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

Mealey's Intellectual Property

December 12, 2024
Judge Enters Stipulated Injunction, Judgment In ‘MARS’ Trademark Dispute

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California entered a permanent injunction against defendant entities in a trademark dispute over the word mark “MARS,” the day after they filed a joint request with the plaintiff advertising agency for a stipulated judgment.
December 12, 2024
Petitioner In Patent Safe Harbor Row Asks High Court To Distribute Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A medical device company that told the U.S. Supreme Court that the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals inappropriately expanded a safe harbor found in the Patent Act waived its right to a 14-day waiting period after an upcoming requested filing from the respondent medical company in the case, arguing that the case should be distributed for the high court’s Jan. 10 conference.
December 12, 2024
California Drink Shop Appeals Dismissal Of Trademark Complaint

LOS ANGELES — A plaintiff beverage store based in California and its owner appealed to the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 11 a California federal judge’s order dismissing the trademark infringement case it brought against a New York wine store; the judge held that the plaintiff failed to establish personal jurisdiction for the New York shop.
December 12, 2024
Federal Circuit Panel Mostly Upholds Inter Partes Review Invalidating LED Patents

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Although a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred in treating a figure in a prior art reference as being drawn to scale, thus necessitating a partial reversal and remand of an inter partes review (IPR) decision, the panel otherwise affirmed the board’s finding that two claims of a light emitting diode (LED) patent owned by the University of California were invalid as obvious in light of prior art.
December 12, 2024
High Court Hears Arguments On Lanham Act Disgorgement Rules

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Dec. 11 regarding a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision affirming a $43 million disgorgement award entered in a real estate company’s favor in a trademark infringement dispute with an entity it said infringed its marks, with the parties sparring over whether the Fourth Circuit and a Virginia federal court were correct to include profits from entities affiliated with the alleged infringer in damages calculations.
December 11, 2024
PTAB’s Unpatentability Finding In Mobile Tech Dispute Upheld By Federal Circuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was correct to rule in favor of multiple communications technology companies that sought inter partes review (IPR) of a now-expired mobile communications patent, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Dec. 10; the panel affirmed PTAB’s finding that the challenged claims were unpatentable as obvious.
December 11, 2024
OpenAI Challenges Ruling Denying Evidence Of New York Times’ AI Use

NEW YORK — OpenAI Inc. objected to a magistrate judge’s decision denying the company access to evidence of how the New York Times Co. uses artificial intelligence, saying the ruling permits the newspaper company to speak “out of both sides of its mouth” by allowing it to seek billions of dollar in damages while embracing the same technology it denigrates.
December 10, 2024
Federal Circuit Affirms Construction Of ‘Merchants’ Claim In Patent Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Delaware federal judge did not err when holding that the claim term “merchants” should be limited only to those who sell goods, not services, in a patent dispute involving e-commerce platforms, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, affirming the judge’s finding of noninfringement.
December 10, 2024
No Infringement Of Rosacea Medication Patent, Federal Circuit Agrees

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said that a Third Circuit judge overseeing district court proceedings in Delaware was correct to hold that a defendant biopharmaceutical company’s abbreviated new drug application (ANDA) did not infringe the plaintiff company’s patents on medications for the skin condition called rosacea.
December 10, 2024
5th Circuit Rejects Rehearing Petitions From ISP, Labels In Copyright Fight

NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals rejected petitions for rehearing from parties on both sides of a copyright infringement suit, standing by its October decision to affirm a Texas federal jury’s finding that an internet service provider (ISP) was vicariously liable for copyright infringement by failing to prevent the piracy of plaintiff music labels’ copyrighted works but to reverse the judge’s holding that the ISP was separately liable for infringement for each of more than a thousand songs.
December 09, 2024
Federal Circuit Upholds Sanctions In Stun Gun Design Patent Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge in Arkansas reasonably awarded sanctions against a plaintiff company and its attorney in a patent infringement dispute involving a design patent for electrodes for stun guns, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held Dec. 6, saying that the district court did not err when holding that the company’s past history of filing meritless suits against other entities shows a pattern of bad faith.
December 09, 2024
3rd Circuit: Default Judgments Improper In Bacon Grease Copyright Case

PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania federal judge inappropriately granted default judgment in a copyright infringement suit only two hours after the plaintiff company moved for it, thereby failing to give the defendants appropriate notice, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held in one of two appeals stemming from two orders declining to reverse entries of default judgment.
December 06, 2024
Infringement Claims Over Tank Level Design Patent Survive Dismissal

