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 above. 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.
- January 30, 2023
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) recently affirmed an Eastern District of Texas ruling that U.S. Patent No. 8,191,091 (“the ’091 patent”) is unenforceable due to prosecution laches. Personalized Media Communications, LLC (“PMC”) was found to have engaged in an unreasonable and unexplained delay in prosecuting…
- January 23, 2023
On January 12, 2023, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) redesignated a decision as precedential, in which it denied a trademark based on nonuse because the Applicant applied using the TEAS Plus application under the category of “musical instruments,” but sought to expand this identification category to “musical…
- January 17, 2023
The Ninth Circuit recently affirmed the denial of the United States’ second motion for preliminary order of forfeiture of the Mongol Nation’s trademarks. The Ninth Circuit held that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) did not provide the government with the power to strip a group of…
- January 12, 2023
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) recently reversed and remanded the Western District of Wisconsin’s summary judgment holding of invalidity for 12 patents belonging to Plastipak Packaging, Inc. (“Plastipak”) in an infringement action it brought against Premium Waters, Inc. (“Premium Waters”). The CAFC based its decision…
- January 9, 2023
The United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois recently denied a renewed motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to prohibit sales of Defendants’ hoverboards that allegedly infringed Plaintiffs’ design patents (exemplary comparison pictured below): The renewed motion came after the Court had previously issued a preliminary…
- December 28, 2022
On November 17, 2022, the District of Delaware adjudicated a perfect storm of international patent enforcement: a method claim infringement dispute between an Australian patent owner (F45) and the U.S. subsidiary (BFT) of another foreign company (BFT Australia) where some steps were performed in Australia, and others by BFT’s…
- December 20, 2022
In a case informative about appellate practice, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) overturned-in-part the Patent Office’s conclusions that a communication system was not obvious. The CAFC found one claim obvious because a similar claim was found obvious, even though that argument had not been asserted…
- November 23, 2022
On November 9, 2022, the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed a preliminary injunction in favor of SoClean, Inc. (“SoClean”) against Sunset Healthcare Solutions, Inc. (“Sunset”). SoClean sued Sunset for trademark infringement of its registered mark for replacement filters. Although the district believed that SoClean was likely to prevail on the…
- November 21, 2022
Following a nine-day jury trial, the district court granted the plaintiff’s request for a new trial on damages. The basis for the grant of a new trial on damages was the Federal Circuit’s (CAFC) decision in Omega Patents, LLC v. CalAmp Corp., 13 F.4th 1361 (Fed. Cir. 2021). The…
- November 11, 2022
In a patent dispute between Allergan and Sandoz, the District Court of Colorado granted Plaintiff’s motion in limine excluding certain evidence the Defendant sought to rely upon to defend against the Plaintiff’s claim of willful infringement because reliance on that evidence would require waiver of attorney-client privilege when the…
- November 4, 2022
On September 30, 2022, Chief Judge DeGuisti of Western District of Oklahoma granted-in-part and denied-in-part defendants Netflix, Inc. and Royal Goode Productions, LLC’s motion for attorney’s fees as prevailing parties in a copyright infringement suit. The court significantly reduced the awarded amount, finding that the amount sought by defendants…
- October 26, 2022
In an unexpected decision, a jury in the Southern District of Illinois found that it was not fair use to reproduce the images of a WWE wrestler’s tattoos in a video game in order to accurately portray the wrestler’s likeness. The outcome of this case directly conflicts with Solid…
- October 24, 2022
On September 29, 2022, a jury in the Central District of California found that that Vital Pharmaceuticals Inc. willfully and deliberately violated the Lanham Act by falsely advertising a “Super Creatine” ingredient of a Bang energy drink and awarded Monster Energy Co. about $292 million in Lanham Act damages,…
- October 21, 2022
The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) recently affirmed in part, vacated in part, and remanded a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) decision holding that all but two claims of a patent belonging to Provisur Technologies, Inc. (“Provisur”) were unpatentable as obvious. In doing so, the…
- October 19, 2022
This week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) affirmed the invalidity of Polaris Innovations Ltd.’s (“Polaris”) previously-invalidated patents, despite previously vacating and remanding the invalidity decisions. In February of 2017, NVIDIA Corporation (“NVIDIA”) initiated two inter partes review (“IPR”)…
- September 21, 2022
On September 7, 2022, the Federal Circuit (CAFC) affirmed dismissal of a patent infringement suit under the duplicative litigation doctrine because the asserted patent and accused products were part of an earlier filed case. Arendi S.A.R.L. (“Arendi”) filed suit against LG Electronics Inc. and LG Electronics USA, Inc. (collectively,…
- September 19, 2022
Pointing to domain registration, hosting services, website compliance terms, and U.S. based users of a Hong Kong company’s internet business, the Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a Japanese company’s copyright suit for a lack of personal jurisdiction. This precedential decision provides guidance regarding what constitutes sufficient jurisdictional contacts to…
- September 9, 2022
On August 23, 2022, the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) rejected an attack on the Alice/Mayo patent eligibility framework (“Alice/Mayo”), finding it was sufficiently defined based on judicial precedent to be usable in practice, was not arbitrary and capricious under the Administrative Procedure Act (“APA”) as the APA does not apply…