News

The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit on June 11, 2019, held that the word “capsule” is “merely descriptive” of cell phone cases and cannot be registered as a trademark. Uncommon, LLC v. Spigen, Inc., 7th Cir., No. 18-1917, 6/11/19.

A federal agency is not a "person" who may petition for post-issuance review under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (AIA) of 2011, the Supreme Court held June 10, 2019. Return Mail Inc. v. United States Postal Service, U.S., No. 17-1594, 06/10/2019.

AIPLA President-Elect Barbara Fiacco presented the views of the Association at the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property's second of three hearings on “The State of Patent Eligibility in America.”

The USPTO announced that PKI authentication for EFS-Web and Private PAIR will be unavailable starting on Wednesday, June 5, at 12:01 a.m. ET, until further notice.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 31, 2019, reversed a $5,396,250 patent infringement verdict against Brunswick Corp., owner of many popular boating brands. Cobalt Boats, LLC v. Brunswick Corp., Fed. Cir., No. 2018-1376, unpublished 5/31/19.

This week, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property will hold its first two hearings on “The State of Patent Eligibility in America.”

The US District Court for the Northern District of California on May 29, 2019, held that Juniper Networks Inc., an American networking products developer, did not infringe Finjan Inc.’s malware protection patents.

The US Patent and Trademark Office announced that PKI authentication for EFS-Web and Private PAIR will be unavailable starting 12:01 a.m., Thursday, May 30, and ending at 11:59 p.m., Friday, May 31 ET. There is the potential for further outages as well.

The US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin on May 24, 2019, granted a preliminary injunction preventing Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC from implying in its advertisements that MillerCoors LLC beers contain corn syrup.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 23, 2019, found Papst Licensing GMBH & Co.'s software patent, which is related to a software interface device with high data transfer rates, invalid because it was covered by other patented technology and published research.

In a May 22, 2019 press release, Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Chris Coons (D-DE), Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Representative Doug Collins (R-GA), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet, and Representative Steve Stivers (R-OH) released a bipartisan, bicameral draft bill that would reform Section 101 of the Patent Act.

Under § 365 of the Bankruptcy Code, a debtor-licensor's "rejection" of a contract operated as a breach of the contract and not as a rescission, the Supreme Court held May 20, 2019. Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC, US, No. 17-1657, 5/22/2019.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 13, 2019, held that AVX Corp., a manufacturer of electronic components, did not have standing to challenge the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's (PTAB) decision not to invalidate a competitor’s patent. AVX Corp. v. Presidio Components, Inc., Fed. Cir., No. 2018-1106, 5/13/19.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on May 15, 2019, invalidated two of Horizon Therapeutics PLC’s patents for arthritis pain reliever drug Vimovo.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) on May 9, 2019, affirmed an International Trade Commission (Commission) finding that “Swagway” hoverboards infringed Segway Inc.'s trademarks. Swagway, LLC v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, Fed. Cir., No. 18-1672, 5/9/19.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on May 9, 2019, issued a notice concerning modifying its patent term adjustment procedures in view of the decision by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) in Supernus Pharm., Inc. v. Iancu (Supernus).

The United States Trade Representative on May 9, 2019, issued a notice that it is modifying the action being taken in its Section 301 investigation into China’s policies and practices related to technology transfer, intellectual property, and innovation. 84 Fed. Reg. 20459.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on May 1, 2019, upheld an arbitration award in a trademark dispute over the use of the mark “Bobov” within a Hasidic Jewish community. Landau v. Eisenberg, 2d Cir., No. 17-3963, 5/1/19.

The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on May 2, 2019, upheld the dismissal of Media Rights Technologies Inc.’s (MRT) copyright infringement claims against Microsoft Corp., ruling that MRT should have raised the claims in its 2013 patent infringement suit against Microsoft.