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

Mealey's Intellectual Property

April 17, 2024
Florida Federal Judge Stands By Summary Judgment In Frazetta Copyright Case

TAMPA, Fla. — A bid by the publisher of a book chronicling the work of late artist Frank Frazetta to undo a recent summary judgment of direct copyright infringement failed April 16, when a federal judge in Florida denied a motion for reconsideration.
April 17, 2024
In Trademark Row Over Conference Name, 2nd Circuit Vacates Injunction

NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York abused her discretion in preliminarily enjoining New York City and Fire Department of New York (FDNY, collectively) from using the “Medical Special Operations Conference” trademark, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled April 16, deeming the term descriptive.
April 17, 2024
2 Claims Of 2 Fortinet Patents Declared Ineligible By California Federal Judge

SAN FRANCISCO — A defendant won partial judgment on the pleadings on April 16 when a California federal judge agreed that two claims of two Fortinet cybersecurity patents recite the abstract ideas of disabling security for trusted communication and performing tasks in a sequential order, while both lack sufficient inventiveness to be considered patent eligible.
April 17, 2024
Toyota: Automobile User Profiles Were Already Taught By Prior Art

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A petition for inter partes review (IPR) by Toyota Motor Corp. takes aim at a patent that purportedly was the first to teach setting and transferring a user profile, including preferred radio, seat and temperature settings, to a “compatible” vehicle.
April 16, 2024
California Plaintiffs Appeal Denial Of Intervention In New York OpenAI Suits

NEW YORK — California plaintiffs whose motion to intervene in New York artificial intelligence copyright infringement cases filed a notice of appeal after the federal judge overseeing the New York cases concluded that the similar but different defendants and claims required denying the request.
April 16, 2024
Microsoft, OpenAI Defend Using News To Train AI In Copyright Suit

NEW YORK — A news organization never explains how any use of its material to train ChatGPT could have injured it, that copyright management information was removed in anything but a private setting or that the artificial intelligence reproduces protected works, Microsoft Corp. and various OpenAI Inc. entities told a federal court in New York in a pair of April 15 motions to dismiss.
April 16, 2024
Panel: Features Singled Out In Trade Dress Application Lack Distinctiveness

RICHMOND, Va. — An application to register the tube-shaped ankle collar, hexagonal eyelets and other features of Timberland boots was properly rejected by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for lacking the distinctiveness required for trade dress protection, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decided April 15 in a case that drew the interest of the International Trademark Association (INTA) as amicus curiae.
April 16, 2024
Panel: Ad Use Of Flag, Plea To Buy American Is Not Literally False

DENVER — A request for damages in connection with the use of a construction equipment company’s copyrighted photographs in alleged false advertisements that implored consumers to buy a competitor’s American-made products was rightly rejected by a federal judge in Oklahoma, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled.
April 16, 2024
Music Industry Seeks Expedited Review Of AI Infringement Action

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Music publishers asked a federal judge in Tennessee for the status of their request for a preliminary injunction enjoining Anthropic PBC’s training of its artificial intelligence, saying expedited review of the motion and details on when the court plans to hold oral arguments will allow for an efficient presentation.
April 15, 2024
Corrected Judgment Entered After $525M Awarded In Patent Case

CHICAGO — A federal judge in Illinois on April 12 entered a corrected judgment two days after jurors awarded a plaintiff $525 million in damages for infringement by Amazon Web Services Inc. of three information storage and retrieval patents.
April 15, 2024
Leap Year Dooms Bid For Certiorari In Vans Trademark Litigation

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An opposed motion for leave to file a petition for a writ of certiorari out of time by the maker of “Wavy Baby” shoes accused of infringing Vans Inc.’s trademarks and trade dress was denied April 15 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
April 15, 2024
Patent Covering Toddler Dining Mat Could Be Unenforceable, Panel Rules

