Intellectual Property

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What Attys Expect From USPTO Guidance On AI And Patents

Guidance on artificial intelligence's implications for patent law, which the White House has directed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to produce, could illuminate important issues, according to attorneys, but the tight timeline and evolving technology might limit what the office can say.
November 28, 2023
Car Tech Biz Wants TM Verdict Against Ford Upped To $15M

A California vehicle technology company that won a trademark and trade secrets verdict against Ford Motor Co. asked a Michigan federal judge on Tuesday to boost the award from less than half a million dollars to $15 million, arguing the verdict didn't account for all profits from the infringing activity.
November 28, 2023
IP Atty Rejoins Fox Rothschild After Sleep Number Gig

An intellectual property partner has rejoined Fox Rothschild LLP's Minneapolis office after leaving earlier this year to work at bed manufacturer Sleep Number Corp.
November 28, 2023
Law Firm Leaders Cautiously Optimistic Heading Into 2024

Major U.S. law firms are steadfast in their commitment to the pursuit of further growth despite ongoing economic uncertainty. Here’s what the leaders of four Leaderboard firms have to say about how the legal industry is preparing for next year.
November 28, 2023
The 2023 Law360 Pulse Leaderboard

Check out the Law360 Pulse Leaderboard to see which first-in-class firms made the list this year.
November 27, 2023
Gaming Patent Trial Paused Amid Criminal Probe Of Bot Fraud

A California federal judge has pushed mobile game-maker Skillz's December patent infringement trial against rival AviaGames to February after Skillz alleged AviaGames used bots to "cheat the public," which sparked a criminal grand jury investigation.
November 27, 2023
Self-Driving Tech Co. Investors Sue Over Misused Image Claim

Executives and directors of self-driving car company Luminar Technologies Inc. face a shareholder derivative complaint alleging they damaged investors after a competitor accused the company of using an image of its proprietary technology in a pitch to investors.
November 27, 2023
Judge In Del. Asks DOJ To Look Into IP Edge Patent Litigation

The top federal judge in Delaware concluded Monday that the Texas attorneys behind prolific patent litigation funding outfit IP Edge might have broken the law — and their ethical obligations as lawyers — by litigating ferociously for settlements from tech companies while operating behind a shadowy network of "relatively unsophisticated individuals."
November 27, 2023
MGA Unlikely To Get Quick Appeal Of 3rd Doll IP Trial Order

A California federal judge overseeing rapper T.I.'s $100 million intellectual property dispute against MGA Entertainment appeared ready at a Monday hearing to stick with his tentative decision to deny the toy giant's request to pause the proceedings and certify for interlocutory appeal his ruling that ordered a third trial in the case.
November 27, 2023
Amicus Groups Tell High Court To End Chevron Deference

Six groups, including the Ohio Chamber of Commerce and several former state supreme court judges, filed friend-of-the-court briefs on Monday urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decades-old legal doctrine stating that courts must defer to federal agencies' interpretation of ambiguous laws.
November 27, 2023
PTAB Denies Review Of Univ. Of Texas System Cancer Patent

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has denied a petition by biotechnology company Microbiotica seeking post-grant review of a cancer treatment patent held by the University of Texas System.
November 27, 2023
Arthrex Gets PTAB To Strike Down More P Tech Patents

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has again sided with medical device company Arthrex Inc. in its patent dispute with P Tech LLC, finding as obvious two additional P Tech surgery patents that are being litigated in federal district court.
November 27, 2023
Teva, Eli Lilly Call Off Infringement Suit Over Migraine Drug

Teva Pharmaceuticals International GmbH has moved in Massachusetts federal court to permanently drop an infringement case against Eli Lilly and Co. over a migraine drug — an action taken after the Patent Trial and Appeal Board found two patents related to the drug and its use invalid.
November 27, 2023
Longhorn Vaccines Urges Vidal To Ax PTAB Sanctions Order

Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics LLC says the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director should throw out a sanctions order against it, given as punishment for when a patent owner withholds key evidence from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
November 27, 2023
Ex-Allstate Agent Settles Allegations She Swiped Customers

A former Allstate agent has agreed not to sell competing products to her former customers as part of a deal resolving allegations she improperly used Allstate's client lists and confidential information after she stopped working with the company, according to an order filed Friday.
November 27, 2023
Amazon-Backed AI Co. Slams Music Publishers' Tenn. IP Suit

