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

Mealey's Intellectual Property

September 23, 2025
Federal Circuit Vacates Jury’s Patent Verdict Over Faulty Claim Construction

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A jury’s finding of noninfringement in a patent dispute involving magnetic objects used in data recording may have been based in part on a Pennsylvania federal judge’s improper construction of a patent claim term, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, vacating the jury’s verdict and remanding for a new trial.
September 23, 2025
Magistrate Judge Won’t Order Production Of NYT’s AI Chat Usage

NEW YORK — A federal magistrate judge in New York denied a motion to compel by OpenAI entities and Microsoft seeking user logs from The New York Times’ internal ChatGPT-based tool, ruling that the logs are irrelevant to the fair use defense and would cost nearly $1 million and three months to review and produce.
September 23, 2025
2nd Circuit Affirms Kimmel’s Copyright Win Over Former New York Rep.

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel agreed with a New York federal judge that late-night show host Jimmy Kimmel’s use of videos recorded by former Congressman George Santos on his show was a fair use, affirming the judge’s decision to dismiss Santos’ copyright infringement claim against the host and related entities.
September 22, 2025
9th Circuit Denies App Maker’s Rehearing Bid In Peloton Infringement Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected an app maker’s request for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc, leaving in place a panel’s finding that factors “overwhelmingly” favored a finding that Peloton Interactive Inc.’s “Peloton Bike+” was not likely to be confused with the petitioner’s mobile app called “Bike+.”
September 18, 2025
Del. Federal Judge Won’t Order Permanent Injunction Barring Bid For FDA Approval

WILMINGTON, Del. — A pharmaceutical company that sought “equitable relief that is unprecedented under” federal law “has not established that its story warrants such relief,” a Delaware federal judge said, denying a motion that sought to bar a competitor from seeking approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a drug to treat narcolepsy.
September 17, 2025
Weight Loss Company Loses Motion To Dismiss Trademark Infringement Case

SAN DIEGO — The manufacturer of Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus, fended off a motion to dismiss after a California federal judge found that a weight loss company facing claims of trademark infringement and unfair competition did not show that its application of the trademarks was within the nominative fair use doctrine.
September 16, 2025
Judge Rules On Summary Judgment Motions In Copyright Infringement Coverage Suit

WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware judge granted in part and denied in part primary and excess insurers’ motions for summary judgment in a coverage dispute arising from copyright infringement claims brought against an insured, finding that the movie studio’s claims against the insured are not indemnifiable but the record company claims against the insured are potentially indemnifiable.
September 15, 2025
Disney’s JMOL Win In Face Capturing Software IP Fight Reversed By 9th Circuit

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held that a California federal judge erred by granting posttrial judgment as a matter of law in favor of Walt Disney Pictures on a software company’s copyright infringement claim, holding that there was sufficient evidence for a jury to plausibly find that Disney was liable for vicarious infringement of the company’s facial imaging software.
September 15, 2025
AI Exam Company Must Face Copyright Claims, Judge Says

LOS ANGELES — An education exam company’s allegations that it curates test prep materials and that a competitor reproduces that work and uses it for training its artificial intelligence are sufficient to trigger copyright law protections and survive a motion to dismiss, a federal judge in California said.
September 12, 2025
Google AI Copyright Case Proceeds As Court Preps For AI Metadata Discovery Issue

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge on Sept. 11 dismissed with prejudice claims involving certain Google LLC artificial intelligence models and vicarious liability claims against parent company Alphabet Inc. but otherwise denied a motion to dismiss. Earlier a magistrate judge said she would not take up artificial intelligence copyright plaintiffs’ request to appoint a special master but would hold a hearing on a motion to compel after plaintiffs complained that discovery lacked metadata critical to identifying copyrighted material. Google LLC filed its response to the motion on Sept. 10, saying it had “gone above and beyond” what was required of it.
September 12, 2025
2nd Circuit: Labels Waived Inducement Argument, But Opinion Slightly Amended

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel partly granted a group of record labels’ petition to reconsider its finding that the labels failed to show that video sharing website Vimeo Inc. had “red flag” knowledge that user-uploaded videos contained copyrighted musical recordings, agreeing to remove a footnote musing on whether the labels had preserved for U.S. Supreme Court review arguments that Vimeo could not be entitled to the safe harbor defined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
September 12, 2025
Federal Circuit Won’t Reinstate Invalidity Finding In Cherry Plant Patent Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a short Sept. 11 order, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals denied a petition for a writ of mandamus filed by cherry-growing entities requesting that a Washington federal judge be directed to reinstate a previous finding of patent invalidity against the Canadian government department covering agriculture in a dispute over U.S. plant patents.
September 12, 2025
High Court Requests Response To Cert Petition In Entresto Patent Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court requested a response from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. to generic drugmakers’ petition for a writ of certiorari in response to the petitioners’ argument that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrongly considered after-arising technology in a dispute over the patent for heart medication Entresto.
September 11, 2025
Clothing Maker Seeks Fees After Federal Circuit Reverses Infringement Verdict

