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Mealey's Intellectual Property

January 30, 2024
9th Circuit Stays Mandate Reversing Court’s Dismissal In FCA Drug Pricing Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted a 90-day stay of the mandate reversing and remanding a district court’s dismissal of a relator’s qui tam suit alleging violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) against pharmaceutical companies related to their alleged fraud by artificially inflating drug prices.
January 30, 2024
Celebrity Tattoo Artist Cleared By Jurors In Copyright Infringement Case

LOS ANGELES — A jury empaneled in California federal court has resoundingly rejected allegations that Katherine Von Drachenberg, better known as Kat Von D, infringed a copyrighted photograph of the late jazz musician Miles Davis with a tattoo she created in 2017.
January 30, 2024
Novo Nordisk Tells Patent Board Mylan Petition Is Procedurally Improper

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A “copycat” challenge to a patent associated with the weight loss drug Ozempic filed 18 months after the petitioners were accused of infringement — and that seeks joinder to an existing and timely inter partes review (IPR) initiated by Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. — falls outside the time limits proscribed in federal patent law, Novo Nordisk A/S tells the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
January 30, 2024
Halliburton Defends Patent Board’s Anticipation, Obviousness Determinations

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Substantial evidence supports a final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that technology directed to the automation of hydraulic fracturing processes is unpatentable, Halliburton Energy Systems Inc. maintains in a recent appellee brief filed with the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
January 29, 2024
No Laughing Matter: Dudesy AI Sued Over George Carlin Comedy Video

LOS ANGELES — Individuals using an artificial intelligence created and publicly posted a “click-bait” video of deceased comedian George Carlin without authorization for the use of his likeness or any license to use copyrighted material, the comedian’s representatives allege in a lawsuit filed in California federal court.
January 29, 2024
Honeywell Wins Mandamus Relief; Panel Orders Transfer Of Patent Case

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Because several factors favor a North Carolina venue for allegations that Honeywell International Inc. infringed patented radio frequency identification (RFID) technology while “nothing of significance” ties the case to Texas, a federal judge there wrongly denied Honeywell’s motion to transfer, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Jan. 26.
January 26, 2024
Widow’s Bid To Terminate ‘Funny Girl’ Copyrights Rejected By 2nd Circuit

NEW YORK — A lawsuit by the widow of a lyricist who sought a declaratory judgment that she can terminate rights to songs from the Broadway musical “Funny Girl” was properly rejected on summary judgment by a federal judge in Connecticut, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
January 26, 2024
N.Y. Federal Judge Voices Skepticism Over Viability Of Atari Trademark Claims

NEW YORK — Three months after entering a temporary restraining order (TRO) in the case, a federal judge in New York on Jan. 25 denied a bid by Atari Interactive Inc. to obtain a preliminary injunction against a print-on-demand company, questioning whether the video game maker is likely to succeed on the merits of its trademark infringement claims.
January 26, 2024
Patent Case Over YouTube Live Streaming Features Tossed In Washington

SEATTLE — Google LLC has secured dismissal with prejudice of allegations that YouTube violates a patent relating to a web conferencing system with “time shifting” capabilities, with a federal judge in Washington concluding Jan. 25 that the claimed technology is ineligible for patenting.
January 25, 2024
American Airlines’ Trademark Case Against Travel Company Survives Dismissal Request

FORT WORTH, Texas — Allegations that a travel company inflated the costs of airline tickets by charging customers more than the actual ticket price and, in so doing, infringed the American Airlines (AA) trademark will proceed, a federal judge in Texas ruled in denying a motion to dismiss.
January 25, 2024
California Federal Judge: No Trial On Intel Patent License Defense, For Now

SAN FRANCISCO — Citing a recent agreement to dismiss two patents from a longstanding row over microchips combined with her earlier summary judgment of noninfringement and/or invalidity of two other patents, a federal judge in California on Jan. 24 denied a bid by Intel Corp. to proceed to trial on an affirmative defense that its use of the patented technology was authorized by a license.
January 25, 2024
Damages Expert Admissible In Lanham Act Case For Aftermarket Pool Products

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — An expert retained to opine on damages a company incurred due to consumer confusion about aftermarket products for a pool can testify after a North Carolina federal judge rejected two companies’ motion to exclude and ruled that their objections go to weight, not admissibility.
January 25, 2024
Appeal Of Adverse Ruling In APA Case Against USPTO Heads To Federal Circuit