Amazon.com-backed Anthropic has asked a Tennessee federal judge to toss — or alternatively, transfer to California — music publishers' allegations that the artificial-intelligence developer has ripped off their song copyrights, arguing that the complaint is a "negotiating tactic disguised as a federal complaint," and the Volunteer State lacks authority over the dispute.
November 27, 2023
Ex-Wife Can't Use 'Chocolate Moonshine' Formula, Jury Hears

Christopher Warman Sr. may have learned a fudge recipe from a New England chocolatier, but it was his own tweaks and improvements to that formula that made it a trade secret — one his ex-wife and her new business partners should be barred from using, Warman's attorney told a Pittsburgh jury Monday.
November 27, 2023
Ammunition Co. Claims Hugo Boss Used Bogus TM Claims

A shotgun shell company has accused high fashion company Hugo Boss of using unfounded trademark claims to block it from selling branded apparel through an online vendor in a new lawsuit filed in Michigan federal court.
November 27, 2023
Justices Urged To Enforce Time Limit For IP Damages

A music publisher said Monday the U.S. Supreme Court should overturn a lower court ruling that held an artist is not time-barred from recovering additional damages in a copyright suit over recorded songs.
November 27, 2023
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

Delaware's Chancery Court stuffed a lot into a shortened Thanksgiving week, with new cases involving wrestling promoter Vince McMahon, billionaire Howard Lutnick and activist investor Carl Icahn.
November 24, 2023
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

The past week in London has seen Glencore face a claim from collapsed hedge fund Eton Park in the wake of its bribery scandal, the ex-CFO of Peppa Pig and Teletubbies toymaker bring data protection proceedings against the employment barrister who represented him at tribunal, and Delta Airlines check in to fresh trademark proceedings against hotel chain Marriott. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
November 23, 2023
Whitney Houston Tribute Act Must Quit Stage, TM Owner Says

The owner of the "Whitney Houston" trademark has hit out at an events organizer who runs tribute shows of the world-famous singer, alleging that he sought to unfairly "ride on the coat-tails" of her name.
November 22, 2023
BofA, JPMorgan, 9 Other Banks Face Data Security Patent Suits

A data security firm has slapped JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and nine others with separate patent actions in Texas federal court, claiming they ripped off its pioneering inventions that follow the "Sheltered Harbor" industry standards for banks to protect critical information and recover from cyberattacks.
November 22, 2023
Full Fed. Circ. Warned Of Fallout From Double Patenting Case

A Federal Circuit holding that says patents given longer terms due to delays in examination can be invalidated for double patenting wrongly lets a judge-made rule trump federal law and puts many patents at risk, the full court was warned in briefs urging rehearing.
November 22, 2023
PTAB Denies Masimo Challenges To Apple Patents

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has denied two Masimo Corp. petitions for inter partes reviews of an Apple Inc. utility patent for a wearable electronic device including the Apple Watch and a design patent for a charger, both of which Apple has accused the medical device company of infringing in Delaware court.
November 22, 2023
Patent Biz Drops WDTX Case Against Apple

Patent licensing company Arigna has agreed to drop its patent suit in the Western District of Texas against Apple, almost a year and a half after the Irish business reached a settlement with Samsung in the same court.

Editor's Picks

Justices Clamp Down On Broad Patents In Amgen Decision

The U.S. Supreme Court sent a clear message Thursday that broad patents covering anything that can perform a certain function are not allowed, meaning patent applications must be tailored more narrowly to what has been discovered, particularly in the biotechnology field, attorneys say.
High Court's Warhol Ruling Poses New Concerns For Artists

The U.S. Supreme Court may have issued a narrow ruling to reject a fair use defense by the Andy Warhol Foundation over the artist's portrait of music icon Prince, but the decision may nonetheless make it trickier for artists who want to claim fair use, especially based on their artistic changes in earlier works, experts say.
After Rules Shake-Up, Albright Remains The Top Patent Judge

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright of the Western District of Texas still got more patent cases in 2022 than any other judge and the district itself remained the nation's busiest patent venue even after it began randomly distributing patent cases, although the full effects of that change may not yet have been felt.

