Mealey's Intellectual Property
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February 27, 2025
Patent Holder Tells High Court Federal Circuit Wrongly Held Appeals Were Mooted
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The assignee of patents related to wireless earphones tells the U.S. Supreme Court in its petition for a writ of certiorari that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals inappropriately adopted “a novel and expansive rule of collateral estoppel” when it held that two appeals it brought were moot because it failed to appeal a federal trial court order holding that the patent claims at issue were invalid in a separate case.
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February 27, 2025
Judge Nixes Breach But Not Patent Claims From Dispute Over Resort Lagoon
SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge in Utah delivered mixed results to a defendant resort company and related entities accused of violating a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) and infringing on a patent with the construction of a large manmade lagoon at the resort; the judge granted the defendant entities’ summary judgment motion on the contract claims against it but largely allowed infringement claims to survive.
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February 26, 2025
Infant Probiotic Patent Holder Appeals Invalidity Finding To Federal Circuit
CHICAGO — A biopharmaceutical company and a related entity on Feb. 25 appealed to the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a decision by an Illinois federal judge that claims of two patents related to probiotic infant products are invalid.
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February 26, 2025
High Court: Lanham Act Doesn’t Support $43M Disgorgement From Nonparties
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 26 held that the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to affirm a $43 million disgorgement award entered in a real estate company’s favor in a trademark infringement dispute with an entity it said infringed its marks; the court held that the Fourth Circuit and a Virginia federal judge should not have included profits from entities affiliated with the alleged infringer in damages calculations.
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February 26, 2025
5th Circuit Affirms Denial Of Injunction In Real Estate Trademark Fight
NEW ORLEANS — A Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Louisiana federal judge’s decision to deny a preliminary injunction in a trademark infringement dispute between two real estate companies with the word “Rampart” in their name, agreeing with the judge that the plaintiff company had failed to show a substantial likelihood of confusion between the companies’ respective names.
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February 26, 2025
Federal Judge: Musician Owes More Than $286K In Fees In Rap Copyright Battle
NEW YORK — A musician who sued rapper Donald Glover, who performs as Childish Gambino, and multiple related entities for allegedly copying one of his songs in the 2018 hit “This Is America” owes more than $286,000 in attorney fees, a federal judge in New York ruled.
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February 25, 2025
Judge: Media Outlet Alleges Injury, Copyright Removal For Single DMCA Claim
NEW YORK — While Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) protections don’t exactly match with historical analogs, the act hews closely enough to protected property rights to provide injury, and a news organization adequately alleges that OpenAI entities removed copyright management information (CMI) from articles during the training of artificial intelligence, a federal judge in New York said while dismissing the remainder of the DMCA claims against OpenAI and Microsoft.
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February 25, 2025
Federal Circuit Vacates IPR Decision On Meat Curing Patent, Citing Analysis Errors
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 24 vacated a finding of obviousness from the U.S. Patent Trials and Appeal Board (PTAB) in a patent dispute between food packaging companies; the panel held that PTAB failed to adequately address elements of arguments presented by the appellant company.
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February 25, 2025
Supreme Court: No Certiorari In Patent Dispute Over Meat Slicing Products
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 24 rejected a food equipment company’s petition for a writ of certiorari, leaving in place findings by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the company’s theory of patent infringement was based on allegations without evidence and that the defendant companies were entitled to judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) and for a new trial on damages.
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February 25, 2025
Supreme Court Leaves 5th Circuit Copyright Infringement Affirmation In Place
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rejecting a petition for a writ of certiorari on Feb. 24, the U.S. Supreme Court will not hear arguments from a distribution company that the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to uphold a finding of copyright infringement against it for its use of another company’s software.
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February 24, 2025
Generic Drugmaker To High Court: Federal Circuit Patent Opinion Poses Risks
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to reverse a Delaware federal judge’s finding of no induced infringement in a patent dispute involving a generic bioequivalent of a prescription cardiovascular drug, the maker of the bioequivalent told the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari.
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February 24, 2025
Supreme Court Won’t Hear DISH’s Patent Dispute Attorney Fees Arguments
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Feb. 24 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari from DISH Network LLC, leaving in place a decision from the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to deny the company’s bid for attorney fees in a patent dispute that spanned a federal court and the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
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February 21, 2025
NBA Teams, Others To High Court: Take Up Copyright ‘Discovery Rule’ Case
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A group of eight teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) filed one of three amicus curiae briefs in support of a design company’s argument before the U.S. Supreme Court that the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals wrongly vacated a New York federal judge’s finding that copyright claims against it were time-barred.
