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Mealey's Intellectual Property

  • September 11, 2024

    AI Copyright Plaintiffs Oppose Midjourney’s Request For Trade Dress Clarification

    SAN FRANCISCO — Plaintiffs in an artificial intelligence image copyright suit told a court its ruling on several motions to dismiss already rejected AI creator Midjourney Inc.’s arguments, leaving nothing to address in the company’s motion for the court to clarify what “concrete elements” are in the plaintiffs’ trade dress.

  • September 11, 2024

    Ohio Federal Judge Tosses Trademark Dispute Over Use Of Word ‘Chipotle’

    COLUMBUS, Ohio — A federal judge in Ohio dismissed a man’s trademark infringement suit against a food manufacturing company, holding that the company did not infringe the man’s registered trademarks on phrases related to a type of pepper in salsas because the company used the words descriptively without a risk of confusion with the man’s products.

  • September 11, 2024

    Birkenstock’s Design Patent And Trade Dress Infringement Claims Survive Dismissal

    BOSTON — The makers of Birkenstock sandals and clogs plausibly stated all the necessary elements of their claims for patent and trade dress infringement brought against a competitor who allegedly copied their designs by showing that the competitor’s reportedly infringing products are sufficiently similar and have acquired a secondary meaning with the public, a Massachusetts federal judge found in denying the competitor’s motion to dismiss.

  • September 11, 2024

    Federal Magistrate Judge Declines To Stay Discovery In DNA Detection Patent Row

    SAN DIEGO — Two companies that are alleged to have violated patents relating to DNA detection are not entitled to a stay of discovery pending the resolution of their motion for judgment on the pleadings because the motion is not necessarily dispositive of the entire case, a California federal magistrate judge found in denying the two companies’ request.

  • September 11, 2024

    Federal Circuit: Method For Tipping During Media Viewing Is Patent Ineligible

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err in finding that a method and system for eliciting and receiving tips during media consumption was directed at an abstract idea because the idea is simply a method of organizing human economic activity, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming the PTAB’s decision on Sept. 10.

  • September 11, 2024

    11th Circuit: Real Estate Company Not ‘Prevailing Party’ In Copyright Case

    ATLANTA — A Florida federal judge was correct to deny attorney fees to a real estate company accused by a photography company of infringing a photo’s copyright, a panel of judges in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held in an unpublished opinion, saying that the real estate firm is not the “prevailing party” as defined by the Copyright Act because the photography studio voluntarily dismissed its claims.

  • September 09, 2024

    2nd Circuit: Internet Archive’s Book Lending Infringed On Copyrights

    NEW YORK — The Internet Archive (IA) did not have the right to engage in a process it called “controlled digital lending” in which it digitized books and loaned them to individuals online, a panel of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, affirming a New York federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of several publishers.

  • September 06, 2024

    Seat Cushion Patent Claims Dismissed In Calif. Federal Court For Improper Venue

    SAN DIEGO — California federal court is not the proper venue for patent infringement claims relating to inflatable seat cushions because the company allegedly infringing on the patents is not located in California and has no regular established placed of business in the state, a California federal judge found in granting the company’s motion to dismiss in part.

  • September 05, 2024

    Federal Circuit Says Television Programming Guide Patent Claims Are Ineligible

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Patent claims relating to television programming guides for video-on-demand systems are not patent eligible because they are directed to the abstract idea of analyzing, organizing and displaying data and do nothing to transform the abstract idea into something more, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming a federal trial court’s judgment.

  • September 04, 2024

    Texas Federal Judge Dismisses Some Fastener Patent Claims Without Prejudice

    DALLAS — The assignee of three patents that disclose fastener products for use in construction failed to support its willful patent infringement and induced patent infringement claims against a competitor with sufficient factual allegations, a Texas federal judge found in granting the competitor’s motion to dismiss in part without prejudice.

  • September 03, 2024

    Judge: Competing Rum Maker Can Intervene In Bacardi’s Fight With Trademark Office

    ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A federal judge in Virginia granted an unopposed motion to allow a rum manufacturer to act as an intervenor in a case brought by its competitor against the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) on claims that the office inappropriately allowed the company to renew a trademark a decade after its expiration.

  • September 03, 2024

    Federal Judge Orders Patent Attorneys To Show Why They Shouldn’t Be Sanctioned

    SAN FRANCISCO — Three patent attorneys who have engaged in potential litigation misconduct were ordered by a California federal judge to show cause why they should not be sanctioned for, among other things, failing to seek pro hac vice status, failing to diligently investigate their clients’ claims before filing complaints and failing to sign court filings.

  • August 30, 2024

    7th Circuit: No Enforceable Contract To Support Company’s Securities Claims

    CHICAGO — A panel of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that an Illinois federal judge was correct to dismiss claims of securities fraud and other claims brought by a company against a software startup, holding that the plaintiff company failed to show that an enforceable agreement regarding an exchange of ownership interest for an investment existed.

