In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Jack Daniels Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, 599 U.S. 140 (2023), the Ninth Circuit reversed its earlier decision affirming that a publication called Punchbowl News did not...more
The Supreme Court recently held Abitron Austria GmbH not liable for using Hetronic International, Inc.’s trademarks outside of the United States. Reversing the Tenth Circuit and resolving a circuit split, the Court held that...more
Yesterday, the Supreme Court held 7-2 that a specific use of Andy Warhol’s “Orange Prince” silk screen—based on a copyrighted photograph of Prince—was not fair use. In doing so the Court focused not solely on the...more
USPTO Director Kathi Vidal recently petitioned the Supreme Court to review a Federal Circuit decision in In re Elster. There, the Federal Circuit held the USPTO unconstitutionally applied Lanham Act Section 2(c) (15 U.S.C. §...more
3/13/2023
/ Director of the USPTO ,
First Amendment ,
Iancu v. Brunetti ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
IP Litigation ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
Section 2 ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
Unconstitutional Condition ,
USPTO
On November 4, 2022, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Amgen v. Sanofi, No. 21-757, to review “[w]hether enablement is governed by the statutory requirement that the specification teach those skilled in the art to make...more
The Federal Circuit recently denied a mandamus petition seeking relief from a district court order denying a motion to dismiss a patent case for improper venue under 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b).
Bel Power Solutions, Inc. sued...more
To obtain a trademark containing or consisting of a living individual’s name, portrait, or signature, that individual must give written consent. 15 U.S.C. § 1052(c). The United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”)...more
The Eighth Circuit recently upheld dismissal of Brothers and Sisters in Christ, LLC’s (“BASIC”) lawsuit against online marketplace Zazzle, affirming that “the bare-bones nature of BASIC’s allegations,” including Zazzle’s sale...more
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a preliminary injunction in favor of AK Futures LLC (“AK Futures”), a manufacturer of e-cigarette and vaping products, against Boyd Street Distro, LLC (“Boyd Street”), a Los Angeles-based storefront...more
The U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion on April 21 addressing the regulation of “off-premises” signs, holding that such regulations are not subject to strict scrutiny under the First Amendment.
City of Austin v. Reagan...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently granted a petition for writ of certiorari to review the extent to which a work of art is a “transformative” fair use under the Copyright Act. The Court will review a Second Circuit decision...more
On March 15, 2022, the Federal Circuit affirmed the Eastern District of Texas’s dismissal of a patent infringement complaint because the asserted patent claims were directed to process automation and therefore not eligible...more
The Supreme Court held that lack of knowledge of either fact or law can excuse inaccuracies in a copyright registration under Section 411(b)’s safe harbor provision of the Copyright Act....more
By Dan Staren and David Barker Last week, a Federal Circuit panel vacated a billion dollar jury verdict in favor of plaintiff-appellee California Institute of Technology (“Caltech”) and remanded for a new trial on damages...more
Last week, a split Federal Circuit panel reversed a decision invalidating certain computer-aided-design patent claims because the district court used an incorrect indefiniteness standard....more
In a precedential opinion this week, the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court judgment in favor of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, in an appeal brought by HEC Pharm challenging the written description in Novartis’s 9,187,405...more
The Federal Circuit invalidated Juno Therapeutics, Inc.’s T cell therapy patent for cancer treatment and erased a billion dollar judgment in Juno’s favor. The court held that the jury verdict regarding the patent’s written...more
The Supreme Court upheld assignor estoppel in Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., et al. but held that the Federal Circuit “failed to recognize the doctrine’s proper limits.” In doing so, the Court imposed new...more
The Supreme Court held this week that the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s (“USPTO”) appointment of Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) judges cannot be constitutionally enforced because the USPTO director does...more
Last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in Minerva Surgical v. Hologic, thereby agreeing to resolve a long-running debate on patent law’s doctrine of assignor estoppel. Minerva Surgical has asked the Court to...more
In RPX Corp. v. Applications in Internet Time LLC, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) held in a precedential opinion that three inter partes reviews (“IPRs”) were time-barred under 35 U.S.C. § 315(b) because the...more
Are PTAB judges constitutional? This week the Supreme Court granted certiorari to answer this question.
In Arthrex v. Smith & Nephew, the Federal Circuit considered whether the appointment of administrative patent judges...more
10/16/2020
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
Appeals ,
Appointments Clause ,
Arthrex Inc v Smith & Nephew Inc ,
Certiorari ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Officers of the United States ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
SCOTUS ,
Severability Doctrine
Today, the Supreme Court held in U.S. Patent & Trademark Office v. Booking.com B.V. that a generic term paired with an internet designation such as “.com” (called a “generic.com” term by the Court) may be eligible for federal...more
7/1/2020
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
Today, a unanimous Supreme Court held in Lucky Brand Dungarees, Inc. v. Marcel Fashions Group., Inc. that claim preclusion did not prevent Lucky Brand from asserting a defense it failed to fully litigate in a prior lawsuit...more
5/15/2020
/ Claim Preclusion ,
Collateral Estoppel ,
Counterclaims ,
Defense Preclusion ,
Fashion Branding ,
Issue Preclusion ,
Lucky Brand Dungarees v Marcel Fashion Group ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Release Agreements ,
Res Judicata ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Subsequent Litigation ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
Yesterday, in Thryv, Inc. v. Click-To-Call Technologies LP, the Supreme Court held that Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) decisions regarding the time limit for filing inter partes reviews (“IPRs”) are not subject to...more
4/24/2020
/ § 314(d) ,
§ 315(b) ,
§314(a) ,
§314(b) ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Dissenting Opinions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Judicial Review ,
Non-Appealable Decisions ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Thryv Inc v Click-To-Call Technologies LP ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Vacated