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Intellectual Property
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Featured
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 21, 2024
Carlton Fields Adds IP Litigator In NY
Carlton Fields has hired its fourth intellectual property litigator in New York in the past year, adding a former Zuber Lawler partner to the practice as a shareholder.
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May 20, 2024
Scarlett Johansson 'Shocked, Angered' By ChatGPT AI Voice
Scarlett Johansson revealed in a statement Monday that she declined OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's offer to voice the current ChatGPT, but said she was "shocked, angered and in disbelief" when she recently heard a demo of the generative artificial intelligence system's voice that "sounded so eerily similar" to her own.
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May 20, 2024
Bungie Takes Aim At Cheat Code Sellers In Copyright Trial
Video game studio Bungie kicked off a Seattle copyright trial on Monday by telling federal jurors a group of cheat code sellers deleted financial records and other data and even fabricated a fake press release about the sale of their website to throw Bungie and its attorneys off their scent.
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May 20, 2024
Idaho, Micron Defend 'Bad Faith' Patent Law At Fed. Circ.
The state of Idaho and Micron Technology Inc. have told the Federal Circuit that Idaho's law barring "bad faith" allegations of patent infringement is constitutional, defending a lower court's ruling that Longhorn IP must pay an $8 million bond under the law.
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May 20, 2024
House Advances Bill To Limit Some Patent Office Fines
A bill that would create a "good faith exception" to certain fines from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has unanimously passed through the House's Judiciary Committee.
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May 20, 2024
Startup Admits Sharing IP With Boeing After Supposed Swipe
The co-founder of a startup accusing the Boeing Co. of plotting to steal its intellectual property to build a copycat electric jet acknowledged during cross-examination Monday that his company kept willingly sharing trade secrets with the aviation giant after discovering the alleged misappropriations.
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May 20, 2024
GM Cleared Of 'Inequitable Conduct' Accusations In Patent Row
A federal judge in Chicago has ruled that General Motors's longtime legal rival there has failed to convince him that engineers working for the automaker showed "deceptive intent" when filing a design patent at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office using the wrong name.
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May 20, 2024
USPTO Clarifies Means-Plus-Function Claims For Antibodies
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's new Appeals Review Panel clarified the use of means-plus-function claiming when patenting antibodies, while continuing to reject claims of a Xencor Inc. patent application related to treating autoimmune diseases.
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May 20, 2024
Judge Tosses Acuitas' COVID Biotech IP Suit
A New Jersey federal judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit from a maker of a component of a COVID-19 vaccine relating to patent infringement litigation brought by two other companies against Pfizer and BioNTech.
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May 20, 2024
Healthcare Futures Co. Sues Breakaway Ex-Members In Del.
A company seeking to develop what it described as the first healthcare futures exchange has sued two former managers in Delaware's Court of Chancery for pilfering intellectual property and other resources and then launching a competing venture.
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May 20, 2024
Tesla Pushes Charging Station Patent Suit Out Of Texas
Despite Elon Musk's decision to move the headquarters of his company to the Western District of Texas, Tesla was able to persuade a federal judge in Austin to send an infringement suit targeting its charging stations to California, where the company was previously based.
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May 20, 2024
Travelers Owed Tech Co. Defense In TM Row, 8th Circ. Says
Travelers had a duty to defend a computer retailer in an underlying trademark infringement action filed by Cisco Systems, the Eighth Circuit affirmed Monday, saying it cannot conclude that coverage is barred by the policy's related-acts provision.
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May 20, 2024
Split Fed. Circ. Affirms Del. Atty Fees Can't Include PTAB Work
Dish Network and Sirius XM aren't entitled to attorney fees for getting a patent they were accused of infringing invalidated at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, even if the instigating infringement claims were deemed "objectively baseless," a split Federal Circuit panel affirmed Monday.
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May 20, 2024
Rite Aid Settles Trademark Suit Over New Logo
Rite Aid has reached an agreement with Brand Design Co. to end a lawsuit claiming that the drugstore chain misused the design firm's font for a new logo, the parties have told a Pennsylvania federal court.
