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

Mealey's Intellectual Property

February 19, 2026
Petitioner Tells High Court ‘Skinny Label’ Patent Ruling Could ‘Swallow’ Carve-Out

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its Feb. 18 merits brief before the U.S. Supreme Court, a bioequivalent pharmaceutical maker argues that a patent holder’s complaint failed to state a claim for induced infringement because the “skinny label” generic version of the patent carved out the patented cardiovascular use of the drug.
February 19, 2026
Jury Finds In Valve’s Favor On All Counts In ‘Patent Troll’ Case

SEATTLE — A federal jury in Washington held that video game entity Valve Corp. showed that a claim of a patent held by an entity Valve called a “patent troll” was invalid and that the defendant entities’ breach of contract was material; the jury found Valve is owed nearly $160,000 in damages.
February 19, 2026
9th Circuit: Dances In Workout Videos Not Protectible Under Copyright

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a California federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment in favor of defendant entities accused of copying dance routines seen in workout videos; the panel held that the dances represent a functional fitness method and not a copyrightable expression of choreography.
February 18, 2026
Federal Circuit Emphasizes Court’s Gatekeeping Role In Affirming Patent Verdict

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 17 affirmed a Minnesota federal judge’s denial of defendant-appellants’ requests for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) or for a new trial on damages; the panel emphasized that its role on appeal was to determine whether the jury had substantial evidence to support its findings, not to reweigh that evidence.
February 17, 2026
Willful Infringement, Enhanced Damages Affirmed In Current Converter Patent Fight

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 13 affirmed a Texas federal jury’s finding that a defendant-appellant electronics manufacturer willfully infringed two claims of another entity’s patent on direct current to direct current (DC-DC) converters; the panel said substantial evidence supported both the jury’s finding and subsequent enhanced damages and attorney fees.
February 13, 2026
Judge: Counterclaimant In Trademark Suit Can’t Claim Tortious Interference

TRENTON, N.J. — In a dispute over a trademark on the word “Pearly,” a New Jersey federal judge dismissed a tortious interference counterclaim because the claim was barred by New Jersey’s litigation privileges; the judge held that the defendant entities’ remaining counterclaims survived the motion to dismiss.
February 13, 2026
Judge Grants Alternative Service Motion In Star Trek E-Commerce Trademark Dispute

MIAMI — A Florida federal judge on Feb. 12 granted CBS’s motion for alternative service of process in a trademark infringement suit against an alleged Singapore-based e-commerce retailer accused of infringement regarding Star Trek intellectual property rights, finding that alternative service through email and website posting will reasonably provide the retailer an opportunity to respond to the suit.
February 12, 2026
Trademark Dilution Claim Stripped From Band Rights Dispute As Judge Adopts Report

MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida adopted a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation and granted summary judgment to a plaintiff Venezuelan musician on a record label’s counterclaim of state-level trademark dilution in a battle that began with the musician’s allegation that multiple music companies illegally uploaded his music to online streaming platforms.
February 12, 2026
Federal Judge Remands Rolling Paper Trademark Case To California State Court

LOS ANGELES — A California judge remanded a tobacco company’s trademark complaint against entities it said sold counterfeit products to California state court, agreeing with the plaintiff entity that its claims did not sound in federal trademark law, only state and common law.
February 12, 2026
Judge Defaults Trademark Defendant For Counsel’s Repeated Citations To Fake Cases

NEW YORK — In a dispute arising from the theft and resale of trademarked children’s toys, a New York federal judge issued case-terminating sanctions by issuing a default order against one of the defendant entities after its counsel was repeatedly chastised by the court for filing briefs riddled with false citations generated via artificial intelligence.
February 11, 2026
Ballistic Armor Patent Preamble Was Limiting, Federal Circuit Agrees

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Maryland federal judge correctly granted summary judgment of noninfringement in a patent dispute over a technology for ballistic armor panels, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed Feb. 10, because the plaintiff entity failed to show that the accused product met properly construed claim limitations.
February 11, 2026
AI Artist Says Copyright Applies To More Than Just Humans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Copyright Act has never been limited to just human authors, and the U.S. Copyright Office’s policy not to grant protections to artificial intelligence-created works goes against both the statute and the U.S. Constitution, a man says in reply in support of his U.S. Supreme Court petition for a writ of certiorari.
February 10, 2026
No Infringement Of Patent Affirmed, Despite Wrongful Claim Constructions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — While a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel vacated some of a Massachusetts federal judge’s claim constructions in a patent infringement dispute concerning artificial blood-pumping systems for cardiac patients, the panel held in a Feb. 9 opinion that other correct claim constructions supported the judge’s entry of summary judgment of noninfringement.
February 10, 2026
9th Circuit: ‘Hatchet Wielding’ Man’s Copyright Claims Fail, Not Defamation Claim

