Intellectual Property

  • November 05, 2026

    What To Know About Litigating IP Before Judges Davis, Wolfe

    U.S. District Judges Andrew Davis and Christopher Wolfe are still navigating their first forays into patent law now that they've joined the Western District of Texas, but they provided insight to patent attorneys Thursday on how they'll be handling their dockets.

  • November 05, 2026

    Kartri Infringed Curtain Patents But Not Willfully, Judge Rules

    A New York federal judge on Thursday let stand a ruling that a shower curtain distributor infringed patents for hookless curtains, but determined that the infringement was not willful and cleared the curtains' manufacturer of infringement, more than a year after the Federal Circuit overturned a $4 million judgment against them.

  • November 05, 2026

    Judge Albright's Do's And Don'ts For Patent Trials

    Two months after former ​U.S. District Judge Alan Albright returned to private practice, he regaled a room of attorneys at the University of Texas School of Law on Thursday with lessons from his time on the bench.

  • November 05, 2026

    In Moderna Row, Fed. Circ. Mulls What's 'For The Government'

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday took a critical look at a lower court's decision concluding that Moderna had to face Arbutus' infringement claims over its COVID-19 vaccines, with one judge repeatedly asking why Moderna's vaccine efforts weren't "for the government" within the meaning of a statutory shield for contractors.

  • November 05, 2026

    WB Must Face Claims 'The Pitt' Violates 'ER' Rights Deal

    Warner Bros. Television cannot dodge a lawsuit alleging it breached a decades-old agreement with late author Michael Crichton by producing the hit medical drama "The Pitt," a California appeals court ruled, saying the suit adequately alleges the series could be considered a derivative work of the earlier hit series "ER."

  • November 05, 2026

    Examiner Attrition Threatens USPTO Backlog Push, GAO Says

    Patent examiner attrition caused by new production goals has put the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's efforts at reducing the backlog of patent applications at risk, according to a new report issued Thursday by the Government Accountability Office.

  • November 05, 2026

    ITC Issues Fish Tape Import Ban Against Milwaukee Electric

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has issued an import ban on glow fish tape sold by Milwaukee Electric Tool, following an administrative law judge's decision earlier this year that cleared the company of claims alleging it infringed Klein Tools' patents but found Milwaukee's safety helmet system was violating another Klein patent.

  • November 05, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Backs Google PTAB Losses In VR Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday upheld Patent Trial and Appeal Board rulings that Google LLC failed to show that some claims in a trio of virtual reality patents it was accused of infringing in California were invalid.

  • November 05, 2026

    Netflix Faces Revamped 'Baby Reindeer' Defamation Suit

    A Scottish attorney who claims her life was ruined by her allegedly inspiring a character in the Netflix series "Baby Reindeer" has added to her allegations that she was defamed by the series, saying Netflix knew the story was fictional but presented it as true and the court should revive some of her dismissed claims.

  • November 05, 2026

    Ex-Sales Leader Violated 'Secrecy' Pact, J&J Ortho Unit Says

    Johnson & Johnson's orthopedic device unit DePuy Synthes alleged in New Jersey federal court that a former national sales leader's move to a rival violates several of his employment agreements, asking the court to order expedited discovery and block him from contacting any of its customers.

  • November 05, 2026

    Research Firm Sues To Enforce Ex-Analyst's Noncompete

    Advisory firm Forrester Research says a former principal analyst violated a decade's worth of noncompete and other provisions in employment and stock award agreements to jump to a vice president role at a direct competitor, then tried to hide his new position for months.

  • November 05, 2026

    Victoria's Secret Gets Green Light For 'PINK' US TM Case

    A London court said Thursday that Victoria's Secret can pursue claims in the U.S. that shirtmaker Thomas Pink has infringed its "PINK" trademarks, ruling that a 2015 settlement agreement does not preclude the claim.

  • November 04, 2026

    5th Circ. Orders Fresh Look At Tequila Brands' TM Confusion

    A split Fifth Circuit on Wednesday revived a trademark dispute between Mexican brand "Clase Azul" and U.S. startup "Casa Azul," finding that because the Texas district court made some errors in its underlying findings, it needs to reassess the likelihood of confusion between the two companies' marks.

