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Mealey's Intellectual Property

  • October 29, 2025

    Federal Circuit Denies Mandamus To Patent Holder In Background Check Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 28 denied a patent holder’s petition for a writ of mandamus, leaving in place a California federal judge’s refusal to transfer the case to a federal court in Oklahoma; the panel found no abuse of discretion in the judge’s finding that the delayed nature of the patent holder’s motion to transfer called the motivations for the transfer into question.

  • October 29, 2025

    Claims In Roof-Measuring Patent Obvious; Federal Circuit Agrees With PTAB

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel rejected a company’s claim that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) failed to fully explain its motivation-to-combine reasoning when it held that all challenged claims of its patent describing a process of measuring roofs with aerial imagery were unpatentable as obvious, affirming the PTAB’s findings.

  • October 28, 2025

    Injunction Granted, Trademark Use Enjoined In Counterfeit Insurance Policy Dispute

    JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida granted a preliminary injunction to an insurance holding company barring a captive operator and its affiliates from using the holding company’s name and trademarks in connection with allegedly unauthorized insurance policies and certificates of insurance.

  • October 28, 2025

    AI Company To High Court: Federal Circuit Opinion Could Harm AI Patents

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A machine learning patent holder is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling on a matter of first impression that affirmed the invalidation of the patents for describing the abstract concept of machine learning without pointing to specific improvements; the company tells the high court that the Federal Circuit’s approach to patent eligibility “flouts this Court’s instruction to consider preemption.”

  • October 28, 2025

    OpenAI Must Face ChatGPT Output Copyright Claims, Judge Says

    SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI entities must face class claims alleging that ChatGPT outputs material substantially similar to copyrighted works, the federal judge in New York overseeing the multidistrict litigation said Oct. 27.

  • October 28, 2025

    Judge’s Construction Of Claim In Heart Valve Patent Correct, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 27 affirmed a stipulated judgment of noninfringement issued by a Delaware federal judge in a patent dispute over a transcatheter aortic valve, holding that there was no error in the judge’s construction of the disputed claim phrase “outer frame.”

  • October 28, 2025

    Trump, Others Seek Supreme Court Stay In Battle Over Copyright Register Job

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. president has the power to remove executive officers, including the register of copyrights, the acting librarian of congress, President Donald J. Trump and others argue in an Oct. 27 U.S. Supreme Court application seeking to stay an interlocutory injunction by the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • October 28, 2025

    PTAB Right To Find Semiconductor Claims Obvious, Federal Circuit Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel rejected a semiconductor company’s challenge of a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding that its patent application contained certain claims that were invalid as obvious, finding that the company forfeited its arguments on appeal by failing to properly raise them before the PTAB.

  • October 28, 2025

    Pair Of New Class Actions Adds To Copyright Headaches For AI Companies

    Two new class actions filed in California federal court are the latest challenges to companies’ use of data to train artificial intelligence, with plaintiffs in separate suits claiming that Apple Inc. and Salesforce Inc. used pirated copyrighted material as training data.

  • October 27, 2025

    Charging Patent Claims Invalid As Obvious, Federal Circuit Panel Says

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — There was no error in the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) construal of the claim term “coupled” in its consideration of a technology company’s patent describing an inductive charging system, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Oct. 24, affirming PTAB’s findings that multiple claims of the patent were obvious due to prior art references.

  • October 27, 2025

    5th Circuit Vacates Fees, Damages Against Law Firm Name Fakers In IP Fight

    NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Texas federal judge’s grant of summary judgment to a law firm on its trademark claims against a man and two attorneys who made a fake website using the law firm’s name as part of a landlord-tenant dispute, but the panel vacated more than $2 million in damages and fees the judge ordered to be paid to the real law firm, finding that the judge failed to explain the basis for the award.

  • October 24, 2025

    Amici To High Court: Reversing Finding Against ISP Would Reward Infringement

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In one of 10 amicus curiae briefs filed in support of record labels and music publishers, the Copyright Alliance tells the U.S. Supreme Court that it must affirm the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding of contributory infringement against an internet service provider (ISP), arguing that the Fourth Circuit was correct in its finding of willful infringement.

  • October 24, 2025

    Car Company Asks 9th Circuit To Rethink Fee Denial In Car Chase Film IP Dispute

    SAN FRANCISCO — A classic car company and its owners tell a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that it erred when it denied the company’s request for attorney fees, arguing that the panel by necessity ruled on a breach of contract claim when it held in May that a Ford Mustang known as “Eleanor” in the film “Gone in 60 Seconds” is not a copyrightable character under a Ninth Circuit test.

