Intellectual Property

  • September 22, 2025

    Hasbro Faces Copyright Suit Over Star Wars Helmet Inserts

    Hasbro Inc. was sued in Georgia federal court by a hobbyist who alleges a line of inserts and liners the company makes for its Star Wars-themed helmets infringe his copyright for inserts and liners he creates for fan-made helmets.

  • September 22, 2025

    Social Media Co. Calls For Disqualification Of Influencer's Atty

    A social media optimization company has moved to disqualify a social media influencer's attorney from a copyright infringement suit in Texas federal court, saying attorneys from the same firm had previously met with the company in meetings where confidential information was discussed.

  • September 22, 2025

    Pa. Court Backs Toss Of Malpractice Suit Against NY Atty

    A Pennsylvania appellate court won't revive a paint removal chemical company's malpractice suit against an intellectual property attorney it had hired to review one of its products, saying there weren't enough ties to the commonwealth for the case to proceed there.

  • September 19, 2025

    Stewart Issues Mixed Bag Of Referrals, Denied Petitions

    Coke Morgan Stewart issued some of her final decisions as acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, discretionarily denying a host of petitions for Patent Trial and Appeal Board review, while also referring a group of Apple Inc.'s petitions to the board for scrutiny.

  • September 19, 2025

    Squires Confirmation Has Patent Attys Hoping For Stability

    Now that the U.S. Senate has confirmed John Squires to serve as director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, attorneys are looking for him to provide clear rules and consistent practices, saying the current requirements keep changing.

  • September 19, 2025

    Call For Gov't Cut Of University Patent Cash Spurs Concern

    Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick's comments that the government should get as much as half of the revenue that universities generate from patents developed with federal funding have caused worry among industry groups and attorneys, who say it would inhibit efforts to commercialize publicly funded inventions.

  • September 19, 2025

    PTAB Invalidates Johns Hopkins Patent In Keytruda Fight

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has invalidated an anti-cancer therapy patent owned by Johns Hopkins University, handing a win to challenger Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC in a larger fight relating to Merck's Keytruda treatment.

  • September 19, 2025

    AmEx Trounces Rewards Programs Patent Infringement Suit

    A New York federal judge has rejected for now a company's case accusing American Express of infringing a pair of patents covering loyalty and rewards programs, finding that the financial services giant's programs aren't doing what's covered in the asserted patent claims.

  • September 19, 2025

    Meta Says Eminem Publishers' Copyright Suit Lacks Specifics

    Meta Platforms has moved to dismiss a copyright lawsuit from Eminem's music publishers that accuses the major social media company of infringing the rapper's songs on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, saying "the complaint is long on rhetoric" but "remarkably short on specifics."

  • September 19, 2025

    DC Judge Cuts Proud Boys Atty's Bill To Researcher

    A D.C. federal judge reduced the amount an attorney who represented Proud Boys members in their Jan. 6 criminal trial owes to a researcher who sued him over unpaid work, dropping a jury's award of $77,000 to just $30,000.

  • September 19, 2025

    'Drop' Maker Blumhouse Accused Of Ripping Off Horror Script

    RG Media Properties sued Los Angeles horror filmmaker Blumhouse Productions in California federal court alleging that the production company's 2025 film "Drop" infringes the copyright for the script "Table 18," which the suit says tells the same tale of a first date that devolves into a violent hostage situation.

  • September 19, 2025

    Moderna Wants Fed. Circ. Reversal Of Vax Patent Invalidation

    Moderna has told the Federal Circuit that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board got it wrong when it found that the success of the inventions behind two of its COVID-19 vaccine patents challenged by Pfizer and BioNTech didn't outweigh the evidence they were invalid as obvious.

  • September 19, 2025

    Prince's Estate Seeks To Toss 'Purple Rain' Star's TM Suit

    The estate of pop icon Prince has asked a California federal judge to dismiss a trademark complaint from the late musician's co-star in the movie "Purple Rain" over the name "Apollonia," saying the court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over a dispute that's also playing out at the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.

  • September 19, 2025

    Judge Overturns Maxell's $112M Patent Win Against Samsung

    A Texas federal judge has cleared Samsung in Maxell's suit accusing it of infringing personal electronics patents, overriding a jury's May verdict that the South Korean company owed $112 million.

