Posts Tagged: "Barks and Bites"

This week in Other Barks & Bites: Representatives DelBene and Schweikert introduce bill to curb abuse at the International Trade Commission; the Federal Circuit issues a pair of precedential decisions regarding proper claim construction in patent cases; India’s Supreme Court upholds “Coronil” trademark over COVID-19 concerns; UK’s Supreme Court affirms the jurisdiction of English courts in setting global FRAND rates for SEP licensing; Commerce Department’s revised second quarter GDP figures still mark the worst economic contraction for the U.S. in history; activist research group KEI asks the DoD to investigate Moderna’s nondisclosure of DARPA funding for mRNA technology; Kanye West faces lawsuit for misappropriating e-commerce technology platform; and Judge Connolly finds that Fish & Richardson’s representation of a client suing a former Fish client does not pose a conflict of interest.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: news reports indicate that the White House is currently reviewing amendments proposed by the USPTO to amend the rules of practice at the PTAB; USPTO Director Iancu issues binding guidance to the PTAB stating that applicant-admitted prior art cannot be the basis of IPR institutions; the Federal Circuit affirms the dismissal of APA claims against the PTAB for jurisdictional issues; both Lizzo and Rick Ross receive favorable rulings in copyright cases filed over their music recordings; the Second Circuit says that Costco is able under the Lanham Act to use Tiffany branding to describe a style of ring; Nvidia’s most recent earnings show that its data center business has eclipsed its gaming business for the first time ever; and China’s national legislature issues its second deliberative draft including major amendments to China’s Copyright Law.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: Congress passes the 2021 NDAA, including provisions of a sustainable chemistry research bill; the Federal Circuit says that the PTAB can consider Section 101 patent-eligibility issues when patent owners submit motions to amend in IPRs; Senator Thom Tillis and colleagues take steps to protect U.S. COVID-19 IP; the USPTO issues updated study figures showing slight increases for U.S. women inventors; Under Armour wins nearly $300K in a trademark case decided by China’s highest court; the Ninth Circuit vacates a substantial similarity analysis, reviving copyright claims filed against Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl; a major tech antitrust hearing at the House of Representatives will likely be postponed due to the memorial service for Representative John Lewis; and patent owner Cheetah Omni files a petition for writ of certiorari asking the Supreme Court to overturn the Federal Circuit’s ruling on an implied license stemming from a grandparent patent.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Federal Circuit holds that obviousness and anticipation invalidity contentions are not “changed conditions” for rescinding an exclusion order entered by the International Trade Commission; Google becomes the latest American tech company to make a major investment in India’s Jio Platforms; the European General Court rescinds tax rulings against Apple for Irish state aid related to IP licensing practices; the USPTO issues an update to PTAB motion to amend statistics showing that 83% of pilot program-eligible motions have sought Board guidance; the Copyright Office issues a proposed rule on royalty reporting obligations for digital music providers during the Music Modernization Act’s transition period; the D.C. Circuit vacates the denial of a Rule 26(d)(1) motion to subpoena info because of erroneous analysis regarding the salacious nature of the plaintiff’s copyrighted adult films; and Drew Hirshfeld is appointed to serve a second five-year term as the USPTO’s Commissioner of Patents.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Federal Circuit extends Arthrex to ex parte appeals and vacates part of a denial of a motion to seal filed by Uniloc related to third-party licensee information; the CJEU says that copyright owners can only request postal addresses of people posting infringing content online, and that government committees are subject to personal data access provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation; the CNIPA releases statistics showing that, despite a slowdown during COVID-19, Chinese patent application filings during 2020’s first half have increased by about 5% relative to the same period last year; the USPTO extends its pilot program for faster processing of patent applications related to cancer immunotherapies; Intel fails to axe Qualcomm patent claims in a trio of IPRs decided by the PTAB this week; and Gartner reports that global PC shipments are up by about 2.8% thanks to increased mobile demand.This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Federal Circuit extends Arthrex to