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Eileen McDermott
Editor-in-Chief
IPWatchdog, Inc.
Eileen McDermott is the Editor-in-Chief of IPWatchdog.com. Eileen is a veteran IP and legal journalist, and no stranger to the intellectual property world, having held editorial and managerial positions at several publications and industry organizations. She has acted as editorial consultant for the International Trademark Association (INTA), chiefly overseeing the editorial process for the Association’s twice-monthly newsletter, the INTA Bulletin. Eileen has also served as a freelance editor for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO); as senior consulting editor for the Intellectual Property Owners Association (IPO) from 2015 to 2017; as Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief at INTA from 2013 to 2016; and was Americas Editor for Managing Intellectual Property magazine from 2007 to 2013.
Recent Articles by Eileen McDermott
Issa’s Latest Litigation Funding Bill Debated in House Judiciary Without Reaching Vote
The House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday considered the Protecting Third Party Litigation Funding (TPLF) From Abuse Act as part of a lengthy markup hearing that chiefly focused on escalating immigration enforcement operations in the United States. The bill did not reach a vote after committee members recessed for votes on the House floor and never reconvened. Sources tell IPWatchdog the bill has now been pulled.
CAFC Says SAZERAC STITCHES is Likely to Be Confused with SAZERAC
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on Tuesday affirmed a decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) that the mark SAZERAC STITCHES is likely to be confused with registered mark SAZERAC. Laurel Designs, LLC sought to register SAZERAC STITCHES for retail store and online services related to lighting, hardware, furniture and textiles, among others. The examiner rejected the application due to potential confusion with the mark SAZERAC, registered for “online retail store services featuring distilled spirits, beverage glassware, cocktail accessories, T-shirts, caps, postcards, and cocktail recipe books.” Laurel Designs appealed to the TTAB and the Board affirmed after analyzing three of the 13 DuPont factors and determining they favored a finding of confusion.
Squires Issues Precedential Decision Holding Parallel Petitions on Same Patent Claims Should Be Rare
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) designated another Director Review decision precedential on Monday, January 12, following Friday’s designation of four precedential decisions. Today’s decision dealt with parallel petitions on the same patents challenging the same claims under different priority dates and held that such petitions “should be rare”.
Crocs Delivered Blow in Precedential CAFC Ruling on Appeal Window for ITC Decisions
In a precedential ruling authored by Judge Stoll, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) said on Thursday that International Trade Commission (ITC) decisions that contain mixed findings of violations and no violations have distinct appeal windows as to the notices of appeal for the different findings.
Federal Circuit Distinguishes Kyocera and Becton Dickinson in Upholding PTAB Obvious Finding for Electronic Patent
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) on Wednesday upheld a Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruling that certain claims of Viasat Inc.’s data error correction patent are unpatentable as obvious. The opinion was authored by Judge Bryson. Western Digital Technologies, Inc. filed for inter partes review (IPR) of several claims of U.S. Patent No. 8,966,347 and the PTAB held all of the challenged claims unpatentable for obviousness. The Board ultimately found that any difference between Viasat’s claims and the key prior art reference (“Diggs”) “was a ‘semantic discrepanc[y]’ rather than a difference in substance.”
