Intellectual Property

  • February 06, 2026

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

    This past week in London saw a unit of Johnson & Johnson sue the U.S. government in a patent dispute, Southampton Football Club file a claim against Aviva Insurance, and an events business face a claim by Live Nation (Music) over potential licensing issues for Chelmsford City Live, a music festival that featured Justin Timberlake last year. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • February 05, 2026

    Gilstrap Sends Tesla Patent Case From Texas To Calif.

    A Texas federal judge refused to change his mind — again — about transferring to California a patent infringement suit against Tesla related to technology used in self-driving cars, according to a Jan. 29 order unsealed Thursday.

  • February 05, 2026

    Deel Loses Bid To DQ Quinn Emanuel In Trade Secrets Fight

    Payroll and human resources company Deel Inc. cannot have Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP disqualified from representing its competitor Rippling in a trade secrets fight, a Delaware judge ruled Thursday, saying there is no "clear conflict" that would require booting the BigLaw firm.

  • February 05, 2026

    Judge Says AI Errors Show Atty Can't 'Learn' From Mistakes

    A New York federal judge concluded that an attorney who repeatedly submitted filings with false AI-generated citations must be punished with case-terminating sanctions against a client he was defending in a trademark lawsuit, saying Thursday that the lawyer "has not, and apparently cannot, learn from his mistakes."

  • February 05, 2026

    Jury Hands DuraSystems $905K In Kitchen Duct Patent Trial

    An Illinois federal jury on Thursday said Van-Packer Co. and Jeremias Inc. owed $905,000 in reasonable royalties for infringing sales, after an earlier finding by the court that they had infringed DuraSystems Barriers Inc.'s patent covering kitchen ducts for preventing fires and dangerous gases.

  • February 05, 2026

    Walmart Alice Win In Content Patent Suit Backed By Fed. Circ.

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday agreed with U.S. District Judge Alan Albright's conclusion that a trio of content sharing patents asserted against Walmart are invalid for covering an abstract idea, rejecting the owner's arguments that certain claim limitations save the patents.

  • February 05, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Judge To Intel IP Atty: Your View Is 'Unreasonable'

    The Federal Circuit's chief judge on Thursday reprimanded an attorney representing Intel for his "truly unreasonable" claim that a contract with VLSI Technology to streamline patent litigation should only count toward damages, not infringement.

  • February 05, 2026

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: Dual Representation DQ, Biting Censure

    The North Carolina Business Court kicked off 2026 with a flurry of rulings and a few rebukes from the bench, including partially disqualifying counsel in a restaurant mismanagement melee and censuring a solo attorney who sought to circumvent the specialized superior court's rules.

  • February 05, 2026

    Full Fed. Circ. Won't Rethink Heart Monitor Patent Claim Ax

    The full Federal Circuit won't rethink a panel's refusal to revive claims in a wireless heart rate monitor patent owned by Finnish sports tech company Polar Electro Oy that a lower court found were invalid.

  • February 05, 2026

    David Protein Gets Ingredient Supply Antitrust Claims Tossed

    A New York federal court dismissed a lawsuit from several low-calorie food producers accusing protein bar-maker David Protein of refusing to sell them a fat replacement ingredient after it purchased the ingredient's only supplier.

  • February 05, 2026

    Gospel Singer's Contested Song Gets Judge's Blessing

    A Georgia federal judge said Thursday that she will allow a Grammy-award winning gospel artist to release new music Friday over the objections of his label, which tried to block the release with a court order over claims that it would violate his record deal.

  • February 05, 2026

    Meta Latest To Be Accused Of YouTube Data Scraping For AI

    Three YouTube personalities have filed suit against Meta Platforms Inc., accusing it of circumventing YouTube's technological protections to bulk-download video content to be used in training artificial intelligence.

  • February 05, 2026

    Toys R Us Seeks Contempt, Sanctions In Smoke Shop TM Suit

    The company behind Toys R Us is asking a Connecticut federal court to find smoke shop Vape R Us Inc. and its owner in contempt for violating a default judgment and injunction blocking it from continuing to operate under that name.

