Intellectual Property

PATENT—3d Cir.: Lawsuit by Sandoz on vasodilator drug Remodulin® generic remanded to district court

Brad Rosen, J.D.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that import-export data for August showed the trade deficit in goods and services growing to $105.6 billion for the month, $12.7 billion higher than the $92.8 billion reported in July. In this edition of Tariff Insight...

Kenneth H. Ryesky, M.B.A., J.D.

Proprietary manufacturer had proffered a reasonable alternative to the district court's interpretation of a settlement agreement to patent litigation which contained ambiguous terms as to its coverage and exclusions. A Third Circuit panel has mostly ...

PATENT—D. Md.: Inventor’s claims against Johns Hopkins over surgical navigation technology largely move forward

Ravindra Kumar Singh, B.L.

Disputed discovery dates and alleged harm from patent prosecution prevented dismissal of claims involving ownership and disclosure of ultrasound-guided spinal surgery technology. A federal district court in Maryland has allowed an inventor and his su...

TRADE SECRETS—D. Haw.: Former electrical supply employee consents to trade secret injunction

TRADE SECRETS—D. Nev.: Jury to decide trade secrets dispute involving insurance and underwriting services companies

Jonathan Anderson

The worker is accused of downloading more than 12,000 files before potentially seeking employment with a competitor. The U.S. District Court for the Federal District of Hawai’i preliminarily enjoined a former employee of an electrical supply company ...

TRADE SECRETS—S.D.W. Va.: Former Deloitte employees lose bid to dismiss trade secrets, fraud counts

District court found that both parties brought forth sufficient evidence to create triable issues of fact for a jury. The federal district court in Nevada has held that the misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of contract, breach of fiduciary du...

WORTH NOTING—Other IP law developments

The court found that challenges to indictment's timeliness and sufficiency would be better resolved after evidence is presented at trial. Former Deloitte employees David Minkkinen and Sivaraman Sambasivam failed to dismiss trade secret conspiracy and...

TRADEMARK—S.D. Ga.: Furniture retailers can pursue cancellation of rival’s HOMETOWN marks and abuse-of-process claims

WK Editorial Staff

A periodic roundup of other items of interest to the Intellectual Property community. PATENT—Fed. Cir.: A patent applicant forfeited any substantive argument regarding his contention that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board incorrectly affirmed the USP...

Intellectual Property

October 8, 2026 | By Saurabh Kashyap, B.A., M.A., LL.B., LL.M.

The competing retailers sufficiently alleged genericness and misuse of trademark litigation, but their unfair competition and tortious interference counterclaims lacked factual support. A federal district court in Georgia has allowed two furniture re...

TRADEMARK—S.D. Ga.: Furniture retailers can pursue cancellation of rival’s HOMETOWN marks and abuse-of-process claims

PATENT—Fed. Cir.: PTAB properly found claims for dual herbicide-degrading enzyme patent were not enabled

TRADE SECRETS—W.D. Mich.: Preliminary injunction denied in trade secret suit over customer data

The Federal Circuit rejected the patent owner’s arguments that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) improperly relied on experimental data generated after the patent’s priority date and abused its discretion in crediting an expert witness. In a n...

TRADEMARK—C.D. Ill.: Preliminary injunction obtained against multi-platform media company over alleged trademark infringement

Jonathan Anderson

However, the court found that the employer will likely succeed on the merits of its trade secret claims. The Federal District Court in Lansing, Michigan, declined to issue a preliminary injunction sought by an insurance company against a former emplo...

TRADEMARK—E.D.N.Y.: Trade dress, predatory pricing claims dismissed in commode liner dispute

The district court enjoined a multi-platform media company Rural Media Group, Inc. (RMG) from using “RFD Network,” “RFD+,” “RFD News,” “RFD Studios,” and “RFD Originals” during the pendency of the lawsuit. An Illinois district court granted the Illin...

TRADEMARK NEWS: Adidas asks Supreme Court to review Rule 60(b)(3) discovery ruling

The court found the packaging allegations too vague to support trade dress protection and rejected the predatory pricing claim. A federal court in New York dismissed trade dress infringement and predatory pricing claims brought by Cross Innovations, ...

Adidas says the Second Circuit decision deepens split over whether negligent discovery failures can justify relief from judgment. Adidas America, Inc. and Adidas AG (Adidas, collectively) have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Second Circuit d...

Intellectual Property

October 7, 2026 | By Saurabh Kashyap, B.A., M.A., LL.B., LL.M.

Allegations that a gaming-platform operator stripped copyright information from 3D artwork during AI training did not plausibly establish intentional removal or distribution of the works. A federal district court in California dismissed, with leave t...

COPYRIGHT—N.D. Cal.: Digital artist must replead DMCA claims against Roblox over AI training

PATENT—Fed. Cir.: Federal Circuit orders patent suit against Google transferred to California

A publisher's use of a Playboy photo in article was not transformative, the court found. Playboy Enterprises International Inc. plausibly alleged that Haymarket Media Inc. infringed its copyright by using a Playboy-owned photograph in an online artic...

