The Ohio State University has successfully obtained a trademark registration for the word “THE,” which has been the university’s moniker and rallying cry at sporting events for decades. The trademark registration covers...more
Public schools and universities are barred from requiring vaccines that have not received full U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval under Ohio House Bill 244 (HB 244), signed by Governor Mike DeWine on July 14,...more
273-1 Federal Circuit Holds University of Texas is Immune from Involuntary Joiner, Holds Case against Potential Infringer may Proceed in School’s Absence - The Federal Circuit recently affirmed-in-part, reversed-in-part,...more
Entities with patent-related relationships with state universities scored a victory under the rarely implicated (at least for patent practitioners) doctrine of sovereign immunity. For patent holders, sovereign immunity comes...more
In a conundrum worthy of a law school civil procedure examination, plaintiff Gensetix found itself apparently with no remedy for infringement by Baylor College of Medicine, Diakonos Research Ltd., and William Decker of...more
We live in a time of contradictions and confusion, and today we aim to explore how some such tensions have manifested themselves in the area of intellectual property law. On the one hand, we have a national and...more
As regions across New York State prepare to enter Phase Four of reopening, the New York State Department of Health (“NYDOH”) has released its “Interim Guidance for Higher Education During the COVID-19 Public Health...more
LSI and Ericsson petitioned for inter partes review (IPR) of several patents owned by the University of Minnesota (UMN). UMN moved to dismiss each IPR based on state sovereign immunity. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board...more
Report on Research Compliance 17, no. 2 (January 23, 2020) - - More than two years after Ozgur Tataroglu’s paper was retracted, the HHS Office of Research Integrity found that it and two grant applications contained...more
The Arizona Board of Regents governs Arizona’s public university system, overseeing Arizona State University, Northern University of Arizona and the University of Arizona. The Board is required by law to establish uniform...more
Sports and sports teams have a long history with intellectual property law and, more specifically, trademarks. Sports teams, colleges, and universities have long trademarked their names and logos, and have routinely and...more
Legal, sport, and popular press let out a collective chortle upon learning that The Ohio State University had filed a federal trademark application for the mark THE. Some debated whether the University would be successful in...more
The August 2019 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses The Ohio State University's trademark application for the mark "THE" and the current gTLD sunrise period. In this issue: - Well Played -...more
Under constitutional principles of United States law, states generally enjoy sovereign immunity. This immunity, enshrined in the 11th amendment of the US Constitution, bars private parties from bringing lawsuits against the...more
One-year Clock for Filing IPR Petition Applies to Litigants and Parties that Become Privies of the Litigant Prior to Institution. In Power Integrations, Inc v. Semiconductor Components, Appeal No. 2018-1607, the Federal...more
In Regents of the Univ. of Minn. v. LSI Corporation, Fed. Cir., No. 18-01559, the Federal Circuit extended the inability to stand behind 11th Amendment Sovereign Immunity to patents owned by individual states, such that they...more
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) issued a May 15th news release stating that it cited two Missouri contractors for allegedly failing to comply with asbestos removal standards while performing...more
Federal Circuit Summary - Before Prost, Moore, and Wallach. Appeal from the Northern District of Florida. Summary: When a state entity sues for patent infringement, it waives sovereign immunity as to all defenses,...more
Casino is an underrated movie and it had a great line on the poster that said: “no one stays on top forever.” It’s a great tagline and I find it to be true. Just look at the New York Yankees between 1965 and 1976. Dien Ben...more
In November we alerted employers that an Oklahoma City federal court jury awarded Rachel Tudor, a transgender employee, $1.165 million in her discrimination, retaliation and hostile work environment lawsuit against...more
The University of Minnesota (UMinn) and Toyota Motor Corp. (Toyota) co-own U.S. Patent 8,394,618 (the ’618 patent). After Reactive Surfaces Ltd. filed a petition for IPR of the ’618 patent, UMinn and Toyota filed a motion to...more
Sovereign Immunity - Sovereign immunity exempts a sovereign from the jurisdiction of a court - States are entitled to sovereign immunity under the 11th amendment Seminole Tribe of Fla v. Florida, 517 U.S. 44 (1996) ...more
A closely watched case on sovereign immunity, Reactive Surfaces Ltd., LLP, v. Toyota Motor Corp., IPR2017-00572, has now been terminated by the patent owner’s request for adverse judgment....more
Sovereign immunity refers to the doctrine that the government cannot be sued without its consent. Specifically, the 11th Amendment precludes federal courts from exercising jurisdiction over states in suits brought by private...more
The PTAB has again addressed sovereign immunity in the context of an IPR. Reactive Surfaces, LTD. petitioned for IPR of U.S. Patents No. 8,394,618 and 8,252,571. The ’618 and ’571 patents are co-owned by Toyota Motor...more