  • February 05, 2026

    Patent Co., AI Research Firm Join Forces In $150M Deal

    Patent monetization venture SIM IP has announced a merger valued at $150 million with artificial intelligence research firm Garden Intel, a deal the companies said would create a first-of-its-kind platform.

  • February 05, 2026

    Lenovo Strikes Deal To End Patent Suit On The Eve Of Trial

    Lenovo Group and Universal Connectivity Technologies on Wednesday issued a notice stating that they have settled their years-long patent infringement dispute covering power delivery technology, just days before a jury trial was set to begin in Texas federal court.

  • February 05, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Supports No Infringement Ruling In Ladder IP Case

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday refused to revive a Little Giant Ladder Systems lawsuit accusing a rival of infringing a patent on a ladder with a locking mechanism, agreeing with a lower court's rejection of the patent owner's two infringement theories.

  • February 05, 2026

    Mariah Carey Wants $1M After Winning 'Frivolous' Xmas Suit

    Mariah Carey and co-defendants who beat accusations that her holiday hit "All I Want for Christmas Is You" copied an earlier song of the same name have asked a California federal judge to order the plaintiffs to pay nearly $1 million in legal fees, arguing their complaint was frivolous from the start.

  • February 05, 2026

    OpenAI Rips Bid For Exec's Personal Journal In IP Litigation

    OpenAI urged a New York federal judge Wednesday to reject a demand by authors and newspapers for the OpenAI president's "personal journal" in their copyright litigation, arguing the request is unwarranted and a "severe invasion of privacy," even if excerpts were recently revealed in OpenAI's separate litigation with Elon Musk.

  • February 05, 2026

    Fla. Judge Recommends Axing Some Claims Against IP Atty

    A Florida federal judge Thursday recommended tossing several claims in a lawsuit alleging a patent attorney defamed an inventor in the press, saying the claims are unsupported.

  • February 05, 2026

    Squires Won't Review PTAB Ax Of Greenthread Patents

    The head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has declined requests by chipmaker Greenthread to review Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions invalidating claims in its semiconductor patents.

  • February 05, 2026

    Trump Admin Finalizes Rule Facilitating Federal Worker Firings

    The Trump administration Thursday announced a final rule to create a new category of federal workers who would have fewer job protections and be easier to fire, implementing an executive order from early last year that could affect 50,000 employees at federal agencies.

  • February 05, 2026

    Judge Caps Off 'Beer Law' Trademark Case

    A federal judge has dismissed a trademark lawsuit from a North Carolina law firm that brands itself as the "Beer Law Center" against a Colorado firm that calls itself the "Beer Law HQ," finding the latter company lacked sufficient connections to North Carolina for the court to hear the case.

  • February 05, 2026

    State Bar Of Texas Declines To Open Grievance On Ramey

    The State Bar of Texas has declined to open a grievance against patent litigator William P. Ramey III after a San Francisco federal court sanctioned him and his firm, Ramey LLP, for practicing law in California without a license.

  • February 05, 2026

    Nicklaus Golf Co. Gets $50M Baseline Bid For Licensing Biz

    A $50 million offer from brand manager Iconix International will be the baseline bid for a Chapter 11 auction of licensing rights for golf legend Jack Nicklaus' name, rights holder GBI Services has told a Delaware bankruptcy judge.

  • February 05, 2026

    Alston & Bird Hires Ex-Baker McKenzie Tech, Privacy Pro

    Alston & Bird LLP has added a technology and privacy specialist previously with Baker McKenzie as a partner in its Silicon Valley office, the firm announced Thursday.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Trademark A Guy In 8 Ways: An IP Strategy Against AI

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    Attempting a novel method of protection against artificial intelligence misuse of his voice and likeness, Matthew McConaughey's recent efforts to register eight trademarks for a series of audio and video clips of himself underscore the importance of extending existing legal frameworks beyond traditional applications, says Summer Todd at Patterson Intellectual.

