Mealey's Intellectual Property
-
November 30, 2023
No Coverage Owed For Breach Of Franchise Agreement, Trademark Infringement Claims
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling in favor of insurers in an insured’s breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying action alleging that it breached a franchise agreement and infringed on trademarks, finding that some of the underlying claims “clearly fell outside the policy's coverage” and that the policy’s intellectual property (IP) exclusion also barred coverage.
-
November 29, 2023
Panel Upholds Denial Of Fees For Jaegermeister In Dispute Over ‘Kühl’ Mark
DENVER — Less than three months after affirming a grant of summary judgment in favor of Mast-Jaegermeister US Inc. (MJUS) on allegations that the spirits maker infringed the “kühl” trademark, the 10th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Nov. 28 also upheld a decision that the case does not qualify as exceptional, rendering MJUS not entitled to an award of attorney fees.
-
November 29, 2023
Cross-Appellant: Dispute Centers On Contract, Not Patent Misuse
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A cross-appellant urges the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to transfer a contractual dispute involving Honeywell International Inc. and others to the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, asserting that an allegation of patent misuse before a district court is not enough to vest the Federal Circuit with exclusive jurisdiction over the appeal.
-
November 29, 2023
California Federal Judge: Signal Decoding Tech Ineligible For Patenting
SAN FRANCISCO — A challenge by a developer of gaming peripherals to the eligibility of a patent it is accused of infringing was persuasive to a federal judge in California, who dismissed the case.
-
November 28, 2023
Music Publisher, Licensor Ask High Court To Reject Discovery Rule In Copyright Suits
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Section 507(b) of the Copyright Act does not provide for application of the discovery rule to permit claims for retrospective relief for copyright infringement that occurred more than three years prior to filing suit, a music publishing firm and a licensing company tell the U.S. Supreme Court in their Nov. 27 opening merits brief, asking the high court to overturn an 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruling allowing use of the discovery rule.
-
November 28, 2023
Biotech Company Can’t Shake Copyright Claim Over Dodo Bird Drawing
AUSTIN, Texas — A federal magistrate judge in Texas on Nov. 27 recommended that a company that has raised more than $150 million in its effort to bring the dodo back from extinction face allegations that it infringed an artist’s copyrighted rendering of the legendary flightless bird.
-
November 28, 2023
New York Federal Judge Tosses Trademark Claims In ‘Surf Lodge’ Spat
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Although a second amended complaint (SAC) by the owners and operators of “The Surf Lodge” in Montauk, N.Y., adequately state a claim for false designation of origin against a former business associate, their allegations of trademark infringement and dilution must be dismissed, a federal judge in New York concluded Nov. 27.
-
November 27, 2023
Genomic Sequencing Of Tumor Sample Not Patentable, Petitioner Says
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A cancer diagnostics company accused in Colorado federal court of infringing a method of screening for cancer recurrence maintains in a Nov. 22 filing with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that the patent asserted against it should be canceled as anticipated and obvious.
-
November 27, 2023
Hawaii Federal Judge: Accused Use Of ‘Skydive Hawaii’ Mark Is Fair
HONOLULU — Although ordering additional briefing on a claim for breach of settlement agreement, a federal judge in Hawaii on Nov. 22 granted a defense motion to dismiss allegations of trademark infringement leveled over the use of “Skydive Hawaii” in connection with a Hawaii-based skydiving business.
-
November 27, 2023
Panel: Trademark Board Ruling Departed From Established Waiver Practice
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Circuit U.S. Court Appeals on Nov. 22 rejected a joint motion by two parties to vacate a decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that sustained opposition to the “Get Ordained” trademark in two classes of services in light of their subsequent settlement of parallel district court litigation.
-
November 27, 2023
Lloyd’s And U.S. Subsidiary File Trademark Infringement, Defamation Lawsuit
HOUSTON — Two entities connected with “an insurance and reinsurance market that is the most famous brand in the insurance underwriting field” have filed a suit in Texas federal court asserting claims including defamation and trademark infringement against an individual and a corporation and LLC they say he registered in Texas and California.
