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Jack Daniels’ Limitation of the Rogers Shield Prompts the Ninth Circuit to Reverse Itself

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Jack Daniels Properties Inc. v. VIP Products LLC, 599 U.S. 140 (2023), the Ninth Circuit reversed its earlier decision affirming that a publication called Punchbowl News did not infringe a trademark of Punchbowl Inc. (“Punchbowl”), a greeting card and event invitation company. The Ninth Circuit reasoned […]

| 3 min read | Tagged: , ,
MS

Ninth Circuit Concludes Direct Copying Can Be Evidence of “Secondary Meaning” for Trade Dress Infringement 

By: Zach Schroeder and Courtney Moore* The Ninth Circuit recently upheld a district court’s decision in favor of furniture designer Jason Scott Collection, Inc. (“JSC”) against Trendily Furniture, LLC, Trendily Home Collection, and Raul Malhotra (collectively, “Trendily”) finding Trendily liable for trade dress infringement for willfully copying, manufacturing, and selling identical JSC furniture pieces. The […]

| 3 min read
ZS

Supreme Court Unanimously Sides with Jack Daniel’s in Dog Toy Trademark Dispute

The Supreme Court issued its ruling yesterday in a trademark lawsuit between Jack Daniel’s and the seller of a dog toy resembling a bottle of Jack Daniel’s famous whiskey.  In a unanimous decision, the Court reversed the Ninth Circuit and held that the “Bad Spaniels” dog toy was subject to the usual likelihood of confusion […]

| 4 min read | Tagged:

Supreme Court Holds Patents Must Enable Full Scope of Invention

The Supreme Court unanimously held last week in Amgen v. Sanofi that a patent’s specification must enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the full scope of the invention as defined by its claims. Amgen sued Sanofi in 2014, alleging that Sanofi had infringed its cholesterol-lowering drug patents, which disclosed 26 […]

| 3 min read
DS

Federal Circuit Holds Patent Owners Bear IPR Estoppel Burden of Proof

The Federal Circuit recently held, for the first time, that patent owners bear the burden of proof for an Inter Partes Review (“IPR”) Estoppel affirmative defense that an alleged infringer failed to include prior art in a previous IPR. In overturning the district court, the Federal Circuit held that a patent owner must prove, by […]

| 4 min read | Tagged: , , ,
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Attorney Petitions SCOTUS Regarding Former Client’s Defamatory Yelp Reviews

By Anne Bolamperti and David G. Barker A California attorney and her law firm filed a petition on October 18, 2018, asking the Supreme Court of the United States (“SCOTUS”) to review the California Supreme Court’s ruling that reversed an injunction that would have required Yelp, Inc. to remove defamatory reviews from its website. Dawn […]

| 2 min read | Tagged:
AB
Former Associate

Supreme Court to Determine “Full Costs” Under Copyright Act

By Mark K. Webb and David G. Barker Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States granted certiorari in Oracle USA v. Rimini Street to resolve a split among the United States Circuit Courts of Appeals concerning costs awarded to a prevailing party under the Copyright Act. The Sixth, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits permit an […]

| 1 min read | Tagged:
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Former Associate

Federal Circuit Holds GoPro’s Catalog Qualifies as a Printed Publication

By Sid Leach Earlier today, the Federal Circuit released a decision concerning what constitutes a printed publication in GoPro Inc. v. Contour IP Holding LLC. The court reversed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) and held that GoPro’s catalog made available at a tradeshow prior to the critical date qualified as a printed publication. […]

| 3 min read
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Of Counsel