Newsstand

The Federal Circuit on February 21, 2020, held that a challenge to parts of Spin Master Ltd.'s patent covering its line of Bakugan transforming robot toys was properly rejected by the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on February 20, 2020, affirmed the district court’s award of $6.75 million to a group of artists under the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 after a Queens, New York, developer intentionally whitewashed over their graffiti.

On February 26, 2020, AIPLA Executive Director Lisa K. Jorgenson traveled to her home state of Texas and spoke to the University of Houston Intellectual Property Student Organization on the benefits of joining AIPLA!

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on February 19, 2020, affirmed a $28 million reduction in Arctic Cat Inc.'s $46 million judgment in a patent dispute with Bombardier Recreational Products Inc. because Arctic Cat didn’t mark its personal watercraft steering control patents.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on February 18, 2020, reversed a district court decision which canceled a Boca Raton, FL, real estate broker’s registered trademark for “Royal Palm Properties.”

The US Patent and Trademark Office is seeking nominations for the 2020 National Medal of Technology and Innovation (NMTI).

​The US Copyright Office on February 19, 2020, issued a final rule establishing adjusted fees for its services.

The US District Court for the Northern District of California on February 12, 2020, held that the function of Uber Technologies Inc.'s app that displays driver and rider locations on a map doesn’t infringe two of X One Inc.’s GPS tracking patents.

The US Court of Appeals for the Eight Circuit on February 12, 2020, affirmed a $3 million damages award against Walmart Inc. (Walmart) for misappropriating web designer Cuker Interactive LLC’s (Cuker) trade secrets by pressuring it into giving up its Adobe source files.

The Federal Circuit on February 6, 2020, held that the express license of a patent includes an implied license for its continuations, including continuations of continuations, because they disclose the same inventions as the licensed patent. Cheetah Omni LLC v. AT&T Servs. Inc., Fed. Cir., No. 19-1264, 2/6/20.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on February 7, 2020, held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) erred when it chose not to consider arguments Apple Inc. raised in an IPR-related board filing.

On January 28, the China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued a public notice (#350) providing relief to applicants of Chinese applications/Chinese patents who have been affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Failure to mitigate is not a complete defense to copyright or DMCA claims for statutory damages, held the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on January 15, 2020.

The US District Court for the Western District of Washington properly granted attorneys’ fees based on a finding that the winning party didn’t infringe a Keurig adapter patent, the Federal Circuit held on January 13, 2020.

The US Patent and Trademark Office on February 5, 2020, announced that US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has appointed David Gooder to be the new Commissioner for Trademarks.

The Women in IP Committee of the AIPLA is pleased to announce Elizabeth Tassi as a Woman to Watch!

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on January 13, 2020, upheld Comcast Corp.‘s successful challenge to a patent covering an interactive television guide, finding it invalid based on prior art.

The US District Court for the Northern District of Texas on January 17, 2020, invalidated iLife Technologies Inc.'s $10.1 million patent infringement verdict against Nintendo of America over the latter's Wii and Wii U motion control wands known as "Wiimotes". iLife Techs. Inc. v. Nintendo of Am. Inc., N.D. Tex., No. 3:13-cv-04987, 1/17/20.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on January 28, 2020, held that the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, which was enacted to curb digital audiotape copying, did not apply to music copied by an automobile dashboard device that copies CDs to a vehicle’s hard drive.

The US Patent and Trademark Office and the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) agreed to launch a new worksharing arrangement that will accelerate the process of obtaining a patent in Mexico for businesses and individuals already in possession of a corresponding US patent.