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

Mealey's Intellectual Property

August 29, 2025
Federal Circuit: Judge Wrongly Applied Prosecution Laches In Speaker Patent Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In mixed results for both parties, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 28 held that a California federal judge wrongly invalidated claims in some of a speaker company’s patents in a dispute with Google LLC and improperly applied prosecution laches, while also holding that the judge correctly invalidated claims in another one of the speaker company’s patents.
August 28, 2025
Med Maker To High Court: Federal Circuit Created After-Arising Tech Loophole

WASHINGTON, D.C. — MSN Pharmaceuticals and multiple related entities (MSN) tell the U.S. Supreme Court that it must step in to clarify the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ approach to the disclosure of “after-arising technology,” arguing that the appeals court split its own law regarding when it can be considered while ruling on a dispute over the validity of patents related to the heart medication drug Entresto.
August 28, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB Findings In First Look At Post-AIA Derivation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals considered for the first time a derivation proceeding that was filed pursuant to the 2011 Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA), which allows “a first-inventor second-filer to pursue such a claim against a first-filer,” finding that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) had substantial evidence to support its judgment in favor of a defendant-appellee in a dispute over the inventorship of an ointment for wound treatments.
August 28, 2025
PNC Bank Tells High Court USAA Can’t Show IPR Finding Was Arbitrary

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an Aug. 27 brief in opposition to United Services Automobile Association’s (USAA) petition for a writ of certiorari, PNC Bank NA says that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals did not err when it affirmed the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) decision to invalidate USAA’s mobile banking patents, brushing aside USAA’s contention that PTAB arbitrarily rendered opposing decisions on its patents in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings sought by different IPR petitioners.
August 27, 2025
Federal Judge: Contract Counterclaims In Copyright Fight Barred By State Case

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — A federal judge in Connecticut granted a plaintiff design company’s motion for summary judgment on all of a defendant technology company’s contract-related counterclaims under the doctrine of res judicata, but the judge said there were unresolved factual disputes regarding the design company’s copyright infringement claims that stem from a dispute over a website it was commissioned by the technology company to make.
August 27, 2025
Copyright Suit Parties Debate Relevance Of Newspaper’s AI Use

NEW YORK — The New York Times Co., Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI entities sparred over whether the newspaper’s use of an in-house ChatGPT tool could constitute evidence of fair use defense in a copyright case or whether such use is noninfringing and not relevant to the claims in the New York federal court case.
August 27, 2025
Anthropic, Authors Reach Agreement On AI Copyright Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — Anthropic PBC and authors told a federal judge in California on Aug. 26 that they reached an agreement in principle resolving claims that the company pirated copyrighted works during the process of obtaining material to train its artificial intelligence.
August 26, 2025
Judge Finds No Violation Of Patent Injunction, Denies Contempt Motion

WILMINGTON, Del. — A federal judge in Delaware on Aug. 25 denied a plaintiff manufacturer’s motion to hold a defendant manufacturer in contempt of a permanent injunction barring the defendant from further infringement of a patent related to bamboo decking, finding that the defendant’s new versions of its products are “colorably different” from the infringing versions.
August 26, 2025
Lilly, Medical Centers Agree To Settle Diet Drugs Trademark Case In Federal Court

SEATTLE — Eli Lilly and Co., two medical centers and two of their physicians who prescribe patients compounded versions of tirzepatide, a Food and Drug Administration-approved drug for diabetes and weight loss, told a Washington federal judge that they have reached an agreement to end a trademark case filed by Lilly.
August 26, 2025
More Discovery Briefing Ordered In Human Serum Albumin Infringement Fight

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A federal magistrate in Kansas found that three related biopharmaceutical entities in a patent infringement dispute over the production of plant-derived recombinant human serum albumin (rHSA) must make supplemental responses to requests from another biopharmaceutical entity for certain discovery documents, holding that their objection to the motion to compel could not be squared with their claim to have supplied all responsive documents.
August 26, 2025
Federal Circuit Denies Mudflap Patent Owner’s Motion To Recall 2023 Mandate

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Aug. 25 that it would not explain its denial of a pro se patent owner’s motion to recall a mandate issued after a panel affirmed a Michigan federal judge’s finding that the man was not entitled to injunctive relief in a patent dispute over mud flaps for vehicles; the patent owner told the Federal Circuit that the affirmation was based on fraud on the court by the plaintiff company in the form of obfuscating details about the company’s ownership.
August 26, 2025
Miss. Federal Judge: Experts On Damages From Alleged Copyright Infringement Out