  • September 19, 2025

    Air Charter Co. Says Rival Bribed Ex-Worker For Insider Info

    Air charter broker XO Global sued its competitor Jet365 in Miami, claiming the rival bribed a onetime XO sales employee to steal confidential business information that allowed Jet365 to redirect millions of dollars' worth of charter flights to itself.

  • September 19, 2025

    Greenberg Traurig Adds Venture Capital Atty From O'Melveny

    Greenberg Traurig LLP has brought on an O'Melveny & Myers LLP partner in its Los Angeles office, strengthening its venture capital practice with an attorney who has guided clients on hundreds of transactions that total over $10 billion.

  • September 19, 2025

    USPTO's Top Solicitors To Leave Amid Continued Shake-Ups

    The legal department at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is facing some shake-ups, with two of its top officials slated to leave the agency in the coming weeks.

  • September 19, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen brokerage firm ADS Securities file a fresh claim against German entrepreneur Lars Windhorst, AmTrust and Endurance Worldwide Insurance tackle an ongoing £50 million ($67 million) dispute over a failed litigation and insurance scheme, and Howard Kennedy LLP sue the son of a diamond tycoon over a £3.1 million legal bill. 

  • September 19, 2025

    Entain Sues Matched Betting Biz Over TM Infringement

    The owner of the Ladbrokes and Bwin gambling websites has sued a company that provides paying members with tools to maximize betting returns, accusing it of infringing its IP by displaying its trademarks and logos. 

  • September 18, 2025

    Kong Toy Owners Blame Each Other For Deal Breach

    After more than three weeks, the co-owners of dog toy maker Kong Co. LLC ended their bench trial over violated company agreements with closing arguments Thursday, with one side claiming they were being forced out while the other arguing they were being ripped off.

  • September 18, 2025

    Fed. Circ.'s PTAB Prior Art Ruling Risks Havoc, Justices Told

    The Federal Circuit created a "jumbled mess" when it ruled that the filing date of a patent application dictates whether it can be used as prior art to invalidate a later patent, rather than the date the application was published, Lynk Labs Inc. has told the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • September 18, 2025

    Philip Morris Gets Swedish Match Deal Case Stubbed Out

    A Virginia federal court tossed a proposed class action on Thursday from consumers accusing Philip Morris of violating antitrust law by purchasing Swedish Match rather than competing in the U.S. market for nicotine pouches with its own product, after finding the claims were based on conjecture instead of facts.

  • September 18, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Hears 'Settled Expectations' Are 'Lawless' In IP Feud

    SanDisk Technologies Inc. and its former parent have become the latest challengers at the Federal Circuit to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's discretionary denial practices, taking aim at its acting director's holdings that patent owners eventually have the right to assume their patents won't be challenged.

  • September 18, 2025

    NC Judge Trims Feud Over Middle School Dance Team Name

    The parties fighting over the rights to the name of a youth dance team were urged by a North Carolina federal judge on Thursday to resolve the disagreement on their own, after he streamlined the claims against each other and admonished them for the lengths they already have traveled to secure the team name.

  • September 18, 2025

    NPE Asks To Drop Samsung Patent Suit Watched By Gov't

    A nonpracticing entity has moved to drop a patent infringement suit against Samsung in light of new testimony in a case where the federal government had taken the rare step of showing interest.

Expert Analysis

  • 6 Tips On Drafting Machine Learning Patents Post-Recentive

    Author Photo

    While the Federal Circuit's decision in Recentive v. Fox narrows the scope of patent-eligible machine learning applications, there are several drafting and prosecution strategies that may help practitioners navigate Section 101 challenges, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • What US-India Trade Deal Will Mean For Indian Pharma

    Author Photo

    Complicated by newly imposed tariffs from the U.S., the outcome of the U.S.-India trade talks is poised to reshape not just trade policy, but also the strategic alignment of the two countries' pharmaceutical ecosystems, says Jashaswi Ghosh at Holon Law Partners.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Negotiation Skills

    Author Photo

    I took one negotiation course in law school, but most of the techniques I rely on today I learned in practice, where I've discovered that the process is less about tricks or tactics, and more about clarity, preparation and communication, says Grant Schrantz at Haug Barron.