  • Utilizing The ITC To Combat 'Gray Market' IP Infringement

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    As technological developments intensify trademark owners' need to respond swiftly to "gray market" sales of international goods imported into the U.S. without the trademark owner's consent, litigating at the U.S. International Trade Commission offers an underutilized enforcement option, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Series

    Teaching Logic Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Teaching middle and high school students the skills to untangle complicated arguments and identify faulty reasoning has made me reacquaint myself with the defined structure of thought, reminding me why logic should remain foundational in the practice of law, says Tom Barrow at Woods Rogers.

  • From IPR To EPR: The Rapid Rise Of Ex Parte Reexamination

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    With the current administration's dramatic shifts in policy rendering inter partes reviews essentially unavailable for the majority of patents being asserted in litigation, IPR filing rates have plunged, and ex parte reexamination requests have surged to the average rate of IPR petitions in 2024, say attorneys at McKool Smith.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Resilience

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    Resilience is a skill acquired through daily practices that focus on learning from missteps, recovering quickly without internalizing defeat and moving forward with intention, says Nicholas Meza at Quarles & Brady.

  • Upshot Of 'Skinny Label' Case May Go Beyond Pharma

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's pending review of Hikma v. Amarin, over a drugmaker's "skinny label," carries implications for both generics and brand-name pharmaceutical manufacturers, and could shed light on how inducement doctrine should operate in other regulated industries where products have substantial lawful uses, says Jason Shull at Banner Witcoff.

  • Assessing Factors Behind Biosimilar Uptake And Competition

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    As biosimilar uptake remains uneven and questions linger over whether the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act can deliver robust competition between biologics and biosimilars, a case study of Humira and its biosimilars illustrates how many factors, including payor reimbursement and formulary strategy, collectively shape competitive dynamics, say analysts at Analysis Group.

  • How 2 Tech Statutes Are Being Applied To Agentic AI

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    The application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the California Invasion of Privacy Act to agentic artificial intelligence is still developing, but recent case law, like Amazon's lawsuit against Perplexity in California federal court, provides some initial guidance for companies developing or deploying these technologies, say attorneys at Weil.

  • FTC Focus: Testing Joint Enforcement Over Loyalty Programs

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    The Federal Trade Commission's case against Syngenta can be understood both as a canary for further scrutiny over loyalty-discount practices and a signal of the durability of joint federal-state antitrust enforcement, with key takeaways for practitioners and those subject to regulatory antitrust scrutiny alike, say attorneys at Proskauer.

  • NYC Bar Opinion Warns Attys On Use Of AI Recording Tools

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    Attorneys who use artificial intelligence tools to record, transcribe and summarize conversations with clients should heed the New York City Bar Association’s recent opinion addressing the legal and ethical risks posed by such tools, and follow several best practices to avoid violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, say attorneys at Smith Gambrell.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Dispatches From Utah's Newest Court

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    While a robust body of law hasn't yet developed since the Utah Business and Chancery Court's founding in October 2024, the number of cases filed there has recently picked up, and its existence illustrates Utah's desire to be top of mind for businesses across the country, says Evan Strassberg at Michael Best.

  • Checking In On Biologics-Related Patent Review Trends

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    Comprehensive analysis of Patent Trial and Appeal Board data since the PTAB's creation indicates that while inter partes review and post-grant review are potent weapons for challenging biologics-related patents, recent policy changes may reduce their effectiveness, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • 4 Quick Emotional Resets For Lawyers With Conflict Fatigue

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    Though the emotional wear and tear of legal work can trap attorneys in conflict fatigue — leaving them unable to shake off tense interactions or return to a calm baseline — simple therapeutic techniques for resetting the nervous system can help break the cycle, says Chantel Cohen at CWC Coaching & Therapy.

  • Patent Eligibility Faces Widening Gap Between USPTO, Courts

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    The year 2026 opened with a profoundly altered Patent Act Section 101 ecosystem — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has pushed eligibility as far open as it can for artificial intelligence technologies, but the courts are not on the same page, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Series

    Playing Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    An instinct to turn pain into purpose meant frequent trips to the tennis court, where learning to move ahead one point at a time was a lesson that also applied to the steep learning curve of patent prosecution law, says Daniel Henry at Marshall Gerstein.

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