ex parte appeals and vacates part of a denial of a motion to seal filed by Uniloc related to third-party licensee information; the CJEU says that copyright owners can only request postal addresses of people posting infringing content online, and that government committees are subject to personal data access provisions of the EU General Data Protection Regulation; the CNIPA releases statistics showing that, despite a slowdown during COVID-19, Chinese patent application filings during 2020’s first half have increased by about 5% relative to the same period last year; the USPTO extends its pilot program for faster processing of patent applications related to cancer immunotherapies; Intel fails to axe Qualcomm patent claims in a trio of IPRs decided by the PTAB this week; and Gartner reports that global PC shipments are up by about 2.8% thanks to increased mobile demand.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Federal Circuit affirms the invalidation of patent claims covering the rheumatoid arthritis treatment Enbrel using a novel argument on obviousness-type double patenting, and vacates a denial of attorney’s fees in a Southern Florida case which invalidated an asserted patent claim under Alice; the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office again extends relief on patent filing deadlines to small and micro entities under the CARES Act, launches a fast-track program to expedite ex parte appeals, and makes several other announcements; the U.S. Supreme Court denies cert to Chrimar v. ALE USA and issues a ruling finding that “generic.com” terms are not generic per se if consumers perceive them as a brand; an appeal to the Federal Circuit is alleging that PTAB judges are financially incentivized to grant validity reviews; and BIC wins a general exclusion order from the ITC preventing the importation of knock-off pocket lighters.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the House of Representatives approves a bill by voice vote which would enable the sale of acceleration certificates for patent applications in the Patents for Humanity Program; the Supreme Court denies cert to a trio of petitions challenging the Patent Trial and Appeal Board as unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause; the Copyright Office begins accepting petitions for temporary exemptions to Section 1201 of the DMCA; the CAFC issues three new precedential decisions; the Ninth Circuit reverses the dismissal of copyright claims over The Shape of Water and also reverses a lower court for an erroneous jury instruction modeled after the Ninth Circuit’s own model instructions on functionality in trademark law; Gilead’s remdesivir is endorsed as the first antiviral treatment for use against COVID-19 in Europe; and the USPTO requests comments from past participants in its GIPA Training Programs.

This week in Other Barks and Bites: the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office proposes adjustments to trademark fees, issues a final rule on patent term adjustments under Supernus, launches a priority examination program for COVID-19-related trademarks and service marks, and seeks nominations for members of the Patent Public Advisory Committee (PPAC) and Trademark Public Advisory Committee (TPAC); the Federal Circuit strikes down patent suits filed by PersonalWeb Technologies under the Kessler doctrine; the Copyright Office announces virtual forums on agency modernization efforts and upcoming Section 1201 rulemaking; Mylan successfully invalidates Biogen’s Tecfidera patent claims in district court; the WTO issues a panel opinion finding that the Saudi Arabian government wrongfully prevented the enforcement of IP rights; and the Seventh Circuit affirms the denial of an attorney’s fee award in a case involving frivolous copyright claims.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: USPTO announces relief under the CARES Act for restoring priority/ benefit rights; the CJEU has ruled that “functional shapes” are eligible for copyright protection if they are original works; China’s IP agency releases its annual budget including details on reducing patent pendency times to nearly seven months shorter than the USPTO; the Second Circuit finds a commercial activity exception to the Welsh government’s sovereign immunity defense against copyright infringement; Google creates takedown form for search results leading to counterfeits; the USPTO and Facebook tell the Federal Circuit that the Supreme Court’s Thryv decision requires vacatur of Windy City Innovations; Johnson & Johnson seeks a 70 percent success rate in COVID-19 vaccine trials; Sen. Thom Tillis voices increased concerns about copyright infringement by the Internet Archive; USPTO Director Iancu asks Congress for additional fee spending authority to maintain continuity during the pandemic; and Sony is successful in its Section 101 invalidation of patent claims covering an in-game reward system for slot machine games. 

