Publications

Irwin IP Publications is the go-to resource for the latest updates and insights in the world of intellectual property. Over 250 articles are published on cases addressing unique issues, all of which can be found using the search tool below. Additionally, there is a collection of articles/papers and presentations that cover a wide range of topics. Whether you’re a legal professional, business owner, or simply someone passionate about IP, our publications page will provide you with all the knowledge needed to navigate this dynamic field. 

Gain insight into the intricacies of design patent obviousness and the pivotal federal circuit en banc trial for our client, LKQ Corporation, highlighting the latest developments and their implications for intellectual property law….
On September 17, 2024, the Second Circuit concluded that under New York’s Long Arm Statute, a business that receives a single product order, sends an order confirmation email, and accepts payment from a customer with a New York shipping address, “transacts business in New York” for purposes of establishing…
On September 16, 2024, a special master for the Northern District of Georgia issued a report and recommendation to deny Ionic Air Care’s motion for summary judgment that Aviation Clean Air’s patents were invalid under the “public use” and “on-sale” bars to patentability of 35 U.S.C. § 102(b).  This…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s ruling that nonprofit digital library Internet Archive (“IA”)’s practice of scanning entire books and lending the e-books for free was not considered fair use under Section 107 of the Copyright Act, and thus, infringed the Plaintiffs-Appellees…
On August 26, 2024, the Western District of Wisconsin issued a decision adjudicating a number of motions in a case involving a thicket of intellectual property claims and counterclaims.  Fiskars Finland OY AB and Fiskars Brands Inc. (collectively, “Fiskars”) sued Woodland Tools Inc. and its affiliated parties (“Woodland”), asserting…
On August 24, 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) dismissed an appeal for lack of standing after a failed inter partes review (IPR) challenge by petitioner Platinum Optics Technology Inc. (Platinum Optics).  The decision underscores the fact that even if a party has…
On August 13, 2024, the Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s decision that a patent was invalid for obviousness-type double patenting (“ODP”) and held that In re: Cellect LLC, 81 F.4th 1216, 1228–29 (Fed. Cir. 2023) did not require the invalidation of a related earlier patent even though it…
Manufacturers beware!  Your sales of products based on secret manufacturing processes may invalidate your patents.  The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) recently affirmed an International Trade Commission (“ITC”) decision that invalidated process patent claims because the patentee sold products—manufactured based on the secret process claims—more than…
On August 1, 2024, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that affirmed a trade secret claim, but reversed and remanded a copyright claim related to Plaintiff Compulife’s insurance quote comparison software.  First, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court’s decision, where the district court held that…
On July 10, 2024, the Third Circuit vacated and remanded the district court’s decision to award attorneys’ fees to plaintiff Lontex, a sports apparel brand whose registered COOL COMPRESSION mark was used by Nike on its Nike Pro clothing line, finding that the district court’s determination that the case…
The 7th Circuit recently upheld an arbitration award and found that royalties may be collected after the expiration of the related patent(s) if those royalties were not directly tied to the related patents.  After an arbitration panel found that an amendment to the parties’ agreement disconnected the patented technology…
On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, changing the way courts must review a governmental agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute.  The Court held that courts must review an agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute using a de…
The Seventh Circuit has opened the flood gates by allowing trade secret owners to recover damages for foreign sales of products using misappropriated trade secrets.  On July 2, 2024, the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision that the Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) applied extraterritorially, allowing the plaintiff…
On June 21, 2024, the Federal Circuit affirmed the District Court for the District of New Jersey’s dismissal of Beteiro, LLC’s (“Beteiro’s”) patent infringement case against DraftKings, Inc. (“DraftKings”) on the basis that Beteiro’s patents claimed unpatentable subject matter under 35 U.S.C. §101.  Beteiro had alleged that DraftKings’ online…
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) recently reversed the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (“District Court”)’s grant of a preliminary injunction against EOFlow, a medical device manufacturer that makes insulin pump patches.  Insulet, also a manufacturer of insulin pump patches (the “OmniPod”) sought…
Check out this Law360 article by two of our attorneys at Irwin IP, Joseph Marinelli and Suet Lee. Their article delves into the recent decision by the Federal Circuit in Intellectual Tech LLC v. Zebra Technologies Corp., providing crucial insights into the complex issue of constitutional standing in patent…
In a landmark decision affirming longstanding principles of trademark law, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Lanham Act’s names clause does not violate the First Amendment, confirming the authority of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) to regulate trademarks containing living individuals’ names without their consent. …
In October of 2021, pursuant to the triennial review process of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DCMA”), the Library of Congress (the “Library”) promulgated rules exempting certain classes of copyrighted works, e.g., medical software in devices like CT scanners and MRI machines, from anti-circumvention provisions of the DCMA.  Thereafter,…
A Washington jury recently issued a $72 million verdict in favor of Zunum Aero Inc. (“Zunum”), a now-defunct aerospace startup, against The Boeing Company (“Boeing”) for willful and malicious misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of a nondisclosure agreement (“NDA”), and tortious interference.  The companies had multiple NDAs, and Boeing…
On May 1, the Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of Intellectual Tech’s (“IT’s”) patent infringement claims against Zebra Technologies (“Zebra”) for lack of constitutional standing.  The Federal Circuit found that even though IT defaulted on a loan, which gave their bank rights to the patents used as…