Newsletters

09.28.17

Looking Through an IP Lens at Blockchain and Cryptocurrency

With headline news ranging from J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Russian President Vladimir Putin to the Winklevoss twins and Floyd “Money” Mayweather, the hype surrounding cryptocurrency—think bitcoin, ethereum and an ever-expanding list of niche altcoins—has gone mainstream.


07.13.17

SCOTUS: For Patent Venue, Domestic Corporations ‘Reside’ Where Incorporated

On May 22, 2017, the Supreme Court issued its decision in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC—rejecting long-standing Federal Circuit precedent and re-establishing stricter venue requirements for patent infringement litigation involving a domestic corporate defendant.


12.15.16

Design Patents—Supreme Court Decides Samsung v. Apple

On December 6, 2016, the Supreme Court decided Samsung v. Apple, holding that, for purposes of a "total profits" damages award for infringement of a design patent under Section 289 of the Patent Act, the relevant "article of manufacture" can be limited to one or more individual ...


10.25.16

Federal Circuit After Stryker/Halo

On June 13, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court decided the consolidated cases of Stryker Corp. v. Zimmer, Inc. and Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc. and, as had been widely anticipated, overturned the Federal Circuit's "inelastic" Seagate standard for awarding enhanced ...


07.07.16

Supreme Court: Status Quo in Cuozzo

On June 20, 2016, the Supreme Court decided Cuozzo Speed Technologies v. Lee, where it rejected challenges to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) inter partes review (IPR) process and held that (1) PTAB decisions regarding whether to institute IPR proceedings are by statute not subject to ...


06.06.16

Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016: An Overview

The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) was signed into law on May 11, 2016 and gives trade secret owners a federal cause of action for injunctive relief and monetary damages for the misappropriation of trade secrets, while also providing employee protections.


04.18.16

Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument Regarding Standard for Awarding Enhanced Damages in Patent Cases

The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing the standard for awarding "enhanced" damages in patent cases (allowing a district court to increase damages up to three times the amount found or assessed) in the consolidated cases of Stryker Corp. v. Zimmer, Inc. and Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse ...


02.12.16

Both Sides Claim Victory in ITC Ruling re Converse's "Chuck Taylors"

On November 17, 2015, an International Trade Commission judge issued an initial ruling in In the Matter of Certain Footwear Products, the case brought by Converse in November 2014 against 31 companies for importing "look alike" footwear that infringed on Converse's iconic "Chuck ...


12.22.15

Down the Rabbit Hole: Trends in Software Patent Court Decisions Post-Alice

In Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank, the U.S. Supreme Court held that claims for a computer-based software method for reducing financial-settlement risk were patent-ineligible "abstract ideas" that were not made patent-eligible merely by requiring the use of a computer for implementation.


07.31.13

Online Marketplace For “Used” Digital Music Strikes Discord With The Copyright Act

A recent decision out of New York illustrates the difficulty that courts in the digital era face in applying laws designed for a brick-and-mortar world.