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Intellectual Property
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May 16, 2024
PTAB Will Review Cash-Out Patent Challenged By DraftKings
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board said Wednesday it will review a patent owned by DraftKings Inc. rival Colossus Bets on a way for gamblers to "cash out" of a sports bet to cut their losses before a game is over.
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May 16, 2024
High Court Told USPTO's Address Requirement Is Dangerous
A North Carolina trademark law firm is taking its fight against a new rule requiring trademark applicants to provide their home addresses all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, telling the justices that this requirement publicized "the home addresses of victims of domestic violence and stalking, as well as celebrities and other public figures."
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May 16, 2024
Investigate Pro-Gaza Reddit Post, GOP Pols Tell USPTO
An anonymous Reddit post purportedly from a patent examiner confessing "mixed feelings" about issuing a patent to an Israeli defense contractor, citing the country's ongoing bombardment of Gaza, has attracted the attention of Republicans in Congress and the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office herself.
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May 16, 2024
Fed. Circ. Grills Sherwin-Williams, PPG On Coating Patents
The judges of the Federal Circuit had tough questions for both sides Thursday as Sherwin-Williams Co. appealed a jury verdict that its beverage can coating patents are invalid due to earlier patents issued to PPG Industries Inc., which was accused of infringement.
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May 16, 2024
Donna Summer's Estate Working With Ye To Settle IP Suit
Donna Summer's estate has indicated that it is finalizing a settlement with rappers Kanye West and Ty Dolla $ign to resolve a copyright complaint that alleges the musicians sampled the legendary disco singer's 1977 hit "I Feel Love" without permission.
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May 16, 2024
Viacom Sues Apparel Co. Over 'TMNT,' 'Avatar' Products
Viacom International Inc. accused an apparel and toys company in New York federal court of profiting off products that infringe its trademarks for "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender," among other intellectual properties.
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May 16, 2024
DC Judge Reluctantly Holds That Hyatt Forfeited Patents
A D.C. federal judge on Thursday found the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has sufficiently proven that inventor Gilbert Hyatt forfeited the right to receive certain patents based on decades of delay, but made clear that his finding was the result of a Federal Circuit mandate, not how he thought the case should be approached.
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May 16, 2024
Gilead, Teva Want 17 HIV Drug Antitrust Appeals Consolidated
Gilead Sciences Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals are asking the Ninth Circuit to consolidate 17 appeals contesting their win in a case alleging they delayed generic versions of HIV medications, saying the three groups of buyers are raising largely the same issues but refuse to commit to combining their briefs.
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May 16, 2024
11th Circ. Tries To Untangle Aftermath Of Judge's Early Exit
An Eleventh Circuit panel on Thursday quizzed attorneys for rival breeders of disease-resistant shrimp about whether a $10 million trade-secrets jury verdict should be overturned after a federal magistrate judge presided over the trial's ending because a federal district judge had to catch a flight, with one of the panel judges saying the parties had been put "in a very difficult position."
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May 16, 2024
Ex-Execs Accuse Truist Of Hijacking Control Of Mortgage Unit
Three former executives who spearheaded the real estate finance arm of Truist Financial Corp. before they left for a competitor are countersuing the bank for allegedly usurping control of the business, saying Truist then tried forcing them out to skirt paying severance.
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May 16, 2024
Baker Botts Grows IP Group With Perkins Coie Atty In Calif.
Baker Botts has welcomed a Perkins Coie LLP partner to its Palo Alto, California, office, strengthening its intellectual property department with a litigator whose clients include Chinese and Taiwanese technology companies, the international law firm announced Thursday.
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May 16, 2024
Pa. Pot Co. Says No Deal To Breach In Growth IP Suit
A Pennsylvania cannabis cultivator is asking a federal court to dismiss a suit claiming it broke an oral agreement with a consulting firm and continued to use the firm's trade secrets, saying no oral contract existed, nor was the firm's information trade secrets.
