Mealey's Intellectual Property : Mealey's : Legal News & Analysis

Mealey's Intellectual Property

October 20, 2025
7th Circuit Affirms Copyright Win For Rapper French Montana

CHICAGO — In a matter of first impression for the court, a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an Illinois federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment to a rapper accused by a producer of copyright infringement because the producer failed to show that the rapper copied a beat he made “as opposed to merely imitating it,” but the panel also affirmed the judge’s decision to deny the rapper’s request for fees.
October 20, 2025
High Court Won’t Hear Design Firm’s Floor Plan Fair Use Arguments

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a design company’s petition for a writ of certiorari in an Oct. 20 order list, setting aside the company’s contention that the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ holding that two real estate agents’ use of floor plans in resale listings was a noninfringing fair use created a doctrinal “Catch-22” that prevents architectural copyright holders from enforcing their rights.
October 20, 2025
No High Court Review Of En Banc Federal Circuit’s Vacating Of Patent Damages

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an Oct. 20 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a smart thermostat company’s petition for a writ of certiorari, in which the company told the high court that the en banc Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision to order a Texas federal judge to hold a new trial on damages wrongly eschewed the jury’s factual findings in its favor in a patent dispute with Google LLC.
October 17, 2025
Summary Judgment For Ford, BMW Affirmed In Cruise Control Patent Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Delaware federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment to Ford Motor Co. and several entities related to BMW of North America LLC (collectively, BMW) on claims brought by a patent holder, finding no clear error in how the judge construed certain claim terms in asserted patents describing systems within vehicles with adaptive cruise control (ACC).
October 17, 2025
2nd Circuit Affirms Fee Award Against Law Firm In Podcast Trademark Fight

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an attorney fee award against a law firm that represented a technology company that brought trademark claims against a podcast company over the name of one of its shows, holding that the case was “exceptional” as described in the Lanham Act because the underlying suit was frivolous and brought in bad faith in pursuance of a settlement.
October 17, 2025
Glovemaker Seeks High Court Consideration Of Glove Color Mark Genericness

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A medical product company that saw its proposed trademark on the color of its medical gloves rejected as generic by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) and the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals asks the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari whether there is a “special rule” that applies to the generic nature of proposed color marks.
October 17, 2025
Judge Won’t Hasten Damages Deadline, Says Anthropic Must Face Copyright Claims

SAN JOSE, Calif. — In a pair of rulings, a federal judge in California said she would not hasten previous deadlines for music publishers to produce damages estimates and that the artificial intelligence copyright claims against Anthropic PBC may proceed.
October 16, 2025
Brita’s ITC Patent Loss Affirmed By Federal Circuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 15 affirmed a finding by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that certain claims of a water filter patent held by Brita LP were invalid for lack of written description and lack of enablement because the patent does not disclose the full scope of filter material covered by its claims that do not meet a claimed performance metric.
October 16, 2025
Federal Circuit Rejects Rehearing Bid From Database Patent Holder In IPR Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected a technology company’s petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc, rejecting its arguments that a panel used the wrong standard of review to find that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred in claim construction and incorrectly rejected reply evidence from Google LLC in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings it brought.
October 16, 2025
Federal Circuit: Judge Wrong To Find Prior PTAB Ruling Precluded Issues

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Wisconsin federal judge was wrong to apply issue preclusion based on prior findings from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) when granting summary judgment in a patent infringement dispute over eyeglass lens patents, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Oct. 15; the panel said the PTAB findings relied on by the judge came under a different standard of proof than that required for district courts.
October 16, 2025
Labels Tell High Court ISP Knowingly Provided Service To Infringers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Record labels and music publishers tell the U.S. Supreme Court in an Oct. 15 response brief that an internet service provider (ISP) continued to provide internet service to individuals it knew were “‘habitual offenders’” of piracy, thus making the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ finding of contributory infringement correct.
October 15, 2025
Copyright Protection Extends To AI Images, Man Tells Supreme Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Copyright protections are in place to ensure dissemination of creative works to the public and are invoked even when a human is not the creator and should apply to artificial intelligence-generated outputs for the same reasons, a man tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari.
October 15, 2025
Federal Circuit Rejects Rehearing Bid For Dumbbell Abstractness Finding

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 14 denied a company’s request for either panel rehearing or rehearing en banc, leaving in place its August finding that a Utah federal judge was wrong to hold that a patent was directed to an abstract idea by conflating a “rather simple mechanical invention” for stacking dumbbells with the kind of computerized automation that is often unpatentable as abstract.
October 15, 2025
Willful Infringement Claim Survives Dismissal In Gene Sequencing Patent Dispute

WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware denied a biotechnology company’s motion to partially dismiss a patent infringement complaint brought against it by a research institution, finding that the research entity plausibly alleged willful infringement of two of its cancer-detection patents based on related European patent disputes.
October 14, 2025
6th Circuit Affirms Contempt Finding In Kentucky Colonel Trademark Dispute

CINCINNATI — The Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Oct. 14 that a Kentucky federal judge did not abuse her discretion by holding a pro se appellant in contempt for failing to comply with a permanent injunction barring him from using a mark associated with the honorary title of “Kentucky Colonel.” The panel also affirmed the judge’s decision to order the man to pay attorney fees and costs.
October 14, 2025
OpenAI, News Plaintiffs Reach Agreement Ending ChatGPT Output Preservation

SAN FRANCISCO — OpenAI entities will no longer have to preserve all ChatGPT outputs after reaching an agreement with news plaintiffs about the scope of what must be saved for copyright litigation consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
October 14, 2025
11th Circuit Finds Sanctionable Conduct In Energy Drink IP Row But Vacates Award

ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Florida federal judge’s finding of bad faith against an energy drink maker’s counsel in a trade dress infringement dispute against rival drink makers, agreeing that the attorneys engaged in sanctionable conduct during the discovery process; however, the panel vacated the judge’s nearly $250,000 sanctions award, finding it to have been improperly calculated.
October 14, 2025
Insurance Holding Company Sues Captive Operator, Seeks Preliminary Injunction

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — An insurance holding company seeks a preliminary injunction in a Florida federal court against a captive operator and its associated entities it accuses of counterfeiting its name and trademarks to sell fake commercial insurance policies through two purported captive programs; in a concurrent complaint, the insurance holding company alleges direct, contributory and vicarious trademark infringement under the Lanham Act and unfair competition under several state common laws and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief.
October 13, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms $4 Million Judgment Against Supplement Counterfeiters

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel in the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a California federal judge’s decision to award a supplement maker and its founder a $4 million judgment and nearly $5.3 million in attorney fees after entering default judgment against entities that the supplement maker accused of counterfeiting its products, finding that the appellant entities were not prejudiced by the judge’s decision to enter default judgment without considering the entities’ motions to set aside default.
October 13, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Judgment For Car Maker In ‘Lambo’ Cybersquatting Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found no error in an Arizona federal judge’s grant of summary judgment to Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. (Lamborghini) in a cybersquatting dispute with a web domain holder, agreeing that the attempt to sell the domain “lambo.com” to the luxury carmaker for $75 million was indicative of bad faith.
October 10, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms Invalidation Of Hearing Device Patent Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Across three opinions issued Oct. 9, two panels in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a series of decisions by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that invalidated multiple claims in three patents related to hearing devices, with the panels agreeing with PTAB that prior art references rendered the patents’ claims obvious.
October 10, 2025
Judge Finds Plaintiff Owns No U.S. Rights To Mexican Band’s Mark

DALLAS — A Texas federal judge held that a 2009 agreement regarding the intellectual property rights associated with a band from Mexico concerned trademark rights in that country only and not those in the United States, dooming much of a complaint brought by the son of the band’s longtime manager against the daughter of a founding member and other individuals.
October 09, 2025
More Amici Urge Supreme Court To Take Up Entresto Patent Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Public Interest Patent Law Institute (PIPLI) tells the U.S. Supreme Court in an Oct. 8 amicus curiae brief that it should grant a generic drugmaker’s petition for a writ of certiorari in a dispute over the patent for heart medication Entresto, arguing that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has created conflicting strategies on how to treat after-arising technology.
October 09, 2025
PTAB Erred In Bone Plate Patent Anticipation Finding, Federal Circuit Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel has narrowed a medical device company’s wins before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB); while the panel affirmed PTAB’s findings as to one of the patents at issue, it also found that substantial evidence did not support the board’s rejection of arguments regarding whether three other patents at issue were anticipated.
October 08, 2025
Anthropic Must Face Copyright Claims As It Fights For Damages Disclosures

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge in California said music publishers’ artificial intelligence copyright claims against Anthropic PBC may proceed just days after the company asked for relief from a magistrate judge’s conclusion that the case’s novelty and complexity permitted delaying the disclosure of potential damages.