Intellectual Property

  • May 27, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Faults PTAB Again For Upholding Lighting Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday faulted for the second time a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling rejecting challenges to a decorative lighting patent, saying the board wrongly concluded there wasn't a motivation to combine prior art in order to reduce the cost of copper in the lighting system.

  • May 27, 2025

    Card Game Maker Sues Competitor Over Alleged Knockoff

    The maker of the Never Have I Ever card game has sued a rival game company in California federal court, claiming the board game Tipsy Land is a knockoff seeking to capitalize on the success of its product.

  • May 27, 2025

    Ford Loses UK 'Cobra' Trademarks In AC Cars Dispute

    Ford Motor Co. has lost four U.K. trademarks for the "Cobra" brand after a successful challenge by British automaker AC Cars, due to a lack of evidence that Ford or its licensees actively used "Cobra" as a brand for cars or toys in the U.K. 

  • May 27, 2025

    Hugo Boss Trims Chinese Company's 'Huge Sports' TM In EU

    Hugo Boss has persuaded European Union officials to revoke part of a Chinese company's "Huge Sports" trademark, demonstrating that consumers could mix up the sign with its earlier "Hugo" mark.

  • May 27, 2025

    Trump, Ex-Copyright Head Duel Over Her Firing

    Former U.S. Copyright Office director Shira Perlmutter on Tuesday said a Washington, D.C., federal judge should ignore the Trump administration's argument that her recent firing was legal, the latest salvo in her lawsuit against the federal government as she seeks to block her removal.

  • May 27, 2025

    Justices Deny Food Wrapping Co.'s Prior Art Petition

    The owner of invalidated food wrapping patents failed to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to review its allegations that the Federal Circuit wrongly presumes prior art is always enabled.

  • May 27, 2025

    Justices Skip Law Firm's TM Appeal Over Rival's Google Ads

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday denied an appeal from personal injury law firm Lerner & Rowe PC to review a Ninth Circuit decision that a rival did not infringe its trademarks by using the firm's name in keyword advertising with Google.

  • May 23, 2025

    Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar

    This past year, a handful of attorneys secured billions of dollars in settlements and judgments for both classes and individual plaintiffs against massive companies and organizations like Facebook, Dell, the National Association of Realtors, Johnson & Johnson, UFC and Credit Suisse, earning them recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2025.

  • May 23, 2025

    9th Circ. Mulls 'Two John Smiths' In Classmates.com Class

    Ninth Circuit judges Friday scrutinized a vast class of Californians whose identities were allegedly misappropriated by yearbooks platform Classmates.com, discussing ways to distinguish people with the same names and the case's implications for internet search giants — as well as how one judge's class of '62 yearbook might be a small part of the litigation.

  • May 23, 2025

    USPTO Asks Fed. Circ. To Deny Both VLSI, OpenSky In IP Row

    The acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Friday stepped into a patent review dispute between VLSI Technology and OpenSky Industries at the Federal Circuit following a $2.18 billion jury verdict against Intel Corp., urging the appellate court to reject both sides' arguments.

  • May 23, 2025

    Legendary Calif. Judge Alsup Likely To Go Inactive In 2025

    U.S. District Judge William H. Alsup, a larger-than-life jurist who's overseen some of the most consequential litigation in California's Northern District, indicated in a court filing Friday that he'll likely take inactive status before year's end, although the 79-year-old judge warned Law360 that he hasn't made a final decision.

  • May 23, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Lifts Stay Against MSN In Entresto Appeal

    The Federal Circuit won't make a Delaware federal judge hold off on entering a judgment that would stop MSN Pharmaceuticals from having its generic version of Novartis' blockbuster cardiovascular drug Entresto approved, saying Friday that MSN hasn't pled its case convincingly.

  • May 23, 2025

    Stewart Upholds Order Despite Claim Of 'Director Shopping'

    Acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Coke Morgan Stewart is standing by her decision to allow Greenthread LLC to review whether one of the companies challenging its chip patents, Semiconductor Components Industries, has ties to Intel.

  • May 23, 2025

    Westlaw AI Win Right But Appellate Review Wise, Judge Says

    A Delaware federal judge Friday voiced confidence in his ruling that tech startup Ross Intelligence infringed copyrighted material from Thomson Reuters' Westlaw platform to create a competing legal research tool powered by artificial intelligence, but explained that granting interlocutory appeal on two questions will help resolve the case more efficiently.

  • May 23, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Dings PTAB Decision Upholding X-Ray Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Friday reversed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruling that claims in an X-ray patent aren't invalid as anticipated, concluding that the board's claim construction in the matter was incorrect, even though the board denied that it was construing any claims.

  • May 23, 2025

    Ohio Pest Co. Says Ex-Director Is Unfairly Competing

    An Ohio-based pest control company took a former regional director of operations to federal court, claiming he formed his own pest control firm in violation of his noncompete agreement and is unfairly cutting in on the company's business.

  • May 23, 2025

    LG Cleared By Jury In Smart TV Patent Case In East Texas

    A federal jury in Texas on Friday cleared LG Electronics of allegations that it infringed various Multimedia Technologies Pte. Ltd. smart television patents, while also finding that the patents were invalid.

