Intellectual Property

  • March 20, 2026

    Conn. Firm Wants $3.2M Lids Contract Suit In State Court

    An engineering firm told a Connecticut federal judge that Hat World Inc. must abide by a forum selection clause in their now terminated agreement and litigate the plaintiff's $3.2 million breach of contract suit in state court.

  • March 20, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Affirms No Atty Fees In Floor Mat Patent Suit

    The Federal Circuit on Friday agreed with a lower court that no attorney fees were necessary for Incstores LLC for prevailing over a patent infringement case regarding floor matting.

  • March 20, 2026

    Publishers Can't Get Performance Docs From Perplexity

    A Manhattan federal judge on Friday denied a request from the publishers of The Wall Street Journal and New York Post to obtain documents from Perplexity AI on how the company measures its product's performance and optimizes it, saying letting the parties continue to confer on search terms was unlikely to produce results.

  • March 20, 2026

    X Wants Fed. Circ. To Override $175M Loss Over 'Worthless' IP

    Elon Musk's X Corp. is asking the Federal Circuit to free it from a $105 million infringement verdict out of Texas and more than $70 million in interest, saying the patents are "worthless" and the claim it was found to infringe is invalid.

  • March 20, 2026

    Judge Won't Reopen DIRTT Suit After Sending It To Canada

    A Utah federal judge has declined to reinstate a trade secrets dispute between two Canadian construction companies, saying the suing company has not explained how a no-longer-pending summary judgment motion in Canadian court has any bearing on a U.S. court case.

  • March 20, 2026

    Full Fed. Circ. Urged To Scrutinize $71M Xmas Tree IP Verdict

    Polygroup Ltd. urged the full Federal Circuit to undo a panel decision that affirmed a $71.4 million judgment against it for infringing competitor Willis Electric Co. Ltd.'s artificial prelit Christmas tree patent, arguing the "extraordinary decision undermines" the court's principles on damages apportionment.

  • March 20, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs Military In Veterinary Software Dispute

    The Federal Circuit on Friday ruled in favor of the government in a dispute with a subcontractor over rights to healthcare software for a U.S. Army veterinary records system, affirming a lower court finding that the contractor failed to present a valid contract claim and could not pursue a copyright infringement claim based on defective registrations.

  • March 20, 2026

    EU Takes Aim At Chinese Patent Issues At WTO

    A World Trade Organization body has agreed to look into a dispute lodged by the European Union against Chinese licensing patent measures that the EU says unduly restrict the ability of certain patent holders to exercise and enforce their patent rights.

  • March 20, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Revives Patent Infringement Suit Over Paint Tech

    The Federal Circuit on Friday threw out a lower court's finding that a spray paint equipment supplier didn't infringe patents covering a part used in paint applications, saying the district court judge misinterpreted certain elements of the patents.

  • March 20, 2026

    White House Pushes Congress To Override State AI Laws

    The White House directed Congress to preempt "burdensome" state laws on artificial intelligence in a legislative framework released Friday.

  • March 20, 2026

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

    The past week in London has seen an ex-professional footballer revive a dispute with Charles Russell Speechlys, Virgin Media face a group data protection claim after hundreds of thousands of customers' personal details were exposed online for months, and Mishcon de Reya sued by a real estate private equity firm founded by a former Morgan Stanley executive.

  • March 19, 2026

    Costco Wipes Out Bum Bum Cream Co.'s Trade Dress Suit

    Costco and Apollo Healthcare Corp. defeated a rival's trade dress infringement counterclaim alleging they ripped off the design elements of its "Brazilan Bum Bum" cream container with a rounded bottom and an overhanging lid, after a New York federal judge said Tuesday each of the features is functional and therefore unprotectable.

  • March 19, 2026

    5th Circ. Weighs Release Of Apple IP Agreements To Xiaomi

    A Fifth Circuit panel on Thursday asked why patent licensing agreements between Apple Inc. and Blackberry Corp. should be circulated beyond outside counsel of a Chinese rival to Apple involved in overseas litigation, questioning the parties on why they "can't live" with an exclusion preventing in-house counsel from seeing the records.

  • March 19, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Rejects Last Challenge To Squires' Discretion

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday shot down Volkswagen's mandamus petition claiming that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director shouldn't have "unfettered discretion" to deny Patent Trial and Appeal Board challenges, closing the last of 14 related appeals.

  • March 19, 2026

    USPTO Requires US-Registered Attys For Foreign Patent Apps

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Thursday finalized a rule requiring that foreign patent applicants and owners be represented by attorneys registered with the agency, saying other intellectual property offices have such a policy and arguing that the measure will help combat fraud.

  • March 19, 2026

    Nokia, Warner Bros. Seek To End Video-Coding Patent Suit

    Nokia and Warner Bros. on Thursday agreed to end a legal fight in Delaware federal court after the Hollywood studio earlier this month lost its bid to toss claims that it infringed a set of the Finnish company's video-coding patents.

  • March 19, 2026

    Del. Supreme Court Revives Payscale's Noncompete Suit

    The Delaware Supreme Court on Thursday revived Payscale Inc.'s lawsuit seeking to enforce an 18-month noncompete agreement and related restrictive covenants against a former sales executive, ruling that a lower court dismissed the case too early by improperly weighing facts and drawing inferences against the company.

