Other Barks & Bites for Friday, October 23: EUIPO Announces Record Number of Counterfeits Seized in 2025; EPO Study Shows Growing Importance of Tech Transfer Offices; and Taction Seeks to Add Damages to $5.7 Billion Apple Infringement Verdict

This week in Other Barks & Bites: SpaceX reportedly seeks to build nationwide wireless carrier through purchase of 80,000 cellular sites; a joint study to which the European Patent Office contributed recommends strengthening tech transfer offices across the EU; the Unified Patent Court’s Court of Appeal finds that printed Gucci leather products don’t infringe patent claims to methods of decorating leather; and more.

EUIPO-European Commission Report Says Value of Detained Counterfeits Hit Record High in 2025

The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) and the European Commission released a report today titled “EU Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights” on results at the EU border and in the EU internal market in 2025. The report explained that “over 196 million counterfeit articles were detained at the EU border and in the EU internal market, with an estimated retail value of EUR 6.3 billion.” Detention volume rose over 67% from 2024, and the estimated value surpassed 2024 by almost 63%, which the report identifies as the “second consecutive all-time record” for value.

CAFC Denies Mandamus Petition Arguing District Court Should Not Have Reconsidered Initial Transfer Ruling

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on Thursday denied two petitions for writ of mandamus arguing the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia abused its discretion in transferring three related patent infringement suits to the Northern District of Illinois.

Do Not Let a Paperwork ‘Gotcha’ Sink Valuable Medicines

Congress is considering a bill that would let patents on prescription drugs be rendered unenforceable over an honest paperwork error, even when the underlying invention is genuinely new, non-obvious, and valuable to patients. Supporters of the Medication Affordability and Patent Integrity Act (S. 2658), which the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee reported in July, say it will lower drug prices by closing what they describe as a loophole that drugmakers use to extend their monopolies.

Must All Good Things Come to an End, Or Can You Obtain a Perpetual Design Patent?

Many intellectual property rights peacefully coexist because they apply to distinct aspects of a product. Issues can arise when intellectual property rights that expire and intellectual property rights that do not expire protect the same or overlapping features of the same product. One example is design patents and trade dress rights, both of which apply to non-functional ornamental features.

SCOTUS Summarily Affirms Fifth Circuit Judgment on Worldwide Copyright Reversion

The U.S. Supreme Court issued an order on Monday in BMG Rights Management (US) LLC v. Vetter affirming the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s judgment granting a songwriter ownership of the worldwide copyright in “Double Shot (Of My Baby’s Love).” The Court entered the affirmance under 28 U.S.C. Section 2109, following a September 30 reply in which BMG Rights Management (US) LLC and the other petitioners urged the Court to grant certiorari and reverse.

Venable LLP is Seeking a Trademark Associate (Mid-Level)

Venable LLP’s Intellectual Property Group is seeking a mid-level associate with five to seven years of substantive U.S. trademark experience in a law firm setting to join our practice in Washington, D.C. Our team advises and represents clients across the full spectrum of trademark and brand protection law, including prosecution, clearance, enforcement, portfolio management, and proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB).

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