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Mealey's Intellectual Property

June 13, 2024
Magistrate Judge Denies Bid To Seal Financial Data In Patent, Trademark Row

NEW YORK — A letter request to redact “the factual basis” for a request for damages by a patent and trademark infringement plaintiff against defaulting infringement defendants has been rejected by a federal magistrate judge in New York.
June 13, 2024
In Win For PTO, High Court Declares ‘Names’ Clause Constitutional

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The full U.S. Supreme Court on June 13 reversed a ruling by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a provision of federal trademark law barring registrations that “falsely suggest a connection with persons, living or dead” violates free speech rights, but the justices, in several concurrences, offered vastly different reasons why.
June 13, 2024
Amazon Did Not Infringe Upon Mermaid Sleeping Bag Patents, Magistrate Judge Says

SEATTLE — Amazon did not infringe upon three design patents for a mermaid sleeping bag by selling 37 different mermaid-shaped blankets and sleeping bags because an ordinary observer would not believe that the products were the same, a Washington federal magistrate judge found in granting Amazon’s motion to dismiss patent infringement claims brought against it by the patent holder.
June 13, 2024
Proctor & Gamble Tells 2nd Circuit Febreze Jingle Did Not Infringe Song

NEW YORK — A five-note melodic hook that is part of a copyrighted song is not separately protectable, Proctor & Gamble Corp. (P&G) and others argue in an appellee brief, asking the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to affirm a trial court’s dismissal of a musician’s complaint in which he alleged that the Febreze advertising jingle infringed the hook.
June 12, 2024
Board Enters Adverse Judgment Following Patent Owner Disclaimer

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board on June 11 denied a request to discretionarily terminate an inter partes review (IPR) without addressing allegations that petitioner BMW of North America LLC failed to follow through on a promise to drop the proceedings, purportedly causing a patent owner to miss the deadline to file its response.
June 12, 2024
1st Circuit: No Final Judgment With Registration Requirement Dismissal

BOSTON — A graphic designer whose copyright infringement allegations against a former client were dismissed by a federal judge in Massachusetts saw the action reinstated by the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which ruled that a prior action between the parties was not claim preclusive.
June 12, 2024
Netflix, Amici Tell 10th Circuit Use Of Clip In ‘Tiger King’ Was Fair

DENVER — In a supplemental brief filed at the behest of a 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that granted its petition for rehearing, Netflix Inc. argues that a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling supports a finding that its use of an unlicensed video clip in its wildly popular “Tiger King” docuseries constituted fair use under Section 107 of the Copyright Act.
June 12, 2024
Panel Reinstates Trade Secret Liability Verdict, Affirms Denial Of Fees

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Allegations of patent infringement voluntarily dismissed midtrial and copyright infringement on the eve of trial were not so devoid of merit as to justify an award of attorney fees in favor of a defendant medical equipment company, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed June 11.
June 11, 2024
Board: R.J. Reynolds’ Application For Cigarette Patent Properly Rejected

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Two prior art patents dating to the mid-1990s and assigned to R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. (RJR) have doomed the tobacco titan’s latest effort to patent a “smoking article,” with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board on June 10 upholding an examiner’s rejection of 20 claims on grounds of obviousness.
June 11, 2024
New Jersey Federal Judge: Teva ‘ProAir’ Patents Improperly Listed

TRENTON, N.J. — Five patents listed by Teva Pharmaceuticals Inc. with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in connection with a new drug application (NDA) for ProAir HFA (albuterol sulfate) Inhalation Aerosol do not cover albuterol sulfate, a federal judge in New Jersey found June 10, granting judgment on delisting counterclaims by Amneal Pharmaceuticals Inc. and others, which were backed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission as amicus curiae.
June 11, 2024
Biotech Companies Agree To Dismiss Appeals Over DNA Sequencing Patents

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In orders issued June 10, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted voluntary dismissal in two appeals of final written decisions (FWDs) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board where Guardant Health Inc. prevailed.
June 11, 2024
Divided Panel Rebuffs Google In Appeal Of Texas Patent Verdict

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Findings by a jury empaneled in a Texas federal court that Google LLC infringed smart thermostat technology to the tune of $20 million in damages owed to a patent owner will not be disturbed, a majority panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled.
June 10, 2024
High Court Passes On Challenge To Review Standard For Likely Confusion

