screenplay agreement involving an affiliate of the insolvent business bearing the golf legend's name, saying the firm's role is commercially critical.

  • February 11, 2026

    Judge Tosses Patent Suit Over Decentralized Exchange Tech

    A New York federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit accusing the companies behind Uniswap of infringing patents for smart contract technology used in decentralized exchanges, finding the patent claims didn't pass the U.S. Supreme Court's Alice test.

  • February 11, 2026

    Intellectual Property Group Of The Year: Baker Botts

    Attorneys in Baker Botts LLP's intellectual property practice successfully resolved a patent infringement case against Ericsson after wiping out a monster verdict against the company and fended off a decade-long licensing case against MasterCard, earning the firm a spot among the 2025 Law360 Intellectual Property Groups of the Year.

  • February 11, 2026

    ZTE Escapes Samsung's Patent Licensing Case For Now

    A California federal court has found that ZTE lacks sufficient connections to the U.S. for the court to have jurisdiction over claims from Samsung that the China-based technology company refuses to license its standard essential patents on fair terms.

  • February 11, 2026

    Insurer Must Defend Real Estate Firm Against Copyright Suit

    An insurer must defend a real estate company against claims that it infringed an architect's copyright in marketing materials for a newly-built home, a Massachusetts federal court ruled, finding that an exclusion for misappropriated property does not apply to bar coverage.

  • February 10, 2026

    Adobe Faces Another Suit Over Alleged AI Training Piracy

    Adobe Inc. was hit with another proposed class action in California federal court, accusing the software giant of surreptitiously using hundreds of thousands of copyrighted books in the "notorious" RedPajama and Common Crawl datasets to train its SlimLM artificial intelligence models without authors' consent.

  • February 10, 2026

    Valve's Trial Against Accused Patent Troll Begins In Seattle

    Valve Corp. told a Seattle federal jury Tuesday that inventor Leigh Rothschild and his intellectual property firms spent years "harassing" the video game company over patents it was already licensed to use in pursuit of a bigger payout, pressing play on a trial that will test Washington's Patent Troll Prevention Act.

  • February 10, 2026

    Top PTAB Judges Save 2 Claims In Signify Lighting Patent

    Three top Patent Trial and Appeal Board judges have reversed the board's invalidation of a pair of claims in a Signify Holdings BV lighting patent, saying the challengers to the patent improperly made new obviousness arguments in a reply brief.

  • February 10, 2026

    'What I Like About You' Bandmates Seek End To Royalty Spat

    The founding guitarist of The Romantics asked a federal judge to either appoint a receiver or dissolve the company that manages the "What I Like About You" performers' finances, as his bandmate argued it's time for a judge to put an end to "meritless" self-dealing accusations.

  • February 10, 2026

    GSK, Teva Settle 'Skinny Label' Heart Medication Suit

    GlaxoSmithKline and Teva told a Delaware federal judge that they've settled GSK's decade-long "skinny label" patent fight over heart failure medication and asked the court to end the case.

  • February 10, 2026

    Lutnick Rules Out Creating Value-Based Fees For Patents

    Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told a Senate panel Tuesday that the government is not planning to establish new fees for U.S. patents based on their value, saying the idea he was reportedly considering "is not going anywhere."

  • February 10, 2026

    Lipid Testing Patents Recite Laws Of Nature, Judge Says

    A Massachusetts federal judge has dismissed a company's infringement claims against a rival over patents that cover methods of testing for lysosomal storage disorders, ruling that the patents only cited patent-ineligible laws of nature.

  • February 10, 2026

    Apple Again Pushes To Escape Masimo's $634M IP Verdict

    Apple is doubling down on its bid to have U.S. District Judge James V. Selna relieve it from a jury's $634 million infringement verdict in litigation over its Apple Watch, saying Masimo Corp. relied on an improper and "shifting" definition of a dispositive term.

