The Supreme Court unanimously sided with Jack Daniel’s in the much-anticipated trademark case pitting trademark protection against parodic products. However, SCOTUS did not reach a final conclusion on whether VIP Products’...more
6/9/2023
/ Cease and Desist ,
Dilution ,
First Amendment ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
Jack Daniels Properties Inc v VIP Products LLC ,
Lanham Act ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Parody ,
Rogers Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Trade Dress ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks
Contrary to some predictions, assignor estoppel did not suffer the same fate in the hands of the Supreme Court as licensee estoppel in Lear v. Adkins. In fact, the doctrine, which essentially boils down to limiting an...more
The Supreme Court reminded bankrupt debtors on Monday that mere rejection of a contract does not turn back the clock to avoid contractual obligations. This was the thrust of its holding in Mission Product Holdings, Inc. v....more
6/7/2019
/ Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtors ,
Exclusions ,
Executory Contracts ,
IP License ,
Mission Product Holdings Inc v Tempnology LLC ,
Rescission ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 365 ,
Split of Authority ,
Trademark Licenses ,
Trademarks ,
Trustees
On a busy Monday for copyright law that saw everything from the return of RBG to discursions about hot dogs at sporting events, the Supreme Court issued two unanimous opinions concerning requirements for filing copyright...more
3/8/2019
/ Appeals ,
Copyright ,
Copyright Infringement ,
Copyright Registration ,
Fourth Estate Public Benefit Corp v Wall-Street.com LLC ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
SCOTUS ,
Solicitor General ,
Split of Authority ,
The Copyright Act ,
Uniformity
In Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., the Supreme Court held on Tuesday that “private” or “confidential sales” are still prior art despite the amendments to U.S. patent law enacted by the America...more
1/24/2019
/ America Invents Act ,
Appeals ,
Assignment of Inventions ,
Confidentiality Agreements ,
Helsinn Healthcare SA v Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc ,
Inventions ,
On-Sale Bar ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmaceutical Patents ,
Public Use ,
Reaffirmation ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 102 ,
Third-Party Relationships
A unanimous Supreme Court held in Samsung Electronics Co. v. Apple Inc. that Section 289 of the Patent Act does not demand that the entire, infringing end-user product be the basis for determining damages for design patent...more
12/10/2016
/ Apple v Samsung ,
Article of Manufacture ,
Calculation of Damages ,
Cell Phones ,
Component Parts Doctrine ,
Damages ,
Design Patent ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Profits ,
Remand ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Smartphones
Adverse findings in trademark registration opposition and cancellation proceedings in the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) may come back to bite the parties to these relatively inexpensive administrative...more