Intellectual Property

  • September 17, 2025

    PTAB Told Variations From Prior Rulings Require Explanation

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has told Patent Trial and Appeal Board judges that they must now explain any decisions that have a different outcome from an earlier ruling on the same patent or similar patent claims, either by the patent office or in litigation.

  • September 17, 2025

    AM Radio Bill Makes It Through House Committee, Again

    More than two-thirds of the House of Representatives have signed on to co-sponsor a bill that would prevent automakers from removing AM radios from their vehicles, so it came as no surprise when the bill sailed through markup Wednesday afternoon.

  • September 17, 2025

    Frontier Copyright Row Triggered Duty To Defend, Court Says

    Insurers for Frontier Communications had a duty to defend the telecommunications company against copyright infringement claims that were ultimately settled, a Delaware state court ruled in a recently unsealed opinion, analyzing a deliberate acts exclusion and the timeliness of Frontier's claim notice.

  • September 17, 2025

    Don Jr.-Backed Patent Co. Hires Nokia Licensing Exec

    SIM IP, the newest venture by high-profile patent monetizer Erich Spangenberg, has brought on Nokia's chief licensing officer to serve as managing director.

  • September 17, 2025

    Morgan & Morgan Hauls Disney Into Court Over TM Concern

    Law firm Morgan & Morgan sued Disney on Wednesday, asking a Florida federal court to declare that an advertisement it plans to run featuring elements from the animated short film "Steamboat Willie" does not infringe on Disney's intellectual property because the work entered the public domain last year.

  • September 17, 2025

    Posting Standards Violates Copyright, ASTM Tells 3rd Circ.

    The American Society for Testing and Materials told a Third Circuit panel in Philadelphia on Wednesday that a Pennsylvania federal judge was wrong to find that another company's posting of its copyrighted technical standards online was a noninfringing fair use of the material.

  • September 17, 2025

    Magistrate Says Cloud IP Suit Dismissal Should Be Permanent

    A federal magistrate judge in Texas has recommended that the voluntary dismissal of a patent infringement suit between two cloud computing companies be made permanent after one side complained a doctored screenshot was used as evidence.

  • September 17, 2025

    Anthropic, Reddit Spar Over Keeping AI Case In Federal Court

    Artificial intelligence startup Anthropic has asked a California federal judge to keep Reddit's claims that user content is used to train large language models in federal court, saying that at least one of Reddit's claims are preempted by the Copyright Act and effectively arise from federal law.

  • September 17, 2025

    Del. Judge Boosts American Axle's $4M IP Win By $1.2M

    A Delaware federal judge ordered Neapco Holdings LLC to pay American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. nearly $1.2 million in prejudgment interest on top of a $4 million jury verdict handed down in January 2024 in a long-running patent fight, according to court papers filed Wednesday.

  • September 17, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs Rejection Of Sterling Silver Patent App

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday upheld the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's rejection of a bid for a patent on a silver alloy resistant to corrosion, backing the agency's finding that the application lacked enough written description.

  • September 17, 2025

    Nonprofit Loses TM Injunction Bid Against 'Making PA Better'

    A Pennsylvania federal judge has declined to bar the Pennsylvania Manufacturers' Association from using the phrase "Making PA Better" on its website in a trademark infringement case brought by a nonprofit, saying neither of the parties are engaged in commercial activity.

  • September 17, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Revives Hard Disk Patent Suit Against Seagate

    The Federal Circuit on Wednesday threw out a Pennsylvania federal jury's finding that computer hard drive manufacturer Seagate Technology did not infringe a patent on magnetic material used in computer hard disk drives, finding the lower court gave jurors an incorrect claim construction.

  • September 17, 2025

    Celeb Photo Agency Sues Over Decade-Old Farley Picture Use

    Hyperlocal news organization Block Club Chicago has been hit with copyright infringement claims by a celebrity photo agency alleging predecessor site DNAInfo Chicago used a photo of late actor Chris Farley without licensing it on an article published more than a decade ago.

  • September 17, 2025

    Sky-High AI Valuations Are Reshaping Dealmaking Playbook

    The latest financing for Anthropic underscores how difficult it has become to dismiss sky-high valuations backing AI as froth, and shows how such numbers could reshape acquisition and exit strategies while exposing investors to heightened legal and financial risks.

  • September 17, 2025

    Pinsent Masons-Led Rouse Acquires Rival European IP Firm

    London-based international intellectual property services company The Rouse Group has merged with rival European IP firm Arnold & Siedsma to increase coverage for its existing clients and expand its geographic footprint in a deal guided by Pinsent Masons LLP.

  • September 16, 2025

    IP Attorneys Aren't Playing Into Pokémon Patent Panic

    A patent granted to Nintendo and Pokémon earlier this month has video game players concerned that an entire genre of games could be undermined, yet patent attorneys say it's unlikely the companies would have any success if they chose to assert it.

  • September 16, 2025

    Patent Owner Wants Fed. Circ. Revival Of Salesforce Suit

    A consulting company is asking the Federal Circuit to undo a Nevada federal judge's dismissal of its suit accusing Salesforce of infringing patents for database software reprogramming, calling the decision "improper and unjustified."

