Mealey's Intellectual Property
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March 06, 2024
Michigan Federal Judge: Fish Illustrator’s Copyright Case ‘All Bait And No Hook’
DETROIT — A federal judge in Michigan on March 5 granted dismissal of allegations that a since-shuttered, print-on-demand website incurred infringement liability when it allowed internet users to upload copyrighted illustrations of freshwater fish for printing on various merchandise.
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March 06, 2024
Board Must Reconsider Amendments To 2 Patent Claims Proposed By Pfizer
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a review of five inter partes reviews (IPRs) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of patented pneumococcal vaccine technology, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled March 5 that although the board correctly deemed 45 claims obvious to a person of skill in the art (POSITA) and properly denied a bid by Pfizer Inc. to add five substitute claims, it must revisit its denial of two other newly proposed claims.
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March 06, 2024
Parties Spar Over When Obviousness Type Double Patenting Doctrine Applies
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a recent reply brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, a group of patentees urges rejection of a suggestion by various appellees that the obviousness double patenting (ODP) inquiry can be reduced to a comparison of patent expiration dates.
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March 05, 2024
Appellants Drop Dispute With Board Over Application Of ‘Fintiv Factors’ To PGRs
WASHINGTON, D.C — An unopposed motion to dismiss an appeal of a Virginia federal judge’s determination that jurisdiction is lacking over a challenge to the “Fintiv instructions” — a set of nonexclusive factors considered by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board when deciding whether to institute post-grant review (PGR) of certain patents — was granted March 4 by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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March 05, 2024
Google Beats Bid By Patent Owner To Lift Stay Of Texas Litigation
AUSTIN, Texas — On the heels of winning cancellation or disclaimer of 38 of 40 claims it challenged in an inter partes review (IPR) of two patents, Google LLC’s stated intention to appeal the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s findings for at least one of the two claims that survived IPR means a stay of Texas infringement litigation will stay in place, a federal judge there ruled March 4.
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March 05, 2024
Minnesota Federal Judge: Product And Product Trademark Are Distinct
MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota federal judge on March 4 rejected a plaintiff’s claim that a contractual provision directing a distributor to “discontinue use of any and all . . . trademarks” in the event of termination “encompasses an obligation to stop selling” its remaining inventory.
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March 04, 2024
Patent Owner Prevails In Appeal Of Adverse Inter Partes Review
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a March 4 ruling, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said final written decisions (FWDs) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board canceling all claims of four patents relating to closure of an incontinence diaper relied on “unsupported assumptions,” necessitating vacatur and remand.
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March 04, 2024
Claimed Circuit Split Over Fee Presumption In Copyright Cases Stays In Place
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Efforts by Hasbro Inc. to obtain review of a 2023 holding by the First Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that affirmed a denial of its request for attorney fees in a copyright case have failed, with the U.S. Supreme Court on March 4 denying the gamemaker’s petition for writ of certiorari.
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March 04, 2024
3 More Media Outlets Launch Copyright Actions Over Artificial Intelligence
NEW YORK — Three media outlets filed two new lawsuits in New York federal court targeting OpenAI Inc. and related entities associated with the use of copyrighted material to train artificial intelligence ChatGPT-4.
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March 04, 2024
Both Parties Win Interim Relief, But More Briefing Sought In Trademark Row
NEW YORK — On remand from the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals for a second time, a federal judge in New York on March 1 tweaked her earlier preliminary junction but directed a bridal gown company and its former designer to further brief the “issues raised” in a recent appellate decision.
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March 01, 2024
Denial Of Fee Request In Copyright Case Affirmed By 11th Circuit Panel
ATLANTA — “Even if” a prevailing copyright infringement defendant preserved its argument that an award of fees on its behalf was mandated under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 68 by a copyright owner’s voluntary dismissal of the case, an award is not warranted because the defendant is not a “prevailing party” under federal copyright law, the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
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March 01, 2024
Panel Reinstates Contract Case Against MasterCard Over Patent Royalties
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a case the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said “illustrates the importance of carefully reviewing the language in a covenant not to sue when entering a license agreement,” the court has again reversed summary judgment in favor of MasterCard International Inc., which stands accused of breaching its contract with a patent owner.
