Â鶹´«Ã½

Fed. Circ. Probes IGT Claim That Zynga Couldn't Target Patent

By Ryan Davis

Gambling technology company IGT faced hurdles Thursday as it argued to the Federal Circuit that mobile game maker Zynga should have been stopped from challenging one of its patents due to an earlier dispute, as the judges questioned whether the issue is appealable.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fed. Circ. Says Dolby Can't Appeal PTAB Decision In Its Favor

By Theresa Schliep

The Federal Circuit on Thursday dismissed Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corp.'s challenge to Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings that it prevailed on, spurning the company's appeal asserting that Unified Patents' failure to identify all of the interested parties should have nullified its case.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Major Co. Group Asks Full Fed. Circ. To Review Lashify ITC Case

By Adam Lidgett

A coalition representing big companies including Google and Apple is backing the U.S. International Trade Commission's request that the Federal Circuit rethink its finding that the commission had been wrongly barring domestic expenses related to sales, marketing and other activities from ITC patent cases.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3rd Circ. Says Amgen Can Proceed With Subpoena In IP Suit

By Abigail Harrison

The Third Circuit on Thursday sided with biotechnology company Amgen Inc. in its efforts to subpoena a competitor that it accused of patent infringement, reasoning that the panel lacked jurisdiction to hear the case because the lower court's decision regarding discovery was not ripe for appeal.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

USPTO Wrongly Nixed Art Project Patent App, Court Told

By Adam Lidgett

An art kit company has urged a Virginia federal court to force the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to reinstate its application for a patent, saying it's being punished because the operator of a patent services company used a licensed practitioner's signature without permission.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Musk's X Corp. Seeks Exit From Legal Marketing Co.'s TM Suit

By Lauren Berg

Elon Musk's Twitter rebrand X Corp. urged a Florida federal judge Wednesday to reject claims that it infringed the trademark of an advertising agency for attorneys, arguing that each company offers different services for different audiences with no chance of consumer confusion.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Sens. Float Automatic Biosimilar Interchangeable Label

By Theresa Schliep

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has reintroduced legislation that would reduce what the lawmakers called barriers to accessing lower-cost versions of biologic drugs, making an adjustment to how biosimilars are deemed interchangeable with their name-brand equivalents.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

'Sparse' OPM Record On Mass Firings Backs Win, Unions Say

By Bonnie Eslinger

A "sparse and self-serving" record provided by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management still shows the agency unlawfully directed federal agencies to fire probationary employees en masse, so a California federal court can reach a final decision now and "unwind" those terminations, a coalition including unions and advocacy groups said Thursday.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fed. Circ. Backs Apple Loss In PTAB Gesture Patent Fight

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Thursday backed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Apple failed to show that a Gesture Technology patent on using cameras to recognize human gestures is invalid, with the majority panel saying the "case should serve as a warning."

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judge Boosts $2.7M Window Shade Patent Verdict To $5.3M

By Hailey Konnath

A New York federal judge has refused to throw out a jury's verdict finding that lighting fixture company Lutron Electronics infringed a window shade patent owned by GeigTech, finding that Lutron owes $5.3 million in damages rather than the initial $2.7 million amount awarded by the jury.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Google Dodges Some Claims In Book Publishers' Piracy Suit

By Ivan Moreno

A lawsuit from textbook publishers against Google over the advertisement of pirated books is proceeding with fewer claims, after a Manhattan federal judge dismissed allegations of secondary copyright infringement but maintained a claim that the major tech company violated trademarks through its ads.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Wash. Judge Rejects Spiritual Group's Revived Guru IP Claims

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle religious group has failed to prove copyright claims against an ex-member over the spiritual teachings of its late founder, a Washington federal judge has ruled following the case's revival on appeal, quipping that time and money spent on the case "vastly exceeds" any evidence of harm.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

Copyright Office Says Registration Delay Had No Legal Impact

By Ivan Moreno

The U.S. Copyright Office said Thursday that a two-week pause on issuing registration certificates last month after its leader was fired did not adversely affect any claimant's rights.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Pillsbury Brings On Buchalter IP Co-Leader In San Diego

By James Mills

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is boosting its intellectual property team, announcing Thursday it is bringing on the former co-chair of Buchalter PC's intellectual property practice as a partner in its San Diego office.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Strategies For Litigating In The Unified Patent Court