-
November 22, 2023
Arthrex Prevails Before Board In Challenge To Surgical Implant Patent
ALEXANDRIA, Va.— In a final written decision (FWD) issued Nov. 21, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board agreed with Arthrex Inc. that all claims of a patented instrument and method for guiding and positioning surgical implants within the body are anticipated or rendered obvious by prior art.
-
November 22, 2023
In Florida Trademark Row, Federal Infringement Claim Survives Bid To Dismiss
MIAMI — A federal judge in Florida said that because a counterclaimant has not received a state trademark registration, its allegation of common-law infringement would be dismissed; in the same ruling, the judge denied dismissal as it relates to federal trademark infringement.
-
November 22, 2023
Federal Circuit: Missed Deadline By Patent Board No Jurisdictional Bar
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A challenge by a drugmaker to a determination of unpatentability by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that was issued after the statutory deadline to do so was rejected Nov. 21 by the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, in what it deemed a matter of first impression.
-
November 21, 2023
California Trademark Row Won’t Be Stayed During Cancellation Proceedings
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal magistrate judge in California has denied a bid to stay a declaratory judgment action over the “Karmapoint” trademark while the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board considers a pending request for cancellation.
-
November 21, 2023
Music Publishers Seek To Enjoin ‘Blatant’ AI Copyright Violations
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Anthropic PBC built its artificial intelligence model and billion-dollar business on “blatant and widespread copyright infringement,” leading music publishers claim in a motion filed in a federal court in Tennessee seeking a preliminary injunction hoping to prevent “incalculable harm.”
-
November 21, 2023
Judge Dismisses ‘Nonsensical’ Copyright Claims For Meta’s Use Of Books To Train AI
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge on Nov. 20 granted a motion to dismiss the bulk of claims brought by authors in two related putative class actions against Meta Platforms Inc. for copyright infringement based on its use of their written works to train its artificial intelligence software, calling the plaintiffs’ “derivative works” argument “nonsensical.”
-
November 21, 2023
Panel: Patented Method For Trapping Wild Pigs Correctly Ruled Obvious
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The owner of a patented method and apparatus used for the remote capture of wild pigs on Nov. 20 failed to persuade the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to overturn a determination by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board that the technology would have been obvious to a person of skill in the art.
-
November 20, 2023
Citing Appeal Of Patent Board Rulings, California Federal Judge Continues Stay
SAN FRANCISCO — Efforts by a patent owner to lift a stay of infringement allegations failed when a federal judge in California said that a pending appeal by Apple Inc. of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) determination that the technology is patentable weighs in favor of maintaining the status quo.
-
November 20, 2023
Method Of Making Semiconductor Devices Is Unpatentable, Panel Says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In an appeal “principally” of a claim construction by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said Nov. 17 that all seven challenged claims of a patented method of making semiconductor devices would be obvious to a person of skill in the art.
-
November 20, 2023
Patent Owner Critiques Intel Theory For Motivation To Combine References
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A petition for inter partes review (IPR) by Intel Corp. is “riddled with holes,” a patent owner tells the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in a Nov. 17 preliminary patent owner response (POPR).
-
November 17, 2023
In Divided Ruling, Federal Circuit Affirms Construction Of ‘Securing Yarns’
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A stipulation of noninfringement of two patents relating to fabrics used in ballistic applications will stand, a divided Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 16, finding no error in a New York federal judge’s claim construction of a disputed term.
-
November 17, 2023
California Federal Judge: Content Activation Tech Ineligible For Patenting
WASHINGTON, D.C. — One of three patents at issue in an infringement case was dismissed without prejudice by a federal judge in California who agreed that the technology covers the abstract idea of “delivering and deriving a decryption key from a stream of data.”
-
November 17, 2023
Trek Can’t Persuade Federal Circuit To Undo Trademark Board Ruling
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Weighing by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board of the relevant factors for a likelihood of confusion was not erroneous, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled in a blow to Trek Bicycle Corp.
-
November 17, 2023
Guide Extension Catheter Correctly Confirmed As Patentable, Panel Rules
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patent Trial and Appeal Board did not err in rejecting allegations of obviousness and anticipation by Medtronic Inc. in an inter partes review (IPR) of a patented guide extension catheter, the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled Nov. 16.