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March 01, 2024
Machine Company Tells High Court Petition Does Not Necessitate Rethinking Alice
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals correctly found that a competing machine company’s patent discloses an abstract process that is not patentable, a respondent tells the U.S. Supreme Court in a brief opposing a petition for certiorari that raises multiple questions about the abstract idea standard, contending that the case does not provide a vehicle for the court to reconsider the decade-old standard in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l.
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February 20, 2024
COMMENTARY: Diverging International Approaches To The Copyrightability And Authorship Of AI-Created Works
By Christopher W. Savage and James Rosenfeld
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February 29, 2024
OpenAI Says New York Times Used ChatGPT Hack To Produce Copyrighted Work
NEW YORK — The New York Times Co. (NYT) — using a known bug — hacked ChatGPT, and tens of thousands of attempts tricked it into producing “highly anomalous results” that it now uses as the basis for a copyright suit, the company behind the artificial intelligence tells a federal judge in New York in seeking dismissal of the suit.
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February 29, 2024
9th Circuit Says Zillow Entitled To Fees But Questions Amount Requested
SAN FRANCISCO — In a one-page order issued Feb. 28, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals agreed with Zillow Inc. that an award of fees for its successful defense of a Washington federal judge’s dismissal of copyright infringement litigation is warranted.
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February 28, 2024
6th Circuit Finds No Abuse Of Discretion In Award Of Disgorged Profits
CINCINNATI — A copyright dispute between two providers of loyalty certificates issued to car buyers was properly resolved in favor of the plaintiff, and an Ohio federal judge’s subsequent decision to order a defendant to disgorge $441,239 in profits attributed to the use of the infringing certificate will not be disturbed, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
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February 28, 2024
Circuit Company Says USB Connection Patent Would Have Been Obvious
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a Feb. 27 petition for inter partes review (IPR), a maker of microcontroller, mixed-signal, analog and flash integrated circuits seeks cancellation of dozens of claims of a patented method of connecting an upstream and downstream universal serial bus (USB).
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February 27, 2024
Microsoft: Material Differences In California, New York AI Copyright Suits
NEW YORK — Plaintiffs seeking to intervene in or dismissal of New York artificial intelligence copyright suits are simply jockeying for position, and material differences in the suits warrant ignoring the first-to-file rule and denying the motion, Microsoft Corp. tells a federal judge in New York in a Feb. 26 opposition.
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February 27, 2024
Patent Owner: Prior Art Relied On By Instacart In Inter Partes Review Fails
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Two references cited by Maplebear Inc., doing business as Instacart, in a recently instituted inter partes review (IPR) do not qualify as prior art because they became publicly accessible after the priority date to which the patent is entitled, the patent owner tells the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in a Feb. 26 response.
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February 27, 2024
Clear, Convincing Evidence Of Inequitable Conduct Lacking In Patent Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — While a jury verdict that Amazon.com did not infringe a voice processing patent was upheld Feb. 26 by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the panel joined a Texas federal judge in finding that the patent in suit was not proven unenforceable.
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February 27, 2024
Defense Motion Denied By Illinois Federal Judge In ‘Tribe’ Trademark Case
CHICAGO — In a Feb. 26 opinion, a federal judge in Illinois declined to decide whether, as asserted by two infringement defendants, the term “tribe” cannot be trademarked.
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February 26, 2024
NBC Must Face Claims ‘Time Machine’ Car Infringes DeLorean Mark
LOS ANGELES — Although agreeing with NBCUniversal Media LLC (NBCU) that allegations of breach of contract leveled by DeLorean Motor Co. (DMCT) over royalties associated with the use of a modified DeLorean DMC-12 “Time Machine” car in the “Back to the Future” film franchise fail for lack of standing, a federal judge in California said disputes of material fact preclude summary judgment on DMCT’s related trademark infringement claims.
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February 26, 2024
Philips Defeats Patent Challenge Again When Panel Rejects Intel Appeal
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Findings by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that Intel Corp. failed to establish obviousness of a patented method of authenticating distance measurements have been affirmed by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which ruled, among other things, that the board adequately addressed the grounds presented for inter partes review (IPR).
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February 23, 2024
Amici Tell High Court Jury Should Decide Likelihood Of Confusion
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Filing a brief in favor of neither party in a dispute over the “Home Chef” trademark, amici curiae comprising “law school faculty and students” urge the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a circuit split over the proper way to determine when there is a likelihood of confusion between two marks, stressing the importance of having a single national standard on this matter and contending that it should be a deference standard in which juries make such decisions.