Intellectual Property

  • April 04, 2024

    Microsoft Unit Gets Fed. Circ. Alice Win On Imaging Patents

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday gave a win to a software company acquired by Microsoft for nearly $20 billion, affirming a decision that claims in four medical imaging patents it was accused of infringing are invalid for claiming only an abstract idea.

  • April 04, 2024

    Divided PTAB Invalidates RFID Claim It Previously Upheld

    A Patent Trial and Appeal Board panel has invalidated part of an AmaTech Group Ltd. smart card patent on rehearing, finding fault in its earlier decision to uphold the claim across two opinions and a dissent. 

  • April 04, 2024

    Coder's Late Expert Report Sank IP Suit, 6th Circ. Rules

    A panel of the Sixth Circuit has refused to revive an industrial control system designer's claims that a former business partner infringed his and his business's copyrighted software, backing a Michigan federal court's decision to exclude a critical expert witness.

  • April 04, 2024

    Ex-BigLaw Atty's Defamation Injunction Bid Meets Skepticism

    The Florida federal judge overseeing a $150 million defamation case between an ex-Greenberg Traurig LLP partner and a social media personality accused of mounting a harassment campaign against him declined, for now, to issue an injunction against alleged cyberstalking and indicated the petition may be better suited for state court.

  • April 04, 2024

    MLS Resolves Copyright Suit Over Use Of San Diego Mural

    Major League Soccer has reached an undisclosed settlement with a company that accused the league's newest soccer club in San Diego of using one of its outdoor murals there to promote the team.

  • April 03, 2024

    Dell Unit Snags $4M In Atty Fees In Computer Module IP Spat

    A Massachusetts federal judge has awarded a little over $4 million in attorney fees to Dell Inc. unit EMC Corp. following its win in decadelong litigation accusing it of infringing nearly a dozen computer module patents, according to a decision unsealed Tuesday.

  • April 03, 2024

    Microsoft Notches Fed. Circ. Win In 3D Imaging Patent Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed a ruling from an administrative tribunal that wiped out most of a patent issued to a Florida radiologist and his ex-Lockheed Martin business partner, whose company is suing Microsoft over its line of HoloLens AR headsets.

  • April 03, 2024

    Winning Foreign Patent Damages Just Became A Lighter Lift

    The Federal Circuit has clarified that patent owners can ask for reasonable royalties when pursuing damages for foreign infringement and expanded what constitutes eligible infringement in those instances, a ruling attorneys say should make it easier to recover damages from abroad.

  • April 03, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Wrestles With Crocs' 'Patented' Claim In False Ad Suit

    Efforts by footwear brand Crocs to fight allegations that its use of the word "patented" broke false advertising laws drew confusion from a Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday, spurring one judge to remark that "there's nothing novel" about the material used to make Crocs' shoes.

  • April 03, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Gets Lost In Intricacies Of Standing In Patent Law

    The Federal Circuit was thrown for a loop Wednesday in a case that asked whether the holder of an exclusive patent license could sue for infringement another company that could have acquired a license for the same patent by other means, with one judge calling the court's case law on the matter "very muddled."

  • April 03, 2024

    VLSI's Bid To Undo Intel Patent Win Is Scrutinized On Appeal

    A Federal Circuit panel on Wednesday questioned VLSI's position that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly found claims of its computer memory patent invalid in a challenge by Intel, suggesting that a previous ruling may have foreclosed VLSI's argument.

  • April 03, 2024

    Hytera's Word Alone Won't Lift $1M-Per-Day Sanctions

    An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday refused to lift a $1 million-a-day fine and other contempt sanctions against Hytera Communications without more proof it was out of options to derail Chinese litigation Hytera started against Motorola Solutions, saying she could no longer take the company's representations at face value.

  • April 03, 2024

    Models Get $95K Default Win In Strip Club Piracy Suit

    A Washington federal judge ordered a Seattle strip club to pay a group of professional models $95,000 in damages on Wednesday, after finding it had engaged in "amateur piracy" by using their photos without permission and failed to defend itself.

