Mealey's Intellectual Property
-
October 10, 2024
Judge Sets Date For Settlement Stipulation For Photo Infringement Suit
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge set a date for parties in a copyright infringement dispute between a plaintiff photography licensing company and a defendant spa to file a stipulation of settlement after the parties filed a notice of settlement in the wake of an order denying the spa’s motion to dismiss the complaint.
-
October 09, 2024
2nd Circuit: Keyword Search Ads Based On Trademarks Not Infringing
NEW YORK — Affirming a New York federal judge’s entry of judgment on the pleadings in a trademark dispute between competing eyewear brands, the Second Circuit U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 8 said that “the mere act of purchasing a search engine keyword that is a competitor’s trademark does not alone, in the context of keyword search advertising, constitute trademark infringement.”
-
October 09, 2024
Parties Stipulate To Dismissal Of Trademark Suit Involving ‘FLORIDA MAN’ Mark
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — In a paperless order, a Florida federal judge granted a plaintiff online media company and a defendant event company’s stipulation to dismiss their dispute stemming from the allegedly infringing use of the word mark FLORIDA MAN, after the judge in June held that the mark is not sufficiently famous for the media company’s complaint to survive in full.
-
October 09, 2024
AI Entities Want Consolidation, Tout Dramatic Overlap, ‘Complex Discovery’
NEW YORK — Saying that pleadings will “overlap dramatically” with two previously consolidated media artificial intelligence copyright actions and that a unified process promises an efficient path forward, OpenAI entities and Microsoft Corp. urged a federal judge in New York to add a third case to the grouping.
-
October 09, 2024
7th Circuit: No Fees In Trademark Dispute Over Pipes For Smoking
CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois was right to deny a smoking pipe manufacturer’s motion for attorney fees after a plaintiff trademark owner voluntarily dismissed with prejudice his infringement claim against the company, a panel of the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, finding that the defendant company failed to show how the case is “exceptional” as required for attorney fees under the Lanham Act.
-
October 08, 2024
High Court Won’t Consider Manuals’ Exclusion From Prior Art Analysis
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 denied a patent owner’s petition for a writ of certiorari, declining to hear arguments that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals erred when it held that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly found that manuals related to a meat and cheese slicer were not publicly available and that other prior art failed to disclose two limitations.
-
October 08, 2024
Supreme Court Denies ‘Hypermedia’ Method Patent Owner’s Certiorari Petition
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 denied a patent owner’s petition for a writ of certiorari, leaving in place a February decision from the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that upheld a California federal judge’s finding of ineligibility for the company’s patent related to a content distribution system.
-
October 08, 2024
High Court Rejects Mud Flap Patent Owner’s Bid For Certiorari
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 rejected a patent owner’s bid for a writ of certiorari, declining to hear the man’s argument that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was wrong to uphold a Michigan federal judge’s finding that the man was not entitled to injunctive relief in a patent dispute over mud flaps for vehicles.
-
October 08, 2024
High Court Rejects Law Firm’s Challenge To USPTO Domicile Address Rule
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 denied a law firm’s petition for a writ of certiorari, leaving in place a finding from the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a rule that bars reliance on a P.O. Box address in the broader U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requirement that trademark applicants list domestic counsel was not arbitrarily enforced against the firm.
-
October 07, 2024
U.S. Supreme Court Denies Certiorari In FCA Public Disclosure Bar Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 denied a petition for certiorari filed by pharmaceutical companies seeking review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling that the public disclosure bar was not triggered in a case where it reversed a district court’s dismissal of a suit accusing the companies of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by artificially inflating drug prices.
-
October 07, 2024
Supreme Court Won’t Consider Effects Of Patent Term Adjustment On Viability
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 7 denied a tech firm’s petition asking the high court to determine that a patent that has had its expiration extended under patent term adjustment (PTA) due to application delays by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) should not then be susceptible to findings of obviousness and invalidity.
-
October 07, 2024
Judge: Invisible Fence Established Jurisdiction In Trademark Row With Competitor
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge in Tennessee denied a motion from a pet-tracking technology company and certain of its executives to dismiss a trademark infringement suit brought against it by a plaintiff company specializing in invisible pet boundaries for backyard use, holding that the defendant company was wrong to argue that the District Court lacked personal jurisdiction.
-
October 04, 2024
Federal Circuit Reverses Summary Judgment On Counterclaim In Crocs’ Patent Suit
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Colorado was wrong to grant summary judgment in favor of Crocs Inc. on a counterclaim of false advertising brought by a defendant shoe company in a sprawling patent infringement case originally filed nearly two decades ago, a panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Oct. 3.
