Intellectual Property News and Reports

In this digital age, when content creators choose to make their copyrighted materials–– like books, movies, and music––available online, they employ computer code to block unauthorized access, copying, and use. To fortify the protection offered by that code, Congress enacted... Read more →

This dispute is about the right to use the word “Floribama” and lies at the crossroads of the Lanham Act and the First Amendment. Plaintiffs-Appellants MGFB Properties, Inc. (“MGFB”), Flora-Bama Management LLC (“Flora-Bama Mgmt.”), and Flora-Bama Old S.A.L.T.S. Inc. (“Old... Read more →

Appellant Treehouse Avatar LLC appeals the grant of a motion to strike portions of an infringement expert report by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Appellant also appeals the court’s grant of summary judgment of noninfringement.... Read more →

The panel vacated the district court’s order denying San Antonio Winery, Inc.’s motion for a default judgment against Jiaxing Micarose Trade Co., Ltd., in an action in which San Antonio asserts claims under the Lanham Act and related state-law claims.... Read more →

The panel affirmed the district court’s summary judgment in favor of AJ Press, LLC, in an action brought by Punchbowl, Inc. (Punchbowl), alleging violations of the Lanham Act for trademark infringement and unfair competition and related state law claims. Punchbowl... Read more →

Pocket Plus, LLC, sued Pike Brands, LLC (“Running Buddy”) for trade-dress infringement of Pocket Plus’s portable pouch. The district court granted summary judgment to Running Buddy and awarded it a portion of its requested attorney fees. Pocket Plus appeals the... Read more →

CUPP Computing AS (“CUPP”) appeals three inter partes review (“IPR”) decisions of the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) concluding that petitioner Trend Micro Inc. had shown challenged claims in CUPP’s U.S. Patents Nos. 8,631,488 (“’488 patent”), 9,106,683 (“’683 patent”),... Read more →

Appellee Intel Corporation filed three petitions for inter partes review (“IPR”) of U.S. Patent No. 7,247,552 (“the ’552 patent”), which is owned by appellant VLSI Technology LLC. The Patent Trial and Appeal Board instituted the IPR proceedings, and in a... Read more →

American National Manufacturing Inc. and Sleep Number Corp. each appeals the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s final written decisions in two inter partes reviews. The Board issued mixed decisions in those proceedings, determining that some, but not all, of the... Read more →

For these reasons, we conclude that the district court clearly abused its discretion in issuing its scheduling order. We do not decide in this case (which does not present the issue) whether and the extent to which merits discovery may... Read more →