PATENT—N.D. Cal.: DirecTV’s challenge to Adeia television technology patents dismissed for lack of standing

The appeals court found convenience factors strongly favored Northern District of California. The Federal Circuit granted Google LLC's petition for a writ of mandamus and ordered a patent infringement suit brought by the University of Southern Califo...

Saurabh Kashyap, B.A., M.A., LL.B., LL.M.

Adeia’s demands for a new portfolio license did not establish a sufficiently concrete infringement dispute over the 10 patents DirecTV challenged. A federal district court in California dismissed DirecTV LLC’s declaratory judgment action against a me...

TRADEMARK—N.D. Tex.: False advertising, misappropriation, CFAA claims dismissed in tax competitors’ suit, copyright claim remains

TRADEMARK—TTAB: Refusal to register 'REBEL SUPER NOVA' mark for artificial gemstone jewelry affirmed

Jonathan Anderson

The litigation between two property tax consulting competitors involves allegations of copying website content and running false or misleading advertisements. The Federal District Court in Dallas dismissed claims for false advertising, misappropriati...

Linda O’Brien, J.D., LL.M.

The gemstone goods identified in the application for the proposed REBEL SUPER NOVA mark were identical to the gemstone goods described in the registration for the SUPERNOVA MOISSANITE mark and both were marketed to the same potential customers. The r...

Intellectual Property

TRADEMARK—TTAB: Refusal to register JASPE mark for clothing affirmed as deceptively misdescriptive

October 6, 2026 | By Jonathan Anderson

The Board found that “jaspe” is a type of fabric, but the Applicant’s products do not contain it. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed the Trademark Examining Attorney’s refusal to register the proposed mark JASPE on the ground that it is de...

TRADEMARK—TTAB: Refusal to register JASPE mark for clothing affirmed as deceptively misdescriptive

PATENT—E.D. Tex.: Lighting-product patent owner not entitled to ex parte injunction against Chinese online sellers

Steven Melendez

A court found the YouTube users had sufficiently alleged ByteDance circumvented platform copyright controls to download videos for AI training. A court denied a motion by ByteDance Inc. to dismiss a lawsuit brought by YouTube video creators alleging ...

PATENT—Fed. Cir.: Lighted electrical cover plate maker revives infringement claims against competitor

Mandavi Singh, LL.M.

The patent owner failed to establish personal jurisdiction or sufficiently show infringement, while the Hague Convention barred its proposed email service on the existing record. A federal district court in Texas has denied a lighting-product manufac...

Ravindra Kumar Singh, B.L.

A district court construed the claim term “joined” too narrowly when finding that a competitor’s lighted electrical cover plates did not infringe several patent claims. In a non-precedential decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit...

PATENT—Fed. Cir.: PTAB properly found service-based networking capability patent claims unpatentable as obvious over prior art

TRADE SECRETS—N.D. Okla.: Kansas forum favored in tire distributor trade secrets dispute

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err by denying rehearing and entering final rejections of the claims as obvious over prior art. In a non-precedential disposition, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the decisio...

PATENT—D. Del.: Bayh-Dole Act offers no third-party defense in Northwestern University’s patent suit against Moderna

An Oklahoma federal court transferred claims over alleged customer poaching and misuse of confidential information to Kansas. A federal court in Oklahoma transferred a business dispute between tire distributors to the District of Kansas after finding...

Intellectual Property

October 5, 2026 | By George Basharis, J.D.

A bipartisan proposal would give copyright owners a new judicial remedy against large-scale foreign piracy sites by requiring certain internet providers to prevent U.S. users from accessing sites designated for blocking. Copyright owners could seek f...

COPYRIGHT NEWS—DEFEND IP legislation would target foreign piracy through judicial blocking orders

PATENT—D. Minn.: Waterproof phone pouch maker keeps design patent, trade dress claims alive

Steven Melendez

The court found government contractors are protected from patent suit via 28 U.S.C. § 1498, not the Bayh-Dole Act’s government licensing scheme. A Delaware federal court struck elements of Moderna, Inc.’s defense based on the Bayh-Dole Act, and relat...

Ravindra Kumar Singh, B.L.

An ordinary observer could find the competing pouch substantially similar, while factual disputes remained over the asserted trade dress's distinctiveness and functionality. A federal district court in Minnesota has largely denied two waterproof phon...

PATENT—Fed. Cir.: Lack of enablement dooms Satius Holding’s patient infringement claims

Sherri M. Schroeder, J.D.

After finding the claims to be definite, the court held the claims were invalid because they covered a scientific impossibility that could not be made or used by a skilled artisan. The patent infringement claims brought by Satius Holding, LLC against...

PATENT—Fed. Cir.: Patent owner’s appeal dismissed for lack of final judgment

PATENT—N.D. Cal.: AI patent owner’s infringement suits against robotics, simulation companies dismissed

The Federal Circuit lacked appellate jurisdiction over the patent owner’s appeal because there was no final judgment. In a precedential disposition, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissed the patent owner’s appeal from a judgment...