  • March 19, 2026

    Apple Watch Redesign Gets Early OK As Patent Loss Upheld

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday affirmed a U.S. International Trade Commission decision that found a previous version of the Apple Watch infringes two Masimo blood oxygen monitor patents, but the ruling came one day after an ITC judge said Apple's redesigned version does not infringe those patents.

  • March 19, 2026

    Squires Concludes That Foreign Gov'ts Can't File AIA Petitions

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires said foreign governments cannot file patent challenges under the America Invents Act, providing the reasoning for his February rejection of a Chinese company's proceeding against an LG touch screen patent.

  • March 19, 2026

    Fintech Co. Says It Caught Rival Stealing Code 'Red-Handed'

    Financial technology company MyCard Inc. has filed a suit against rival Atomic FI Inc. in Delaware federal court alleging MyCard has uncovered direct evidence that the competitor copied proprietary software after planting a hidden "honeypot" string in MyCard's code.

  • March 19, 2026

    Drug Co. Can't Claim Most Docs Contain Trade Secrets At Trial

    A Manhattan federal judge ruled Thursday that a pharmaceutical consulting company won't be allowed to argue to a jury that thousands of documents it did not enter into evidence contain trade secrets amid an ongoing misappropriation trial.

  • March 19, 2026

    Still No Shenanigans: Fed. Circ. Keeps Review Bar High

    The Federal Circuit's rejection of all mandamus petitions asking it to rein in the way U.S. Patent and Trademark Office leadership is ​evaluating patent challenges cements the appeals court's near-impossible standard for reviewing institution decisions, attorneys say.

  • March 19, 2026

    Snoop Dogg's Ice Cream Co. Settles 'Swizzle' TM Battle

    Recording artist Snoop Dogg's ice cream company and the fruit bouquet retailer Edible Arrangements have settled a trademark dispute after mediating their use of the word "swizzle" before a Connecticut federal judge.

  • March 19, 2026

    Organizers Of 7-Marathon Event Accuse Rival Of Defamation

    The organizers of an event to run seven marathons across all seven continents in seven days accused two California residents who have organized a similar event of defamation in Florida federal court, alleging they tried to divert participants away via "harassment and intimidation."

  • March 19, 2026

    Pallet Biz Tells Mich. Judge To Toss Discovery Bid

    Pallet company Palltronics is urging a Michigan federal court to deny a rival firm's request for more discovery in their trade secret dispute, arguing the request is unnecessary, premature and filed in bad faith.

Expert Analysis

  • Lessons From Fed. Circ. On Expert Testimony In Patent Cases

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    Several recent decisions from the Federal Circuit are notable for their treatment of expert testimony, with relevance to the three pillars of every patent case — infringement, invalidity and damages — and offer lessons on ensuring that expert testimony is both admissible and sufficient to support the jury's verdict, say attorneys at Honigman.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • TikTok Divestiture Deal Revolves Around IP Considerations

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    The divestiture deal between the U.S. and China to resolve a security dispute over TikTok's U.S. operations is seen as a diplomatic breakthrough, but its success hinges on the treatment of intellectual property and may set a precedent in the global contest over digital sovereignty and IP control, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Trending At The PTAB: A Potential Barrier To Serial Challenges

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    New rules proposed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may appear similar to previous rules at first glance, but are actually much broader in how they would limit petitioners' ability to challenge a patent more than once, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Fed. Circ. In September: The Printed Matter Doctrine Expands

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Bayer v. Mylan represents an extension of the doctrine that adding new words to an existing product or method will not support patentability unless there is a functional relationship, bringing new considerations for both patent holders and challengers, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • 10 Quick Tips To Elevate Your Evidence Presentation At Trial

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    A strong piece of evidence, whether in the form of testimony or exhibit, is wasted if not presented effectively, so attorneys must prepare with precision to help fact-finders both retain the information and internalize its significance, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Broader Eligibility For AI-Related Patents May Be Coming

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    A series of recent developments from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office appears to signal that claims involving improvement in the operation of a machine learning model are now more likely to be considered patent-eligible, and that patent examiners may focus on questions of novelty and nonobviousness and less so on subject matter eligibility, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • Adapting To USPTO's Reduction Of Examiner Interview Time

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    Reported changes to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's examiner performance appraisal plan will likely make interviews scarcer throughout the application process, potentially influencing patent allowance rates and increasing the importance of approaching each interview with a clear agenda and well-defined goals, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • What To Know About Interim Licenses In Global FRAND Cases

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    Recent U.K. court decisions have shaped a framework for interim licenses in global standard-essential patent disputes, under which parties can benefit from operating on temporary terms while a court determines the final fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms — but the future of this developing remedy is in doubt, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

  • Anticipating FTC's Shift On Unfair Competition Enforcement

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    As the Federal Trade Commission signals that it will continue to challenge unfair or deceptive acts and practices under Section 5 of the FTC Act, but with higher evidentiary standards, attorneys counseling healthcare, technology, energy or pharmaceuticals clients should note several practice tips, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For The Judiciary To Fix Its Cybersecurity Problem

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    After recent reports that hackers have once again infiltrated federal courts’ electronic case management systems, the judiciary should strengthen its cybersecurity practices in line with executive branch standards, outlining clear roles and responsibilities for execution, says Ilona Cohen at HackerOne.

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