  • May 23, 2025

    IP Notebook: Trump's AI Plan, ChatGPT Logs, Dewberry Cited

    In this round of emerging issues in copyright and trademark law, Law360 takes a closer look at comments submitted to the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies to create an Artificial Intelligence Action Plan as part of an executive order from President Donald Trump.

  • May 23, 2025

    2nd Circ. Says Judge Misapplied Fair Use In Copyright Case

    A Manhattan federal judge misunderstood the fair use doctrine when she dismissed a photographer's copyright lawsuit against a website that published one of her images, the Second Circuit said in a Friday ruling that directed the lower court to enter judgment in favor of the plaintiff.

  • May 23, 2025

    NY Judge Won't Rethink Sanctions Against Chinese Tech Co.

    A New York federal judge has refused to reconsider a prior ruling that partially sanctioned a Chinese video technology company and its U.S. distributor that are both embroiled in a rival's trade secrets suit.

  • May 23, 2025

    My So-Called Retirement: Some IP Lawyers Just Can't Quit

    When patent partner Terry Rea set out to retire, the onetime acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office had her eyes on the independence that retirement promises — flexible hours, fewer deadlines and less stress over having lots of people counting on you.

  • May 23, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Partly Revives Allstate Challenge To Tech Patent

    The Federal Circuit on Friday threw out the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Allstate failed to show the invalidity of two claims in a patent on cellphone sensors that can tell if a vehicle has accelerated or crashed, telling the board to take another look.

  • May 23, 2025

    AIG, Insurance Startup Resolve Trade Secrets Feud

    American International Group Inc. has settled and permanently dismissed its trade secrets lawsuit brought in New Jersey federal court against an insurance startup that was created by former senior executives at AIG.

  • May 23, 2025

    Off The Bench: Tennis Officials, NCAA Stay On The Defensive

    In this week's Off The Bench, tennis players face pushback from the governing bodies they are accusing of antitrust violations, college basketball players claiming the NCAA exploited them want their class action revived, and a baseball player seeking one last year to play in college hits another legal roadblock.

  • May 23, 2025

    Insulet Foe Rips $30M Atty Fee Ask As 'Over-Lawyered'

    A South Korean medical device maker told a Massachusetts federal judge that rival Insulet's request for $30 million in attorney fees following a $60 million trade secrets judgment should be denied, calling that amount "exorbitant" and saying Insulet "consistently over-lawyered disputes."

Expert Analysis

  • Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

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    Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.

  • How The UPC, ITC Complement Each Other In Patent Law

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    Attorneys at Ropes & Gray discuss the similarities and differences between the Unified Patent Court and the International Trade Commission, as well as recent matters litigated in both venues and why parties choose to file at these forums.

  • Series

    Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.

  • Identifying Deepfakes During Evidence Collection, Discovery

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    Attorneys must familiarize themselves with the tools used to create and detect deepfakes — media manipulated by artificial intelligence to convincingly mimic real people and events — as well as best practices for keeping this fabricated evidence out of court, says Bijan Ghom at Saxton & Stump.

  • Fed. Circ. In December: A Patent Prosecution History Lesson

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    Despite relying on two rock-solid principles of patent law, DDR lost its Federal Circuit case against Priceline.com, highlighting how a change in the scope of the invention from the provisional to the nonprovisional application can affect the court's analysis of how a skilled artisan would understand claim terms after reading the prosecution history, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

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    As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.

  • 2025 Patent And TM Policy At USPTO: What We Know So Far

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    This upcoming year at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office promises a continued focus on artificial intelligence-related policies, as well as initiatives to drive efficiency and modernize standard processes, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • Reviewing 2024's Crucial Patent Law Developments

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    As 2024 draws to a close, significant rulings and policies aimed at modernizing long-standing legal practices or addressing emerging challenges have reached patent law, says Michael Ellenberger at Rothwell Figg.

  • How White Collar Enforcement May Shift In Trump's 2nd Term

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    After President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House next month, the administration’s emphasis on immigration laws, drug offenses and violent crime will likely reduce the focus on white collar crime overall, but certain areas within the white collar world may see increased activity, say attorneys at Keker Van Nest.

  • Series

    Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • 2024's Most Notable FTC Actions Against Dark Patterns And AI

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    In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission ramped up enforcement actions related to dark patterns, loudly signaling its concern that advertisers will use AI to manipulate consumer habits and its intention to curb businesses' use and marketing of AI to prevent alleged consumer deception, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

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    In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

  • 4 Trade Secret Pointers From 2024's Key IP Law Developments

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    Four significant 2024 developments in trade secret law yield practical tips about defending trade secrets overseas, proving unjust enrichment claims, forcing compliance with posttrial orders and using restrictive covenants to prevent employee leaks of confidential intellectual property, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Trends In Section 101 Motions 6 Years After Berkheimer

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    A half-dozen years after the Federal Circuit's landmark patent eligibility ruling in Berkheimer, empirical data offers practitioners some noteworthy insights on Section 101 motions, both nationally and across four exemplary jurisdictions, says Alexa Reed at Fisch Sigler.

  • Opinion

    1 Year After Rule 702 Changes, Courts Have Made Progress

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    In the year since amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence went into effect, many federal judges have applied the new expert witness standard correctly, excluding unreliable testimony from their courts — but now state courts need to update their own rules accordingly, says Lee Mickus at Evans Fears.

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