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The defendant in a patent infringement lawsuit saw its motion to dismiss partly granted by a Florida federal judge, who found that a design patent holder did not plausibly allege false advertising, deceptive trade practices or false marking claims related to ornamental components of a tank monitoring system.
December 06, 2024
Some Claims Obvious In Circuit Package Patent Row, Federal Circuit Says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a patent infringement dispute between manufacturers of semiconductors, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Dec. 5 affirmed findings from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that some claims in the relevant patents are ineligible as obvious while other claims are patent eligible, handing mixed results to both the appellant and cross-appellant companies.
December 06, 2024
Drug Patent Holder Breached Covenant Not To Sue From Earlier Infringement Suit

WILMINGTON, Del. — In the latest chapter in an long-running dispute over the pharmaceutical colchicine, a Delaware federal judge found that a patent owner’s infringement suit against the maker of a generic version of the drug breached a covenant not to sue that was contained in an agreement that resolved a previous lawsuit between the two companies.
December 06, 2024
Federal Circuit: No Infringement By Meta Of Data Storage Patent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A New York federal judge did not err in granting summary judgment in a patent dispute between social media company Meta Platforms Inc. and a company that accused it of infringing patents related to methods of storing data chronologically, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said, affirming the judge’s holding that the evidence did not show that Meta’s product satisfied the patents’ claim limitations.
December 06, 2024
Injunction Justified In Energy Drink Trademark Fight, 11th Circuit Says

ATLANTA — An 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said a Georgia federal judge did not err in granting a preliminary injunction in a trademark infringement dispute between two manufacturers of dietary supplements over two alternative spellings of the word “cranked” in relation to energy drink products.
December 05, 2024
Judge: OpenAI Must Produce Social Media; Company Disputes Discovery Destruction

NEW YORK — OpenAI Inc. and various news entities that accuse it of using their copyrighted works to train artificial intelligence briefed a federal judge in New York over whether discovery evidence was deleted or merely reformatted and presents no obstruction to ongoing searches of the training material. In a separate ruling, the judge concluded that the New York Times Co.’s knowledge and use of AI tools are not relevant or proportional to the needs of the defendants’ fair use defense and denied a motion to compel. In another ruling, the judge said California labor law does not preclude OpenAI Inc. entities and Microsoft Corp. from producing work-related communications conducted through social media.
December 05, 2024
OpenAI Disputes Claim It Ruined Discovery; Judge Denies Motion To Compel

NEW YORK — OpenAI Inc. and various news entities that accuse it of using their copyrighted works to train artificial intelligence briefed a federal judge in New York over whether discovery evidence was deleted or merely reformatted and presents no obstruction to ongoing searches of the training material. In a separate ruling, the judge concluded that the New York Times Co.’s knowledge and use of AI tools are not relevant or proportional to the needs of the defendants’ fair use defense and denied a motion to compel.
December 05, 2024
Federal Circuit Partly Affirms, Partly Reverses PTAB Patentability Findings

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 4 said the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was correct to hold that many of claims in a series of patents owned by a biopharmaceutical company related to the process of separating components from a mixture are unpatentable as obvious, but the panel reversed the PTAB’s findings that some of the claims were not unpatentable.
December 05, 2024
Judge OKs Permanent Injunction Against Distributor In Import Trademark Case

ATLANTA — A Georgia federal judge entered a permanent injunction against a defendant distribution company in a trademark dispute brought by the maker of a drink brand and its exclusive American distributor after the parties entered a stipulation indicating that the defendant company agreed to stop shipping the drink into the country.
December 04, 2024
Judge: Producer Fails To Show He Owns Rap Group’s Trademarks, Copyright

NEW YORK — A New York federal judge dismissed with prejudice trademark and copyright claims stemming from a dispute over ownership of intellectual property associated with a seminal hip-hop group, with the judge holding that the plaintiff music producer failed to show that the trademark in question was valid, along with multiple other failures.
December 04, 2024
Federal Circuit Upholds PTAB Invalidity Finding In Telecommunications Dispute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) was correct to hold that a telecommunications company’s patent on a system that manages telecommunication networks is anticipated by prior art and is thus invalid, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held, despite a defendant entity settling with the plaintiff company while the case was before the appellate panel.
December 04, 2024
Deal In Progress Reported In Coverage Row Over Loss Of Patent Litigation Counsel

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Without providing details, the parties in a coverage dispute over loss of patent litigation counsel filed a notice in Tennessee federal court “that they have reached a settlement in principle of all matters in dispute.”
December 03, 2024
2nd Circuit: Judge Right To Toss Funk Music Infringement Counterclaims

NEW YORK — A Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Dec. 2 affirmed a New York federal judge’s decision to dismiss a counterclaim from a defendant record company and associated entities seeking a declaratory judgment of noninfringement in a dispute over the ownership of songs by an influential funk musician, agreeing with the judge that the counterclaim was time-barred because a studio head was aware of alleged infringement in the 1970s.