Since opening its gates two years ago, the European Unified Patent Court has transformed the patent litigation landscape and global litigation strategies, but parties seeking to take advantage of the court's robust processes must be prepared for the front-loaded character of UPC proceedings, say attorneys at McDermott.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Running Marathons Makes Me A Better Â鶹´«Ã½yer

After almost five years of running marathons, I’ve learned that both the race itself and the training process sharpen skills that directly translate to the practice of law, including discipline, dedication, endurance, problem-solving and mental toughness, says Lauren Meadows at Swift Currie.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

How Trump's Pardons Could Sway Prosecutorial Discretion

By Phillip Bantz

As President Donald Trump dismantles a growing list of white collar criminal cases with a flurry of clemency grants early in his second term, erasing years of investigative and prosecutorial work with a stroke of his black Sharpie, experts worry his actions will have a chilling effect on prosecutorial decision-making.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bernstein Litowitz Can Hire Ex-SEC Atty Over Musk Objection

By Jessica Corso

A New York federal judge on Thursday gave the all-clear for investor-side firm Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP to hire the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's former litigation chief over the objections of Elon Musk.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Seyfarth Joins Long List Of BigÂ鶹´«Ã½'s China Closures

By Aebra Coe

Seyfarth Shaw LLP is the latest large law firm to close an office in China, with a spokesperson confirming Thursday that the firm plans to shutter its Shanghai office later this year.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Foley & Lardner Says Palestine Support Didn't Doom Job Offer

By Andrea Keckley

Foley & Lardner LLP urged an Illinois federal judge to dismiss a bias suit by a former summer associate, arguing her job offer was rescinded not due to her Arab Muslim identity but because her public comments on Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel "violated the firm's core values" and showed "incredibly poor judgment."

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Analysis

Trump's New Travel Ban May Be Harder To Fight This Time

By Britain Eakin

President Donald Trump's travel ban, which suffered multiple court losses during his first term before the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately upheld it, may be on more solid legal footing in its renewed form, with lessons evidently applied from those losses.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Dems, GOP Question Contempt Section Of Reconciliation Bill

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Democrats have vowed to do whatever they can to defeat a provision in the budget reconciliation that would limit federal courts' ability to hold federal officials in contempt, and some Republicans are wary of it as well. 

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Girardi's Son-In-Â鶹´«Ã½ Admits Contempt In Illinois Theft Case

By Lauraann Wood

Tom Girardi's son-in-law pled guilty to criminal contempt Thursday in Illinois federal court, admitting he knew the once-celebrated plaintiffs lawyer failed to pay millions of dollars in plane crash settlement funds they had been ordered to distribute to their clients "as soon as practical."

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Justices Nix Higher Hurdle For Heterosexual Bias Claims

By Ryan Harroff

A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday vacated the Sixth Circuit's ruling that plaintiffs claiming anti-heterosexual workplace discrimination need to provide extra "background circumstances" evidence, opining that it improperly imposed special standards on majority-group plaintiffs.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

High Court Drops Class Cert. Clarification Bid

By Katie Buehler

The U.S. Supreme Court declined Thursday to weigh in on whether federal courts can certify classes that include uninjured members, holding it improperly agreed to hear a disability discrimination case against diagnostics company Labcorp that raised the important question.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Atty Coalition Asks Fla. Bar To Open Ethics Probe Into Bondi

By Carolina Bolado

A group of lawyers, law professors and former judges asked the Florida Bar on Thursday to open an ethics investigation into Pam Bondi's actions as attorney general, saying she has pushed U.S. Department of Justice attorneys to violate their ethical obligations under the guise of "zealous advocacy."

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Senate Panel Advances Picks For Nat. Sec. Post, Iowa US Atty

By Courtney Buble

The Senate voted 52-43 along party lines on Thursday to confirm John Andrew Eisenberg to be assistant attorney general for national security.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Joseph Saveri

By Daniel Connolly

Joseph Saveri, now one of the most successful plaintiffs lawyers in the U.S., said he's thought often about the story of his paternal grandparents, who left Italy around 1918, immigrated to America and traveled across the continent to settle in San Francisco.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »