Intellectual Property

The band claimed she purloined the song Levitating, but it could not meaningfully allege access. A South Florida reggae band’s lawsuit against pop superstar Dua Lipa and her songwriters and record label would have to be dismissed because the band had...

However, IBM’s breach of contract claim against the PartnerWorld program partner was dismissed as preempted by Copyright Act. IBM Corporation has pleaded all elements of its claim that software developer Micro Focus (US), Inc., infringed IBM’s copyri...

The Board misconstrued a claim term and expert testimony did not meet the standard to prove a prior art references’ “inherent” disclosure of a limitation. In a consolidated appeal of five final decisions issued by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board ho...

Claims regarding NEW JERSEY DEMOCRATIC PARTY mark survive; political organization given another shot at pleading adequate facts as to claims regarding NJDEMS mark. The New Jersey Democratic Party must revise its pleadings a fourth time in its case ag...

A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Intellectual Property community. PATENT—Fed. Cir.: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has granted Microsoft’s petition for mandamus for an order directing the federal district court ...

On remand, the district court must evaluate the actual benefit provided to the class and base reasonable attorney fees on that benefit. Holding that an award of attorney fees to class action counsel under the Copyright Act must bear a reasonable rela...

The photographs in the real estate studio’s database were considered individually for statutory damages purposes The owner of a database of real estate photographs that prevailed in a copyright infringement lawsuit was entitled to statutory damages a...

Despite disputes over the meaning of the patent claim term “manifold,” there was no admissible evidence in the record to show that the accused product actually possessed one. The owner of a patent for a hydrodermabrasion skincare treatment device fai...

Owner of IDEACITY registration had previously won UDRP arbitration case in Canada against registrant of IDEACITY.COM domain name. A domain name registration company’s allegations of reverse domain name hijacking against a trademark holder can proceed...

The week’s most insightful, intriguing, or entertaining blog posts regarding intellectual property issues. IP Watchdog, Jack Daniel’s Gets Last Laugh for Now in SCOTUS’ Ruling in ‘Bad Spaniels’ Case , by Eileen McDermott Director’s Blog, Our plan for...

In case you missed the in-depth intellectual property law coverage in the May 2023 issues of IP Law Daily , here are highlights of the month’s most notable developments. Long-awaited Supreme Court opinions on copyright fair use in Andy Warhol Foundat...

Discovery was also relevant to the question of fair use. A maker of educational study solutions was entitled to discovery in connection with its argument that it was entitled to reprint a textbook publisher’s end-of-chapter questions along with its s...

Under the “ordinary observer” test, the designs were “sufficiently distinct” and “plainly dissimilar.” Finding that the overall ornamental appearance of Latham Pool Products, Inc.’s swimming pool is “sufficiently distinct” from and “plainly dissimila...

Factual questions needed to be resolved regarding whether the asserted patents claimed an inventive concept. A seller of security systems was not entitled to judgment on the pleadings that three security and surveillance system patents against it by ...

Google was merely the publisher and not the creator of the false information. The federal district court in New York City dismissed without prejudice claims for false advertising and negligence brought against Google LLC by plaintiff, Robyn A. Ynfant...

The plaintiff is not seeking an injunction against further use of the accused vaccines, but rather a share of the revenue the defendants generated from the shots. Biotechnology firm Promosome LLC has sued pharmaceutical companies Pfizer, BioNTech, an...

An aggrieved co-author could seek an accounting and a declaration of joint ownership, but could not force the Office to add his name to the registration. A songwriter who contributed the English-language lyrics to a melody that is firmly embedded wit...

LG failed to persuade the court that the re-trial damages verdict was not supported by legally sufficient evidence. A New Jersey district court denied LG Electronics’ request for a new trial in its patent dispute over smart TV technology with Mondis ...

A dissenting judge warned that the majority opinion will have a chilling effect on cybersecurity companies if they perceive civil liability may attach if a court disagrees with a classification of a program as “malware.” On Enigma Software Group USA,...

Plaintiffs did not provide sufficient evidence showing the asserted secrets would derive any independent economic value or that the information was kept confidential. A federal district court in Cleveland, Ohio, has held that the co-founder of a grou...

The district court failed to analyze the appropriate preliminary injunction factors on a motion to enforce a settlement agreement with factual disputes. In a trademark dispute over the “GTRACING” mark for video game chairs between two Asian-centered ...

The mark EL BURRO BORRACHO was not likely to be confused with the mark EL BURRO despite both being used for Mexican restaurants because the mark was commercially weak. A Mexican restaurant did not show a likelihood of confusion existed in competing m...

Medtronic presented a close prima facie case to support obviousness, but this showing was overcome by strong objective evidence, including commercial success and copying. In a challenge brought by Medtronic, Inc. over the validity of patents owned by...

Evidence at trial did not support that DISH’s accused products infringed the asserted patent claims. DISH Network was entitled to judgment as a matter of law overturning a jury’s infringement liability verdict and $469 million damages award to ClearP...

ADP sufficiently alleged that the WISE mark for mobile financial and payment services creates confusion with ADP’s WISELY mark. A New Jersey district court denied a motion to dismiss a trademark infringement case brought by ADP, Inc. (ADP) against Wi...

The applicant’s stylized mark used “virtually identical elements” to opposer PepsiCo’s famous marks, which implied strong evidence of intent to copy and associate with the opposer’s marks. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has sustained an opposit...

The lawsuit focused on the distinction between knowledge of a factual error, knowledge of a legal error, and an intent to defraud. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined the invitation to take up a second petition for certiorari asking whether a court m...