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May 16, 2024
Nordstrom Settles Patagonia's Suit Over Alleged Counterfeits
Patagonia has agreed to toss its trademark lawsuit accusing Nordstrom's Nordstrom Rack discount stores of selling thousands of "obvious counterfeits" after their partnership ended and then refusing to issue a recall on the products once Patagonia complained.
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May 16, 2024
Fracking Services Co. Nitro Hits Ch. 11 After IP Trial Loss
Oil and gas fracking services provider Nitro Fluids LLC filed for Chapter 11 protection in a Texas bankruptcy court with more than $50 million in debt, months after a jury found it had infringed another company's patents.
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May 15, 2024
Newman Wasn't At Fed. Circ. Conference, But She Was Invited
U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman's absence from Tuesday's Federal Circuit Judicial Conference was not due to a lack of invitation, contrary to initial comments from her lawyer, but the law isn't explicit about whether a suspended judge legally could have been excluded.
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May 15, 2024
Ex-Samsung Exec Called Netlist Leaders 'Morons,' Jury Hears
A former sales executive for Samsung testified Wednesday to a California federal jury that he made fun of Netlist executives in an email to his boss as they were repeatedly trying to secure product deliveries, calling them "morons" who didn't understand that "nobody likes or wants them as a customer."
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May 15, 2024
Fed. Circ. Backs Xerox Win In Printer Patent Case
The Federal Circuit has affirmed a New York federal judge's decision that handed Xerox Corp. a win in a suit claiming the company infringed a series of printer technology patents owned by a youth sports company.
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May 15, 2024
Lilly Lands Default ITC Order Against Weight Loss Copycats
The U.S. International Trade Commission voted on Wednesday to give Eli Lilly a default win against the remaining companies in the drugmaker's trademark case surrounding its highly popular, billion-dollar weight loss drugs.
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May 15, 2024
Little People Wrestling Co. Starts 'Micro' TM Fight With Rival
Low Budget Rock Star Entertainment LLC, which produces wrestling entertainment featuring little people, has accused two men of infringing its trademark by using the word "micro" in their own wrestling ventures, according to a lawsuit filed in Florida federal court.
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May 15, 2024
Caltech Makes A Deal With Dell, Ending Another Patent Suit
The California Institute of Technology has reached a settlement in its patent lawsuit against Dell Technologies Inc., the latest deal the school has cut in suits over its data transmission patents in the years after its $1.1 billion verdict against Apple Inc. crashed at the Federal Circuit.
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May 15, 2024
1 Year After Warhol, Judges Feel Their Way Through Fair Use
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a rock photographer in a copyright dispute over Andy Warhol's iconic silkscreens of music legend Prince, judges have had to rethink their analysis of fair use — sometimes struggling to apply the high court's conclusions to the facts of the cases before them.
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May 15, 2024
'Misconduct Bingo Card' Warrants $2M In Fees, Co. Says
Cozy Comfort, maker of the Comfy sweatshirt featured on "Shark Tank," has asked for nearly $2 million in fees — and about $8 million in additional interest — in a suit where a jury found that Chicago hooded sweatshirt retailer Top Brand owed over $18 million for infringing design patents and trademarks.
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May 15, 2024
NJ Firm Picks Up An Ex-NPE Patent Litigator
A small New Jersey firm has hired a longtime patent litigator from the "nonpracticing entity" trenches, who tells Law360 that he's since sworn off "NPE work," because it's become too hard to make money from those cases.
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May 15, 2024
Winston & Strawn Adds Buchalter IP Atty As Trademarks Lead
Global firm Winston & Strawn LLP has hired a Buchalter PC attorney to bolster its intellectual property practice and lead its global trademark prosecution and counseling efforts.
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May 15, 2024
Photographer Sues De La Hoya's Co. Over Lennox Lewis Pic
A photographer has sued Oscar De La Hoya's boxing promotion business, its parent company, and Getty Images US for allegedly using a photo of former heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis without his permission.