  • November 04, 2026

    1st Circ. Revives Temu Suit Against IP Atty, Citing Jurisdiction

    The First Circuit has revived Chinese e-commerce company Temu's lawsuit accusing an intellectual property attorney of lying to secure settlements with a pair of clients, finding that the lower court failed to consider jurisdictional questions.

  • November 04, 2026

    Fla. Jury Hears Suit Over Pact To Sell Mike Tyson-Brand THC

    A Florida state court trial commenced Wednesday in a dispute involving a company licensed to sell Mike Tyson-brand cannabis products, with former business partners telling jurors differing accounts on whether a valid agreement splitting ownership was formed. 

  • November 04, 2026

    Westlaw AI Fight Warrants Full Court Review, 3rd Circ. Told

    Ross Intelligence urged the full Third Circuit to revisit a copyright decision concluding that it wasn't protected by fair use when it trained its artificial intelligence legal research platform on Thomson Reuters' Westlaw headnotes, arguing that "at every turn, the panel asked the wrong question."

  • November 04, 2026

    ITC Hires 2 IP Specialists As New Judges, Bringing Total To 7

    The U.S. International Trade Commission has hired a Patent Trial and Appeal Board judge and a Winston Taylor intellectual property attorney as administrative law judges, bringing its roster of judges to seven in a move the commission said will bolster its ability to handle IP cases.

  • November 04, 2026

    5th Circ. Backs 'Geek Therapy' Co. In Roleplay Game IP Battle

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday sided with a "geek therapy" company in a suit claiming it infringed the intellectual property rights of a role-playing game developer after their partnership soured, saying a licensing agreement allowed the company to use the content of the game.

  • November 04, 2026

    2nd Circ. Told To Not Expand Antitrust Patent Fraud Standing

    A pharmaceutical industry trade group has backed Bristol-Myers Squibb and its Celgene subsidiary in the Second Circuit, warning that health plans asking the appeals court to reinstate a proposed class action against the companies are seeking to expand who can bring antitrust cases alleging fraudulently obtained patents.

  • November 04, 2026

    Altria Tells 4th Circ. ITC Patent Cases Are Unconstitutional

    Altria has asked the Fourth Circuit to undo a district court decision allowing a patent case in the U.S. International Trade Commission brought against it by Juul to proceed, saying the Constitution dictates that private patent disputes belong in the courts.

  • November 04, 2026

    Anthropic And CEO Beat Lyric Infringement Claims, For Now

    A California federal judge on Wednesday tossed music publishers' claims against artificial intelligence behemoth Anthropic and its CEO Dario Amodei alleging they ripped off lyrics from over 20,000 songs, but said the publishers can amend their complaint and try again.

  • November 04, 2026

    Cisco Urges Justices To Reject $2.6B Centripetal Patent Case

    Cisco Systems says the U.S. Supreme Court shouldn't reinstate Centripetal Networks LLC's $2.6 billion patent infringement case, saying a lower court was correct to grant Cisco a win because Centripetal had adequate time to respond to Cisco's interpretation of the asserted patent.

  • November 04, 2026

    Apple Can't Escape $5.7B Patent Verdict, Taction Says

    Taction Technology Inc. said Tuesday that Apple shouldn't be able to dodge a jury's $5.7 billion award against it in a haptic vibration technology patent dispute, calling the tech giant's request to pay no damages "extraordinary."

  • November 04, 2026

    Full Fed. Circ. Won't Look At Inventor's Location Patents

    The full Federal Circuit on Wednesday declined to review a decision turning down an inventor's attempt to revive her computer-locating patents that were invalidated by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board after being challenged by Google and Microsoft.

  • November 04, 2026

    Midterm Dem Wins To Scramble Lit Funding Legislative Efforts

    Litigation funders can rest easy, for now, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce will need to rethink its approach after last night's midterm elections saw Democrats rout Republicans, scrambling a yearslong effort for federal regulation of litigation finance that's so far relied on Republicans.

Expert Analysis

  • How Analytical Advances Reshape Biologic Patent Strategy

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    As regulators shift away from relying on comparative clinical efficacy studies in biosimilar development, and more toward analytical data, practitioners should pay closer attention to post-translational modifications when evaluating patentability, says Gina Nellesen at Global Patent Group.

