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

Mealey's Intellectual Property

July 31, 2024
Summary Judgment Granted In Trademark Fight Between Tourism Training Companies

PHOENIX — A federal judge in Arizona held that a defendant tourism hospitality company did not infringe on a competitor’s mark because the plaintiff tourism company did not demonstrate valid ownership over the phrase “tourism academy,” partly granting the defendant company’s motion for summary judgment.
July 31, 2024
Authors’ UCL Claim Dismissed From ChatGPT Copyright Case

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on July 30 granted a motion by OpenAI Inc. and affiliates to dismiss authors’ claims that they violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by training artificial intelligence on copyrighted material after finding the claim preempted by federal copyright law.
July 31, 2024
Federal Magistrate Judge: Photographer’s Copyright Claims Not Time-Barred

NEW YORK — A federal magistrate judge in New York recommended that a web company’s motion to dismiss copyright infringement claims brought against it by a photographer be denied, saying the company is wrong to argue that the claims are time-barred because accrual began when the alleged infringement was discovered in 2022, not when the alleged infringement occurred in 2015.
July 31, 2024
Jet Engine Heating Patents Were Anticipated By Prior Art, PTAB Panel Concludes

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent examiner did not err in finding that jet engine heating patents were anticipated by a prior art because the patent applicant failed to show that his claims specifically explained how the heat within the engine is generated, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) panel found in affirming the examiner’s findings on July 30.
July 30, 2024
Stability AI Wants Copyright Suit Sent To California

WILMINGTON, Del. — California federal court provides an all-around better location for an artificial intelligence copyright suit, Stability AI Ltd. and related entities told a federal judge in Delaware on July 29, saying that California provides better access to witnesses and evidence, a less congested court and an already pending suit involving similar allegations.
July 30, 2024
Federal Circuit: Regulation Applies To Amended Claims In Internet Patent Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a dispute between a software company and Apple and Motorola over a patent regarding how internet content is displayed on mobile devices, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals upheld the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s determination that a regulation addressing estoppel provisions in patent office proceedings is valid but vacated and remanded the board’s decision in two reexamination proceedings for it to reconsider the regulation’s application to previously issued claims.
July 30, 2024
Patent And Trademark Director Says PTAB Erred In Focusing On Patent Discrepancy

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) panel erred in denying institution of inter partes review of patent claims describing an optical system for collecting distance information because the panel focused too heavily on a typographical erred in a cited prior patent that had no bearing on the claims at issue, the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office found in vacating the panel’s decision under director review.
July 30, 2024
PTAB Disagrees With Inventors, Finds That Pet Treat Holder Claims Were Obvious

WASHINGTON — A patent examiner did not err in rejecting patent claims that disclose a pet treat holder as obvious because an artisan of ordinary skill could create the pet treat holder by combining prior art, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board panel found in affirming the examiner’s findings.
July 29, 2024
Judge: Trade Secret Claims Against TikTok In Copyright Case Adequately Established

SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on July 26 denied a request from TikTok Inc. and affiliated entities to compel a China-based company to state with particularity its trade secret source code it says TikTok infringes upon, saying the company included the trade secrets in its complaint with the requisite particularity; the judge’s order was issued days after a previous order in which the judge dismissed a false advertising claim against TikTok with prejudice.
July 29, 2024
Wis. Federal Judge Declines To Set Aside Entry Of Default In Boat Seat Patent Row

MADISON, Wis. — A company that failed to respond to claims of infringement arising from boat seat design patents failed to show that there was good cause for its default, that it took quick action to correct the default or that it has meritorious defenses to the claims, a Wisconsin federal judge found in denying the company’s motion to set aside the entry of default.
July 29, 2024
Judge Orders Cosmetics Company To Pay For More Depositions In Trademark Dispute

SAN FRANCISCO — A cosmetics company that asserts trademark and trade dress infringement of its mascara product by another cosmetics manufacturer will be allowed to conduct additional depositions to mitigate the prejudice caused by the defendant company belatedly disclosing expert witnesses’ functionality theories about the mascara brush trade dress that should have been included in discovery, a federal judge in California held.
July 26, 2024
Default Judgment For Rapper On Copyright Claims On Hit Single Recommended

