Intellectual Property

  • March 14, 2024

    DraftKings' Employment Feud With Former VP Heats Up

    The battle between DraftKings and one of its former vice presidents intensified in Massachusetts federal court Thursday, with the online sportsbook sharpening its allegations of corporate espionage and the erstwhile executive calling to wipe out the suit entirely.

  • March 14, 2024

    DraftKings Gets PTAB To Ax Claims In 5 Gaming Patents

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found a host of claims across numerous peer-to-peer gaming patents weren't valid, handing a win to challenger DraftKings Inc. as part of a larger intellectual property fight.

  • March 14, 2024

    Artist Can't Exhibit 'MetaBirkins' NFT After TM Trial Loss

    The Los Angeles-based designer behind the "MetaBirkins" non-fungible token is barred from displaying his artwork at a Swedish museum after a federal judge ruled there is a high probability he will use the platform to promote products that a jury previously said infringed trademarks held by luxury French fashion house Hermes International.

  • March 14, 2024

    Potential Nine-Figure Deal Ends NXP, Impinj Chip Patent Row

    Rival chipmakers Impinj and NXP have agreed to settle multiple patent infringement suits between them following trial victories for Impinj, in a deal where Impinj said NXP will pay it more than $195 million if the license runs for its entire term.

  • March 14, 2024

    2nd Circ. Affirms Breitling Fair Use Win In 'Red Gold' TM Suit

    A split Second Circuit panel on Thursday affirmed a Connecticut federal judge's decision that Breitling USA Inc. fairly used the phrase "red gold" to describe the color of its products after a California jeweler with a 2003 trademark registration battled the Swiss watchmaker over its use of the phrase.

  • March 14, 2024

    Water Treatment Co. Must Face Rival's Trade Secrets Suit

    A Tennessee federal judge has found that certain issues in a trade secrets suit against industrial water treatment service company ChemTreat need to go before a jury, shooting down arguments including that no trade secret was adequately identified.

  • March 14, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs PTAB's Toss Of Data Management Patent

    Arguments from patent-holding company Daedalus Blue to breathe new life into claims in a data management patent it bought from IBM fell flat on Wednesday at the Federal Circuit, which agreed with the conclusion of an administrative tribunal that the claims were unpatentable in light of an even older IBM patent.

  • March 14, 2024

    9th Circ. Is Asked To Revive LegalForce's TM Dispute

    Intellectual property firm LegalForce RAPC Worldwide PC has taken its trademark battle with a Japanese company over the brand "LegalForce" to the Ninth Circuit, arguing in its appeal that a federal statute dictates that infringement can occur through equity sales to investors.

  • March 13, 2024

    TriZetto's $200M Jury Awards Thrown Out In Syntel Dispute

    A New York federal judge on Wednesday vacated roughly $200 million in damages awards Cognizant affiliate TriZetto won in a trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement suit against Syntel, ruling that the awards were improperly calculated.

  • March 13, 2024

    Jury Awards Photog $3.1M In Licensing Fight Against Otter

    A Colorado federal jury has said a California photographer is entitled to about $3.1 million in a copyright suit after finding that cellphone case maker Otter Products LLC wrongly copied various images.

  • March 13, 2024

    Netflix Doesn't Want 'Hatchet Wielding' Killer In Suit Either

    While Netflix disputes that it defamed a Kentucky man for his appearance in its true-crime documentary titled "The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker," the streaming giant does agree with the plaintiff in the case that the real hatchet-wielding hitchhiker doesn't belong in the lawsuit.

  • March 13, 2024

    Subpoenas Can't Skirt USPTO Discovery Rules, 4th Circ. Says

    In a precedential ruling, the Fourth Circuit said Wednesday that companies can't use the subpoena power of the courts to go beyond the limits of discovery that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office puts on deposing employees in foreign countries.  

