In a decision on motion in an appeal from the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit admonished the Board on remand to “furnish a reasoned explanation” when departing from its...more
12/7/2023
/ Appeals ,
Merely Descriptive ,
PTAB Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) ,
Remand ,
Trademark Application ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademark Opposition Proceedings ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
Vacatur
In a split panel decision, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit overturned the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board and ruled that a fraudulent declaration under Section 15 of the Lanham Act is not a basis for...more
The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to review the geographic scope of the Lanham Act and the extent to which trademark owners can use US trademarks to police foreign sales. Abitron Austria GmbH et al. v. Hetronic...more
The EU Unified Patent Court (UPC) announced a launch date of April 1, 2023, however, the announced date should be regarded as a statement of intent for it could change. The launch timing has been the subject of various delays...more
In a case where the cast of characters on both sides of the v. evolved during the lead-up to the litigation as the litigants negotiated third-party deals and formed new entities, the US Court of Appeals for the First Circuit...more
In its third opportunity to review the district court’s decision in this trade secret case involving flooring, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit again reversed, this time vacating a permanent injunction and an...more
9/15/2022
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Breach of Contract ,
Damages ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Misappropriation ,
Nominal Damages ,
Permanent Injunctions ,
Prevailing Party ,
Remand ,
Trade Secrets ,
Vacated
In a precedential decision rendered in an opposition proceeding, the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (Board) took the lawyers for each side to task for ignoring Board rules in presentation of their case, but ultimately decided...more
In the context of an opposition proceeding, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a Trademark Trial & Appeal Board (Board) refusal to register a trademark based on likelihood of confusion with a famous but...more
In a second visit to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, after the Court affirmed a finding of unenforceability due to inequitable conduct based on “bad faith” non-disclosure of statutory bar prior sales on the...more
The Supreme Court of the United States agreed to consider whether a copyright registration accurately reflecting a work can nevertheless be invalidated without fraudulent intent. Unicolors Inc. v. H&M Hennes & Mauritz LP,...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded that the minimum contacts or purposeful availment test for specific personal jurisdiction was satisfied where a patent owner sent multiple infringement notice letters...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has now vacated its prior ruling finding induced infringement based on so-called skinny labeling on a pharmaceutical product. GlaxoSmithKline LLC v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA...more
2/25/2021
/ Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) ,
Appeals ,
Generic Drugs ,
Hatch-Waxman ,
Inducement ,
Intent ,
Labeling ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Teva Pharmaceuticals
In the wake of its six-week-old decision in Thryv, Inc. v. Click-to-Call Technologies, LP, the Supreme Court of the United States has now granted certiorari in an appeal of another case arising from a Federal Circuit appeal...more
6/24/2020
/ § 314(d) ,
§ 315(b) ,
§314(a) ,
§314(b) ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Dissenting Opinions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Judicial Review ,
Non-Appealable Decisions ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Thryv Inc v Click-To-Call Technologies LP ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Vacated
In the wake of a 5-4 circuit court split, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari to review the 1986 Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) and specifically whether a person who is authorized to access...more
Addressing the scope of review of the PTAB’s application of the one-year time bar of 35 U.S.C. § 315(b) in deciding whether to institute an IPR proceeding, the US Supreme Court held that the PTAB’s application of the time bar...more
4/23/2020
/ § 314(d) ,
§ 315(b) ,
§314(a) ,
§314(b) ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Dissenting Opinions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Judicial Review ,
Non-Appealable Decisions ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
Thryv Inc v Click-To-Call Technologies LP ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Vacated
The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari on a petition filed by the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) seeking to overturn a district court decision in favor of Booking.com. The PTO argues that the mark is...more
12/6/2019
/ Acquired Distinctiveness ,
Appeals ,
Booking.com ,
Certiorari ,
Descriptive Trademarks ,
Domain Name Registration ,
Domain Names ,
Generic Marks ,
gTLD ,
Lanham Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in the decade-long battle between Google and Oracle over use of copyrighted pieces of Java software in the Android smartphone operating system. Google LLC v. Oracle...more
In a case explaining what comprises an “applicant delay” in the context of a patent term adjustment (PTA), the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sided with the US Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) ruling that the...more
11/4/2019
/ Appeals ,
Chevron Deference ,
Final Action ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Prosecution ,
Patent Term Adjustment ,
Patents ,
Request for Continued Examination ,
Statutory Interpretation ,
USPTO
In response to a petition for rehearing by the intervenors, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated part of an earlier precedential decision noting the lack of preclusive effect of trademark decisions by the...more
The Supreme Court of the United States granted writ of certiorari to consider the issue of profit disgorgement under 15 USC § 1117(a). Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc., et al., Case No. 18-1233 (S. Ct. June 28, 2019)....more
8/14/2019
/ Appeals ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Certiorari ,
Fashion Design ,
Lanham Act ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
Willful Infringement
The Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in a sovereign immunity copyright case to consider the abrogation issue in the context of copyright law. Allen v. Cooper, Case No. 18-877 (S. Ct. June 5,...more
7/15/2019
/ Abrogation ,
Allen v Cooper ,
Authors ,
Certiorari ,
Congressional Intent ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Ownership ,
Copyright Remedy Clarification Act ,
SCOTUS ,
Sovereign Immunity
The Supreme Court of the United States, brushing aside the position taken by the US Patent and Trademark Office as to the suitability of this case as a vehicle for review, agreed to consider whether a petition for an America...more
7/9/2019
/ § 315(b) ,
America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Certiorari ,
Final Written Decisions ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Voluntary Dismissals
The US Supreme Court has now held that a federal agency is not a “person” under the America Invents Act (AIA). Therefore, a federal agency cannot be a petitioner seeking review under the various AIA patent review procedures....more
6/13/2019
/ Administrative Agencies ,
America Invents Act ,
Covered Business Method Proceedings ,
Government Entities ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Validity ,
Patents ,
Post-Grant Review ,
Return Mail Inc v United States Postal Service ,
SCOTUS
In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Kavanaugh, the Supreme Court of the United States held that the term “full costs” in 17 USC § 505 of the Copyright Act has no special, expansive meaning, but is limited to the costs...more
4/10/2019
/ Appeals ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Expert Fees ,
Judicial Discretion ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Prevailing Party ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Rimini Street Inc v Oracle USA Inc ,
SCOTUS ,
The Copyright Act
On March 4, 2019, the US Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision authored by Justice Kavanaugh in Rimini Street, Inc. v. Oracle USA, Inc., finding that the term “full costs” in 17 USC § 505 of the Copyright Act has no...more
3/7/2019
/ Appeals ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Litigation ,
Expert Fees ,
Judicial Discretion ,
Litigation Fees & Costs ,
Prevailing Party ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
Rimini Street Inc v Oracle USA Inc ,
SCOTUS