Intellectual Property

  • April 29, 2025

    Full Fed. Circ. Urged To Undo 'Onerous' Jepson Claim Ruling

    Xencor has urged the full Federal Circuit to review a decision rejecting its application for an antibody patent that used the so-called Jepson claim format, saying the case set an "onerous requirement" that is nearly impossible to meet and "eliminates any incentive" to use the format.

  • April 29, 2025

    NCAA Says NY Case's Demise Dooms NC State '83 Team's Suit

    The NCAA told North Carolina's business court that a New York federal judge's decision to throw out a proposed antitrust class action against it brought by former men's basketball players should also doom a similar suit brought by the 1983 North Carolina State University men's basketball national championship team.

  • April 29, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs TM Denial Of Dark Green Gloves As Generic

    The Federal Circuit on Tuesday adopted a test for determining if trademarks are generic when considering claims on distinctive colors, affirming a trademark board precedent used to reject an Indonesian medical supply company's efforts to claim a trademark for dark green surgical gloves.

  • April 29, 2025

    Chicken Joint Sticky's Gets $2M Sale After Turnaround Woes

    Chicken restaurant Sticky's won a Delaware bankruptcy judge's tentative permission Tuesday to sign a contract to sell its assets to an investment fund for $2 million after surging poultry prices and New York City's congestion pricing program imperiled the company's Chapter 11 turnaround plan.

  • April 29, 2025

    Drinkers Not Vexed By Brand In 'Sea Of Tequilas,' 5th Circ. Told

    A Fifth Circuit panel seemed hesitant to accept a U.S. tequila startup's argument that it was selling its product in a "sea of tequilas" that all have similar marks, questioning Tuesday whether its branding had enough similarities to an older Mexican brand called "Clase Azul" to confuse consumers.

  • April 29, 2025

    Mexico Put On Latest USTR Priority IP Watch List

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative on Tuesday issued its annual global intellectual property report that has placed close trading partner Mexico on its list of countries to keep the closest eye on.

  • April 29, 2025

    Cooley Life Sciences Ace Rejoins Latham In Bay Area

    Latham & Watkins LLP has welcomed back an intellectual property attorney who spent the past nine years at Cooley LLP to bolster its healthcare and life sciences practice, including advising clients about licensing and transactional matters.

  • April 29, 2025

    Boston Seafood Co. Says Salmon Exec Stole Trade Secrets

    A former C-suite executive and head of salmon accounts at a Boston-area seafood distributor spent months emailing sensitive trade secrets from his work account to a Norwegian competitor before joining it to launch a rival business in the U.S., according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday. 

  • April 29, 2025

    Judge Tosses Chalmers' NIL Suit, Hands NCAA Major Victory

    In a significant win for the NCAA against a wave of college athletes suing for past name, image and likeness compensation as a multibillion-dollar settlement awaits approval, a New York federal judge dismissed a proposed class action by 16 former men's basketball players accusing the NCAA of exploiting them long after their careers ended.

  • April 29, 2025

    US Biotech Firm To Quit London Listing After IP Deal

    Biotechnology company LungLife said Tuesday that it has convened a shareholder meeting to approve plans to delist from the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange after it reached a deal to sell its intellectual property assets.

  • April 28, 2025

    Ramey IP Attys Pay Sanctions, But Defend Fed. Circ. Appeal

    Texas intellectual property lawyer Bill Ramey and two other attorneys informed a California federal court Monday that they have made payments toward fines totaling $64,000 and alerted disciplinary bodies that they were sanctioned, the same day they urged the Federal Circuit to keep alive their appeal of the sanctions.

  • April 28, 2025

    Stewart Wants PTAB To Check If Chip Co. Has Ties To Intel

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's acting director has ordered the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to allow discovery over a chipmaker's relationship with Intel Corp., which could block challenges targeting patents issued to a former Texas Instruments Inc. executive.

  • April 28, 2025

    SAIC, Feds, Microsoft Settle Night-Vision Goggle Patent Suit

    The federal government has reached a deal to end a suit from Science Applications International Corp. accusing the government of contracting with Microsoft and L3 Technologies Inc. for night-vision goggle weapon systems with infringing displays.