  • March 13, 2024

    Cherry IP Deception Claims Would Inflame Jury, Canada Says

    The Canadian government has told a Washington federal judge that jurors should not hear allegations that its IP licenser deceived the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in a trial against Washington fruit growers it claims rebranded a unique Canadian sweet cherry variety as their own, citing the "inflammatory" nature of the growers' counterclaim.

  • March 13, 2024

    Versata Wants Axed $105M Ford Verdict Revived Or Expanded

    Versata Software has urged the Federal Circuit to undo a Michigan federal judge's decision erasing a nearly $105 million trade secrets and breach of contract verdict it won against Ford, and argued that it was wrongly barred from presenting damages theories seeking up to $1.3 billion.

  • March 13, 2024

    AI Auto Damage-Assessing Giant Accused Of Monopoly

    Tractable Inc. is hitting back at CCC Intelligent Solutions with counterclaims in an ongoing trade secrets spat, alleging in a new motion CCC has leveraged its dominant share of the auto collision-assessment market to stifle consumer choice and increase prices in violation of antitrust laws.

  • March 13, 2024

    Ex-Boeing IP Manager's Counsel Secures $224K In Fees

    A Washington federal judge has awarded more than $224,000 in attorney fees to a former Boeing intellectual property manager after finding that the company retaliated against him for speaking up against the poor treatment of other workers.

  • March 13, 2024

    Judge Connolly Ends Chipmaker's Case Against IP Edge

    Delaware's top federal judge has decided to brush aside arguments from California chipmaker Power Integrations that multiple agreements "not to sue" that it had obtained from a consortium of patent litigation outfits led by IP Edge were legally "meaningless."

  • March 13, 2024

    IRobot, SharkNinja Settle Last Of Roomba Patent Fight

    IRobot and SharkNinja have reached a settlement in principle to resolve what remains of a long-standing patent dispute related to the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner.

  • March 13, 2024

    Jury Must Weigh Willfulness In Secrets Case, Calif. Court Says

    A California state appellate court has found a jury will have to decide whether a former director at Applied Medical Distribution Corp. willfully misappropriated trade secrets from his former employer.

  • March 13, 2024

    Microsoft Strikes Deal To Settle Suit Over Caltech Patents

    The California Institute of Technology and Microsoft notified a Texas court Tuesday that they have reached an agreement to end a case where the university alleged that the Xbox and other products infringed its data transmission patents, following similar settlements with other tech giants.

  • March 13, 2024

    KKR Leads $500M HarbourView Music-Backed Financing

    HarbourView Equity Partners said Wednesday it has secured about $500 million in debt financing through a music asset-backed securitization led by KKR, which will be used to further expand HarbourView's music investment capabilities. 

  • March 13, 2024

    Ex-VP's 'Dereliction' Provokes Default Judgment As Sanction

    An exasperated judge in North Carolina gave an HVAC company an early win by default against a former executive accused of stealing trade secrets, calling his failure to meet discovery demands "dereliction" and granting his former employer's request for sanctions as a result.

  • March 13, 2024

    Perkins Coie Post-Grant Leader Heads to Goodwin In DC

    Goodwin Procter LLP announced Wednesday that it hired the co-chair of Perkins Coie LLP's post-grant practice as an intellectual property litigation partner in its Washington, D.C., office.

  • March 12, 2024

    Daiichi Urges Court To OK Arbitrator's Award Against Seagan

    Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo has asked a Seattle federal judge not to toss an arbitral award refusing Seagen Inc.'s claims for billions of dollars in a dispute over cancer drug patents, saying the U.S. biotech company has incorrectly lodged a petition to vacate the award.

  • March 12, 2024

    Federal Circuit Won't Reconsider Axing Tyvaso Patent

    The full Federal Circuit on Tuesday declined to review a panel ruling from late last year that sided with a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that there was nothing patentable about a way of administering a blockbuster pulmonary hypertension drug.

Expert Analysis

  • AI Inventorship Patent Options After UK Supreme Court Ruling

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    The U.K. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Thaler v. Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks that an AI system cannot be an inventor raises questions about alternative approaches to patent protection for AI-generated inventions and how the decision might affect infringement and validity disputes around such patents, says David Knight at Brown Rudnick.

