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

Mealey's Intellectual Property

April 09, 2024
Contract Claims Partly Preempted By Copyright, N.Y. Federal Judge Finds

NEW YORK — A plaintiff embroiled in litigation with talk radio host John Batchelor over podcast distribution rights lost its bid to return the dispute to New York state court on April 8, with a federal judge concluding that because portions of the case are preempted by federal copyright law, “policing the line between the preempted and non-preempted portions of these claims will be an ongoing task that will continue through trial,” thereby warranting the exercise of supplemental jurisdiction.
April 09, 2024
Patent Owner: Retractable Arrowhead Blades Not Found In Prior Art

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A patent owner in a preliminary response filed April 8 with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board accuses a petitioner for inter partes review (IPR) of an arrowhead patent of failing “to understand the structural differences” between a blade member and a barb.
April 09, 2024
In Patent Row Over Motorized Dumbbell, Fitness Equipment Company Weighs In

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Assertions of novelty by the owner of motorized dumbbell technology declared ineligible for patenting by a Utah federal judge are “contradicted by the claims and specification” of the patent itself, iFIT Inc. says in an April 8 appellee brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
April 08, 2024
Federal Circuit Summarily Affirms Patent Board In Win For Intel Corp.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A per curiam panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 8 upheld cancellation by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of various claims of a VLSI Technology LLC patent directed to power reduction.
April 08, 2024
Verdict, Award In Favor Of Sprint On Trademark, ACPA Claims Upheld

ATLANTA — Efforts by sellers of counterfeit mobile phones to undo an award of $4.5 million in statutory damages in favor of Sprint Communications LLC have failed, with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals deeming a jury verdict of cybersquatting, infringement and counterfeiting supported by ample evidence.
April 08, 2024
Walmart Beats Patent Challenge By BJ’s In Inter Partes Review

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has rejected allegations by BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. that a Walmart Apollo LLC patent is taught by the combined teachings of three prior art references.
April 08, 2024
Cancellation Of Patented Dosing Regimen Vacated, Appeal Declared Moot

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 5 said an appeal of a final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that declared obvious a patented lurasidone dosing regimen is mooted by the expiration of the patent and representations by counsel that an appellant no longer has an interest in exercising its right to exclude, including by seeking damages for pre-expiration infringement.
April 05, 2024
Estate Settles Suit Over Artificial Intelligence George Carlin Comedy Video

LOS ANGELES — George Carlin’s representatives settled copyright and privacy claims against the entities responsible for creating an artificial intelligence presentation featuring his voice and likeness, with the defendants agreeing to stipulated consent judgment enjoining the creation of or otherwise using the comedian’s image, voice or likeness.
April 05, 2024
Panel: System, Method For Viewing Large Medical Images Is Patent-Ineligible

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a blow to the creators of a platform that allows medical personnel to view magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans and other large-data medical images on computers and devices with low bandwidth, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 4 agreed with a federal judge in Delaware that the claimed technology is not eligible for patenting.
April 04, 2024
Judge: California Plaintiffs Can’t Intervene In New York OpenAI Copyright Suits

NEW YORK — California plaintiffs lack sufficient interest in New York copyright infringement cases involving similar but different defendants and claims arising from the training of artificial intelligence, a federal judge in New York said in denying a motion to intervene.
April 04, 2024
Appeals Court Weighs In On Software Copyright Case For 3rd Time

CINCINNATI — A summary judgment in favor of infringement defendants by a federal judge in Michigan was upheld April 3 by the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in its third ruling in a longstanding dispute over copyright protection for computer code.
April 04, 2024
California Federal Judge Offers Glimpse At Hurdles In TikTok IP Row