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel largely affirmed the dismissal of a sprawling pro se complaint brought by the subject of a documentary titled “The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker,” agreeing with a California federal judge’s finding that the man’s copyright claims failed but also finding that he narrowly established a defamation claim against one defendant-appellee for potentially fabricated claims made in the documentary.
February 10, 2026
Novo Nordisk Sues Hims For Patent Infringement Over Compounded Semaglutide Sales

WILMINGTON, Del. — The manufacturer of Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus on Feb. 9 sued an online health care provider in Delaware federal court for patent infringement stemming from its marketing and sale of compounded semaglutide for weight loss.
February 09, 2026
Federal Circuit: Judge Rightly Excluded Little Giant Expert For Claim Construction

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Minnesota federal judge’s decision to grant summary judgment of noninfringement in favor of a company accused by Little Giant Ladder Systems LLC; the panel agreed that the accused product did not meet the court’s construction of a claim limitation requiring a “cavity” in a locking mechanism.
February 06, 2026
Federal Circuit Affirms Abstractness Of Patent Asserted Against Walmart

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Texas federal judge’s entry of summary judgment of noninfringement in favor of Walmart Inc., writing in a nonprecedential Feb. 5 opinion that the plaintiff-appellant technology company could not show that the asserted patent claims were not invalid as abstract.
February 06, 2026
Judge Tosses Surfboard Company’s Trademark Claims For Lack Of License Termination

SAN DIEGO — A California federal judge found that an entity associated with a world-famous surfer failed to show that it terminated a license agreement that allowed a surfboard manufacturer the ability to use trademarks associated with the surfer’s name, sinking the plaintiff’s claims of infringement and unfair competition.
February 05, 2026
Federal Circuit: Subcontractor For NASA Can’t Infringe Martian Helicopter Patent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A California federal judge rightly granted summary judgment to a NASA subcontractor in a patent infringement suit, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Feb. 4, because any alleged infringement the company performed on a helicopter sent to Mars is immunized by the subcontractor’s work for the U.S. government.
February 05, 2026
Samsung, PTO Tell High Court To Reject IPR Scope-Challenging Petition

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) tell the U.S. Supreme Court that it should reject a technology company’s petition for a writ of certiorari in which it argues that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals expanded the scope of inter partes review (IPR) to include consideration of an “abandoned patent application” when affirming findings by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB); the respondents tell the high court that the Federal Circuit correctly applied the statutory boundaries of the IPR process.
February 04, 2026
PTAB Right To Invalidate Roof-Mapping Patent, Federal Circuit Holds

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 3 affirmed a finding by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board that certain claims in patents describing systems for generating roofing estimation reports were unpatentable as obvious; the panel saw no error in PTAB’s claim construction or other elements of its findings.
February 03, 2026
Federal Judge Refuses To Reconsider Ruling In Trade Secret Suit Against Insurer

LAS VEGAS — A federal judge in Nevada denied a software provider’s motion to reconsider an earlier ruling that granted in part and denied in part an insurer’s motion for summary judgment in the provider’s lawsuit alleging that the insurer and another software provider misappropriated its trade secrets to develop a clone of its flood claims services system application, holding that the motion is untimely and the plaintiff failed to assert adequate grounds to grant its motion for reconsideration.
February 03, 2026
Split Federal Circuit Affirms Noninfringement Finding For Massager Design Patent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A split Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 2 affirmed a Maine federal judge’s grant of summary judgment of noninfringement in a dispute over a design patent describing a body massaging device; the panel majority held that a reasonable jury could not have found infringement under the judge’s construction, while the chief circuit judge wrote in dissent that the majority and the judge focused too much on individual features and not the similarity of the overall design.
February 03, 2026
Copyright Office Defendants Say AI-Prompted Art Not Subject To Protections

DENVER — An artist could have chosen to copyright whatever portions of a work he created, but he is not entitled to protection for artificial intelligence outputs that are essentially random and result from repeatedly prompting the technology, defendants told a federal judge in Colorado.
February 02, 2026
Judge Hands Valve Summary Judgment Victories On Eve Of Patent Troll Trial

SEATTLE — In two orders, a Washington federal judge denied a request from a company accused by video game entity Valve Corp. of being a “patent troll” to grant summary judgment while simultaneously narrowly granting summary judgment in Valve’s favor; the judge said that a previous suit by the defendant entities was a breach of an earlier settlement agreement.