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Intellectual Property Litigation Supreme Court of the United States

Knobbe Martens

German Sandals Follow the Functional Footsteps of U.S. Cheerleader Uniform Shape

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In a recent decision, Germany’s Federal Court of Justice held that Birkenstock’s sandal design was not eligible for copyright protection. The court held that Birkenstock sandals did not display sufficient creativity to be...more

Irwin IP LLP

Server Test in the Spotlight: What You See or How You See It?

Irwin IP LLP on

Elliot McGucken v. Valnet, Inc., No. 24-1040 (U.S. filed Mar. 28, 2025) - Introduction - In the Magician’s Nephew, C.S. Lewis wrote that “[w]hat you see… depends a good deal on where you are standing….,” but is the...more

Mintz - Intellectual Property Viewpoints

Regulation, Enforcement, and Associated Challenges: Part II

Given the continued challenges in policing the burgeoning ENDS marketplace, as previously discussed in Part I of this article, in mid-2024 FDA and DOJ announced the establishment of a federal multi-agency task force to combat...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

To Recuse or Not to Recuse? An Update.

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Given that litigation in the United States can take years from start to finish, we rarely see a conclusion to the cases we follow. In a prior blog post, we looked at the potential recusal requirements of the U.S. Supreme...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

US Supreme Court: 'Defendant’s Profits' Are Limited to Named Defendants Under the Lanham Act

Under the Lanham Act, a plaintiff who prevails on a trademark infringement claim may be entitled to recover the “defendant’s profits” as damages. The Supreme Court in Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc....more

Lowndes

When the Machine Becomes the Creator: Artificial Intelligence v. the Human Creator Requirements of U.S. Copyright Law

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On March 18, 2025 the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Stephen Thaler v. Shira Perlmutter et al., confirming that U.S. law requires human authorship. Specifically, the question presented to the Court was “can a...more

Irwin IP LLP

Time To “Dew” It Again. 

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Dewberry Group, Inc., FKA Dewberry Capital Corp v. Dewberry Engineers Inc., No. 23-900, 604 U.S. (2025) - On February 26, 2025, the United States Supreme Court unanimously overturned a $43 million damages award arising out...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Interesting Delay: Prejudgment Interest Accrues Despite Unreasonable Delay

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The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a decision on enhanced damages and prejudgment interest, concluding that the district court correctly applied the appropriate standard for enhanced damages in accordance...more

Smart & Biggar

When patents expire but royalty payments don’t: contrasting U.S. and Canadian approaches to patent licensing

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How does the expiration of the patents in one jurisdiction impact global royalty payments? This question was addressed by the United States Court of Appeal’s Ninth Circuit in C.R. Bard Inc v Atrium Medical Corporation, Case...more

Fitch, Even, Tabin & Flannery LLP

The Supreme Court Clarifies Definition of “Defendant’s Profits” Under the Lanham Act

On February 26, the U.S. Supreme Court in Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc. unanimously held that an award of “defendant’s profits” under the Lanham Act in a trademark infringement suit is only ascribable to the...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Supreme Court’s Dewberry Decision: Navigating Profit Recovery in Trademark Infringement Cases

Can a defendant’s affiliates’ profits be considered when awarding the “defendant’s” profits to the prevailing plaintiff in a trademark infringement suit under the Lanham Act, § 1117(a)? In Dewberry Group, Inc. v Dewberry...more

Mintz - Intellectual Property Viewpoints

Whose Profits Are These, Anyway? Who Constitutes The Defendant For Purposes of Disgorgement Of Profits In A Trademark Infringement...

In a unanimous (and unsurprising) decision on Wednesday, the Supreme Court vacated an award of nearly $43 million in disgorged profits to a trademark infringement plaintiff because those profits were not attributable to the...more

Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox P.L.L.C.

Section 337 Now Viable for “Mere Importers” After Federal Circuit’s Lashify Decision

For years, the U.S. International Trade Commission maintained that the potent remedies available under Section 337 were unavailable to intellectual property owners considered to be nothing more than “mere importers.” That...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

EDTX's Resurgence as the Top Patent Hot Spot

Judge Mazzant’s case assignment order on March 3, 2025, brought the topic of the Eastern District of Texas (“EDTX”) being the busiest forum for patent cases back into the spotlight...more

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass

Only the Defendant’s Profits Are Recoverable: Supreme Court Vacates Nearly $43 Million Trademark Infringement Award that...

Key Takeaways - A plaintiff prevailing in a trademark infringement suit is often entitled to an award of the “defendant’s profits.” 15 U.S.C. §1117(a)....more

Goodwin

Supreme Court Curtails Disgorgement in Trademark Infringement Case

Goodwin on

On February 26, 2025, the US Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision limiting the scope of an award of the “defendant’s profits” in trademark infringement suits under the Lanham Act, 15 U.S.C. §1117(a), to only those...more

Fenwick & West LLP

SCOTUS Stands by Corporate Separateness, Overturns Nearly $43M Award in Trademark Dispute

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The Supreme Court on February 26, 2025, overturned a nearly $43 million award granted in a decades long trademark dispute between two real estate companies. The unanimous ruling emphasized that under the Lanham Act section...more

Baker Donelson

Supreme Court Limits Reach of Trademark Infringement Damages: Affiliation Insufficient

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The Supreme Court recently issued its opinion in Dewberry Group, Inc., FKA Dewberry Capital Corp. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc. (23-900, Feb. 26, 2025), and addressed the issue of awarding profits in a trademark infringement...more

WilmerHale

Supreme Court Vacates Trademark Infringement Disgorgement Award for Failure to Observe Separateness of Corporate Affiliates

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On February 26, 2025, the Supreme Court decided Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc., No. 23-900, a case concerning corporate separateness and disgorgement awards for Lanham Act trademark infringement....more

BakerHostetler

Supreme Court Upholds Corporate Separateness in Unanimous Dewberry Decision

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In Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers, Inc., the Supreme Court unanimously held that the Lanham Act does not permit courts to disregard corporate identity when awarding damages for trademark infringement....more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

SCOTUS Holds Affiliate Profits Not Available Under One Lanham Act Provision, But Leaves Door Open for Other Theories

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The United States Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Dewberry Group, Inc. v. Dewberry Engineers Inc., vacating a nearly $43 million profits award and remanding the case for further consideration. The Court concluded...more

BakerHostetler

NBA Teams Support Challenge to Discovery Rule in Copyright Litigation

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Eight NBA teams recently filed an amicus curiae brief supporting a petition that asks the Supreme Court to reject application of the discovery rule to copyright cases. The discovery rule starts the clock for bringing a...more

Kilpatrick

Guarding the Guardrails: The Supreme Court Places Limits on the Equitable Remedy of an Accounting of Profits Under Section 35 of...

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I. Introduction - A prevailing plaintiff under the Lanham Act may be entitled to several forms of monetary relief, among them an accounting of the defendant’s profits under Section 35 of the Act.1 The prospect of a...more

Greenberg Glusker LLP

AI Training, Fair Use, and the Burdens of Being First

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Judge Bibas’s second take in Thomson Reuters v. Ross Intelligence will get plenty of second looks from courts deciding fair use in generative AI copyright cases. “Highly fact-specific.” “Narrowly decided.” A case with...more

Pillsbury - Internet & Social Media Law Blog

Bad Spaniels III: The Paradox of Parody in Trademark Cases Ex-Rogers

After a decade of litigation and a pivotal Supreme Court ruling from 2023, the legal battle between Jack Daniel’s and VIP Products has taken yet another turn, this time back in favor of Jack Daniel’s. On remand from the...more

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