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi judge found that testimony from two experts retained by a local newspaper publisher is inadmissible under Federal Rule of Evidence 702 and Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals Inc., granting separate motions filed by a digital news company accused of violating copyright laws.
August 20, 2025
COMMENTARY: A Survey Of State Laws Regulating Third-Party Litigation Funding

By Mark A. Behrens and Christopher E. Appel
August 25, 2025
Federal Circuit: No Error In ITC’s Infringement Finding In Robotics Patent Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 22 affirmed findings of the International Trade Commission (ITC), holding that it saw no error in the ITC’s construction of claims when considering allegations that a robotics company infringed patents by manufacturing and importing robotic products.
August 25, 2025
1st Circuit Affirms Latest Dismissal Of Artist’s Infringement Row With Fair

BOSTON — Considering a second appeal from a graphic artist who accused the company behind an annual fair of infringing her photorealistic Trappist monastery installation at the fair by sharing videos of it, a First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel this time affirmed a Massachusetts federal judge’s decision to dismiss the complaint, agreeing that it was untimely filed.
August 22, 2025
Judge: News Outlet’s Copyright Suit Against AI Search Engine Proceeds

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York found sufficient contacts between Perplexity AI Inc. and the state for jurisdiction, even if California would qualify as an equally viable jurisdiction, and declined to dismiss infringement claims involving 10 works that Dow Jones copyrighted after the filing of the suit.
August 22, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms Contempt Denial For Tennis Association In Patent Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A New York federal judge was correct to refuse to hold the United States Tennis Association Inc. (USTA) in contempt of a temporary restraining order (TRO) in a patent dispute involving let detection systems used at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships, a panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Aug. 21.
August 22, 2025
Judge: No Patent Infringement, Harm From False Claims In Chemical Row

BALTIMORE — A federal judge in Maryland found after a bench trial that plaintiff chemical makers failed to prove literal infringement on the part of W.R. Grace & Co.-Conn. because they did not show that each of Grace’s accused catalyst particles met the requirements of the asserted patent’s claims.
August 21, 2025
9th Circuit: Supertramp’s Royalty Agreement Not Terminable, Judgment Reversed

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge erred in finding that a publishing agreement related to the music from the band Supertramp was terminable, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Aug. 20; the panel remanded for a judgment in favor of the plaintiff former band members who claimed that the band’s main songwriters suddenly stopped paying royalties in 2018.
August 21, 2025
Federal Judge Denies Injunction Pending Appeal In Fired Register Of Copyrights’ Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in the District of Columbia on Aug. 20 denied a motion for an injunction pending appeal filed by the register of copyrights and director of the U.S. Copyright Office who sued after she was purportedly fired in May by President Donald J. Trump and was denied a preliminary injunction in her case; a similar motion remains pending before the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
August 21, 2025
Judge Sees No Similarity Between Novels And Netflix Film, Tosses IP Claims

ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida dismissed with prejudice copyright, false advertising and related claims brought by a novelist against Netflix Inc. and related entities, finding that the novelist failed to show that the 2021 Netflix disaster comedy “Don’t Look Up” copied any protectible element of his books.
August 21, 2025
Federal Circuit: 1993 Amphibious Vehicle Sale Invalidates Patent Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Louisiana federal judge’s finding in an infringement dispute that all asserted claims of a patent describing an amphibious vehicle for dredging were unpatentable as anticipated.
August 20, 2025
Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB’s Invalidation Of Glucose Monitor Patent Claims

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 19 affirmed a decision from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) invalidating all challenged claims in a patent related to a glucose sensor for monitoring blood sugar levels, finding no error in PTAB’s prior art analysis.
August 20, 2025
No Fees For Publisher That Overcame Copyright Judgment Before 5th Circuit

AUSTIN, Texas — Adopting a federal magistrate judge’s report and recommendation, a Texas federal judge denied attorney fees to a publishing company that saw the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacate a summary judgment of copyright infringement against it after a panel held that the Canadian civil codes it was accused of illegally copying were effectively uncopyrightable “law” in the country.
August 19, 2025
Federal Judge Again Finds Contempt In Long-Running Jarred Sauce Trademark Row

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge held the owners of a city pizzeria named Patsy’s Pizzeria and their counsel in contempt in a long-simmering trademark infringement dispute over packaged sauces launched in 1999 by another New York restaurant, Patsy’s Italian Restaurant, after they again violated an injunction by applying for “Patsy’s” marks.