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May 20, 2024
Photographer, Lions Clash Over Sanders Statue Suit Venue
A professional photographer and the NFL's Detroit Lions are scuffling over whether New York federal court is the proper venue to handle the photographer's lawsuit accusing the team of unlawfully using his copyrighted photo to create a statue of legendary running back Barry Sanders.
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May 20, 2024
3 Insurance Execs Can't Hit Pause On Asset Theft Claims
Three former Sherbrooke Corporate Ltd. executives accused of stealing assets when they left to form their own venture lost a bid to halt the company's lawsuit, after a North Carolina federal judge doubted that their efforts to toss the case would succeed.
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May 20, 2024
USPTO Says Patent Applicants' Data Was Mistakenly Leaked
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has said it accidentally released certain patent information that shouldn't have been made public during a more than monthlong period, marking another time the office has incorrectly released information.
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May 20, 2024
Moderna Fends Off Pfizer's MRNA Patent Challenge
Moderna has successfully defended a key patent underpinning its COVID-19 vaccine, after rivals Pfizer and BioNTech attempted to convince the European Patent Office that the IP protections should be nixed.
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May 20, 2024
Justices Reject Hearst's 'Discovery Rule' Petition In Pics Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review a Fifth Circuit decision that found Hearst Newspapers liable for infringing copyrighted photos of Ireland's "Guinness Castle," even though the suit was filed past the three-year statute of limitations.
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May 20, 2024
High Court Skips Fight Over 'Impossible' TM Name
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined an appeal from Illinois-based marketing consulting firm Impossible X LLC, which had asked the justices to review a Ninth Circuit ruling that revived a trademark complaint against it from veggie-burger maker Impossible Foods Inc.
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May 20, 2024
Justices Reject Seirus Challenge To Design Patent Test
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review a Federal Circuit ruling that revived Columbia Sportswear's design patent suit against Seirus Innovative Accessories Inc., which Seirus said created an "illogical, unworkable test" for design patent cases.
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May 17, 2024
Qorvo Wins $38.6M In Akoustis Trade Secrets And Patent Trial
A Delaware federal jury on Friday told Akoustis Technologies Inc. to pay wireless company Qorvo Inc. nearly $38.6 million for misappropriating its trade secrets and infringing its patents, following a two-week trial over radio frequency filter technology.
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May 17, 2024
Boeing Jury Urged To Award Startup At Least $163M At IP Trial
An electric-jet company told a Seattle jury Friday that Boeing misappropriated its trade secrets to build a copycat plane under the guise of investing in the startup, entitling it to an award of more than $163 million.
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May 17, 2024
Bong Co. Can't Get Early Win In TM Suit Over No-Show Opponent
The maker of Stündenglass-branded glass infusers was denied a win over a retailer that didn't bother to put up a defense against its trademark infringement suit, after a California federal judge accepted a magistrate's report that the litigious manufacturer still couldn't back up its claims.
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May 17, 2024
3rd Circ. Won't Rethink Cancellation Of $10M Win In TM Battle
Texans can continue to be subjected to the earworm that is the "Kars 4 Kids" jingle, as the Third Circuit declined this week to reconsider its ruling against a local charity that had temporarily won a $10 million judgment in a trademark dispute over the name.
Editor's Picks
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Fed. Circ.'s Fight With Newman: A Year In Review
One year has passed since it came to light that the Federal Circuit's judges were investigating whether their colleague, U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, was mentally competent to remain on the court. In that time, Judge Newman has garnered support from many in the patent community, but has faced a series of setbacks in her legal challenges.
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Why IP Attys Are Watching This $2B Trade Secrets Battle
A case of alleged corporate espionage involving two software companies that resulted in a $2 billion verdict has all the hallmarks of a legal thriller, and attorneys are watching the appeal closely to see how it could impact trade secrets litigation.