  • April 28, 2025

    USPTO Discovery In VLSI Row Unlawul, PQA Tells Fed. Circ.

    A company that was sanctioned for flouting discovery while challenging the validity of a VLSI Technology LLC patent underpinning a since-vacated $1.5 billion infringement verdict told the Federal Circuit on Friday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director lacked the authority to order that discovery.

  • April 28, 2025

    ITC Affirms Optimum's Network Patent Case Is Over

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has decided not to breathe any new life into Optimum Communications Services Inc.'s patent infringement case against several Chinese tech companies over network switching and routing patents, but it also cut part of an agency judge's findings on ownership of the patents.

  • April 28, 2025

    Chinese Cos. Lose Immunity Fight In 9th Circ. IP Case

    The Ninth Circuit on Monday shot down arguments from related Chinese steel companies that they shouldn't have to face espionage charges that they stole DuPont trade secrets for creating titanium dioxide, saying they aren't protected by foreign sovereign immunity.

  • April 28, 2025

    'Top Gun: Maverick' Writer's Cousin Says He Co-Piloted Script

    The cousin of a "Top Gun: Maverick" screenwriter has sued Paramount Pictures in New York federal court, alleging he penned many of the film's key scenes but never received any credit or compensation for his purported contribution to the 2022 blockbuster.

  • April 28, 2025

    PTAB Axes 3 Gaming Patents, Trims Another In Playrix Fight

    Administrative patent judges have agreed to wipe out three mobile video game software patents asserted against game developer Playrix but split on prior art arguments challenging two claims in a related fourth patent.

  • April 28, 2025

    Google Claims Row Delays Dormify's Ch. 11 IP Asset Sale

    A dispute over a $600,000 claim from Google led bankrupt dorm room furnishing retailer Dormify Inc. to delay approval of a sale of its intellectual property assets to Williams-Sonoma Inc. Monday to give the debtor time to resolve the conflict.

  • April 28, 2025

    NC Judge Says 'Natural Dog' TM Confusion Fight Needs A Trial

    A North Carolina federal judge denied a Tar Heel State pet store chain's bid for a pretrial win in a trademark infringement suit brought against it by Natural Dog Acquisitions LLC, ruling Monday that the case needs a jury trial to resolve certain questions of fact.

  • April 28, 2025

    Trump Must Face Copyright Claim Over Isaac Hayes Song Use

    A Georgia federal judge refused to free President Donald Trump from a copyright infringement claim levied against him over his election campaign's use of artist Isaac Hayes' song "Hold On, I'm Coming" at rallies.

  • April 28, 2025

    Casper Sleep Gets PTAB To Squash Cooling Pillow Patent

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has ruled that the claims in a patent for a cooling pillow were invalid, handing a win to e-commerce sleep product company Casper Sleep in its challenge.

  • April 28, 2025

    High Court Passes On Coke Sweetener Patent Case

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a Texas chemical company's challenge to a Federal Circuit decision scratching claims in a patent on the process to create the artificial sweetener used in Coke Zero, in a case that addressed whether the secret usage of that process could preclude its patent eligibility. 

  • April 28, 2025

    High Court Declines Review Of 'Server Test' In Copyright Suit

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a challenge to the Ninth Circuit's criteria for determining copyright liability when photos are embedded online, denying a photographer's appeal in a case where he is suing Canadian media company Valnet Inc.

  • April 25, 2025

    Ramey Loses Last-Minute Attempts To Avoid Sanctions

    Texas attorney Bill Ramey and two others will have to pay more than $64,000 and alert disciplinary bodies that they have been sanctioned by Saturday, after a California federal court and the U.S. Supreme Court refused a last-minute stay on the sanctions.

Expert Analysis

  • Strategies To Help Witnesses Manage Deposition Anxiety

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    During and leading up to deposition, witnesses may experience anxiety stemming from numerous sources and manifesting in a variety of ways, but attorneys can help them mitigate their stress using a few key methods, say consultants at Courtroom Sciences.