  • August 29, 2024

    9th Circuit Affirms Arbitrator Award In Copyright Fight Over Video Game Cheats

    SAN FRANCISCO — A Washington federal judge did not err by approving an arbitrator’s award of nearly $4.4 million against the creator of a video game cheating software on copyright claims brought by the developer of a game, a panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, finding that the arbitrator committed no errors in litigating the case.

  • August 29, 2024

    Wisconsin Federal Judge Dismisses Bulk Of Claims In Dispute Over Gardening Tools

    MADISON, Wisc. — The owner of two design patents that describe ornamental gardening tools is not entitled to summary judgment on its patent infringement claims because it failed to show that allegedly infringing products made by a competitor were sufficiently similar to its products, a Wisconsin federal judge found in disposing of motions for summary judgment filed by both parties.

  • August 29, 2024

    6th Circuit Largely Upholds Preliminary Injunction In Libertarians’ Trademark Row

    CINCINNATI — A panel of judges in the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 28 largely affirmed a Michigan federal judge’s preliminary injunction barring a group within the Libertarian Party of Michigan from using a party trademark during a succession dispute after party leadership departures, but the panel held that the group can use the mark to solicit donations online where the difference between the warring factions is adequately described.

  • August 29, 2024

    AI Copyright Suit Should Stay In Delaware, Getty Images Argues

    WILMINGTON, Del. — An artificial intelligence image copyright lawsuit lacks any connection to the defendants’ preferred forum of California, and in the event the suit is sent out west, plaintiff Getty Images [US] Inc. would oppose consolidation with pending litigation, rendering any potential efficiencies “illusory,” Getty says in a brief in opposition to a renewed motion to transfer filed in Delaware federal court.

  • August 29, 2024

    5th Circuit: Judge Erred On Trade Secret Claims, But Not Copyright Claims

    NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that a Louisiana federal judge was correct to issue a final judgment in favor of a plaintiff technology security company on copyright infringement claims it brought against a former distribution partner, but the panel also found that the judge was incorrect to issue a judgment in favor of the plaintiff on trade secrets claims.

  • August 28, 2024

    Dispute Over FCA Public Disclosure Bar Distributed For Conference In Supreme Court

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Aug. 28 distributed for conference a petition for certiorari filed by pharmaceutical companies seeking review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the public disclosure bar was not triggered in a case where it reversed a district court’s dismissal of a suit accusing the companies of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by artificially inflating drug prices.

  • August 28, 2024

    PTAB Panel Affirms Rejection Of Computer Tomography Scanner Application

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent examiner did not err in rejecting a patent application that disclosed a particularly configured computer tomography (CT) scanner because the examiner adequately showed that the claims can be produced by combining several components of prior art, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board held in affirming the examiner’s findings on Aug. 27.

  • August 28, 2024

    Federal Judge: Plaintiff Clothing Brand Unlikely To Prevail In Trademark Fight

    CLEVELAND — A federal judge in Ohio granted a defendant clothing designer’s motion for a preliminary injunction in a trademark dispute over a reference to a 2000s comedy film, enjoining a plaintiff clothier from further attempts at contacting social media companies to take down the defendant company’s accounts without the court’s approval; the judge said the defendant company substantiated the likelihood that it would succeed in showing that there was no infringement.

  • August 27, 2024

    Texas Federal Judge Grants And Denies Motions To Dismiss In Data Patent Dispute

    WACO, Texas — In two separate orders filed Aug. 26, a Texas federal judge denied a motion to dismiss a counterclaim for patent invalidity and granted in part a motion to dismiss allegations of willful infringement in a patent infringement case concerning methods, systems and computer program products for processing data.

  • August 27, 2024

    PTAB Panel Affirms Patent Examiner’s Rejection Of Chewing Gum Patents

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent examiner did not err in rejecting an application for patent claims describing a process for reducing the stickiness of a chewing gum core composition because the claims were obvious in light of prior art, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) panel found in affirming the examiner’s findings.

  • August 27, 2024

    Majority Affirms Judgment For Insured In Copyright Infringement Coverage Suit

    CINCINNATI — A majority of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s $36,923,844.50 judgment in favor of an insured in a coverage dispute over underlying copyright infringement claims brought by record companies, rejecting the insurer’s argument that certain exclusions in the Internet and network security insurance policy barred coverage.

  • August 27, 2024

    Federal Circuit: Trial Court Wrongly Analyzed Attorney Fees Motion In Patent Row

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal district court erred in analyzing whether several telecommunications companies that prevailed against patent infringement claims were entitled to attorney fees because it erroneously gave weight to several “red flags” that supposedly made the case exceptional, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held in vacating the trial court’s order granting the companies’ motion for attorney fees.