The U.S. Supreme Court held in 2014 that the Lanham Act’s false advertising provision governs only commercial, not consumer, injuries. On April 4, 2023, while acknowledging that the distinction between commercial and consumer...more
On October 27, 2020, the Federal Circuit affirmed a U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) decision canceling Corcamore, LLC’s registration for the mark SPROUT. More specifically, the Federal Circuit concluded that...more
In a recent application of the Supreme Court’s 2014 Lexmark decision on standing, Judge Katharine Hayden of the District of New Jersey held last month that an herbal extract manufacturer allegedly misled by its supplier into...more
Earlier this year, we covered a decision from the District of Connecticut finding state law false advertising claims against the bottled water company Poland Spring preempted by the FDCA. Flowing from that decision is the...more
Earlier this year, the Federal Circuit ruled en banc in Lexmark v. Impression, the most significant exhaustion ruling since the Supreme Court’s Quanta decision. In response to Impression’s cert. petition, the Supreme Court...more
The proliferation of e-commerce websites along with the rise of social media, blogging, and online communities has greatly increased the importance of affiliate marketing. Affiliate marketing allows an affiliate to earn a...more
As Yahoo took stock of its suitors yesterday, it released word that its business “continued to deteriorate in the first quarter, putting more pressure on the company to find a buyer quickly for its Internet operations.”...more
The Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument Regarding the Standard for Awarding Enhanced Damages in Patent Cases - Why it matters: The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing the standard for awarding "enhanced" damages in patent...more
We frequently see companies affected by gray market imports and diverted sales. The gray market is caused by opportunistic importers who purchase a company’s products abroad and import them into the U.S. without...more
Under O2 Micro, a District Court Must Provide a Claim Construction if the Parties Dispute the Meaning of a Claim Term - In Eon Corp. IP Holdings LLC v. Silver Springs Networks, Inc., Appeal No. 2015-1237, the Federal...more
A recent case reminds litigators to be diligent in protecting their clients’ due-process rights when narrowing a case for trial or risk forfeiting the right to trial altogether. In Nuance Communications v. ABBYY USA Software...more
Patent owners have the right to exclude all others from making, using, or selling their inventions without first obtaining permission. But what happens to somebody who lawfully purchases a product or article that embodies a...more
According to ten judges of the Federal Circuit, a patent owner’s right to sue for infringement in the United States is not exhausted by sales of products abroad or by sales subject to valid post-sale contractual restrictions...more
This year the IP world will be brimming with changes, the largest of which will take place in the European Union. Sweeping reforms in EU trademark law will be implemented in March as well as the likelihood of the Unitary...more
In a rare instance in which all judges participated, the Federal Circuit issued a ruling earlier this month, in Lexmark International, Inc. v. Impression Products, Inc., on the legal issue of patent exhaustion for both...more
The en banc U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its long awaited (10-2) decision, reaffirming the court’s prior rulings in Mallinckrodt and Jazz Photo that a seller can use its patent rights to block resale...more
In Lexmark International, Inc. v. Impression Products, Inc., No. 14-1617 (Fed. Cir. 2016), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decided en banc that a U.S. patent owner’s “first sale” of items in a foreign...more
In Lexmark International, Inc. v. Impression Products, Inc., the en banc Federal Circuit held that (1) the sale of an article under clearly communicated and otherwise lawful restrictions on use and resale avoids patent...more
In Lexmark International, Inc. v. Impression Products, Inc., Case No. 14-1617 (February 12, 2016), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its en banc decision, by a 10-2 majority, holding that: - ..A...more
FEDERAL CIRCUIT CASES - Federal Circuit Affirms its pre-Quanta and Kirtsaeng Precedent on Patent Exhaustion for Restricted Domestic Sales and Foreign Sales - In a long-awaited en banc decision, the Federal Circuit...more
Lexmark International, Inc., v. Impression Products, Inc., Case Nos. 14-1617, -1619 (Fed Cir, Feb. 12, 2016) (en banc) (Taranto, J., joined by Prost, CJ and Newman, Lourie, Moore, O’Malley, Reyna, Wallach, Chen and Stoll, JJ)...more
On Friday, February 12, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld limits to its patent exhaustion or "first sale" doctrine despite recent Supreme Court cases questioning the same. In an 129-page opinion...more
In Lexmark International, Inc., v. Impression Products, Inc., the en banc Federal Circuit upheld a patent holder’s rights against exhaustion under two circumstances: (1) where the patent holder had sold a patented article...more
On February 12, 2016, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision confirming two important aspects of the doctrine of patent exhaustion in the anticipated en banc decision in Lexmark Int’l, Inc. v. Impression...more
Last week, the Federal Circuit en banc ruled that the sale of a product abroad by a U.S. patent holder (or others) does not exhaust the patent owner’s U.S. patent rights, such as the right to exclude sale or importation of...more