  • Opinion

    Bar Exam Reform Must Expand Beyond A Single Updated Test

    Author Photo

    Recently released information about the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ new NextGen Uniform Bar Exam highlights why a single test is not ideal for measuring newly licensed lawyers’ competency, demonstrating the need for collaborative development, implementation and reform processes, says Gregory Bordelon at Suffolk University.

  • The Patent Eligibility Eras Tour: 11 Years Of Post-Alice Tumult

    Author Photo

    A survey of recent twists and turns in patent eligibility law highlights the confusion created by the U.S. Supreme Court's 2014 Alice decision and reveals that the continually shifting standards have begun to diverge in fundamental ways between the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, says Michael Shepherd at Fish & Richardson.

  • Export Misconduct Resolutions Emphasize BIS, DOJ Priorities

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Department of Justice's and Bureau of Industry and Security's recently resolved parallel enforcement actions against semiconductor technology company Cadence Design demonstrate the agencies' prioritization of penalties for export control violations involving China, as well as the importance of voluntary self-disclosure, say attorneys at Fenwick.

  • Disney Art Suit Will Test Recent AI Fair Use Boundaries

    Author Photo

    While the first U.S. rulings to address the issue recently held that it's fair use for generative artificial intelligence models to train on certain copyrighted books without permission, Disney v. Midjourney, filed in June, will test the limits of the fair use framework in a visual art context, says Rob Rosenberg at Moses & Singer.

  • A Simple Way Courts Can Help Attys Avoid AI Hallucinations

    Author Photo

    As attorneys increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence for legal research, courts should consider expanding online quality control programs to flag potential hallucinations — permitting counsel to correct mistakes and sparing judges the burden of imposing sanctions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl and Connors.

  • Tracking The Evolving Legal Landscape Of Music Festivals

    Author Photo

    The legal infrastructure behind music festivals is anything but simple, so attorneys advising clients in this space should be prepared for a wide range of legal challenges, including the unexpected risks that come with live events, says Meesha Moulton at Meesha Moulton Law.

  • USPTO Ex Parte Reexamination Could Become More Popular

    Author Photo

    As inter partes review becomes less effective for challenging patent validity due to recent changes at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, ex parte reexamination may provide a viable alternative, with significant cost savings, anonymity and procedural advantages, says Stephen Ball at Husch Blackwell.

  • Series

    Creating Botanical Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Pressing and framing plants that I grow has shown me that pursuing an endeavor that brings you joy can lead to surprising benefits for a legal career, including mental clarity, perspective and even a bit of humility, says Douglas Selph at Morris Manning.

  • Reddit v. Anthropic Is A Defining Moment In The AI Data Race

    Author Photo

    The recent lawsuit filed by Reddit against Anthropic in California state court marks a pivotal moment in the burgeoning field of artificial intelligence by sidestepping a typical copyright dispute, focusing instead on the enforceability of online terms of service and ownership of the digital commons, says William Galkin at Galkin Law.

  • Opinion

    The Legal Education Status Quo Is No Longer Tenable

    Author Photo

    As underscored by the fallout from California’s February bar exam, legal education and licensure are tethered to outdated systems, and the industry must implement several key reforms to remain relevant and responsive to 21st century legal needs, says Matthew Nehmer at The Colleges of Law.

  • Opinion

    Calif. Must Amend Trade Secret Civil Procedure

    Author Photo

    A California procedural law that effectively shields trade secret defendants from having to return company materials until the plaintiff can craft detailed requests must be amended to recognize that property recovery and trade secret analysis are distinct issues, says Matthew Miller at Hanson Bridgett.

  • 2nd Circ. Reinforces Consensus On Vacating Foreign Awards

    Author Photo

    In Molecular Dynamics v. Spectrum Dynamics Medical, the Second Circuit recently affirmed that federal district courts do not possess subject matter jurisdiction to vacate foreign arbitral awards, strengthening this consensus across the circuits most active in recognition and enforcement actions, says Ed Mullins at Reed Smith.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Intellectual Property archive.