News

The USPTO on April 16, 2019, designated three PTAB decisions as precedential.

The Supreme Court on April 15, 2019, heard oral argument in the Brunetti case on whether the statutory ban on registering “immoral ... or scandalous” trademarks violates the First Amendment. Iancu v. Brunetti, U.S., No. 18-302, oral argument 4/15/2019.

The US Patent and Trademark Office will begin hosting free seminars on protecting your IP in China. The new series of road shows will be geared towards businesses, individuals, and attorneys looking to hear about strategies for better protecting intellectual property in China.

The United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on April 1, 2019, held that Redbubble, Inc. was not liable for direct infringement of several of Ohio State University’s trademarks. The Ohio State Univ. v. Redbubble Inc., S.D. Ohio, No. 17-cv-1092, 3/29/19.

A website for goods that lacks any ordering information such as cost, payment options, minimum quantities, and shipping information is insufficient proof of the goods’ use in commerce when applying for trademark registration, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held on April 10, 2019. In Re: Siny Corp., Fed. Cir., No. 2018-1077, 1/14/19.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 8, 2019, upheld the validity of Omega Patents, LLC’s remote vehicle control patents, but, ordered a new trial on whether Cal Amp Corp. induced infringement. Omega Patents, LLC v. CalAmp Corp., Fed. Cir., No. 2018-1309, 4/8/19.

The PTAB on April 5, 2019, designated as precedential Huawei Device Co., Ltd. v. Optis Cellular Technology, LLC, Case IPR2018-00816 (PTAB Jan. 8, 2019) (Paper 19). The decision provides guidance as to the procedure for submitting new evidence with a rehearing request and explains that a party must show good cause for submitting new evidence.

The United States Patent & Trademark Office will host its next Patent Quality Chat webinar, entitled “New pilot program for motions to amend in AIA trial proceedings,” which will be broadcast on April 9, from noon to 1 p.m. ET.

Sovereign immunity bars a federal copyright infringement claim against a public hospital, the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri ruled on March 7, 2019.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 1, 2019, held the Cleveland Clinic Foundation’s heart disease detection patent invalid because the claims of the patent were directed to a natural law and recited no other inventive concept.

The Eleventh Circuit on April 1, 2019, held that Kroma EU, a European cosmetics company, lacked standing to sue the Kardashian sisters for trademark infringement in the US.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 1, 2019, held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) must reconsider its decision to invalidate IBM’s U.S. Patent No. 7,631,346; the patent is related to a system for reducing authentication burdens by allowing a user to sign-in only once while accessing multiple applications.

The UK is due to leave the European Union – an economic and political partnership of 28 countries – ending 46 years of British membership. But the exact timing remains unclear.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on March 26, 2019, affirmed a district court ruling which declined to disgorge Becton Dickinson & Co.’s (BD) profits despite the fact the syringe maker was found liable by a jury on multiple Lanham Act violations.

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced that she has appointed Karyn A. Temple as Register of Copyrights and director of the U.S. Copyright Office, effective March 27, 2019. Temple has been Acting Register of Copyrights since October 21, 2016.

The US Patent and Trademark Office on March 27, 2019, alerted EFS-Web users about a system defect in the initial web-based application data sheet (ADS) and the corrected web-based ADS.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on March 26, 2019, held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board wrongly invalidated an Arctic Cat Inc. patent based on an earlier-filed application.

On March 28, the Department of Commerce’s Internet Policy Task Force will host the third public meeting on Developing the Digital Marketplace for Copyrighted Works at the USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.

USPTO Director Andrei Iancu on March 13, 2019, appeared at an oversight hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on March 8, 2019, overturned Apple Inc.’s IPR victory against PersonalWeb Technologies, LLC, holding that the ‘310 patent was not unpatentable due to obviousness because one of the PTAB’s key underlying fact findings was not supported by substantial evidence.