NEW YORK — A federal magistrate judge in New York on July 25 recommended the entry of default judgment against the rapper known as Tekashi 6ix9ine in a copyright dispute brought by a hip-hop producer who alleges that the rapper illegally used a recording copyrighted by the producer in a 2018 single that eventually went platinum, after the rapper failed to make any filings in the case for years.
July 26, 2024
Evidence Supports Verdict That Can Patents Were Anticipated, Federal Circuit Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal trial court did not err in denying a motion for a judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) because substantial evidence supported a jury’s finding that beverage can patents were anticipated by a previous patent, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found July 25 in affirming the trial court’s judgment.
July 25, 2024
Judge Denies Fees In Copyright, Trade Secret Dispute Between Bronx Music Schools

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge denied a request by a music school and its founder for reimbursement of the attorney fees they incurred in successfully defending allegations of copyright infringement, unfair competition and trade secret misappropriation, overruling objections from the school and its founder that a federal magistrate judge erred in recommending that the motion be denied.
July 25, 2024
9th Circuit: Federal Judge Improperly Analyzed Candy Distributors’ Trademark Fight

SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 24 partly reversed a California federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in a trademark dispute between two candy distributors, holding that the judge erred in determining that the plaintiff distributor failed to properly notify the defendant distributor that its allegations included the use of the mark “CANDY-GRAM,” leading the judge to improperly analyze the genericness only of the mark “CANDYGRAM” without a hyphen.
July 25, 2024
PTAB Panel Says Claims For Monoclonal Antibody Implant Were Not Obvious

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent examiner failed to show that claims for an implant that releases a monoclonal antibody tissue to treat macular degeneration were obvious in light of prior art because the examiner failed to show that a combination of the prior art would result in the same type of continuous release describes by the patent claims at issue, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) panel found July 24.
July 25, 2024
Federal Circuit: PTAB Did Not Err In Crediting 1 Expert’s Testimony Over Another

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a dispute over two virtual network patents, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err in crediting the testimony of one expert over another when it found, in two final written decisions, that the patents at issue were not obvious in light of prior art, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming the decisions on July 24.
July 24, 2024
Majority Of UGG Patent And Trade Dress Claims Will Continue In N.Y. Federal Court

NEW YORK — The designer of UGG brand footwear successfully pleaded the majority of its claims against a rival company that is allegedly infringing upon its design patents and trade dress, a New York federal judge found in partly granting the rival companies’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim.
July 23, 2024
Gibson Seeks Rehearing After 5th Circuit Orders New Trial In Trademark Fight

NEW ORLEANS — One of two electric guitar manufacturers involved in a trademark dispute filed on July 22 petitions for rehearing and rehearing en banc before the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, arguing that a Fifth Circuit panel eschewed U.S. Supreme Court precedent when holding that a Texas federal judge abused his discretion when he excluded decades of evidence regarding third-party use of the trademarks.
July 23, 2024
Magistrate Grants Adult Video Company’s Bid To Serve ISP In Illegal Download Row

ORLANDO, Fla. — A Florida federal magistrate judge on July 22 granted in part a motion filed by an adult video company to serve the internet service provider (ISP) of an unknown defendant accused of copyright infringement related to alleged illegal downloading and distributing of the video company’s content, finding that because serving the ISP is necessary for the company to proceed in this case, the company may serve the ISP with specified protections regarding identifying information.
July 23, 2024
Tech Giants Can’t Convince Federal Circuit To Reverse PTAB Touch-Screen Decisions

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In two separate opinions, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err in ruling that patent infringement claims arising from touch-sensitive user interfaces and brought against Samsung, Apple and Google were not obvious in light of various prior art.
July 23, 2024
9th Circuit: DMCA Does Not Preclude Forum Non Conveniens Dismissal

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 22 upheld a Washington federal judge’s decision to dismiss copyright and trade secret claims between two South Korean video game companies, agreeing with the judge that the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) does not preclude forum non conveniens as a reason for dismissal.
July 23, 2024
Federal Circuit Says Patent Appeals Are Moot In Light Of District Court Order

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that two appeals regarding wireless earphone patents are moot because the assignee of the patents failed to appeal a federal trial court order holding that the patent claims at issue were invalid in a separate case.
July 22, 2024
Florida Federal Judge Allows Rebuttal Witness In Trademark Infringement Dispute

TAMPA, Fla. — A Florida federal judge rejected efforts to exclude a rebuttal witness retained to dispute another expert who opines on the likelihood of confusion between trademarks owned by competing aftermarket wheel manufacturers.
July 22, 2024
Complaint’s Brush Strokes Sufficiently Specific In AI Copyright Suit, Artists Say

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Allegations that Google LLC and its parent company used copyrighted material to train its artificial intelligence suffices and the plaintiffs need not identify every image at issue in the class action, visual artists tell a federal judge in California in a July 19 brief opposing dismissal.