Mealey's Intellectual Property
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June 02, 2025
Nurse Testing Material Firm Opposes AI Copyright, Trademark Dismissal
LOS ANGELES — A nursing test preparation company opposing summary judgment tells a federal judge in California that copyright covers its presentation of factual data and that the sale and use of its materials to train artificial intelligence constitutes infringement.
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June 02, 2025
Supreme Court Rejects Certiorari For Vascular Graft Patent Royalty Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court will not consider if the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals misapplied standards for the payment of patent royalties in a dispute over an agreement related to an expired medical device patent; the high court rejected the petition for a writ of certiorari from Atrium Medical Corp. in a June 2 order list.
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June 02, 2025
9th Circuit Affirms Injunction Denial In ‘Alien’ Vape Mark Suit
SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a California federal judge’s denial of a preliminary injunction in a trademark infringement case, finding that the plaintiff failed to show that the defendant vaporizer manufacturers’ alien-themed cannabis marks were likely to be confused with his alien-themed vaporizer marks.
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May 30, 2025
9th Circuit: Car Chase Film’s Mustang Not A Copyrightable Character
PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel largely affirmed a California federal judge’s rejection of copyright infringement claims brought by the owners of the rights related to the film “Gone in 60 Seconds” regarding a Ford Mustang known as “Eleanor,” holding that the car is not a copyrightable character under a Ninth Circuit test.
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May 30, 2025
Federal Circuit OKs Acting PTO Director Review Of Prior Head’s IPR Sanctions
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel granted a motion by the acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) for a limited remand of a vaccine company’s appeal of the prior PTO director’s entry of sanctions in the form of the cancellation of all claims in multiple patents, allowing the acting director time to review the decision.
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May 29, 2025
8th Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment In Source Code Copyright Row
ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 28 ruled that a Missouri federal judge wrongly dismissed a plaintiff software company’s copyright infringement complaint for basing its claims on a faulty submission to the U.S. Copyright Office, holding that there is a dispute as to whether the company was aware of the inaccuracy.
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May 29, 2025
Judge Details Stay, Interlocutory Appeal In Legal Summary AI Copyright Suit
WILMINGTON, Del. — Because sufficient questions exist about the originality of Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GMBH headnotes and whether a competitor’s use of them to train artificial intelligence constitutes fair use, an interlocutory appeal and stay of the case will advance the litigation and potentially foreclose the need for a costly trial, a federal judge in Delaware said while reiterating that he believes his rulings properly allowed the case to proceed to trial.
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May 29, 2025
Partly Split Federal Circuit Says Judge Got Tile Patent Claim Construction Wrong
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A partially split Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 28 held that a federal judge in Florida erred in claim construction in a patent dispute involving a type of ceramic tile, leading the panel to vacate a stipulated judgment of noninfringement.
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May 29, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms Claim Construction That Caused Patent Claim Dismissal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said a Texas federal judge committed no discernible error in claim constructions that led to a judgment of noninfringement in a defendant energy company’s favor on infringement claims related to a series of patents for a system of testing structural integrity of various vessels used for storing or moving oil and gas.
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May 29, 2025
Register Of Copyrights Denied TRO In Suit Challenging ‘Purported’ Removal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) filed by the register of copyrights and director of the U.S. Copyright Office seeking to enjoin her removal was denied from the bench by a federal judge in the District of Columbia on May 28.
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May 29, 2025
OpenAI: No Reason To Reconsider Denying Leave To Amend For News Outlets
NEW YORK — News outlets’ motion for reconsideration of a ruling denying them leave to amend their artificial intelligence copyright suit is procedurally improper, and because the outlets never demonstrated that ChatGPT produced their copyrighted works, the motion lacks any foundation, OpenAI Inc. entities told a federal judge in New York in an opposition brief.
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May 28, 2025
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Law Firm’s Challenge To Ad-Buying Trademark Opinion
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 27 decided that it would not hear a law firm’s challenge to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ affirmation of a judge’s finding that a defendant law firm’s purchasing of a competitor’s trademark in Google keyword ads was not trademark infringement, turning away the plaintiff-petitioner’s contention that the Ninth Circuit’s likelihood-of-confusion analysis conflicts with that used in other circuits.
