Excellence. Integrity. Success.

On two issues of first impression, the Fifth Circuit held that mitigation was not an absolute defense to statutory damages under the Copyright Act, and not a complete defense to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) statutory damages. Oil Daily is a newsletter published by Plaintiff EIG; it analyzes the North

A new proposed legislation relating to the patent laws has been submitted in the United States House of Representatives—the Inventor Rights Act of 2019.  The proposed legislation concerns new rights and privileges that are limited to inventor-owned patents, or patents owned by entities controlled by their inventors.  As part of

In what amounts to the next in a long line of cases addressing the subject, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board issued an opinion again confirming that membership in an organization committed to filing IPRs does not rise to the level of “real party in interest.”  RPX Corporation (“RPX”) filed

The Federal Circuit recently affirmed an award of attorney’s fees for a patent infringement defendant where, as part of its ‘exceptional case’ analysis under 35 U.S.C. § 285, the lower court considered not only the substantive strength of the plaintiff’s position, but also its business model and history of litigation. 

Professor Dennis Crouch did a great job of summarizing the Supreme Court’s ruling last week in Peter v. NantKwest, wherein the Court found that the Patent and Trademark Office could not shift its litigation costs to applicants who choose to challenge the PTO’s decisions in district court.  We recommend everyone

The Federal Circuit recently ruled that Fisher & Paykel Healthcare Limited (“Fisher”) lacked standing to appeal an inter partes review (“IPR”) decision that Fisher had instituted against ResMed Limited (“ResMed”), finding Fisher failed to satisfy its burden of asserting future plans which would create “a substantial risk of future infringement”

In T.C. Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, LLC,[1] the United States Supreme Court clarified that only the patent venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b), without interpretation of the general venue statute (28 U.S.C. § 1391(c)) controls venue for patent infringement actions, and concluded that a domestic corporation accused of patent infringement

Plaintiff Tapatio, known for its ubiquitous hot sauce bottles labeled with red arching font and a yellow-clothed Mexican horseman in a sombrero, sued the defendant for using the mark “Tiowaxy” in connection T.H.C.-infused hot sauce. The Tiowaxy bottle bears the same red arching font and imagery. Tapatio moved for a

Columbia Sportswear (“Columbia”) sued Seirus Innovative Accessories (“Seirus”) for infringement of both a utility and a design patent relating to a heat management element in cold-weather outerwear. The design patent was directed to a wave-pattern design weave. Seirus established that the utility patent was anticipated and obvious, a finding sustained

In Airbus S.A.S. v. Firepass Corp., the Federal Circuit reversed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s finding that had held a patent directed to an athletic training and therapeutic chamber (used to simulate training at high altitude) was not analogous art against claims directed towards fire suppression methods. Case No.

A panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a decision by the Central District of California dismissing a complaint brought against Taylor Swift alleging that she stole the lyrics for her hit song “Shake It Off.” The District Court dismissed the complaint on the basis that

The Federal Circuit unanimously held that all Administrative Patent Judges (“APJs”) were Principal Officers who bypassed the constitutionally required Presidential appointment and Senate confirmation process, thus violating the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution art. II, § 2, cl. 2. In the same opinion, the Federal Circuit corrected the infirmity

The Central District of California recently ruled on summary judgment that Ironhawk Technologies, Inc.’s, (“Ironhawk”) “SmartSync” mark was descriptive and entitled to little or no protection. The District Court’s analysis relied on the Ninth Circuit’s Sleekcraft eight factor likelihood of confusion test1 and particularly concluded that Ironhawk’s “SmartSync” mark was

Any new rule or pilot program by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) is important to both prospective petitioners and patent owners because both parties should consider all available options when appearing in a proceeding before the Board. In three Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) proceedings for Mylan Pharmaceuticals,

Motiva alleged that HTC directly, indirectly, and willfully infringed of a number of Motiva’s patents directed to video game and virtual reality systems. HTC moved to dismiss two of Motiva’s claims, arguing that Motiva failed to adequately plead its claims for indirect and willful infringement. Specifically, HTC argued that that