-
October 04, 2024
Judge Denies Code Publisher’s Injunction Bid, Citing Likely Fair Use
PHILADELPHIA — A federal judge in Pennsylvania denied a motion for a preliminary injunction brought by a publisher of technical standards for a number of industries, holding that the publisher is unlikely to prevail on claims of both copyright and trademark infringement it brought against a company it said posted copies of its codes to its website without permission; the judge agreed with the defendant company and certain of its executives that a fair use defense likely applies.
-
October 03, 2024
Photographer’s Copyright Suit Over Wu-Tang Photo Largely Survives Dismissal Bid
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York mostly denied an arts and entertainment outlet’s request to dismiss a copyright infringement complaint brought against it by a photographer who claims that the company shared a photo he took of two rappers without his permission, only ruling against the photographer for failing to show that the outlet shared the photo with false copyright management information (CMI).
-
October 03, 2024
Judge Dissolves TRO In Neck Fan Patent Suit, Denies Damages Motion
CHICAGO — An Illinois federal judge rejected a technology company’s motion to convert a temporary restraining order (TRO) against a company it accused of infringing patents related to a fan device that hangs around the wearer’s neck into a preliminary injunction; the judge also dissolved the TRO, holding that the patent holder did not establish a likelihood of success on its infringement claim.
-
October 03, 2024
Federal Circuit Reverses Federal Judge’s Denial Of JMOL Motions In Patent Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Missouri should have granted defendant companies’ motions for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) and for a new trial on damages, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Oct. 2, holding that a plaintiff company’s infringement theory on patents related to meat and cheese slicers was based on allegations not in evidence.
-
October 02, 2024
Judge: No Jurisdiction For Artist’s Class Copyright Claims Against Online Store
NEW YORK — A New York federal judge on Oct. 1 issued an opinion confirming an August “bottom-line” order dismissing a putative class action complaint brought by an artist alleging that an e-commerce company infringed on his copyrighted work and that of many other artists, holding that the New York federal court does not have personal jurisdiction based in part on customers’ locations.
-
October 02, 2024
Photo Licensing Firm’s Copyright Infringement Suit Not Time-Barred, Judge Holds
NEW YORK — A spa accused by a photography licensing company of infringing on copyrights by posting multiple photos to the spa’s social media pages without permission was incorrect to argue that the licensing company’s suit was time-barred, a federal judge in New York held, denying the spa’s motion to dismiss the complaint.
-
October 02, 2024
Judge Won’t Clarify AI Copyright Trade Dress Ruling
SAN FRANCISCO — While it portrays its motion as one for clarification, artificial intelligence company Midjourney actually seeks reconsideration of a ruling finding that a plaintiff adequately alleged trade dress claims, a federal judge in California said in denying the motion.
-
October 02, 2024
Judge: Confusion Not Likely Between Competing Irish Butter Trade Dresses
NEW YORK — A federal judge largely granted a defendant food company’s motion for summary judgment in a trademark dispute involving the packaging of Irish butter, holding that the company’s butter is unlikely to be confused with the Irish butter sold by a plaintiff company due to dissimilarities in the packaging.
-
October 02, 2024
Judge OKs Preliminary Injunction In Patent Fight Over Wall Socket Cover
MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida granted a plaintiff electrical appliance company’s motion for a preliminary injunction on the company’s claims that a defendant company violated its patent with an allegedly infringing wall socket organizer product, affirming a federal magistrate judge’s holding that the plaintiff company adequately displayed its likelihood of success on the merits.
-
October 01, 2024
11th Circuit Affirms Judge’s Entry Of Trademark Suit Settlement Terms
ATLANTA — The 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 30 rejected arguments from the former president of a servicemembers’ families organization in a trademark dispute with the organization after her ouster, holding that an Alabama federal judge did not introduce new settlement terms into an order memorializing the settlement between the parties that were not agreed upon.
-
October 01, 2024
Only Copyright Claim Survives In Atari’s Arcade Cabinet Row With State Farm
DALLAS — A federal judge in Texas said a copyright infringement claim brought by Atari Interactive Inc. against the State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. and advertising companies that worked with it for allegedly using an Atari arcade cabinet in a commercial without Atari’s permission can survive a motion to dismiss; however, the judge held that all other claims brought by the video game company fail.
-
October 01, 2024
Order Lays Out Security Details For ChatGPT Discovery
SAN FRANCISCO — Discovery in plaintiffs’ consolidated copyright litigation over the data used by OpenAI Inc. to train its large language models (LLMs), including ChatGPT, will occur in a secure room at a computer isolated from the internet and other networks, a federal magistrate judge in California said in adopting stipulated protocol.