Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property
TOP STORY: Senate subcommittee hears views on PTAB reform legislation
Witnesses told Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Intellectual Property of the need to adjust PTAB procedures to promote a strong patent system, but not all agreed on which approach to take. At a Senate subcommittee hearing on recently propo...
The court noted that only a modicum of creativity is required to make a design original. The Middle District of Florida denied a motion to dismiss a copyright infringement claim by a gun grip manufacturer against a competitor but granted the motion a...
The magistrate judge properly found that hours spent defending the action cannot be feasibly allocated to a particular claim. In a design patent infringement, copyright infringement, and trade dress infringement suit, brought by Lanard Toys Limited—t...
Summary judgment was not appropriate in a dispute over consumer confusion in restaurant licenses because material questions of fact existed about the actual representations made and actions taken by the parties. A Florida restaurant owner did not sho...
A federal court will have to decide whether Quentin Tarantino or studio Miramax owns the right to mint NFTs based on the script. The federal district court in Los Angeles should dismiss a lawsuit by Miramax against Quentin Tarantino over his sale of ...
Several law firms announced the expansion their IP practices in recent weeks. Several firms have recently expanded their IP practices by snagging IP practitioners from other firms. Ice Miller announced the addition of a seven-person team from BakerHo...
Intellectual Property
The judge was required by statute to recuse himself or divest the stock once he discovered the financial conflict. A judge presiding over a patent infringement case should have recused himself when he learned that his wife owned stock in one of the c...
The court rejected the plaintiff's request that the court should bypass the question of substantial similarity until the parties have engaged in discovery or obtained expert testimony. A copyright infringement claim by an Internet content creator who...
A photographer plausibly contended that a hip hop artist went beyond the scope of a license hammered out in a brief online exchange. A photographer’s copyright infringement lawsuit against a prominent rapper and hip hop artist was entitled to go forw...
The court previously found that allegations under the Sherman Act were speculative. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed the judgment of the Northern District of Texas holding that auto-parts supplier Continental Automotive Sy...
Cancellation of a mark used for substance abuse treatment software was not justified because there was no likelihood of confusion between with a similar mark used for pulse oximeters and related equipment. A maker of pulse oximeters did not show a li...
The week’s most insightful, intriguing, or entertaining blog posts regarding intellectual property issues. IP Finance, TRIPS Waiver Agreement Released , by Mike Mirales IP Watchdog, Senate IP Subcommittee Starts Dialogue on Reforming the PTAB , by Ei...
Intellectual Property
TOP STORY: USPTO memo guides PTAB on denials of reviews based on pending court actions
Clarifying the much-criticized Fintiv doctrine, the memo states that review will not be denied when there is “compelling evidence of unpatentability,” and the PTAB is to consider a court’s median time-to-trial rather than taking its trial schedule at...
The postings to Twitter were entitled to First Amendment protection and also qualified as fair use. An anonymous critic who posted titillating photos of a prominent investor’s girlfriend to Twitter, ostensibly to illustrate that “life is good when yo...
A patent for a reusable and foldable shopping bag that fits within a shopping cart was invalidated because the claimed design was dictated solely by function and it was obvious. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has affirmed a Califor...
Dairy Queen’s BLIZZARD mark for frozen treats and W.B. Mason’s BLIZZARD mark for bottled water were not similar and the parties’ goods were sold through different trade channels to different customers. Following a 12-day bench trial, the federal dist...
The proposed mark GOLDN PAYDIRT was merely descriptive of goods containing gold because its literal meaning was a key component of the goods. A seller of novelty bags of gold ore was unable to show that its mark was not merely descriptive, the Tradem...
The lawsuit is seeking treble and punitive damages for what the plaintiff asserts is intentional and willful conduct. The fashion company Rhode-NYC LLC has filed a lawsuit against celebrity Hailey Bieber and a businesses she controls, alleging tradem...
Intellectual Property
Because the patent failed to disclose the absence of a loading dose, the no-loading-dose limitation was without adequate written description support. A divided Federal Circuit panel has reconsidered and reversed a prior decision finding that a patent...
The question is how to define the term “off-Broadway.” An arbiter will have to re-weigh the precise dividing line between the rights held in the original amateur adaptation and an updated professional version of a classic 1960s novel, the federal cou...
A brokerage firm was unable to establish likelihood of success on the merits in a trade secret dispute when it could not show that the documents allegedly transferred contained any trade secrets. An insurance brokerage firm was not entitled to a prel...
Summary judgment was granted against a software company that alleged trade secret misappropriation without sufficient specificity against the original developer of the software. A software company could not remedy its refusal to specify the trade sec...
Defendants’ use of the mark in an expressive work was protected by the First Amendment. The registered owner of the “BMF mark” who has marketed and sold services using the mark failed to show that the producers of the “Black Family Mafia” television ...
The key factors in rejecting the NATURE MADE application for fruit-based food were the extreme similarities to opposer’s MADE IN NATURE mark for fruit-based food. Registration of the mark NATURE MADE for food bars containing dried fruits, soy-based f...
Intellectual Property
TOP STORY: Louisiana governor signs law prohibiting unauthorized commercial use of identity
‘Allen Toussaint Legacy Act,’ named after famed New Orleans musician and composer, creates post-mortem publicity rights for individuals who were domiciled in Louisiana, as well as rights for living Louisianans. Louisiana residents—living or dead—have...
Obviousness determinations made by the PTAB were vacated because the patent at issue expired during the pendency of the litigation and before the Board issued its final decision. A Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that was rendered moot by the ...
The lawyer, engaged in heated litigation with his former firm, also could not premise a CFAA claim on the redirection of a website phone number. A Washington, DC-based law firm could not have infringed upon the trademarks of its former partner and hi...
The plaintiff engaged in unreasonable delay in filing suit, as it became aware of the infringing conduct in 2013, yet failed to file a lawsuit until 2021. A band that went by the name DARKSIDE sued another band, which had used the same name in the sa...
Reform bill would prevent consideration of “serial” petitions and would codify procedures for Director review of PTAB decisions, among other changes. A bill introduced in the Senate is aimed at reforming the Patent Trial and Appeal Board to protect p...
A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Intellectual Property community. TRADEMARK—TTAB: The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board has redesignated as precedential its April 2, 2021, decision dismissing an opposition to registration of the ma...