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Mealey's Intellectual Property

  • September 16, 2024

    Parties To GitHub AI Suit Involving DMCA Ruling Brief Need For Immediate Appeal

    OAKLAND, Calif. — Plaintiffs in an artificial intelligence copyright suit involving code posted to online coding repository GitHub and related defendants wrapped briefing over whether a federal judge in California’s ruling requiring identicality under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) warrants interlocutory appeal of a federal California judge’s ruling.

  • September 16, 2024

    Google, Author Wrap Briefing On Dismissal Of Trimmed AI Copyright Suit

    SAN FRANCISCO — An author and Google LLC grappled in briefing on a motion to dismiss filed in a federal court in California, with the woman saying her amended complaint sufficiently alleges that the company illegally took and used her copyrighted work to train artificial intelligence.  However, Google responded by saying that while the second amended complaint appears to try to strip away irrelevant allegations, it only serves to point out the ongoing problems with the Copyright Act claims.

  • September 16, 2024

    Judge: Trump Liable For Infringing Use Of ‘Electric Avenue’ In Campaign Video

    NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on Sept. 13 granted singer Eddy Grant’s partial motion for partial summary judgment against former President Donald J. Trump and his re-election campaign, holding that the singer adequately showed that Trump’s use of Grant’s song “Electric Avenue” in a video on Twitter does not constitute fair use; the judge also denied a motion for partial summary judgment from the Trump team.

  • September 16, 2024

    Company Agrees To Drop References To Lilly Drugs In Compound Medication Ads

    DENVER — Eli Lilly and Co. and HydraMed IV LLC have reached a settlement to end a trademark infringement dispute, with the mobile IV treatment company HydraMed agreeing to a permanent injunction barring the company from advertising or selling compounded medications that lead consumers to believe that they are generic versions of Lilly’s weight loss medications.

  • September 12, 2024

    Nevada Federal Judge Dismisses Invalidity Defense In Dispute Over LED Patents

    LAS VEGAS — The owner of several light-emitting diode (LED) technology patents is entitled to summary judgment on an affirmative defense of invalidity raised by a group of companies accused of infringing upon the patents because the prior art referenced in the defendants’ expert testimony does not quality as prior art in this instance.

  • September 12, 2024

    Federal Judge Enjoins Trump Campaign From Further Uses Of Soul Song

    ATLANTA — A federal judge in Georgia on Sept. 11 partially granted a motion from the estate of a songwriter and the company that manages his works to bar former President Donald J. Trump and associated entities from using a soul tune from the 1960s at future campaign appearances, but the judge held that the estate and the company are not harmed by videos of the song being used at past campaign stops.

  • September 12, 2024

    Judge Won’t Bar Nonprofit From Using Contested Trademark In Economic Report

    LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California denied a plaintiff nonprofit organization’s bid for a temporary restraining order against another nonprofit organization, saying “there are significant questions regarding ownership” of the trademark LATINO GDP, which the plaintiff organization claims to own.

  • September 12, 2024

    Federal Circuit: GoPro Not Entitled To Summary Judgment In Camera Patent Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal trial court erred in finding that patents disclosing a portable video camera are directed toward an abstract idea because the patents improve upon previous technology, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held in reversing the trial court’s grant of summary judgment to GoPro Inc.

  • September 12, 2024

    Federal Circuit: Patent Expert Didn’t Need Requisite Skill At Time Of Invention

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — An expert was not required to have the requisite level of ordinary skill in 1999 when a 3D modeling system was invented to later testify before a jury about the invention in a patent dispute because the expert sufficiently acquired the requisite skill before testifying, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in ruling that the jury’s verdict of infringement was supported by substantial evidence.

  • September 12, 2024

    11th Circuit: Marvel Did Not Infringe On Artist’s Hero Design

    ATLANTA — For the second time, a panel of the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a Georgia federal judge’s dismissal of a copyright infringement suit brought by a comic book artist against Marvel Entertainment and its parent the Walt Disney Co., holding that the artist failed to show how designs of two Marvel characters themed around birds infringe upon his owl-themed superhero.

  • 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 10, 2024

    Judge Allows Experts’ Opinions On LLMs In Alexa Patent Case

    RICHMOND, Va. — An expert’s opinions on the availability of large language models (LLMs) when Amazon.com first released its Alexa assistant product are admissible, a federal judge in Virginia said in denying three motions to exclude under Daubert in a patent infringement lawsuit.

  • 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 20, 2024

    COMMENTARY: You Can’t Spell Claim Construction Without AI

    By Jonah Mitchell and Charlie Rieder

  • 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.