PHOENIX — After the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed an Arizona federal jury’s more than $20 million award against a clothing maker in a design patent and trademark infringement dispute related to oversized sweatshirts, the company now tells the court that it is owed roughly $3.6 million in attorney fees and costs, arguing that the case was “exceptional.”
September 11, 2025
Federal Circuit Won’t Rehear Obviousness-Type Double Patenting Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 10 denied generic drugmakers’ petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc, leaving in place a panel’s June opinion affirming a Delaware judge’s grant of summary judgment of no invalidity to a biopharmaceutical company that holds the patent for a medication used to treat hallucinations.
September 11, 2025
Split Panel Enjoins Interference With Copyright Register’s Job Pending Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A divided District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Sept. 10 enjoined various federal government parties from interfering with Shira Perlmutter’s service as the register of copyrights and director of the U.S. Copyright Office pending appeal; Perlmutter appealed a trial court’s denial of her motion for preliminary injunction in a case challenging her purported firing in May by President Donald J. Trump.
September 11, 2025
Designers, Shein Settle Claims Retailer Used AI To Misappropriate Works

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California dismissed a case after eight independent designers reported having reached a binding settlement with Shein Distribution Corp. and related entities over claims that the retailer used an artificial intelligence algorithm to identify popular styles and then misappropriated copyrighted works.
September 11, 2025
No Special Master, But Judge Will Hear AI Metadata Discovery Issue

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A federal judge said she would not take up artificial intelligence copyright plaintiffs’ request to appoint a special master but would hold a hearing on a motion to compel after plaintiffs complained that discovery lacked metadata critical to identifying copyrighted material. Google LLC filed its response to the motion on Sept. 10, saying it had “gone above and beyond” what was required of it.
September 11, 2025
8th Circuit: No Errors In Family Name HVAC Trademark Jury Instructions

ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said it found no error in a Missouri federal judge’s grant of summary judgment on copyright claims or jury instructions on trademark claims in a dispute over the use of a family name between two heating and air conditioning entities after a founding member of the family business started a new company, affirming findings adverse to the plaintiff-appellant entity.
September 10, 2025
Superman, Tweety Bird Owners Sue Midjourney Over AI’s Outputs

LOS ANGELES — Midjourney Inc. knowingly trains its artificial intelligence on copyrighted works and allows users to generate unauthorized reproductions despite having the technological prowess to prevent it, the owners of characters such as Batman, Superman, Bugs Bunny and Tweety Bird allege in a lawsuit filed in California federal court.
September 10, 2025
9th Circuit: Judge Tossed Trader Joe’s Trademark Suit Against Union Too Soon

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel revived Trader Joe’s Co.’s trademark infringement suit against a labor union representing employees at the company’s grocery stores, finding that a California federal judge wrongly applied the likelihood-of-confusion test when evaluating if tote bags and other products sold by the union infringed the company’s marks and prematurely held that the Norris-LaGuardia Act (NLGA) barred injunctive relief.
September 10, 2025
Judge Questions Completeness Of $1.5B Settlement Between Authors, Anthropic

SAN FRANCISCO — The federal judge overseeing the artificial intelligence copyright class action against Anthropic PBC questioned the completeness of the $1.5 billion settlement, expressing concerns that important questions remained that could not be answered in the timeframe proposed by the parties. The judge postponed preliminary approval of the agreement until the parties could submit clarifying information.
September 10, 2025
Federal Circuit: Applicants’ Vitamin Claims Anticipated By Own Prior Applications

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) rejection of a patent application based on previous applications from the appellants for a vitamin C and betaine product; the panel also dismissed arguments about patent term adjustment and abandonment for lack of jurisdiction.
September 10, 2025
Federal Circuit: Fees Owed To Chipmaker In Tossed Infringement Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Texas federal judge should have granted attorney fees to Realtek Semiconductor Corp. because it was the “prevailing party” after the judge converted a patent owner’s voluntary dismissal of a pair of infringement suits to a dismissal with prejudice, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Sept. 9.
September 09, 2025
Federal Circuit Orders New Trial In Oil Refining Patent Infringement Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Texas federal judge should have approved Magēmā Technology LLC’s request for a new trial in a patent infringement suit it brought against Phillips 66 and related entities, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Sept. 8; the panel said it could not be certain if an improperly introduced theory from Phillips informed a jury’s verdict in its favor.