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on April 12 said a cross-appellant was wrongly cleared by a Louisiana federal judge of allegations that it committed inequitable conduct before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).
April 12, 2024
Federal Circuit Upholds Outcome Of Bench Trial In Antibiotic Patent Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A final judgment by a federal judge in Delaware directing the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to delay approval of generic rifaximin until three patents covering the antibiotic Xifaxan expire was affirmed April 11 by a three-judge panel of the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
April 12, 2024
Board Win For Netflix Preserved After Panel Agreed Patent Is Obvious

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that canceled various claims of a patented method for switching network connections during the receipt of digital media content will not be disturbed, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled April 12.
April 12, 2024
Activision Must Face ‘Warzone’ Trademark Counterclaim In California

LOS ANGELES — A federal judge in California on April 11 lifted a previously entered stay of discovery in litigation over “Call of Duty: Warzone” and the “WARZONE” trademark, which Activision Inc. stands accused of infringing by a counterclaimant, in denying the videogame maker’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.
April 11, 2024
Organization, Former President Argue In 11th Circuit Over Trademark Settlement

ATLANTA — An Alabama federal court had jurisdiction to issue an order memorializing the settlement terms accompanying a voluntary dismissal of trademark infringement and cybersquatting claims against its former president, a servicemembers’ families organization argues in a brief to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, calling the ousted president’s appeal meritless.
April 11, 2024
Sanctions Discovery Order In Trademark Row Between ICEE, Slush Puppie Stands

CINCINNATI — A federal judge in Ohio on April 10 said he won’t reconsider his August bench ruling that granted discovery on a defendant’s request for sanctions against opposing counsel, in a contractual dispute involving a fabricated trademark license that was presented as valid for more than two years of litigation.
April 11, 2024
No Disparagement Alleged, No Advertising Injury Coverage Triggered, Panel Affirms

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals held that an underlying class action lawsuit brought against the manufacturer of Wipe Out! wipes and sprays failed to allege disparagement and, therefore, its general liability insurance policy’s personal and advertising injury coverage was not triggered, affirming a federal court’s dismissal of the insured’s lawsuit seeking coverage for underlying allegations that it made false and misleading claims on the labels of three of its products.
April 11, 2024
Architect To 5th Circuit: Promo Materials Without Notice Infringed Copyright

NEW ORLEANS — A license agreement with a developer specified that any publication of its copyrighted works must include its copyright management information (CMI), an architectural firm tells the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in its reply brief, insisting that this applied to promotional materials created by third parties at the developer’s behest.
April 10, 2024
Pharma Companies Seek High Court Review Of Ruling Reversing FCA Suit Dismissal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Pharmaceutical companies accused of violating the False Claims Act (FCA) by artificially inflating drug prices filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking review of the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ reversal of a district court’s dismissal of a qui tam suit against them, arguing, in part, that the panel “created a circuit split by holding that a relator can avoid the public disclosure bar by ‘stitching together’ public disclosures.”
April 10, 2024
Siding With Google, Board Says Ad Insertion Method, System Patent Is Obvious

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In an April 9 final written decision (FWD), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board declared 13 claims of a patented method and system for inserting advertisements into broadcast content across platforms and devices obvious to a person of skill in the art (POSITA).
April 10, 2024
Popular Instagram User Wins Leave To Amend Copyright Claims Against Travel Company

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An Icelandic woman with more than 1 million Instagram followers defeated a travel marketing company’s motion to dismiss copyright infringement claims on April 9, with a District of Columbia federal judge instead granting the plaintiff leave to file a third amended complaint.
April 10, 2024
Judge Won’t Reconsider Ruling That OpenAI Is Mark’s Owner

SAN FRANCISCO — A company and its owner have not shown that a finding that OpenAI Inc. is the only bona fide user of a trademark requires reconsideration or was reached in error, and the defendants cannot simply change attorneys and seek “a re-do” of the resulting preliminary injunction ruling, a federal judge in California said.
April 10, 2024
Court Erred On Timing, Logic In OpenAI Trademark Dispute, Party Says

SAN FRANCISCO — No evidence supports the conclusion that the OpenAI mark acquired secondary meaning by September 2022, and the court’s holding otherwise ignores that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office denied it that status as late as April 2023, a competitor for the mark says in a motion for reconsideration.
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.