SAN FRANCISCO — In advance of a planned April 5 hearing on a motion to dismiss copyright infringement and false advertising claims leveled against TikTok Inc. and others, a federal judge in California has directed the video sharing app to be prepared to defend its position that the registration requirement in federal copyright law extends to copyrights registered abroad.
April 04, 2024
Board Violated APA When Canceling Claims, Patent Owner Tells Federal Circuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should set aside a final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that canceled all challenged claims of an electric power grid management patent because the board relied on a theory of invalidity not explicitly raised by Unified Patents LLC’s petition for inter partes review (IPR), a patent owner says.
April 04, 2024
Patented Binaural Sound Tech Not Obvious, Owner Argues To Patent Board

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The prior art relied on by Meta Platforms Inc. in an inter partes review (IPR) instituted in December fails to establish obviousness, the owner of the challenged patent maintains in a response filed April 3 with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
April 03, 2024
Win For Microsoft Preserved By Federal Circuit In Dispute Over 3D Patent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that declared obvious various claims of a patented method for viewing three-dimensional (3D) images will stand, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled April 3.
April 03, 2024
Supreme Court Turns Down Another Challenge To Abstractness Standard

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A machine company whose technology was deemed patent-ineligible has become the latest party to fail to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit its decade-old standard for assessing the abstractness of patent claims.
April 03, 2024
Panel Majority: Applications Cancelable In Cases That Include Registered Marks

SAN FRANCISCO — In a pair of rulings issued the same day, a divided Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel reinstated an infringement action and found that federal courts have jurisdiction to consider challenges to applications for trademarks as long as infringement of at least one registered trademark is also alleged.
April 03, 2024
Accused Of Infringement, Aldi Prevails When Judge Declares Patents Ineligible

CHICAGO — Three patents touted for providing shoppers with the ability to locate branded products in the vicinity via their mobile device recite the abstract idea of collecting, analyzing and displaying information, a federal judge in Illinois has ruled.
April 02, 2024
7th Circuit Won’t Reinstate Pro Se Copyright Claims Against Amazon

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Indiana correctly rejected a copyright infringement action against Amazon.com Inc. and a company that helps authors self-publish their works, the Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled, because the complained-of conduct was authorized by a license.
April 02, 2024
New Jersey Federal Judge Must Revisit Schizophrenia Drug Patent Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 1 remanded a dispute over the validity of a patent directed to an injectable treatment for adult schizophrenia, with the court finding that a New Jersey federal judge’s “misunderstanding of claim scope carried throughout” her obviousness analysis.
April 02, 2024
Pa. Federal Judge Clarifies, But Won’t Reconsider, Penn State Trademark Ruling

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Over the objection of The Pennsylvania State University, a federal judge in Pennsylvania on April 2 clarified a February 2024 ruling granting the school summary judgment on several affirmative defenses raised by an apparel maker accused of trademark infringement.
April 02, 2024
Pandora Prevails, Panel Agrees: Asserted Patents Ineligible For Protection

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld a judgment of patent ineligibility entered by a California federal judge, agreeing that all claims of three patents asserted against the music streaming service Pandora Media LLC are directed to “nonpatentable subject matter.”
April 01, 2024
Collectibles Firm To 3rd Circuit: Hockey Sculpture Has No Protectable Elements

PHILADELPHIA — A Florida-based sports memorabilia company asks the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its appellee brief to affirm a lower court’s finding that its hockey puck piece containing melted rink ice does not infringe the appellant’s puck-shaped item because the latter work has no copyrightable, nonutilitarian features.
March 29, 2024
Panel Reinstates ‘Tiger King’ Copyright Case On 1 Of 8 Videos

DENVER — Findings by a federal judge in Oklahoma that seven videos featured in “Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness” are non-actionable works-made-for-hire will stand, but Netflix Inc. and the producer of the documentary series must face copyright infringement allegations with regard to an eighth video, which was wrongly declared a fair use, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
March 29, 2024
Panel Orders New Patent Validity Trial, Says Jurors Wrongly Instructed

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has reinstated a dispute over the validity of patented tamper-resistant containers, agreeing with a patent owner that a Massachusetts federal judge gave an erroneous jury instruction on the objective indicia of nonobviousness.