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Mealey's Intellectual Property

October 31, 2024
Federal Circuit Upholds PTAB’s Unpatentability Finding In Favor Of Vehicle Makers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a finding by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that an audio company’s claims are unpatentable in a dispute with a car manufacturer; the panel also denied as moot the company’s appeal of the PTAB’s finding of unpatentability in its dispute with a different manufacturer.
October 31, 2024
9th Circuit: No Fees For Defendant Who Settled Adult Film Copyright Claims

SAN FRANCISCO — A panel of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with a California federal judge’s decision to deny attorney fees to a John Doe defendant who settled with a prodigiously litigious adult film company that accused Doe of copyright violations, but the panel disagreed as to why Doe was not due fees.
October 30, 2024
Federal Circuit Rejects Mandamus Bid From Plastics Company In Patent Fight

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Days before a trial is set to begin in a Massachusetts federal court, a panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 29 rejected in a per curiam order a plastics company’s bid for a writ of mandamus instructing the District Court to dismiss counterclaims by a defendant company in a patent dispute, holding that the plaintiff company did not satisfy the standard for a writ of mandamus.
October 30, 2024
Federal Circuit Rejects Mandamus Bid From Plastics Company In Patent Fight

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Days before a trial is set to begin in a Massachusetts federal court, a panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 29 rejected in a per curiam order a plastics company’s bid for a writ of mandamus instructing the trial court to dismiss counterclaims by a defendant company in a patent dispute, holding that the plaintiff company did not satisfy the standard for a writ of mandamus.
October 30, 2024
OpenAI Opposes Discovery Of Employees’ Personal Social Media Content

NEW YORK — Authors and writers in artificial intelligence copyright lawsuits filed against OpenAI Inc. asked a federal judge for access to employees’ personal social media accounts, saying the record shows work-related use of the accounts. But in response, the company says that the request strays far afield from the case’s central issues, that the company has no possession of or control over the requested information and that the plaintiffs are simply employing a scorched earth discovery process.
October 30, 2024
OpenAI Wants Evidence Of New York Times’ AI Damages, AI’s Positive Impact

NEW YORK — The New York Times Co. must produce evidence of any damages from artificial intelligence, as well as its use of ChatGPT and other third-party AIs, OpenAI entities tell a federal judge in New York in a letter motion seeking to compel production. Concurrently, the companies wrapped briefing on a motion to consolidate, with the newspaper saying it doesn’t object as long as the move doesn’t delay the case, and the defendants contending that adding a third case would ensure smooth handling of all cases.
October 30, 2024
Lenovo Can’t Dodge Patent Infringement Suits With Jurisdictional Arguments

MARSHALL, Texas — Technology firms from Canada and Ireland may proceed with their patent infringement claims against Lenovo Group Limited, a Texas federal judge found, concluding that the computer manufacturer had sufficient contacts with Texas to confer jurisdiction over the Chinese firm and to overcome the defendant’s motions to dismiss.
October 29, 2024
Judge: Design Company Failed To Establish Jurisdiction In Copyright Fight

CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge granted a motion from a company that runs a store on Amazon’s website, dismissing a copyright infringement complaint brought against it by a company that says the defendant outfit is selling dresses that infringe on copyrighted designs, holding that the plaintiff company lacks personal jurisdiction; the judge also dissolved a preliminary injunction previously issued against the defendant company.
October 29, 2024
Parties To Google AI Copyright Suits Stipulate To Consolidation

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Parties in two California federal class actions challenging the use of data in the training of artificial intelligence stipulated to consolidation with previously related cases in the wake of a motion asking for such relief by Google LLC and its parent Alphabet Inc.
October 28, 2024
9th Circuit Says It Lacks Jurisdiction To Consider Patent Row Discovery Issue

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed Apple Inc.’s appeal of a California federal judge’s decision to grant an Australian patent holding company’s application for discovery for use in a yet-to-be-filed patent infringement suit in Germany; the panel held that it lacked appellate jurisdiction because the judge’s order was not final.
October 28, 2024
Federal Circuit Vacates Denial Of Injunction In Standard-Essential Patent Row

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversed a North Carolina federal judge’s decision to deny related technology companies an antisuit injunction to bar a patent holder from enforcing in the United States injunctions the patent holder obtained in Colombia and Brazil related to standard-essential patents (SEPs), finding that whether the patent holder complied with obligations related to the SEPs is a question before the court.
October 28, 2024
Federal Judge Dismisses Last Count In Butter Trademark Row At Plaintiff’s Request

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge granted a plaintiff food company’s request to voluntarily dismiss a New York state law claim for trade dress dilution against a defendant food company it accused of infringing on the packaging of competing Irish butter brands after previously granting the defendant company’s motion for summary judgment as to all other counts.
October 25, 2024
Federal Circuit Majority Says Comcast Didn’t Infringe On Online Phone Patent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of judges in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Oct. 24 affirmed a federal judge’s entry of judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) finding that Comcast Cable Communications LLC did not infringe on one of two patents related to internet-based phone calls, but the panel disagreed on whether the judge should have granted Comcast’s post-trial JMOL request on the other patent.
October 25, 2024
Judge Dismisses Entirety Of Professors’ Copyright Claim Against University

BUFFALO, N.Y. — A federal judge in New York modified a magistrate judge’s recommendation to dismiss in part six former professors’ copyright infringement claim against a university in upstate New York, instead dismissing the complaint in its entirety; the judge held that the professors failed to show that the university’s use of copyrighted materials created by the professors exceeded the scope of a license.
October 24, 2024
OpenAI Wants Evidence Of New York Times’ AI Damages, AI’s Positive Impact

NEW YORK — The New York Times Co. must produce evidence of any damages from artificial intelligence, as well as its usage of ChatGPT and other third-party AIs, OpenAI entities tell a federal judge in New York in a letter motion seeking to compel production.
October 24, 2024
Judge: Defamation, Other Counterclaims Survive In Copyright Infringement Dispute

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee on Oct. 23 denied a plaintiff media company’s motion to dismiss a defendant company’s state law counterclaims of defamation and other counts against the plaintiff company and its executive in a copyright dispute, holding that the plaintiff company failed to show that the state law counterclaims are preempted by the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA).
October 24, 2024
9th Circuit: Law Firm’s Online Ad Keywords Don’t Infringe On Competitor’s Name

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed an Arizona federal judge’s finding that a defendant law firm’s purchasing of a competitor’s trademark in Google keyword ads was not trademark infringement, agreeing that the plaintiff law firm failed to establish a likelihood of confusion caused by the ads; a judge on the panel issued a concurring opinion arguing that the Ninth Circuit should reconsider the relevant case law.
October 23, 2024
Container Computing Suit Against Hewlett Packard Dismissed As To 1 Patent

MARSHALL, Texas — Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. (HPE) saw its motion to dismiss a patent infringement suit against it partially granted, with a Texas federal judge determining that the patent holder failed to sufficiently plead either constructive or actual notice for one of two container computing patents asserted in its complaint.
October 23, 2024
10th Circuit: Covenant Not To Sue Did Not Obviously Apply To Canadian Patent

DENVER — The 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a Colorado federal magistrate judge’s findings in a contract dispute stemming from claims of patent infringement, holding that the magistrate judge committed no error in finding that a covenant not to sue between two competing fuel supply companies may not apply to the relevant Canadian patent; a federal jury held that the defendant company violated the covenant.
October 23, 2024
Some Counterclaims Axed As Improperly Pleaded In Stem Cell Therapy Patent Row

LOS ANGELES — Partly granting a biotechnology firm’s motion to dismiss a rival’s counterclaims against it in a dispute over stem cell therapy patents, a California federal judge found that two noninfringement claims failed to identify the relevant products or plead sufficient facts.
October 22, 2024
Real Estate Company: High Court Must Affirm $43M Disgorgement In Trademark Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A real estate company in an Oct. 22 brief urged the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision affirming a $43 million disgorgement award entered in its favor in a trademark infringement dispute with an entity it said infringed upon its marks, arguing that the Lanham Act empowers a court to “consider all competent evidence, including profits of affiliated entities when relevant.”
October 22, 2024
Formula 1 Team Owner Takes Trademark Row With Team Member To 9th Circuit

LOS ANGELES — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals issued a docket number for a motor vehicle parts company’s appeal of a California federal judge’s holding that a former member of the company’s Formula 1 team and his publisher did not infringe on the company’s trademarks by including photos with the company’s logo in a book about the man’s time in F1.
October 22, 2024
Code Publisher Appeals Injunction Denial For Copyright Claim To 3rd Circuit

PHILADELPHIA — A publisher of technical standards for several industries on Oct. 21 appealed to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals a Pennsylvania federal judge’s denial of the publisher’s request for a preliminary injunction against a company it claims posted copies of the plaintiff company’s codes online without permission in violation of copyrights.
October 22, 2024
Judge Dismisses News Outlet’s Counterclaims From Copyright Row With Photographer

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida dismissed multiple counterclaims brought by an online news outlet against a plaintiff photojournalist who accused the company of using some of his photos without permission, holding that some of the counterclaims hold no useful purpose.
October 21, 2024
Federal Circuit: More Claim Construction Needed In Patent Row Over Utility Lines

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Oct. 18 that a California federal judge wrongly dismissed a complaint stemming from a dispute over patents related to buried utility lines, holding that the judge must conduct a “fuller claim-construction analysis” to “determine the scope of the dispute claim language” for the plaintiff company’s claim of patent infringement.