Newsletters

06.02.20

Supreme Court: Patent Office Cannot Be Reimbursed for Attorney and Paralegal Salaries

In Peters v. NantKwest, Inc., the Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision written by Justice Sonia Sotomayor, held that the “all expenses of the proceedings” provision of a 35 U.S.C. § 145 civil appeal does not include the reimbursement of Patent Office attorney and paralegal ...


05.26.20

Supreme Court: States Generally Immune From Copyright Infringement

In Allen v. Cooper, the Supreme Court held that the copyright clause in the U.S. Constitution did not authorize Congress to abrogate states’ Eleventh Amendment immunity from copyright infringement.


05.19.20

Supreme Court: Inter Partes Review Time Bar Held Not Appealable

In Thryv, Inc. v. Click-to-Call Technologies, LP, the Supreme Court held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) decision whether an inter partes review (IPR) petition was timely filed could not be appealed.


05.12.20

Supreme Court: State Official Annotations to Code Not Copyrightable

The Supreme Court ruled against Georgia in a copyright claim that the state filed against Public.Resource.Org Inc., for distributing the state annotated code.


05.04.20

Supreme Court: Willfulness Trademark Infringement Not Required to Obtain Profit Disgorgement

In Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil Group, Inc., the Supreme Court held that a district court may award the plaintiff with the defendant’s profits even without a showing of willfulness for trademark infringement.


05.30.19

Supreme Court: Bankruptcy Law Cannot Unilaterally Revoke Trademark License

In Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology LLC, the Supreme Court, in an 8-to-1 decision, held that bankrupt trademark owners cannot use bankruptcy law to unilaterally revoke a trademark license.


01.28.19

Supreme Court Holds Sale Requiring Confidentiality Can Qualify as Prior Art

In Helsinn Healthcare S.A. v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., the Supreme Court affirmed the Federal Circuit’s decision that the sale of an invention to a party who is contractually obligated to keep the invention confidential can qualify as prior art to place the invention “on ...


12.06.18

Invention for Navigating Complex 3-D Worksheet Held Patent-Eligible

In Data Engine Techs. LLC v. Google LLC, the Federal Circuit held that an invention for navigating through complex three-dimensional electronic spreadsheets was patent-eligible subject matter.


10.24.18

Correcting Inventorship in Pending Application Cannot Be Done in District Court

In Pappalardo v. Stevins, the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a declaratory judgment action filed in federal court by a person requesting to be named the sole inventor on a pending patent application, ruling that such an action could not be filed until after a patent is issued from the ...


06.28.18

DJ Khaled Files Suit to Protect Son’s Name

In an effort to protect the rights of his “instantly famous” infant son, DJ Khaled filed a new lawsuit in New York federal court against a company attempting to register trademarks of his son’s name.