This week in Other Barks & Bites: a study from Bertelsmann Stiftung shows that China has made great strides in obtaining patents for important tech sectors; the Federal Circuit rules that attorney’s fees awards under Section 285 are not available for PTAB trials; the Senate IP Subcommittee holds a two-part DMCA modernization hearing exploring issues in current online copyright law; AI firm ZoomInfo is successful in the first tech IPO since the COVID-19 pandemic began; Amazon partners with Slack to develop enterprise collaboration solutions to compete with Microsoft Teams; the Copyright Office announces a study into the degree to which state entities covered by sovereign immunity have infringed copyright; and the FDA solicits public input on the types of patent information that should be listed in the Orange Book.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: China’s top prosecution agency reports that cases involving IP rights violations have increased by 5,660% over the last 20 years; the USPTO extends additional patent- and trademark-related relief during the coronavirus pandemic; the Federal Circuit affirms dismissal of APA claims against the USPTO; UKIPO reports 8% decrease in patent applications during 2019; top executives from global pharmaceutical firms express concerns over voluntary COVID-19 patent pool launched by WHO; the TTAB finds that a registered geographic certification mark for Michigan apples precludes a hard cider trademark; and General Electric sells off its lighting division to Savant Systems.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Copyright Office issues its report on the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA codified in Section 512 of U.S. copyright law; the Federal Circuit issues decisions reversing a lower court on patent invalidity for lack of enablement and denying review of PTAB institution decisions; the Eleventh Circuit revives copyright and trade secret claims filed by Compulife; online sales boost during COVID-19 pandemic leads to strong quarterly earnings report for Alibaba; Apple and Cisco each win multi-million attorney’s fees awards against Straight Path IP Group; China’s IP office reports a rebound in patent application filings since the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic; and Reps. Veasey and Wright introduce a bill to prevent airport funds from being spent on IP-infringing manufacturers.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Supreme Court finds that Lucky Brand Dungarees isn’t precluded from asserting new defenses under federal preclusion principles; the Federal Circuit issues decisions extending Arthrex to inter partes reexaminations and affirming a willful infringement verdict, despite a lack of Article III standing by the plaintiff when the suit was filed; the EPO Enlarged Board of Appeal says plants and animals derived from essentially biological processes are not patentable; USPTO publishes the requirements for participants in its COVID-19 priority examination pilot; Taiwan Semiconductor announces a $12 billion facility to be built in Arizona; the Second Circuit clarifies instances when individuals unnamed in group registrations can pursue infringement claims on individual works within the group; and the Eleventh Circuit reverses a lower court’s trademark ruling on lack of distinctiveness.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office launches COVID-19-related initiatives, including a prioritized examination pilot program and an online licensing platform; the U.S. Supreme Court weighs legal arguments in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office v. Booking.com in an historic teleconference hearing; the Copyright Office issues rules on secure test registrations and electronic filing of compulsory license royalty claims; an SEC filing by Peloton shows nearly $50 million in litigation expenses after settling a major music copyright case; Thomson Reuters files copyright lawsuit over legal research copying; the TTAB enters a precedential decision affirming an examiner’s rejection of a mark including a simulation of the U.S. flag; and global stock markets show some life on optimism of easing COVID-19-related restrictions while the U.S. reports its worst-ever month of job losses.

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Supreme Court finds that Georgia’s annotated state code is ineligible for copyright protection; the Federal Circuit issues decisions reversing the PTAB on nonobviousness and Northern California on Section 101 validity; the USPTO extends filing deadlines to June 1; a complex patent trial between Cisco and Centripetal Networks will begin on May 6; the TTAB affirms refusal to register a trademark after the applicant refuses to disclaim the merely descriptive term “LABS”; the Copyright Office begins a pilot program for electronic recordation; InterDigital signs a global 5G patent license with Huawei; and Amazon reports an increase in net sales for the first quarter of 2020.