Expert Analysis

  • Trade Secret Steps To Take As Exposure Risk Increases

    Author Photo

    Against the backdrop of rising trade secret litigation, greater employee mobility and constraints on noncompetes, recent cases highlight the importance of minimizing trade secret risks when employees leave or when new hires join, say attorneys at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • Open Questions After Defense Contractor Executive Order

    Author Photo

    The scope and long-term effects of President Donald Trump’s executive order on the U.S. defense industrial base are uncertain, but the immediate impact is significant as it appears to direct the U.S. Department of Defense to take a more active role in contractor affairs, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • What Artists Can Learn From Latest AI Music Licensing Deals

    Author Photo

    Recent partnerships between music labels and artificial intelligence companies raise a number of key questions for artists, rightsholders and other industry players about IP, revenue-sharing, and rights and obligations, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • If Your AI Vendor Goes Bankrupt: Keeping Licensed IP Access

    Author Photo

    With contracting norms still evolving to account for the licensing of artificial intelligence tools, customers that need to retain access to key AI products in the event of vendor’s bankruptcy should consider four elements that could determine whether they may invoke traditional Section 365(n) intellectual property protections, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • USPTO's New Patentability Focus Helps Emerging Tech

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent efforts to shift patentability criteria back toward traditional standards of novelty, obviousness and adequate disclosure should make it easier for emerging tech, including artificial intelligence, to obtain patents, says Bill Braunlin at Barclay Damon.

  • Malpractice Claim Assignability Continues To Divide Courts

    Author Photo

    Recent decisions from courts across the country demonstrate how different jurisdictions balance competing policy interests in determining whether legal malpractice claims can be assigned, providing a framework to identify when and how to challenge any attempted assignment, says Christopher Blazejewski at Sherin & Lodgen.

  • Tips For Financial Advisers Facing TRO From Former Firm

    Author Photo

    The Eighth Circuit's recent decision in Choreo v. Lors, overturning a lower court's sweeping injunction after financial advisers moved to a new firm, gives advisers new strategies to fight restraining orders from their old firms, such as focusing on whether the alleged irreparable harm is calculable, say attorneys at Kutak Rock.

  • Learning From A Typical Section 1782 Discovery Case

    Author Photo

    A California federal judge's recent approval of a Section 1782 application, compelling a U.S.-based company to produce materials relevant to a German patent dispute, usefully illustrates the specific steps foreign litigants must undertake before wielding this powerful tool for obtaining evidence unavailable via discovery mechanisms abroad, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

  • How To Trademark A Guy In 8 Ways: An IP Strategy Against AI

    Author Photo

    Attempting a novel method of protection against artificial intelligence misuse of his voice and likeness, Matthew McConaughey's recent efforts to register eight trademarks for a series of audio and video clips of himself underscore the importance of extending existing legal frameworks beyond traditional applications, says Summer Todd at Patterson Intellectual Property.

  • Utilizing The ITC To Combat 'Gray Market' IP Infringement

    Author Photo

    As technological developments intensify trademark owners' need to respond swiftly to "gray market" sales of international goods imported into the U.S. without the trademark owner's consent, litigating at the U.S. International Trade Commission offers an underutilized enforcement option, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Series

    Teaching Logic Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Teaching middle and high school students the skills to untangle complicated arguments and identify faulty reasoning has made me reacquaint myself with the defined structure of thought, reminding me why logic should remain foundational in the practice of law, says Tom Barrow at Woods Rogers.

  • From IPR To EPR: The Rapid Rise Of Ex Parte Reexamination

    Author Photo

    With the current administration's dramatic shifts in policy rendering inter partes reviews essentially unavailable for the majority of patents being asserted in litigation, IPR filing rates have plunged, and ex parte reexamination requests have surged to the average rate of IPR petitions in 2024, say attorneys at McKool Smith.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Resilience

    Author Photo

    Resilience is a skill acquired through daily practices that focus on learning from missteps, recovering quickly without internalizing defeat and moving forward with intention, says Nicholas Meza at Quarles & Brady.

  • Upshot Of 'Skinny Label' Case May Go Beyond Pharma

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Supreme Court's pending review of Hikma v. Amarin, over a drugmaker's "skinny label," carries implications for both generics and brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers, and could shed light on how inducement doctrine should operate in other regulated industries where products have substantial lawful uses, says Jason Shull at Banner Witcoff.

  • Assessing Factors Behind Biosimilar Uptake And Competition

    Author Photo

    As biosimilar uptake remains uneven and questions linger over whether the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act can deliver robust competition between biologics and biosimilars, a case study of Humira and its biosimilars illustrates how many factors, including payor reimbursement and formulary strategy, collectively shape competitive dynamics, say analysts at Analysis Group.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here