  • April 03, 2024

    Sen. Durbin Urged To Pass Legislation To Curb Judge Shopping

    A coalition of more than 20 organizations have called on Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, to curtail the use of judge shopping through legislation and oversight because they believe more is needed beyond the Judicial Conference of the United States' latest action to curb "right wing" influence over the courts. 

  • April 03, 2024

    TikTok Defeats Video Tech Patent Suit Over 'For You' Feature

    TikTok Inc. permanently defeated video technology developer 10Tales' infringement suit alleging the video-sharing giant's "For You" feature copied its invention covering a digital "recommendation system" presenting customized content relevant to users based on their social network information for advertising, after a California federal judge said Tuesday the concept was abstract and not inventive.

  • April 03, 2024

    Reba McEntire's Ex-Hubby Loses Bid To Cancel Farm Name TM

    The ex-husband of country star Reba McEntire has lost a bid to cancel the trademark "Starstruck Farm" after the man who bought the property kept the name, with a Tennessee federal judge finding that McEntire's former husband, Narvel Blackstock, has not met his burden regarding likelihood of confusion or bad faith to profit off the name.

  • April 03, 2024

    1-800-Flowers Seeks $4.3M In Fees After Rival's IP Suit Failed

    After dispatching a trademark infringement lawsuit from Edible Arrangements last month, rival retailer 1-800-Flowers.com told a Georgia federal judge on Tuesday it should be entitled to up to $4.3 million attorney fees for being forced to defend against the "anemic" and "oppressive" litigation.

  • April 03, 2024

    Mintz Adds Trademark Pro From Winston & Strawn In Calif.

    Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky and Popeo PC has hired an attorney for its intellectual property practice group who worked for more than a decade at Winston & Strawn LLP and spent brief in-house stints at Nike and video game company Capcom.

  • April 02, 2024

    Bong Maker Says Texas Company Is Ripping Off Its Trademark

    A California-based bong maker says a Texas company used its registered trademarks on phony water pipes, telling a federal court Monday that the counterfeit marks leave customers confused and are causing the brand's reputation to go up in smoke.

  • April 02, 2024

    Podcast Agrees To Ax AI-Generated George Carlin Special

    The makers of Dudesy, a comedy podcast created and written by artificial intelligence, have agreed to take down a fake comedy special that "resurrected" George Carlin and to refrain from using the late comedian's image, voice and likeness without permission, Carlin's estate told a California federal judge Tuesday.

  • April 02, 2024

    USPTO Stands By Proposal To Increase Many Patent Fees

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office released a proposal Tuesday to increase many patent-related fees beginning next year, standing by planned hikes related to requesting continued examination, design patents and post-grant challenges that have drawn concern.

  • April 02, 2024

    'This Just Has To Stop': Judge Hits Hytera With $1M Daily Fine

    An Illinois federal judge imposed a daily $1 million fine and other steep contempt sanctions against Hytera Communications on Tuesday, as she ripped the company for violating her order to refrain from participating in Chinese litigation that could undermine Motorola Solutions' $530 million mobile radio trade secrets trial win.

  • April 02, 2024

    Judge Notes There's No 'Jump To Conclusions' Mat In His Court

    In throwing out a lawsuit against a luxury car brand, a Delaware federal judge likened an expert report proffered by a patent litigation outfit to the absurd "Jump To Conclusions" mat from the 1999 movie "Office Space."

  • April 02, 2024

    Lupin Scores Win In Rosacea Patent Fight With Galderma

    A judge has found that Galderma failed on its allegations that Lupin infringed a pair of its patents that cover a rosacea drug, saying "Galderma has a theory but no proof."

  • April 02, 2024

    Frat That Allows Women Barred From Using 'Sigma Phi' Name

    A federal judge in Detroit says that a University of Michigan fraternity is breaking the law by continuing to use the Sigma Phi name after the national fraternity excommunicated the group for accepting women.