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Trials After PTAB Invalidity Rulings Present Tricky Issues
A recent case illustrates that Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions finding patents invalid do not necessarily preclude a district court from holding an infringement trial on the same patents, though attorneys say such a scenario could raise some challenging issues.
Expert Analysis
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Legal Issues To Watch As Deepfake Voices Proliferate
With increasingly sophisticated and accessible voice-cloning technology raising social, ethical and legal questions, particularly in the entertainment industry and politics, further legislative intervention and court proceedings seem very likely, say Shruti Chopra and Paul Joseph at Linklaters.
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Opinion
'Natural Person' Or Not, AI-Made IP Deserves Protection
The entire legal edifice rests on a determination that an artificial system is not a so-called natural person, and although this may appear to be straightforward on its face, rapid advances in technology may soon force us to revisit our understanding of a natural person, says Manav Das at McDonnell Boehnen.
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Lessons On Challenging Class Plaintiffs' Expert Testimony
In class actions seeking damages, plaintiffs are increasingly using expert opinions to establish predominance, but several recent rulings from California federal courts shed light on how defendants can respond, say Jennifer Romano and Raija Horstman at Crowell & Moring.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Businesses Should Take Their AI Contracts Off Auto-Renew
When subscribing to artificial intelligence tools — or to any technology in a highly competitive and legally thorny market — companies should push back on automatic renewal contract clauses for reasons including litigation and regulatory risk, and competition, says Chris Wlach at Huge Inc.
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Del. IP Ruling May Mark Limitation-By-Limitation Analysis Shift
A Delaware federal court's recent ruling in Lindis Biotech v. Amgen, which involved complex technology where the complaint contained neither facts nor a specific allegation directed to a claim limitation, might spark a shift away from requiring a limitation-by-limitation analysis, say Ted Mathias and Ian Swan at Axinn.
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Trump Hush Money Case Offers Master Class In Trial Strategy
The New York criminal hush money trial of former President Donald Trump typifies some of the greatest challenges that lawyers face in crafting persuasive presentations, providing lessons on how to handle bad facts, craft a simple story that withstands attack, and cross-examine with that story in mind, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Cell Therapy Cos. Must Beware Limits Of Patent Safe Harbors
Though developers of gene and cell therapy products commonly assume that a legal safe harbor protects them from patent infringement suits, recent case law shows that not all preapproval uses of patented technology are necessarily protected, say Natasha Daughtrey and Joshua Weinger at Goodwin.
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ITC Ruling Has Serious IP Implications For Foreign Imports
While a recent U.S. International Trade Commission decision is a win for trade secret owners who can show injury to a U.S. domestic industry, the decision also means that companies operating in foreign jurisdictions will be subject to the requirements of U.S. trade secret law, say Paul Ainsworth and Cristen Corry at Sterne Kessler.
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What The Justices' Copyright Damages Ruling Didn't Address
While the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Warner Chappell v. Nealy clarified when a copyright owner may recover damages in jurisdictions that apply the so-called discovery rule, it did not settle the overriding question of whether the Copyright Act even permits applying the rule, say Ivy Estoesta and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.
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Series
Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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How Clinical Trials Affect Patentability In US And Europe
A comparison of recent U.S. and European patent decisions — concerning the effect of disclosures in clinical trials on the patentability of products — offers guidance on good practice for companies dealing with public use issues and prior art documents in these commercially important jurisdictions, say lawyers at Finnegan.
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TTAB Ruling Raises Foreign-Language Mark Questions
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's recent decision to cancel the Veuve Olivier registration due to its similarity to Veuve Clicquot brings new focus to the treatment of foreign terms and the doctrine of foreign equivalents, say attorneys at Finnegan.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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Measuring Early Impact Of Rule 702 Changes On Patent Cases
Since Federal Rule of Evidence 702 was amended to clarify the standards for admitting expert witness testimony five months ago, emerging trends in patent cases suggest that it may be easier to limit or exclude expert testimony, and hold key practice takeaways for attorneys, say Manuel Velez and Nan Zhang at Mayer Brown.