  • September 16, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Won't Look At USAA's Nixed $223M Patent Verdicts

    The full Federal Circuit declined Tuesday to scrutinize panel decisions that wiped out a pair of patent infringement verdicts against PNC Bank that totaled nearly $223 million, rejecting United Services Automobile Association's arguments that the appeals court wrongly invalidated its mobile check deposit patents.

  • September 16, 2025

    4th Circ. Asked To Rehear 'Inspire' Dance Team Case

    A North Carolina charter school on Tuesday asked for the full Fourth Circuit to hear its claims that two former teachers should be barred from using the name "Inspire" for their dance company, arguing that declining to block the teachers is at odds with decades of circuit precedent.

  • September 16, 2025

    The Patent Workforce Is Attracting Fewer Attys, More Agents

    The pool of patent practitioners registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has undergone a dramatic shift over the past few decades, with the number of attorneys taking the bar exam decreasing at the same time more patent agents are entering the field.

  • September 16, 2025

    Judge Orders Bench Trial On Key Issue In Sirius Patent Case

    A Delaware federal judge has ordered a bench trial on the issue of whether Sirius XM relied on a German research foundation's five-year delay in bringing patent claims related to satellite radio technology in making business decisions around that tech.

  • September 16, 2025

    Jazz Can't Escape Antitrust Claims Over Sleep Disorder IP

    A Delaware federal judge has refused to let Jazz Pharmaceuticals dodge antitrust claims that it wrongly listed a patent covering a way to distribute a narcolepsy drug in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book.

  • September 16, 2025

    Doximity Says AI Startup Using Lawsuits To Thwart Rivals

    Telehealth platform Doximity has asked a Massachusetts federal judge to toss a trade secrets lawsuit brought by medical artificial intelligence company OpenEvidence, saying the startup is trying to "use the courts to stifle fair competition."

  • September 16, 2025

    Disney, WB, Universal Sue Chinese AI Firm Alleging IP Theft

    Companies affiliated with Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Universal teamed up Tuesday to sue Chinese artificial company MiniMax, alleging the company steals their intellectual property to produce "an endless supply of infringing images and videos" featuring popular characters like Spider-Man, Darth Vader and Superman.

  • September 16, 2025

    Travelers Must Cover Scholastic's IP Suit Costs, Not Damages

    A Manhattan federal judge has ruled that a Travelers unit must cover Scholastic Inc. for costs incurred in its defense and settlement of a trademark and copyright infringement suit, but not pay consequential damages Scholastic had sought.

Expert Analysis

  • What 2 Profs Noticed As Transactional Law Students Used AI

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    After a semester using generative artificial intelligence tools with students in an entrepreneurship law clinic, we came away with numerous observations about the opportunities and challenges such tools present to new transactional lawyers, say professors at Cornell Law School.

  • What Patent Claim 'Invalidity' Means In Different Forums

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    A recent Federal Circuit order allowing a patent suit to proceed despite similar claims being invalidated in an inter partes review underscores how fractured the patent litigation landscape has become, leading to critical nuances in how district courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission and Patent Trial and Appeal Board treat invalidity, says Jason Hoffman at BakerHostetler.

  • Top Takeaways From Trump's AI Action Plan

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    President Donald Trump's AI Action Plan represents some notable evolution in U.S. policy, including affirmation of the administration's trend toward prioritizing artificial intelligence innovation over guardrails and toward supporting greater U.S. private sector reach overseas, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • Rebuttal

    BigLaw Settlements Should Not Spur Ethics Deregulation

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    A recent Law360 op-ed argued that loosening law firm funding restrictions would make BigLaw firms less inclined to settle with the Trump administration, but deregulating legal financing ethics may well prove to be not merely ineffective, but counterproductive, says Laurel Kilgour at the American Economic Liberties Project.

  • How Big Pharma Has Responded To FTC Delisting Demands

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    Looking at some statistics concerning how pharmaceutical companies have responded to the Federal Trade Commission's recent challenges to Orange Book listings raises several possible hypotheses about the FTC's strategy and effectiveness, say Ratib Ali and Celia Lu at Competition Dynamics.

  • 5 Ways Lawyers Can Earn Back The Public's Trust

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    Amid salacious headlines about lawyers behaving badly and recent polls showing the public’s increasingly unfavorable view of attorneys, we must make meaningful changes to our culture to rebuild trust in the legal system, says Carl Taylor at Carl Taylor Law.

  • How To Successfully Challenge Jurors For Cause In 5 Steps

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    To effectively challenge a potential juror for cause, attorneys should follow a multistep framework rather than skipping straight to the final qualification question, says Ken Broda-Bahm at Persuasion Strategies.

  • USPTO's AI Tool Redefines Design Patent Landscape

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's newly introduced DesignVision tool for artificial intelligence-powered image searching represents a dramatic shift in how design patent applications are examined, necessitating new strategies for patent practitioners, says Matthew Epstein at Dinsmore.

  • Series

    Hiking Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    On the trail, I have thought often about the parallels between hiking and high-stakes patent litigation, and why strategizing, preparation, perseverance and joy are important skills for success in both endeavors, says Barbara Fiacco at Foley Hoag.

  • 6 Tips On Drafting Machine Learning Patents Post-Recentive

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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

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    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.

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