  • Considerations For Lawyer Witnesses After FTX Trial

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    Sam Bankman-Fried's recent trial testimony about his lawyers' involvement in FTX's business highlights the need for attorney-witnesses to understand privilege issues in order to avoid costly discovery disputes and, potentially, uncover critical evidence an adversary might seek to conceal, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.

  • Del. Ruling Features Valuable Analysis For IPR Estoppel Args

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    Last month, the District Court of Delaware held in Prolitec v. ScentAir Technologies that IPR estoppel does not apply to device art, and the analysis in the case provides welcome illumination for how IPR estoppel arguments should be decided, says Chris Ponder at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Taking A Closer Look At Fed. Circ. Claim Construction Split

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    An empirical analysis of a year's worth of claim construction decisions from the Federal Circuit and four key district court jurisdictions shows that these constructions vary in material ways depending on the analysis' source, and this body of case law would benefit from clarification by the Federal Circuit itself, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Staying Ahead Of The AI Policymaking Curve

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    With artificial intelligence poised to be the hottest legislative and regulatory topic in 2024, expect the AI policymaking toolbox to continue to expand and evolve as stakeholders in the U.S. and abroad develop, deploy, use and learn more about these technologies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success

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    Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.

  • And Now A Word From The Panel: A Strong Year For MDLs

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    While the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation granted even fewer MDL petitions last year than in 2022, hitting a 21st-century low, a closer look at the record-setting number of total actions encompassed within current proceedings reveals that MDL practice is still quite robust, says Alan Rothman at Sidley.

  • What Cos. Can Learn From 2023 Export Enforcement Report

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    A January report summarizing key actions and policy changes undertaken at the Office of Export Enforcement in 2023 is a valuable indicator of future government priorities and the factors companies should consider as they conduct export operations amid what may be a turbulent international trading environment in 2024, says Thaddeus McBride at Bass Berry.

  • Series

    Competing In Triathlons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While practicing law and competing in long-distance triathlons can make work and life feel unbalanced at times, participating in the sport has revealed important lessons about versatility, self-care and perseverance that apply to the office as much as they do the racecourse, says Laura Heusel at Butler Snow.

  • Parsing The USPTO's Guidelines For Assessing Enablement

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    Ryan Hagglund at Loeb & Loeb details the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's recent guidelines for assessing enablement principles set forth in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 Amgen v. Sanofi decision, including how the guidelines can apply to all fields of technology.

  • Where Justices Stand On Chevron Doctrine Post-Argument

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    Following recent oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court, at least four justices appear to be in favor of overturning the long-standing Chevron deference, and three justices seem ready to uphold it, which means the ultimate decision may rest on Chief Justice John Roberts' vote, say Wayne D'Angelo and Zachary Lee at Kelley Drye.

  • Perspectives

    6 Practice Pointers For Pro Bono Immigration Practice

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    An attorney taking on their first pro bono immigration matter may find the law and procedures beguiling, but understanding key deadlines, the significance of individual immigration judges' rules and specialized aspects of the practice can help avoid common missteps, says Steven Malm at Haynes Boone.

  • Lessons From Country Singer's Personal Service Saga

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    Recent reports that country singer Luke Combs won a judgment against a Florida woman who didn’t receive notice of the counterfeit suit against her should serve as a reminder for attorneys on best practices for effectuating service by electronic means, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • 9 Contractual Issues Tech Startups Should Be Wary Of

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    Technology startups often overlook relatively simple but crucial contracting steps that are essential to owning and protecting their intellectual property, and the consequences of this will almost always surface at some point, typically in connection with a key investment or other significant transaction involving the business, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • 5 AI Risks For Corporate Boards To Examine

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    Whether companies are building their own artificial intelligence technology or leveraging third-party tools, their directors should get educated on certain legal issues and business risks to ensure the adoption of policies that foster responsible use of generative AI, say James Gatto and Tiana Garbett at Sheppard Mullin.

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