News & Publications

The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on August 19, 2020, held that the 2014 film “Nightcrawler” starring Jake Gyllenhaal differed enough from another movie about a murder-filming news freelancer in Los Angeles for the movie’s makers to dodge copyright infringement claims.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on August 17, 2020, held that US Copyright Act preempts rapper 50 Cent from pursuing right of publicity claims over another rapper’s mixtape sample of the hit “In Da Club.”

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on August 17, 2020, held that a story arc about a giant tardigrade, an eight-legged segmented micro-animal, in the television show “Star Trek: Discovery” didn’t infringe a copyright in an unreleased video game that also featured a giant tardigrade.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on August 13, 2020, held that Avance Health System Inc. could not be liable for infringing Passport Health LLC’s trademark after it purchased the keyword “passport health” on search engines to generate Avance ads beside specific search results.

The US Patent and Trademark Office on August 19, 2020, issued guidance memorandum to the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) regarding reliance on applicant admitted prior art in a petition for inter partes review.

The US Patent and Trademark Office will host its next Boardside Chat webinar on Thursday, September 3, from noon to 1 p.m. ET for a discussion about several aspects of ex parte appeals.

The Second Circuit on August 17, 2020, vacated and remanded Tiffany & Co.‘s $21 million win in a trademark counterfeiting case against Costco Wholesale Corp.

The Second Circuit on August 13, 2020, found BuzzFeed Inc. is liable under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) for altering a photographer’s credit for a picture and publishing the photo in an article without permission.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on August 11, 2020, affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) obviousness rejection of an application for a patent on a durable printing plate.

The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit on August 12, 2020, ruled in favor of Michaels Stores Inc. against claims that it infringed LifePlanner’s registered compilation copyright and unregistered trade dress for its popular personal organizer.