Expert Analysis

  • Supreme Court Amgen Ruling's Major Effect On Enablement

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Amgen v. Sanofi invalidity holding continues to significantly affect technologies and all aspects of the patent system by providing confidence in the Federal Circuit's approach and a clearer understanding on enforceability and the disclosure needed for compliance, say Irena Royzman and Daniel Williams at Kramer Levin.

  • Federal Courts And AI Standing Orders: Safety Or Overkill?

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    Several district court judges have issued standing orders regulating the use of artificial intelligence in their courts, but courts should consider following ordinary notice and comment procedures before implementing sweeping mandates that could be unnecessarily burdensome and counterproductive, say attorneys at Curtis.

  • Fed. Circ. Cellect Ruling Triggers Significant Patent Risk

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    A recent data analysis shows that the Federal Circuit's decision of patent invalidity in Cellect presents a significant risk to patent holders with subsequent child applications, which may be unpatentable under the judicially created doctrine of obvious-type double patenting, says Curtis Altmann at Hoffmann & Baron.

  • 7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond

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    The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.

  • 6 Focus Areas For Companies Managing The Risks Of AI Use

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    To harness the significant and potentially transformative benefits that generative artificial intelligence can confer, companies must establish appropriate oversight and governance, ensure appropriate disclosures, and resolve other regulatory and legal challenges arising from deployment, say attorneys at Shearman.

  • On The Edge: Lessons In Patent Litigation Financing

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    A federal judge's recent request that the U.S. Department of Justice look into IP Edge patent litigation, and that counsel be disciplined, serves as a reminder for parties asserting intellectual property rights — and their attorneys — to exercise caution when structuring a litigation financing agreement, say Samuel Habein and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.

  • Trends That Tech Lawyers Should Keep An Eye On In 2024

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    Worldwide technology spending is projected to strengthen in 2024, spurred by artificial intelligence-driven solutions, and five areas of growth may affect lawyers' practice in this sector, says Sonia Baldia at Kilpatrick.

  • Copyright And Generative AI Developments To Watch In 2024

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    This year could bring clarity to critical copyright issues raised by the recent surge of development in generative AI platforms, as Congress continues its legislative focus in this area and litigation tests theories of liability, say Joshua Weigensberg and Felicity Kohn at Pryor Cashman.

  • Emerging Risks Affecting The Tech Legal Landscape

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    The tech industry has become a battleground for various legal challenges shaped by geopolitical events, partisan politics, regulatory initiatives, patent disputes and class action trends, but companies can adopt several proactive legal strategies to safeguard their interests, say Natasha Allen and Louis Lehot at Foley & Lardner.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024

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    Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • Expect National Security Scrutiny Of Higher Ed To Continue

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    In 2023, the federal government significantly elevated the national security responsibilities of academic communities, so universities and research laboratories should take a more rigorous approach to research partnerships, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Medtronic's Cautionary Tale Of Fed. Circ. Word Limits

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    The Federal Circuit's ruling in Medtronic v. Teleflex that Medtronic waived an argument that it had sought to incorporate by reference illustrates the pitfalls facing parties in complex patent cases involving numerous issues that cannot all be addressed within the strict word limits for appellate briefs, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.

  • What One Litigator Learned Serving On A Jury

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    Kilpatrick attorney April Isaacson shares insights for trial lawyers from her recent experience serving on a jury for the first time, including lessons about the impact of frequent sidebars, considerations for using demonstratives, the importance of clear jury instructions, and the unconscious habits that can drive jurors mad.

  • Lessons In Navigating Collateral Estoppel Of Similar Patents

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    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's recent holding in Google v. Parus that rehearing was appropriate under collateral estoppel illustrates best arguments in inter partes review for any issue that could arise in a later proceeding, including dependent claim limitations, say attorneys at Akin.

  • Fed. Circ. Ruling Seemingly Offers PTAB Deadline Immunity

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    The Federal Circuit's recent Purdue Pharma v. Collegium Pharmaceutical Inc. decision that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board had authority to issue a final written decision in a post grant review after the prescribed statutory deadline underscores how courts should consider the overall objective of the statutory scheme when balancing the classic conflict between bright-line rules and flexible standards, says Matthew Dowd at Dowd Sheffel.

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