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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

American Axle & Manufacturing (“AAM”) sued its competitor NeapCo Holdings LLC (“NeapCo”) for patent infringement in December of 2015, alleging infringement of its method patent relating to manufacturing driveshafts with liners to reduce noise and vibration during use. The parties cross-moved for summary judgment as to the eligibility of the

In SIPCO, LLC v. Emerson Elec. Co., the Federal Circuit reversed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s construction of a claim term critical to determining whether SIPCO’s patent concerning wireless inter-device communication qualified for review as a covered business method (“CBM”) patent, remanding to the Board for further consideration concerning

When faced with determining the scope of protection in a social media influencer’s “character,” the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York concluded that omitting the key features of the influencer’s “character” can preclude claims of copyright infringement, even though the accused character appeared to draw