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February 21, 2025
Citing ‘Glacial Pace,’ Plaintiffs In AI Copyright Suit Seek To Compel Discovery
SAN FRANCISCO — While the company behind the Claude artificial intelligence promises to produce discovery before upcoming deadlines, its “glacial pace” over the last four months necessitates a court order compelling the production by certain deadlines to ensure that it doesn’t benefit from further delay, plaintiffs in a copyright suit tell a federal judge in California in a Feb. 20 letter brief.
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February 21, 2025
Tech Company’s Mark Proposal Rightfully Rejected, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 20 affirmed a decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to uphold the rejection of one of a technology company’s applications for trademarks associated with a website for medical information, agreeing with the board that the mark was merely descriptive.
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February 21, 2025
Perplexity AI Says New York Court No Place For Copyright Suit
NEW YORK — A copyright lawsuit challenging an artificial intelligence-assisted search engine doesn’t belong in New York courts, Perplexity AI Inc. told a federal judge there while advocating for dismissal or transfer to a court in San Francisco.
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February 21, 2025
9th Circuit: Singer Can’t Show Katy Perry, Others Infringed Song
SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a California federal judge’s dismissal of a woman’s suit against pop singer Katy Perry and several associated individuals and record labels, agreeing with the judge that the woman failed to show how Perry’s song “Smile” infringed on a song she wrote and recorded.
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February 20, 2025
2nd Circuit: Publisher Doesn’t Show Infringement In Audiobook Dispute
NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 19 agreed with a New York federal judge that an author’s publishing company clearly permitted the distribution of audiobooks based on her work, including through subscription programs offered by Amazon.com Inc. through its audiobook platform, affirming the judge’s dismissal of the publisher’s copyright infringement claims.
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February 20, 2025
No Rehearing In Sprawling Shoe Patent, Trademark Suit, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A long-running intellectual property dispute between Crocs Inc. and a company it accuses of copying its shoe design will not be reconsidered by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which rejected Crocs’ bid to rethink its reversal of a Colorado federal judge’s grant of summary judgment on a false advertising counterclaim in the suit first launched in 2006.
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February 20, 2025
Company Liable For Counterfeiting To High Court: Attorney Fees Unreasonable
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A distribution company and the man who controls it argue to the U.S. Supreme Court in a petition for a writ of certiorari that the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to uphold the entry of attorney fees against them in a trademark infringement suit; the petitioners were found liable for selling counterfeited beauty products.
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February 19, 2025
COVID-19 Treatment Patent Application Doesn’t Show Utility, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 18 said the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err when it upheld an examiner’s rejection of multiple claims of a patent application for a treatment for the viral infection that causes COVID-19, but the panel partly disagreed with the PTAB and the examiner’s reasoning.
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February 19, 2025
Judge: State Law Claims Preempted In Rap Song Copyright Battle
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York rejected a request from a group of rappers and associated recording entities to dismiss copyright infringement claims against them accusing them of wrongfully denying another rapper writing credit for a 2016 smash hit, holding that the plaintiff rapper stated his claims adequately enough to survive dismissal.
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February 18, 2025
Federal Judge Right To Toss DNA Preservation Patent Suit, Federal Circuit Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A California federal judge did not err during claim construction of the challenged phrase “reagent compartment” in a patent dispute involving COVID-19 testing products, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, affirming the judge’s decision to dismiss the suit based on the claim construction.
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February 18, 2025
9th Circuit: Skydiving Company Can’t Monopolize ‘Skydive Hawaii’ Mark
SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 14 upheld a Hawaii federal judge’s finding in a trademark dispute between competing skydiving companies in the state over phrases similar to the appellant’s mark “Skydive Hawaii,” with the panel saying that “the classic fair use defense is apparent on the face” of the complaint.
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February 14, 2025
Federal Circuit: ITC Erred In Alice Analysis Of Diamond Drill Bit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 13 reversed a finding by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) that a synthetic diamond company’s patent was directed at ineligible abstract ideas, instructing the ITC to reconsider its resolution to a case brought by the company against entities it said imported materials that infringed the patent.