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A July determination by a District of Columbia federal judge that a nonprofit corporation representing inventors lacks standing to press a lawsuit over the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) process for deciding when to institute inter partes review (IPR) and post-grant review (PGR) will proceed before the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled.
January 24, 2024
Insurers Have No Duty To Defend Against Copyright Suit, California Panel Affirms

LOS ANGELES — A California appeals panel on Jan. 23 affirmed a lower court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of professional liability and excess insurers, finding that the insurers have no duty to defend or indemnify their investment adviser insured against an underlying copyright lawsuit.
January 24, 2024
Copyright Act Protects AI-Generated Artwork, Man Says On Appeal

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Precedent governing application of the Copyright Act doesn’t require a human creator, and the law’s very purpose supports granting its protections to art created by an artificial intelligence, a man tells the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
January 24, 2024
2-Pronged Challenge To Folder Sharing, File Requesting Patent Launched

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — In a pair of petitions for inter partes review (IPR), a cloud storage company seeks cancellation by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of a technique for allowing a user to share folders or request that a file be uploaded by a different user.
January 24, 2024
In Colorado Patent Row, Federal Judge Denies Reconsideration Request

DENVER — Assertions by a patent infringement defendant that an order construing the disputed claim term “sperm cells” in a method patent for producing sex-sorted animal sperm constituted an intervening change in law because it is broader than the construction offered by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in a related inter partes review (IPR) were rejected Jan. 23 by a federal judge in Colorado.
January 24, 2024
Authors In OpenAI Copyright Fight Praise Joint Stipulation, Oppose Stay

NEW YORK — Parties’ carefully crafted stipulation creates “tremendous efficiencies” while removing the threat of dismissal motions and attempts to transfer a pair of class action copyright lawsuits against OpenAI Inc., and the court should reject an outside party’s request that it be stayed and a steering committee be formed, authors tell a federal judge in New York in a Jan. 23 letter.
January 23, 2024
Music Publishers Say Proposed Amicus Brief In AI Case Is Off Key

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Music publishers on Jan. 22 said a proposed Jan. 19 amicus curiae brief by groups comprising artificial intelligence investors is unnecessary at this stage of their copyright infringement lawsuit and is unlikely to add much to the dispute other than costs and time.
January 23, 2024
Authors, OpenAI Entities Stipulate To Case Guidelines In Copyright Lawsuit

NEW YORK — Parties to class action copyright lawsuits against OpenAI Inc. and related entities brought by fiction writers and nonfiction authors have agreed to consolidate the two cases and that the defendants will not seek transfer or dismissal of existing claims, among other framework for the cases to proceed, a federal judge in New York said in a Jan. 22 order adopting the stipulation. Meanwhile, two journalists who recently filed a similar suit asked the court on Jan. 23 to hold the stipulation in abeyance until the court decides whether to include their suit in the consolidated actions.
January 23, 2024
Panel Rejects Mandamus Bid By Musician Seeking Cancellation Of Apple Mark

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A petition for a writ of mandamus by an applicant for the “Apple Jazz” trademark directing the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board to decide his request for cancellation of the “Apple” trademark for entertainment services in class 41 was denied Jan. 23 by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
January 23, 2024
Panel Grants PTO Request, Reissues Trademark Ruling As Precedential

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A recent nonprecedential ruling by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that a trademark application containing informational matter is refusable when the applied-for mark is not perceived as a source-identifier of the applicant’s goods or services was reissued Jan. 22, this time as precedential.
January 23, 2024
Panel Upholds Win For BMW, Affirms Patent Board Obviousness Holding

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A patented remote start system that also activates a vehicle’s climate control system and operates the vehicle brake was correctly deemed obvious by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals concluded Jan. 22.
January 23, 2024
Technology Underlying 3D Pointer Is Obvious, Federal Circuit Affirms

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A final written decision (FWD) by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board canceling various claims of a patented three-dimensional pointing device has been upheld by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, which deemed the board’s findings supported by substantial evidence.
January 22, 2024
Meritless Publicity Claims In AI Copyright Suit Warrant Fee Award, Company Says

SAN FRANCISCO — Because the plaintiffs dropped right-to-publicity claims from their amended complaint challenging artificial intelligence’s use of their works, it is clear that those claims were meritless, and the court should grant a motion to strike and award fees under the state’s anti-SLAPP statute, Stability AI Ltd. tells a federal judge in California in a reply brief.