Expert Analysis
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5 Ways To Hone Deposition Skills And Improve Results
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Depositions must never be taken for granted in the preparations needed to win a dispositive motion or a trial, and five best practices, including knowing when to hire a videographer, can significantly improve outcomes, says James Argionis at Cozen O'Connor.
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Series
Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.
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Can A DAO Be Sued? SDNY Case May Hold The Answer
A case pending in the Southern District of New York will examine whether decentralized crypto co-op MakerDAO is a partnership with the capacity to be sued in federal court, and the decision could shape how legal frameworks will adapt to accommodate blockchain technologies moving forward, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.
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Navigating Trade Secret Litigation In A High-Stakes Landscape
Recent eye-popping verdicts are becoming increasingly common in trade secret litigation — but employers can take several proactive steps to protect proprietary information and defend against misappropriation accusations in order to avoid becoming the next headline, say Jessica Mason and Jack FitzGerald at Foley & Lardner.
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Disney Copyright Expiration Spurs Trademark Questions
While the recent expiration of Disney’s Steamboat Willie copyright is not likely to have an immediate impact, it could provide clarity on the extent to which trademark rights in character names and appearance affect what others can do with characters from works whose copyright has expired, says Bryan Wheelock at Harness IP.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC
The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Opinion
There Is No NCAA Supremacy Clause, Especially For NIL
A recent Tennessee federal court ruling illustrates the NCAA's problematic position that its member schools should violate state law rather than its rules — and the organization's legal history with the dormant commerce clause raises a fundamental constitutional issue that will have to be resolved before attorneys can navigate NIL with confidence, says Patrick O’Donnell at HWG.
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Valeant Ruling May Pave Way For Patent-Based FCA Suits
The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Silbersher v. Valeant marks a significant development in False Claims Act jurisprudence, opens new avenues for litigation and potentially raises the stakes for patent applicants who intend to do business with the government, say Joshua Robbins and Rick Taché at Buchalter.
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Webpages Must Meet Accessibility Standard To Be Prior Art
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's First Solar Inc. v. Rovshan Sade decision, that an available internet resource doesn't necessarily qualify as a prior art "printed publication" that is publicly accessible, serves as a reminder of the unforgiving requirements that must be satisfied to establish that a reference is a printed publication, say attorneys at Akin.
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The Pros And Cons Of Protecting AI As Trade Secrets
Despite regulatory trends toward greater transparency of artificial intelligence models, federal policy acknowledges, and perhaps endorses, trade secret protection for AI information, but there are still hurdles in keeping AI information a secret, say Jennifer Maisel and Andrew Stewart at Rothwell Figg.
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Trending At The PTAB: Navigating A Motion To Amend
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's recent decisions in motions to amend patent claims highlight the challenges of taking advantage of the board's pilot program for amending such claims, and owners and petitioners should keep several strategic considerations in mind as the program continues through mid-September, say Joshua Goldberg and Kai Rajan at Finnegan.
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How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts
Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.
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How Echoing Techniques Can Derail Witnesses At Deposition
Before depositions, defense attorneys must prepare witnesses to recognize covert echoing techniques that may be used by opposing counsel to lower their defenses and elicit sensitive information — potentially leading to nuclear settlements and verdicts, say Bill Kanasky and Steve Wood at Courtroom Sciences.
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Fed. Circ. In Feb.: Using Prior Products To Invalidate A Patent
The Federal Circuit's recent Weber v. Provisu ruling, that prior-product operating manuals constituted printed publications that can be used to invalidate patents in an inter partes review proceeding, makes it easier for a petitioner to invalidate a patent, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.
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How Cos. Can Assess Open-Source Contribution Patent Risks
Recent trends underscore the importance of open-source software to the technology industry for both engineering and strategic purposes, and companies should consider using a framework that addresses whether contributions require granting licenses to patent claims in portfolios to analyze associated risks, says Shrut Kirti at TAE Technologies.