  • 3 Red Flags To Watch For When Valuing Patent Portfolios

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    As forward-looking intellectual property valuations become increasingly popular, recognizing potential concerns during the due diligence process can help develop a more accurate understanding of a portfolio's true value and potential risk, says Keegan Caldwell at Caldwell Law.

  • A Cold War-Era History Lesson On Due Process

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    The landmark Harry Bridges case from the mid-20th century Red Scare offers important insights on why lawyers must be free of government reprisal, no matter who their client is, says Peter Afrasiabi at One LLP.

  • Series

    Improv Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Improv keeps me grounded and connected to what matters most, including in my legal career where it has helped me to maintain a balance between being analytical, precise and professional, and creative, authentic and open-minded, says Justine Gottshall at InfoLawGroup.

  • How BigLaw Executive Orders May Affect Smaller Firms

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    Because of the types of cases they take on, solo practitioners, small law firms and public interest attorneys may find themselves more dramatically affected by the collective impact of recent government action involving the legal industry than even the BigLaw firms named in the executive orders, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Opinion

    Lawsuits Shouldn't Be Shadow Assets For Foreign Capital

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    Third-party litigation financing amplifies inefficiencies from litigation and facilitates national exposure to foreign influence in the U.S. justice system, so full disclosure of financing arrangements should be required as a matter of institutional integrity, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • How To Accelerate Your Post-Attorney Career Transition

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    Professionals seeking to transition to nonattorney careers may encounter skepticism as nontraditional candidates, but there are opportunities for thought leadership and to leverage speaking and writing to accelerate a post-attorney career transition, say Janet Falk at Falk Communications and Evgeny Efremkin at Toronto Metropolitan University.

  • 5 Key Licensing Considerations For AI Innovations

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    As businesses increasingly integrate artificial intelligence technology into their operations, they must prepare to address complex intellectual property challenges and questions surrounding licensing AI-based innovations, which require careful consideration of ownership, usage rights and regulatory compliance, says Lestin Kenton at Sterne Kessler.

  • A Higher Bar For Expert Witnesses In Drug Patent Litigation

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    With recent decisions emphasizing courts' growing insistence on robust methodologies in pharmaceutical patent disputes, litigators must be strategic in how they utilize expert testimony and adapt to venue-specific expectations, says Jeremy Scholem at WIT Legal.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Be An Indispensable Associate

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    While law school teaches you to research, write and think critically, it often overlooks the professional skills you will need to make yourself an essential team player when transitioning from a summer to full-time associate, say attorneys at Stinson.

  • Protecting Brand Identity In An AI-Driven Marketplace

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    A lawsuit recently filed in New York federal court marks a critical moment in the intersection of artificial intelligence and trademark law, underscoring the importance of — and challenges surrounding — IP owners' ability to protect their brands as AI-generated content continues to grow, says Wendy Heilbut at Heilbut LLC.

  • Series

    Birding Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Observing and documenting birds in their natural habitats fosters patience, sharpens observational skills and provides moments of pure wonder — qualities that foster personal growth and enrich my legal career, says Allison Raley at Arnall Golden.

  • Justices May Clarify What IP Competitors In Litigation Can Say

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    If the U.S. Supreme Court agrees to weigh in on Atturo Tire v. Toyo Tire, it may be able to provide guidance on the murky questions surrounding what companies enforcing their intellectual property against competitors are allowed to say in public, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • How To Ensure Confidentiality When Using AI In Discovery

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    In light of a recent case in the Southern District of New York involving the dissemination of AI-generated content containing confidential information, there are steps that law firms and lawyers should take to protect client and third-party data during litigation, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • An Update On IPR Issue Preclusion In District Court Litigation

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    Two recent Federal Circuit rulings have resolved a district court split regarding issue preclusion based on Patent Trial and Appeal Board outcomes, potentially counseling petitioners in favor of challenging not only all the claims of an asserted patent, but also related patents that have not yet been raised in district court, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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