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May 28, 2025
Supreme Court Denies Cert To Packaging Patent Holder’s Enablement Arguments
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 27 rejected a patent holder’s petition for a writ of certiorari, declining to consider whether the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to summarily affirm the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) invalidation of the company’s food packaging patents.
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May 28, 2025
Federal Circuit: PTAB’s Combination Analysis Wrong In Lighting Patent Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred in its analysis of the motivation to combine prior art references in post-grant review proceedings for a patent describing a type of lighting structure, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held May 27, finding that PTAB improperly imposed a quantification requirement that was “overly rigid and inconsistent with well-established precedent.”
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May 27, 2025
Federal Circuit: PTAB Erred On Some Claims In Mostly Affirmed Insurance Sensor IPR
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel issued a mixed opinion in a patent dispute involving devices for monitoring vehicle movement for insurance purposes, largely affirming findings from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board; the panel held, though, that a portion of the PTAB’s findings were based on an erroneous conclusion during claim construction.
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May 27, 2025
Magistrate Judge Partially Strikes Expert After AI Mangles Study Citation
SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal magistrate judge in California on May 23 struck a portion of an expert report offered by Anthropic PBC containing errors introduced by its Claude artificial intelligence and ordered the company to produce 5 million prompt-output pairs evenly divided between pre-suit and post-suit periods.
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May 27, 2025
OpenAI: ChatGPT Output Preservation ‘Unprecedented’ Privacy Violation
SAN FRANCISCO — Requiring preservation of ChatGPT outputs users wish to delete simply so news plaintiffs in a copyright suit can secure a litigation advantage constitutes an “unprecedented” privacy violation and sets a “dangerous precedent,” OpenAI entities tell a federal court in California in a May 23 supplemental opposition after a magistrate judge ordered the preservation and denied a motion for reconsideration.
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May 27, 2025
Federal Circuit: PTAB’s Claim Construction Too Narrow In X-Ray Patent Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 23 held that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erroneously narrowed a disputed patent claim related to X-ray imaging, reversing the PTAB’s finding that claims of the appellee’s patent were not invalid as anticipated.
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May 27, 2025
Register Of Copyrights Sues, Seeks TRO After ‘Purported’ Removal By Trump
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The register of copyrights and director of the U.S. Copyright Office filed a complaint and a motion for a temporary restraining order (TRO) in a federal court in the District of Columbia challenging her “purported” removal by President Donald J. Trump “without any authorization from Congress or advice and consent from the Senate.”
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May 27, 2025
Federal Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment For Apple In Payment Patent Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reversed a Texas federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of defendant-appellee Apple Inc. in a dispute with Fintiv Inc. over a payment application, holding that Fintiv adequately raised a question of material fact as to Apple’s alleged infringement.
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May 23, 2025
Federal Circuit: PTAB Obviousness Finding For Gene Treatment Not In Error
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held May 22 that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err when it ruled that a biopharmaceutical company’s patents on a hemophilia gene therapy treatment were unpatentable as obvious, affirming the board’s finding in an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding brought by Pfizer Inc.
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May 23, 2025
Federal Circuit: Collector Lacked Standing To Oppose Proposed Doll Trademark
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A doll collector lacked standing to oppose a company’s application for a registered trademark on the name “Rapunzel” for use with dolls, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held May 22, agreeing with the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) that the collector’s alleged harm was “too remote to support a reasonable belief in injury.”
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May 23, 2025
Full Federal Circuit Orders New Trial On Damages For Google In Patent Fight
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The full Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a Texas federal judge should have granted Google LLC a new trial on damages after a jury found that the company infringed on a patent related to smart thermostat technology, finding that the judge allowed jurors to hear unreliable testimony regarding a royalty rate.
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May 22, 2025
Federal Circuit: French Word For Clothing Generic For Trademark Use
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 21 affirmed the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s rejection of a proposed trademark on the French word for clothing, agreeing with both the trademark examiner and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) that the marks were generic as defined in the Lanham Act as per the doctrine of foreign equivalents.
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May 22, 2025
Kanye West Ordered To Supply Requested Discovery, Pay Fees In Copyright Fight
LOS ANGELES — Kanye West and associated entities must turn over evidence in a copyright infringement suit claiming the rapper included unapproved music samples in two tracks on his album “Donda,” a federal judge in California ruled; the judge held that West and the related entities were wrong to argue that they were not in possession of any responsive documents.