Fed. Circ. Says Judge Wrongly Axed Teva's $177M Eli Lilly Win

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit ruled Thursday that a Massachusetts federal judge was wrong to overturn a $177 million jury verdict that Teva won against Eli Lilly & Co. on headache drug patents, finding that contrary to the judge's finding, the patents are not invalid.

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SAP Owes $17M In Software Patent Case, Jury Finds

By Adam Lidgett

A jury in the Eastern District of Texas said Thursday afternoon that SAP America Inc. owes $17 million after finding that the company infringed a pair of software patents owned by Cyandia Inc., including one SAP had unsuccessfully challenged at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

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AI Music Generator Can't Duck DMCA Claim

By Elliot Weld

A Manhattan federal judge has denied a bid from artificial intelligence-powered music generator Udio to dismiss a claim for violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act brought by music companies that claim their music was used illegally to train the model.

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Hyundai Tech Owes Hyundai Motor $2.5M In TM Case

By Elliot Weld

A small U.S. computer company called Hyundai Technology has been told to pay $2.5 million by a California federal jury to Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co. after being accused of "piggybacking" off of the auto giant's trademark and causing confusion for consumers.

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Nvidia Fights Uphill For Big Trim Of Authors' AI Copyright Suit

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge indicated Thursday that he won't grant Nvidia Corp.'s request to permanently toss the bulk of a proposed class action by authors who say the artificial intelligence giant unlawfully copied their copyrighted material to develop its LLMs, but will pare some claims with leave to amend.

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ITC Told Wrongly Claimed Patent Fee Discounts Sink Chip Suit

By Ryan Davis

Semiconductor company Everspin Technologies Inc. has asked the U.S. International Trade Commission to end a memory chip patent suit against it by Avalanche Technology Inc., saying Avalanche's patents are unenforceable because the company wrongly claimed a "small entity" discount on patent fees for years.

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Ex-ByteDance Exec Fights Perjury Sanction At 9th Circ.

By Bonnie Eslinger

A former ByteDance executive urged the Ninth Circuit Thursday to revive a suit he filed against the TikTok owner after he was fired, saying the case should've been heard in state court and a federal judge had no jurisdiction to order terminating sanctions after finding he perjured himself.

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Fed. Circ. Snubs Early Appeal In Camera Tech Patent Feud

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Thursday denied U.S. Navy contractor FullView Inc.'s request to appeal a California federal judge's invalidation of claims in its camera technology patent for not meeting eligibility requirements and the exclusion of a damages expert's testimony in litigation against HP unit Polycom.

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IV Device Redesign Not Enough To Lift Ban, CBP Says

By Jack McLoone

A U.S. medical device company's redesigned products used for intravenous drips are still barred from importation into the country, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in an order released Thursday, with the agency unconvinced the new versions aren't still patent-infringing.

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Ramey Says Sanctions Violation Was 'Misunderstanding'

By Elliot Weld

William Ramey, an intellectual property attorney sanctioned in several federal jurisdictions, told a California federal judge Thursday that any violations of a previous sanctions order regarding his ability to practice law in the state were due to "good-faith misunderstanding of the scope of the court's order — not willful disregard."

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Brief

USPTO Ends COVID Patent Appeals Program

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has decided to end a program launched five years ago that aimed to prioritize and fast-track ex parte appeals of rejections on patent applications for inventions related to combating COVID-19.

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Marshall Gerstein Names First New Leader In Over 20 Years

By Emma Cueto

Chicago intellectual property boutique Marshall Gerstein & Borun LLP announced Thursday it has named a new managing partner for the first time in 24 years, selecting a member of the firm's executive committee who has been with the firm since 2000.

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Adapting To The Shift Toward Ex Parte Patent Challenges

As recent U.S. Patent and Trademark Office developments shift the patent challenge landscape, challengers will need to reconsider long-held assumptions about forum selection for validity challenges, and patent owners should prepare to defend against more ex parte filings, say attorneys at Marshall Gerstein.

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Series

Isshin-Ryu Karate Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My involvement in martial arts, specifically Isshin-ryu, which has principles rooted in the eight codes of karate, has been one of the most foundational in the development of my personality, and particularly my approach to challenges — including in my practice of law, says Kaitlyn Stone at Barnes & Thornburg.

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Meta, Uber Verdicts Top Product Liability Trials

By Emily Field

This year has brought major courtroom setbacks for tech platforms and app companies. Juries issued headline-making verdicts against Meta and Google over claims their platforms harm young users, while Uber lost its first federal bellwether trial over driver assaults and now faces a second sexual assault case.

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Analysis

Bondi's Contempt Defenses Are Strong, But Not Without Risk

By Phillip Bantz

Former U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi currently has some potentially powerful defenses against Congress' relatively limited abilities to force her to comply with a subpoena to be deposed under oath about the Epstein files, but her exposure to being held in criminal contempt could shift with the political winds, experts said.

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Calif. Lawyer Sues Over State Bar Investigations

By Andrea Keckley

A California trial lawyer claimed in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday that he has been unfairly investigated by the state bar since 2019, alleging the office "illegally prioritizes revenue-generation over protection of the public."

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Analysis

AGs' Win Over Live Nation Leaves DOJ Watching From The Side

By Bryan Koenig

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.'s across-the-board trial rout by 34 state attorneys general underscores the ascendancy of state antitrust enforcers looking to fill perceived enforcement gaps left by the U.S. Department of Justice during President Donald Trump's second term.

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NJ US Atty's Office Turmoil Doesn't Nix Conviction, Judge Rules

By Carla Baranauckas

A federal judge on Thursday rejected a New Jersey criminal defendant's attempt to dismiss his conviction and disqualify the state's top federal prosecutor, holding that the appointment of the current U.S. attorney complies with federal law and that any earlier defects in leadership do not warrant dismissal.

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Judiciary Panel Loves Paralegal's Idea To Modernize Briefs

By Jeff Overley

An Arizona paralegal's unsolicited idea for overhauling a procedural rule governing the format of briefs found a surprisingly enthusiastic audience Thursday at a federal judiciary meeting, where prominent officials and attorneys voiced strong interest and agreed to explore the concept in earnest.

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Judge Doubts Broad Shift In Immigration Hearing Access

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge appeared unconvinced Thursday by a human rights group's claim that the public is getting less access to immigration court hearings in Minnesota during the second Trump administration.

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Citizens Group Says 27 States Are Eyeing AI Chatbot Laws

By Joyce Hanson

Twenty-seven U.S. states are looking at passing laws to make artificial intelligence companies face liability claims in civil suits if they fail to protect consumers who interact with chatbots, while another three states have already enacted protections, according to a citizens group's new legislative tracker.

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Optimum Defends Antitrust Suit Against Apollo, BlackRock

By Alex Wittenberg

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other financial giants are colluding to block Optimum Communications Inc. from negotiating a debt refinancing to avert bankruptcy, acting as a "cartel" and locking Optimum out of credit markets, Optimum said in a brief opposing the investors' bid to dismiss its antitrust suit in New York.

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Sentencing Commission Votes To Enact Modest Reform Agenda

By Stewart Bishop

The U.S. Sentencing Commission on Thursday voted to enact multiple revisions to the federal sentencing guidelines, including the first inflationary adjustment in over a decade for calculating penalties for economic crimes, but declined to take action on a series of more transformational changes that were under consideration.

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