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

Mealey's Intellectual Property

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.
July 22, 2024
3rd Circuit Affirms Remedies In Trademark Fight Over Airplane Parts

PHILADELPHIA — A Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Pennsylvania federal judge’s decision to award only a narrow portion of the damages requested by an engine part manufacturer that saw its trademark infringed by an engine manufacturer that used to buy its parts, holding that the lower court did not abuse its discretion when considering damages.
July 22, 2024
5th Circuit Rejects Appliance Store’s Bid To Reconsider Fees In Trademark Dispute

NEW ORLEANS — A panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 19 without comment rejected an appliance store’s request to reconsider its finding that it was owed no attorney fees even though the panel held that the store’s trademark on “Appliance Liquidation Outlet” was infringed by a competitor.
July 19, 2024
In Dispute Over Memory Chip Patents, Calif. Federal Judge Dismisses Counterclaims

SAN FRANCISCO — A manufacturer of flash memory chips failed to properly allege its counterclaims of direct and induced patent infringement against a rival chip maker because it failed to include sufficient factual allegations to support the claims, a California federal judge found in granting the rival’s motion to dismiss the counterclaims.
July 18, 2024
Inventor Fails To Persuade PTAB Panel That Liquid Cleaning Method Is Not Obvious

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent examiner did not err in finding that a method for cleaning comestible liquids using electricity was obvious in light of prior art because the inventor of the method failed to show that the prior art was not analogous, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) panel found in affirming the examiner’s findings on July 17.
July 18, 2024
Split 5th Circuit Panel Says Publisher Can Copy Legal Codes Copyrighted In Canada

NEW ORLEANS — A split panel of the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a Texas federal judge’s grant of summary judgment against a publishing company accused by a Canadian developer of legal standards and codes of copying and republishing complete versions of the codes, saying that the codes are effectively “law” in Canada and that law is copyable.
July 18, 2024
District Court Has Authority To Investigate Party Misconduct In Patent Cases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal trial court did not err in ordering a woman to appear at an in-person hearing and holding her in civil contempt after she failed to do so because the court has inherent authority to investigate litigation misconduct allegedly carried out by the woman, the companies she manages and her attorneys in numerous patent infringement cases, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found in affirming the trial court’s judgment.
July 17, 2024
Media’s AI Copyright Suit Supplemental Briefing Focuses On Prompts, Injury

NEW YORK — The Intercept Media Inc. called artificial intelligence ChatGPT a “serial plagiarist” built on thousands of copyrighted works of journalism while urging a federal judge in New York in supplemental briefing to reject arguments about any lack of injury and timeliness and deny a pair of motions to dismiss its copyright case.
July 17, 2024
9th Circuit Affirms Liability Finding In Cosmetics Counterfeiting Case

SAN FRANCSCIO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 16 affirmed a California federal judge’s finding that a man is personally liable for trademark counterfeiting in a case accusing him and a corporation he controlled of selling counterfeited beauty products, finding that there is no basis for the man’s argument that the products were being sold by a legal entity separate from him.
July 17, 2024
Federal Judge: Trademark Claims Over Social Media Giant’s Use Of ‘X’ Can Continue

ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida largely denied a motion to dismiss from the company formerly known as Twitter Inc., finding that a much smaller social media advertising company adequately supported its claims that the social media giant infringed on its “X SOCIALMEDIA” trademark when it rebranded to X Corp. after being purchased by Elon Musk.
July 17, 2024
Federal Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Order In Medical Device Patent Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Summary judgment was appropriately granted in a patent infringement dispute over a medical device used for hemodialysis because the patent owner failed to present factual evidence from which a reasonable juror could have found that the product in question infringed upon the patent, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found July 16.
July 17, 2024
Magistrate Judge: Singer Does Not Support Copyright Claims In ‘Shotgun’ Suit

MIAMI — A federal magistrate judge in Florida recommended the dismissal of a copyright claim brought by a Venezuelan musician claiming that several music companies illegally uploaded his music to online music streaming platforms, finding both that the musician’s complaint is an impermissible shotgun pleading and that the musician failed to substantiate some of his claims.
July 16, 2024
PTAB Panel Reverses Examiner’s Rejection Of Robot Gripping Method

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patent examiner erred in rejecting patent claims for a method of optimizing an automated process used to allow robots to grip objects from a conveyor belt because the references cited by the examiner failed to identify two specific elements of the method, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board panel found in reversing the examiner’s findings on July 15.
July 16, 2024
Magistrate Suggests $14K To Photographer For Paper’s Infringement Of Epstein Photo

ORLANDO, Fla. — A federal magistrate judge in Florida recommended that a Spanish-language newspaper be ordered to pay $14,478 to a professional photographer for its use of a photo of billionaire financier and convicted felon Jeffrey Epstein after the newspaper failed to respond to the photographer’s claims in federal court.
July 16, 2024
Judge: Therabody’s Trademark Infringement Claims All Survive Dismissal Motion

NEWARK, N.J. — A federal judge in New Jersey denied a motion to dismiss filed by a store sued for alleged trademark infringement by the maker of percussive massage devices, finding that the manufacturer’s complaint adequately alleges that the store sold the devices without the manufacturer’s permission and without first entering into a reselling agreement.
July 15, 2024
Judge: Songwriter Makes Showing Of Worldwide Ownership; Copyright Claims Survive

BATON ROUGE, La. — A federal judge in Louisiana on July 12 denied a music publication company’s motion to dismiss a copyright dispute over a 1960s hit song, finding that the song’s writer made an adequate showing that foreign use of the song is barred by the songwriters’ renewal of copyright interests.
July 15, 2024
11th Circuit Affirms Judgment Against Bar Owner In Boxing Match Copyright Fight

ATLANTA — On its second consideration of an appeal in the case, an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed an Alabama federal judge’s decision to deny a bar owner’s motion to vacate a judgment against him in a case brought by a sports streaming company that said he violated the company’s copyright by showing a boxing match at the bar without a license, holding that the bar owner waived his argument that he should have had a jury trial when he failed to make the argument in response to a magistrate judge’s report and recommendation.
July 15, 2024
Federal Circuit Affirms PTAB’s Obviousness Finding In Dispute Over Agricultural Patent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) did not err in finding that a patent for counteracting certain biological processes in plants was obvious because it adequately showed that all aspects of the patent were disclosed in prior art, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found July 12 in affirming the PTAB’s final written decision.
July 15, 2024
In Stem Cell Patent Dispute, More Facts Needed About Medical-Practitioner Immunity

FORT WORTH, Texas — The operator of two medical clinics where adipose-deprived stem cell therapies are performed is not entitled to medical-practitioner immunity from patent infringement claims at this stage because multiple questions of facts and law must be determined before such a determination can be made, a Texas federal judge found in denying the operator’s motion to dismiss.