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Mealey's Intellectual Property

  • 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.

  • 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 Jan. 20 letter brief.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • February 14, 2025

    Judge: Infringement Claims, Invalidity Counterclaims About Eye Medication All Fail

    WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal judge said in unsealed finding of facts and conclusions of law that a plaintiff biopharmaceutical company failed to support its argument that a defendant company infringed on its patented eye medication product; the judge also found, though, that the defendant company failed to show that claims of the patents at issue were invalid.

  • February 14, 2025

    4th Circuit Rejects Rehearing Bid On MOKE Mark Genericness Finding

    RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Feb. 11 said it would not reconsider a January opinion from a split panel that reversed a Virginia federal judge’s holding that MOKE is a generic term describing a type of vehicle that is unable to be trademarked due to a lack of evidence on the record regarding genericness.

  • February 13, 2025

    Federal Circuit To PTAB: Rethink If Touch Device Patent Claims Are Obvious

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) applied an incorrect, overly narrow claim construction in an inter partes review (IPR) proceeding brought by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and its American counterpart against the holder of a patent related to interactive device screens, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Feb. 12.

  • February 13, 2025

    Amici To High Court: DISH Entitled To Attorney Fees In Patent Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An advocacy group for patent holders tells the U.S. Supreme Court in an amicus curiae brief that DISH Network LLC was entitled to attorney fees it incurred in a trial in front of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board while also litigating related claims in a Delaware federal court; the group echoes the company’s argument that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals created a circuit split in affirming the denial of fees.

  • February 13, 2025

    Judge Upholds Limits On Depositions, Discovery In ChatGPT Copyright Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California denied a motion for relief from a pretrial order, turning away arguments that limits on depositions were improper in such a complex copyright infringement case and that OpenAI entities’ income was relevant evidence in the case.

  • February 12, 2025

    Federal Circuit Affirms Rejection Of Blockchain Patent Application

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Feb. 11 affirmed a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision to reject a man’s patent application regarding blockchain technology, agreeing with the PTAB that his claims were indefinite and directed at unpatentable material.

  • February 12, 2025

    Federal Circuit Says AI Researcher Again Fails To Show Government Took Research

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has again upheld the dismissal of a pro se complainant’s claims against the U.S. government, rejecting arguments that the government inappropriately used his research into artificial intelligence and that a judge in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims committed judicial misconduct in overseeing the case.

  • February 12, 2025

    Thomson Reuters Largely Prevails On Summary Judgment In AI Copyright Case

    WILMINGTON, Del. — Thomson Reuters Enterprise Centre GMBH’s headnotes surpass the low bar for originality, and sufficient evidence exists that a competitor actually or substantially copied thousands of them to train its artificial intelligence with the intent to compete in the same market, a federal judge in Delaware said Feb. 11 in largely granting summary judgment.

  • February 11, 2025

    Federal Circuit: District Court Patent Claims Not Estopped By PTAB Findings

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Delaware federal judge was wrong to dismiss a patent infringement claim against Groupon Inc., a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Feb. 10; the panel said that prior decisions of the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) cannot estop a patent holder from asserting infringement arguments based on other patent claims that were not considered by the board.

  • February 11, 2025

    Federal Circuit: New Judge Needed In Patent Row After Expert Testimony Issues

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel ordered a new trial on patent infringement to be held in front of a different judge in a North Carolina federal court, holding that the judge who previously oversaw a patent dispute between two biomedical companies repeatedly made statements that could call into question his appearance of fairness in the case.

  • February 10, 2025

    Importing Of Albumin Products Infringed On Patent, Federal Circuit Affirms

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The International Trade Commission (ITC) was right to find that a biotechnology company’s act of importing products that contain albumin violated another company’s patent rights, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Feb. 7.

  • February 07, 2025

    2nd Circuit: Judge Got Articulation Of Trade Dress Requirement Wrong

    NEW YORK — A New York federal judge wrongly held that a motorcycle equipment company failed to adequately describe its helmet trade dress in an infringement suit brought against a competitor, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said Feb. 6; the error led the judge to improperly dismiss the case, the panel held.