  • Series

    Open-Water Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Swimming long distances in open waters is not necessarily an escape from my intellectual property practice, but a complementary discipline that similarly rewards sustained attention, intellectual curiosity, resilience and the ability to pursue a distant objective without losing command of the immediate task, says Christina MacDougall at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Groq-Nvidia Suit Tests Venture Capital Exit Math

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    A recent Delaware Court of Chancery suit concerning Nvidia's acquihire of certain Groq employees highlights that when such deals are challenged, the economic dispute turns on reconciling technology, people, cash and continuing ownership rather than on the headline number, says Ben Dubin at VC Expert Services.

  • A Lesson On How Courts Approach Impossible Patent Claims

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Satius v. Samsung, concluding that a scientifically impossible patent claim lacks enablement, underscores important considerations when drafting patent claims with potentially incompatible alternatives, and highlights an uncommon strategy for attacking patent validity via claim construction, say attorneys at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • Opinion

    The Invisible AI Danger That May Undermine Legal Profession

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    A public database tracking cases involving hallucinations generated by artificial intelligence recently surpassed 2,200 entries, but the bigger risk underlying attorneys’ use of such tools is that they will slowly surrender their judgment to AI and lose analytical skills, says Massachusetts District Court Associate Justice Brian Palmucci.

  • Patent Suits Highlight Risks Across Data Center Supply Chain

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    Recent patent disputes involving technologies that support artificial intelligence data centers showcase the growing litigation risks that data center suppliers and operators face, and raise questions about how litigation responsibilities may be allocated between them, say attorneys at Katten.

  • The Patent Circuit: Minding Patents' Family Histories

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Epic Tech v. Pen-Tech highlights the relevance of patent families in determining whether to maintain an ongoing patent infringement litigation, and the sanctions risk that may stem from failing to account for patent relatives, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

  • How AI Could Help Judges Spot Their Own Biases

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    In close cases where there’s room for discretion, artificial intelligence could challenge judges’ implicit biases by running counterfactual tests at scale — but any judicial use of such tools would need guardrails, say Arnold Peter at Peter Law and Nancy Rapoport at University of Nevada.

  • Reggaeton Dispute Tests Boundaries Of Musical Rhythm IP

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    Browne v. Donalds, a music copyright dispute currently pending in California federal court, may set significant precedent for whether a foundational musical rhythm or style can be owned and exclusively controlled through copyright law, says Jameel Diaz at Omnus Law.

  • Risk Management Tips For Cos. Deploying Open-Weight AI

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    While many enterprises building out their artificial intelligence strategies are considering open-weight models, the Open-Source AI Leadership Act and accompanying congressional oversight letters to prominent tech and consumer companies signal that opportunity and legal risk are being discovered and evaluated on the same timeline, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • How To ID And Respond To 5 Types Of Misleading Witnesses

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    Witnesses can mislead fact-finders using a variety of tactics — from strategic amnesia to manufactured ignorance — but lawyers can learn how to identify and expose this testimony to come out on top, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

  • 3 Eligibility Rulings Show Risks Of Broad Claim Constructions

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    Several recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, including its ruling in Berkeley v. W.W. Grainger, highlight the importance of identifying the inventive aspects of a patent early in the case so that patentees do not inadvertently read the inventive features out of their own claims, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Online Presence Complicates Defamation's Public Figure Test

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    Recent defamation cases demonstrate that online presence can affect how courts distinguish between public and private figures, so litigants should consider several questions when evaluating potential claims and defenses where public figure status may affect the litigation, such as whether there is a connection between the plaintiff's public activities and the alleged defamation, say attorneys at Brown Rudnick.

  • Mass. High Court Raises Bar For Trade Secret Injunctions

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    The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court's recent decision in Daikin v. Russo confirms that trade secret plaintiffs must prove irreparable harm under ordinary equitable principles when seeking a preliminary injunction, putting an end to potential theories of automatic presumption, says Gregory Bombard at Greenberg Traurig.

  • 3 Strategies To Reduce AI Sycophancy In Legal Work

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    The tendency of generative artificial intelligence models to tell users what they want to hear can reinforce attorneys’ confirmation bias when testing the strength of arguments, and it can’t simply be prompted away — but a few practices can help mitigate it, says Michael Ott at Ice Miller.

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