Expert Analysis

IP Suits Over Brand Owner Font Use Offer Cautionary Tales

Dyan Finguerra-DuCharme and Mallory Chandler at Pryor Cashman consider the history of fonts and point to recent court decisions that show how brand owners can avoid legal typeface troubles.
Copyright Ruling A Victory For Innovation In Publishing Sector

The D.C. Circuit’s recent ruling in Valancourt v. Garland shows that demanding book copies without paying for them is arguably property theft, proving that the practice stifles innovation in the publishing industry by disincentivizing small printing companies from entering the market due to a fear of high costs and outdated government regulations, says Zvi Rosen at Southern Illinois University School of Law.
3 Rulings Illustrate Infringement Hurdles For Hip-Hop Plaintiffs

Three district court decisions dismissing hip-hop copyright claims recently came down in quick succession, indicating that plaintiffs face significant hurdles when they premise claims on the use of words, phrases and themes that are common in the genre, say Benjamin Halperin and Shiara Robinson at Cowan DeBaets.
Rethinking Tech Contract Terms For Governance Of AI Use

Traditional considerations in technology deals are often inadequate for governing artificial intelligence use, which means lawyers should revisit and reimagine existing terms across the full spectrum of relevant contracts, ranging from procurement agreements and data licenses to customer agreements, say Marina Aronchik and Samuel Hartman at Mayer Brown.
Deploying Analogies To Explore AI Copyright Questions

Xin Shao at F. Chau & Associates translates two representative artificial intelligence copyright cases into more traditional copyright law scenarios to facilitate the direct application of legal theories to undisputed technological facts.
The Case For Post-Bar Clerk Training Programs At Law Firms

In today's competitive legal hiring market, an intentionally designed training program for law school graduates awaiting bar admission can be an effective way of creating a pipeline of qualified candidates, says Brent Daub at Gilson Daub.
What's At Stake In Bystolic 'Side Deals' Litigation

In re: Bystolic Antitrust Litigation, which has oral argument set for next month, will likely shed light on how the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit views side deals, and could create a circuit split in pleading standards for reverse payment cases, say attorneys at Axinn.
Attorneys Have An Ethical Duty To Protect The Judiciary

The tenor of public disagreement and debate has become increasingly hostile against judges, and though the legislative branch is trying to ameliorate this safety gap, lawyers have a moral imperative and professional requirement to stand with judges in defusing attacks against them and their rulings, says Deborah Winokur at Cozen O'Connor.
Best Practices For Defense Tech Startup Financing

Navigating the expanding and highly regulated defense technology sector requires careful planning and execution, starting at incorporation, so startups should prepare for foreign investor issues, choose their funding wisely and manage their funds carefully, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
'Trump Too Small' Args Show Justices Inclined To Reverse

The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard oral arguments in the "Trump Too Small" trademark case Vidal v. Elster — and the tenor of the justices' feedback makes it clear that the refusal to register a mark under the Lanham Act most likely does not violate free speech rights, as opposed to the Federal Circuit's decision last year, says Brian Brookey at Tucker Ellis.
FTC Orange Book Move Signals New Pharma Patent Scrutiny

The Federal Trade Commission's recent dispute against improper listing of drug patents in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book indicates heightened surveillance of the pharmaceutical industry, particularly where competition-related consequences of patent or regulatory processes are concerned, say attorneys at Fenwick.
AI Can Help Lawyers Overcome The Programming Barrier

Legal professionals without programming expertise can use generative artificial intelligence to harness the power of automation and other technology solutions to streamline their work, without the steep learning curve traditionally associated with coding, says George Zalepa at Greenberg Traurig.
Why The Effect Of Vivint Has Been Minimal

A survey of recent ex parte reexamination decisions since the Federal Circuit’s 2021 In re: Vivint decision appears to support the court’s conclusion that the ruling was limited in scope and would have limited impact, says Yao Wang at Fish & Richardson.
Transparency And Explainability Are Critical To AI Compliance

Although there is not yet a comprehensive law governing artificial intelligence, regulators have tools to hold businesses accountable, and companies need to focus on ensuring that consumers and key stakeholders understand how their AI systems operate and make decisions, say Chanley Howell and Lauren Hudon at Foley & Lardner.
Preparing Law Students For A New, AI-Assisted Legal World

As artificial intelligence rapidly transforms the legal landscape, law schools must integrate technology and curricula that address AI’s innate challenges — from ethics to data security — to help students stay ahead of the curve, say Daniel Garrie at Law & Forensics, Ryan Abbott at JAMS and Karen Silverman at Cantellus Group.