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Utility Patents Patents Trade Dress

Husch Blackwell LLP

Beyond Utility: How to Protect Corporate Value with Design Patents

Husch Blackwell LLP on

Utility patent protection is typically the first thing that comes to mind for protecting a product; however, such protection may not be available when the product has been on the market a long time or is dominated by...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

Federal Circuit Notes Patent in Rejecting Trade Dress Protection

As a general rule, in order to be protectable trade dress, a feature of a product, for example, the product's color, must be nonfunctional. That is, the feature must have been an arbitrary choice added to identify the source...more

Spilman Thomas & Battle, PLLC

Athletic Fashion Dispute in Race to Courthouse

Lululemon and Peloton are suing each other over clothing design patents and trade dress. Specifically, the case involves designs for athletic bras and leggings. Peloton won the "race to the courthouse" in response to a cease...more

Knobbe Martens

Utility Patents: Another Strategy to Protect Your Beauty and Cosmetic Portfolio

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On October 27, 2020, the District Court in the Western District of Texas issued its Final Judgment in L’Oreal USA Creative, Inc. v. Drunk Elephant, LLC, 1:18-cv-00982 (W.D.Tex.), which approved the Joint Stipulation of...more

Haug Partners LLP

“That’s the way the cookie crumbles!” Third Circuit Court of Appeals Considers Differences Between Trade Dress and Patent...

Haug Partners LLP on

In Ezaki Glico Kabushiki Kaisha v. Lotte International America Corp., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit considered a trade dress infringement dispute between two confectioners. Ezaki Glico (“Ezaki”), a Japanese...more

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

MarkIt to Market® - December 2019: Get in Sync: The Interplay Between Patent Language and Descriptive Word Marks

In a recent precedential decision, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board affirmed that the mark SEQUENCING BY BINDING is merely descriptive of goods and services in Classes 1, 9, 10, and 42 related to biological analytes...more

Vedder Price

The Seventh Circuit Addresses the Use of Utility Patents as Evidence of Functionality of Trade Dress

Vedder Price on

On June 12, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit decided Bodum USA, Inc. v. A Top New Casting Inc., No. 18-3030, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 17555 (7th Cir. June 12, 2019). The case, led by Vedder Price...more

Dorsey & Whitney LLP

“Sleevey Wonders” are “Arm Tight” in California Lawsuit

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on

The women’s hosiery powerhouse, Spanx, is being sued for allegedly copying designs of a small shapewear company (R and A Synergy, LLC, v. Spanx, Inc., (C.D. Cal. 2017)). In the Complaint filed on December 21, 2017 in the...more

Akerman LLP - Marks, Works & Secrets

TTAB Seals Fate of Trade Dress Claims for Design Covered By Utility Patent

It is natural for manufacturers to seek to widen their intellectual property protection. In the seminal case TrafFix Devices, Inc. v. Marketing Displays, Inc., 532 US 23 (2001), the Supreme Court struck down the plaintiff’s...more

McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP

Comparison of Design Patent and Trade Dress Protection in Light of the Federal Circuit’s Decision in Apple v. Samsung

In a decision authored by Chief Judge Sharon Prost, the Federal Circuit held that while design patents covering product configurations – that is, “a product feature or a combination or arrangement of features” – can protect...more

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

Design Patent Case Digest: Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Decision Date: May 18, 2015 - Court: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit - Patents: D593,087; D604,305; D618,677 - Holding: Judgment of trade dress dilution REVERSED; judgment of patent validity and...more

Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP

Apple-Samsung Trade Dress Case Demonstrates Potential Value of Design Patents

A jury awarded Apple more than $1 billion in damages after finding that smartphones sold by Samsung diluted Apple's trade dress and infringed Apple's design and utility patents. After a partial retrial limited to determining...more

Knobbe Martens

Why is Intellectual Property Important?

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In This Presentation: - Intellectual Property (IP): •Refers to a category of exclusive rights created by statute, including: –Copyrights –Trademarks –Trade Secrets –Utility Patents –Design...more

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

Design Patent Case Digest: Weber-Stephen Products LLC v. Sears Holding Corporation

Decision Date: October 20, 2014 - Court: Northern District of Illinois - Patents: D564,834 and D609,045 - Holding: Defendants’ proposed claim construction is REJECTED - Opinion: Plaintiff...more

Womble Bond Dickinson

Trade Dress and the Functionality Doctrine: At the Intersection of Trademark and Patent Law

Womble Bond Dickinson on

Earlier this week, the Fourth Circuit reversed the dismissal of a Lanham Act claim for trade dress infringement involving a pixel pattern embossed on an absorbent textile-like product used in medical supplies, hygiene...more

Knobbe Martens

Federal Circuit Review - December 2013

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Apple Awarded Permanent Injunction - In Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Appeal No. 13-1129, the Federal Circuit vacated denial of a permanent injunction with respect to Apple’s utility patents and affirmed denial...more

Knobbe Martens

Class 5: How to use copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets to your advantage

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In This Presentation: •What is Intellectual Property? •Making use of: –Copyrights –Trademarks –Trade Secrets - Excerpt from What is Intellectual Property? Intellectual Property (IP) ...more

Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A.

Protecting Non-Functional Product Design Features Through The Entire Life Cycle: From Conception to Grave

IP protection for product designs is typically found in a combination of one or more of the following protective mechanisms...more

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