Intellectual Property News and Reports

Held: Assignor estoppel is well grounded in centuries-old fairness principles, and the Federal Circuit was right to uphold it. But assignor estoppel applies only when the assignor’s claim of invalidity contradicts explicit or implicit representations he made in assigning the... Read more →

The issue in this interlocutory appeal from the denial of a plea to the jurisdiction is whether a copyright infringement claim against a governmental entity may be maintained as a constitutional takings claim. The court of appeals concluded “that a... Read more →

Held: The judgment is vacated, and the case is remanded. 941 F. 3d 1320, vacated and remanded. THE CHIEF JUSTICE delivered the opinion of the Court with respect to Parts I and II, concluding that the unreviewable authority wielded by... Read more →

Copyright law protects individual expression while encouraging creativity and maintaining the public interest in spreading ideas. In recent years, however, a cottage industry of opportunistic copyright holders—earning the derisive moniker “intellectual property trolls”—has emerged, in which a troll enforces copyrights... Read more →

"The Game of Life" is a classic family board game, introduced in 1960 by the Milton Bradley Company to great success. This case involves a long-running dispute between Rueben Klamer, a toy developer who came up with the initial concept... Read more →

Yanbin Yu and Zhongxuan Zhang (collectively, “Yu”) sued Apple and Samsung (collectively, “Defendants”), alleging that Defendants infringed claims 1, 2, and 4 of U.S. Patent No. 6,611,289 (“the ’289 patent”). The district court granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss on the... Read more →

Appellants assert antitrust claims based on the prior enforcement of U.S. Patent No. 8,171,993 in a separate case and, after we held the patent unenforceable due to inequitable conduct, the alleged continued enforcement through Appellee’s listing the patent on their... Read more →

In 2017, Oakwood Laboratories, L.L.C. (“Oakwood”) sued its former Vice President of Product Development, Dr. Bagavathikanun Thanoo, as well as Dr. Thanoo’s current employer, Aurobindo Pharma U.S.A., Inc. (“Aurobindo USA”), the parent of that company, Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. (“Aurobindo”), and... Read more →

OST, Circuit Judge. SpeedTrack, Inc. (“SpeedTrack”) appeals the United States District Court for the Northern District of California’s final judgment of noninfringement, which hinged on the court’s claim construction. We affirm. Download SpeedTrack Inc. v. Amazon.com Inc. Read more →

The United States Patent and Trademark Office appeals a judgment of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. Patent applicant Gilbert P. Hyatt filed an action under 35 U.S.C. § 145 against the Patent and Trademark Office... Read more →