  • October 23, 2025

    Federal Circuit: No Error In PTAB Recusal, But Board Didn’t Examine Copying

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Oct. 22 that it saw no error in the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) analysis of the recusal of an administrative patent judge (APJ) after the institution of inter partes review (IPR) for a cybersecurity patent; the panel also held, though, that PTAB failed to fully consider evidence on copying provided by the appellant patent holder.

  • October 23, 2025

    Judge Tosses Lawyer’s Suit Seeking Leave To Make Unlicensed NFL Shirts

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge dismissed a complaint brought by a self-described “‘annoyance lawyer’” against NFL Properties LLC (NFLP), exercising judicial discretion to decline to proceed with a complaint seeking a declaration that he can make T-shirts bearing various NFL trademarks without running afoul of federal trademark laws.

  • October 22, 2025

    Judge Finds Songwriters’ Copyright Claims Against Pop Singer, UMG Fail

    MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida dismissed with prejudice a copyright infringement complaint filed by two songwriters against a Brazilian pop singer and UMG Recordings Inc., holding that the songwriters failed to plausibly allege access or substantial similarity between their song and the 2023 hit single “Funk Rave.”

  • October 22, 2025

    Panel Affirms Judgment For Coca-Cola On Patent Claims Over ‘Freestyle’ Dispenser

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Oct. 21 affirmed a Georgia federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Coca-Cola Co. on claims its Freestyle soft drink dispenser infringed the patent of a technology company; the panel upheld the judge’s claim construction, which the parties agreed was dispositive if affirmed.

  • October 22, 2025

    3rd Circuit: Judge Failed To Explain Denial Of DMCA Subpoena Sought By Streamer

    PHILADELPHIA — A Delaware federal judge should have explained the reason for denying a YouTube and Twitch streamer’s motion for a subpoena requiring Google LLC and another platform to identify certain allegedly infringing users under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, vacating the judge’s dismissal and remanding for further proceedings.

  • October 21, 2025

    Panel Affirms Judge’s Finding Of No Infringement, Validity In Fencing Patent

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that a federal judge in Texas in a dispute over patents describing rackable fencing devices correctly found no infringement and no invalidity, rejecting arguments from both parties who filed cross-appeals; the panel held that a rejected disclaimer in the prosecution history of a related patent with a shared specification can still be an effective disclaimer for the purpose of claim construction.

  • October 20, 2025

    7th Circuit Affirms Copyright Win For Rapper French Montana

    CHICAGO — In a matter of first impression for the court, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an Illinois federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment to a rapper accused by a producer of copyright infringement because the producer failed to show that the rapper copied a beat he made “as opposed to merely imitating it,” but the panel also affirmed the judge’s decision to deny the rapper’s request for fees.

  • October 20, 2025

    High Court Won’t Hear Design Firm’s Floor Plan Fair Use Arguments

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a design company’s petition for a writ of certiorari in an Oct. 20 order list, setting aside the company’s contention that the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ holding that two real estate agents’ use of floor plans in resale listings was a noninfringing fair use created a doctrinal “Catch-22” that prevents architectural copyright holders from enforcing their rights.

  • October 20, 2025

    No High Court Review Of En Banc Federal Circuit’s Vacating Of Patent Damages

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an Oct. 20 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a smart thermostat company’s petition for a writ of certiorari, in which the company told the high court that the en banc Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision to order a Texas federal judge to hold a new trial on damages wrongly eschewed the jury’s factual findings in its favor in a patent dispute with Google LLC.

  • October 17, 2025

    Summary Judgment For Ford, BMW Affirmed In Cruise Control Patent Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Delaware federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment to Ford Motor Co. and several entities related to BMW of North America LLC (collectively, BMW) on claims brought by a patent holder, finding no clear error in how the judge construed certain claim terms in asserted patents describing systems within vehicles with adaptive cruise control (ACC).

  • October 17, 2025

    2nd Circuit Affirms Fee Award Against Law Firm In Podcast Trademark Fight

    NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an attorney fee award against a law firm that represented a technology company that brought trademark claims against a podcast company over the name of one of its shows, holding that the case was “exceptional” as described in the Lanham Act because the underlying suit was frivolous and brought in bad faith in pursuance of a settlement.

  • October 17, 2025

    Glovemaker Seeks High Court Consideration Of Glove Color Mark Genericness

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A medical product company that saw its proposed trademark on the color of its medical gloves rejected as generic by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals asks the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari whether there is a “special rule” that applies to the generic nature of proposed color marks.