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Grubhub Inc. remains free to use a logo that drew the ire of a meal kit delivery service, with the U.S. Supreme Court on June 10 denying a petition for writ of certiorari that asked whether a trial court determination of likely confusion is reviewable on appeal for clear error, de novo or a combination of both standards.
June 10, 2024
N.Y. Copyright Case Against Reuters Tossed In Favor Of Spain Contract Action

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York on June 7 dismissed a photojournalist’s copyright infringement action against Delaware-based Reuters America LLC and Reuters News & Media Inc. on forum non conveniens grounds, writing that despite potential forum shopping by the news agencies, the “central dispute” between the parties “is between Spanish citizens over events that took place in Spain,” which will necessarily be governed by Spanish contract law.
June 10, 2024
Librarian-Promulgated DMCA Rules Reviewable Under APA, Panel Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Librarian of Congress must face a legal challenge to a 2021 final rule that exempts repairers of medical equipment from allegations of circumventing technological protection measures (TPMs) for copyrighted works, with a divided District of Columbia U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on June 7 deeming sovereign immunity waived.
June 10, 2024
8th Circuit Says Use Of Copyrighted Meme Not Licensed Or Fair

ST. LOUIS — An Iowa federal jury verdict that the reelection committee for former U.S. Rep. Steve King innocently infringed a viral meme will stand, with the Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 7 rejecting both positions advanced by the committee on appeal.
June 10, 2024
Panel Upholds Dismissal In Dispute Over ‘Pet Friendly’ Dog Shampoo

ATLANTA — A federal judge in Alabama did not err in granting a motion to dismiss trademark and copyright infringement claims leveled in connection with dog shampoo marketed as “pet friendly,” the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has concluded.
June 07, 2024
‘Town Hall’ Ruling Fuels Judge’s Dismissal Of AI Copyright Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on June 6 granted a motion to dismiss copyright claims stemming from the training of artificial intelligence, citing a second judge’s concerns that a similar case involved claims more appropriate in a town hall than a courthouse.
June 05, 2024
U.S. High Court Extends Response Deadline In Review Of 9th Circuit FCA Suit Ruling

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on June 3 granted a 30-day extension for the qui tam plaintiff in a district court decision to respond to pharmaceutical companies’ petition seeking review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ reversal of a district court’s dismissal of a suit accusing them violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by artificially inflating drug prices, arguing in part that the Ninth Circuit “created a circuit split by holding that a relator can avoid the public disclosure bar by ‘stitching together’ public disclosures.”
June 03, 2024
New York Times, OpenAI Dispute Scope Of Discovery In AI Training Fight

NEW YORK — The New York Times Co. (NYT) told a federal judge in New York that it investigated whether ChatGPT would output protected material from the newspaper only because OpenAI Inc. and related entities are so secretive about what was used to train the artificial intelligence and that given the defendants’ admission that it tracks users, it doesn’t need any additional discovery.
June 03, 2024
Patent, Trade Dress Row Over Vape Design Will Proceed Without Injunction

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois overseeing a dispute between competing vape makers has rejected as premature a motion to dismiss counterclaims of design patent and trade dress infringement as well as a motion by the counterclaimant for a preliminary injunction.
May 31, 2024
Micron Defends Idaho Anti-Patent Troll Law As ‘Constitutionally Sound’

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an appellee brief in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, Micron Technology Inc. pushes back on arguments by two appellants that an Idaho statute intended to deter bad faith patent infringement litigation, or patent trolling, is “arguably the most extreme” such law in the country as well as an “egregious” example of preemption.
May 31, 2024
Motorola: Board Analysis Of Motivation To Combine References Was Faulty

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in an inter partes review (IPR) of a lens assembly patent must be vacated, Motorola Mobility LLC argues on appeal, because the board “largely misidentified” an asserted combination of prior art references.
May 31, 2024
Netflix Motion To Join Litigation Fund Manager To Failed Patent Case Denied

SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix Inc. was dealt dual blows by a federal judge in California, who denied the streaming service’s motion for an order to show cause, as well as its unopposed request to join a litigation fund manager to the case, in connection with a Netflix counterclaim for violations of state law against a former patent infringement plaintiff.
May 31, 2024
Terminal Disclaimer By Patentee Yields Partial Dismissal In Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY — Litigation over wireless control and distribution technology will proceed with two fewer patents, following voluntary dismissal of one patent from the case and findings by an Oklahoma federal judge that another patent was rendered unenforceable by representations of common ownership in a terminal disclaimer.