The Federal Circuit issues precedential decisions finding Intel has Article III standing to appeal Qualcomm IPRs from the PTAB; the Federal Circuit announces oral arguments in January 2022 will be telephonic; Germany’s patent office announced that urban air mobility patent application filings have tripled from 2016 to 2020; the PTAB institutes an IPR proceeding on one of two patents involved in VLSI Technologies’ $2.18 billion infringement verdict against Intel; the Japanese government plans to introduce a law paying patent applicants to keep patents covering technologies with potential military applications secret; the Copyright Office ends timing adjustments under its CARES Act authority; Ikorongo Texas files a petition for writ of certiorari asking the Supreme Court to reverse the Federal Circuit’s mandamus ruling transferring a patent infringement case from Western Texas to Northern California; and more.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Eleventh Circuit upholds a jury verdict finding misappropriation of trade secrets to alcohol sales invoicing software; the European Patent Office rules that an AI system cannot be a legal person who satisfies inventorship requirements; a U.S. magistrate judge recommends $83 million in statutory damages against Russian operators of a YouTube stream-ripping service;…
This week in Other Barks & Bites: the U.S. Senate confirms the appointment of Judge Lucy Koh to the bench of the Ninth Circuit; the Federal Circuit affirms a summary judgment ruling of no induced infringement in an international patent case over plastics manufacturing; the Supreme Court denies an appeal of the French government’s sovereign immunity win over cybersquatting claims; the Senate Commerce Committee approves a bill that would increase foreign direct investment into semiconductor manufacturing; Judge Mauskopf sends a letter indicating that the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts will consider concerns raised regarding case assignment policies in the Waco Division of the Western District of Texas; the USPTO proposes a rule that would end the practice of mailing printed patent certificates upon issuance in favor of electronic-only patent certificates; and news reports indicate that Oracle is seeking a major acquisition of a medical records and software firm.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: a recent GAO report makes several recommendations designed to improve the Department of Defense’s lack of expertise in IP valuation and licensing; The U.S. Copyright Office is studying and requesting comment on a proposal to defer registration examination; a bipartisan group of Senators introduce a new bill that would require social media companies to provide data to NSF-vetted independent researchers; Toyota Motor announces that it will shutdown production at two Japanese facilities due to labor and supply chain issues; the Warhol Foundation files a petition for cert to appeal the Second Circuit’s ruling that Andy Warhol’s Prince series was not a transformative fair use of the original photograph; the Supreme Court denies a petition for cert asking the Court to answer whether the foreign doctrine of equivalents applies to terms that are generic in other English-speaking countries; the Federal Circuit reverses an infringement verdict in favor of AstraZeneca over Judge Taranto’s dissent that the majority improperly construed a claimed percentage of excipient used in an asthma treatment; and China’s IP administration announces that it has received 815,000 irregular patent applications during 2021, the vast majority of which have been struck upon review.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: Moderna loses out on two appeals from PTAB final written decisions in part due to a lack of Article III standing; a group of Senate Republicans send a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan regarding the agency’s use of “zombie votes;” the 2021 International Property Rights Index reflects an overall decline in the state of intellectual property rights globally; Joff Wild announces that he’s stepping down as editor-in-chief of Law Business Research at the end of the year; Register Perlmutter exercises her authority to extend the commencement date for the Copyright Claims Board by up to 180 days; the FTC files an antitrust suit challenging the legality of Nvidia’s $40 billion acquisition of chip supplier Arm; the Tenth Circuit affirms that RICO claims involving a university’s alleged theft of a novel algorithm developed by a student were time-barred; and Cellspin Soft files a supplemental brief at the Federal Circuit challenging the USPTO’s authority in denying requests for Director review of PTAB decisions under Arthrex.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Supreme Court denies petitions for certiorari in cases over Lanham Act claims asserted by professional models against strip clubs using their likenesses in nightclub ads, as well as an appeal challenging the Eighth Circuit’s determination that a product’s expense doesn’t create higher buyer sophistication as a matter of law in initial interest confusion cases; Samsung announces plans to build a $17 billion computer chip plant in Taylor, TX; a successful mediation between Nike and Skechers leads to a settlement of patent infringement claims between those two footwear rivals; Senate Democrats, along with Bernie Sanders (I-VT), renew calls for a TRIPS waiver on COVID-19 vaccines; amendments to national copyright law increasing copyright protections go into effect in Singapore; Apple files a petition for cert asking the Supreme Court to reverse the Federal Circuit’s finding that its license with Qualcomm eliminates Article III standing to challenge the validity of the licensed patents; and the Fifth Circuit finds that the mere availability of a website without anything targeting a forum state cannot meet the “purposeful availment” requirement for personal jurisdiction to sustain a copyright and trade dress infringement case.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: The USPTO is postponing until January 2023 the filing fee for patent applications not filed in DOCX format; a recent Global Value of Music Copyright report finds that worldwide copyright value for music increased to $32.5 billion USD; B.E. Tech seeks mandamus relief at Federal Circuit, raising several constitutionality issues with inter partes review proceedings at the PTAB; Ford and GM make moves toward entering chip manufacturing industry; Ireland adopts EU Copyright Directive five months after the EU’s deadline; Jim Olive Photography files petition for cert over Takings Clause claim on state copyright infringement; the Federal Circuit remands a case to the TTAB to reconsider claims that Italian hardware maker Galperti made fraudulent representations on exclusive use of its trademark; former USPTO Directors Kappos and Iancu and former Commerce Secretary Locke blast U.S. support of TRIPS waiver as “strategic folly;” and the USPTO issues a final rule implemented the provisions of the Trademark Modernization Act, including new reexamination proceedings for challenging fraudulent marks.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: news reports indicate that the United States has warned American tech companies about disclosure rules in the EU’s Digital Markets Act threatening trade secrets; the Federal Circuit dismisses Apple’s latest appeal of Qualcomm IPRs over Judge Newman’s arguments that the licensing agreement between those companies creates standing; Johnson & Johnson and General Electric both announce corporate restructuring plans that will split those companies into multiple businesses; the EU’s General Court affirms a €2.42 billion fine by the EU Commission over Google’s anticompetitive online shopping practices; oral arguments at the Supreme Court indicate that a majority of Justices will side with Unicolors in its copyright case against H&M; NIH Director Collins tells reporters that his agency intends to file suit to challenge Moderna’s ownership of COVID-19 vaccine patents; and Rep. Massie introduces the Restoring America’s Leadership in Innovation Act to repeal much of the America Invents Act and clarify Section 101 subject matter eligibility.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Federal Circuit clarifies the “reasonable expectation of success” standard while reversing the PTAB’s obviousness determination regarding patent claims covering a method of photoinactivation of Gram-positive bacteria; Senator Tillis raises concerns about Judge Alan Albright with the USPTO and Chief Justice John Roberts; a CSET study shows that Chinese entities received nearly one-third of global patent grants for robotics technologies between 2005 and 2019; Google News announces that it will return to Spain early next year after that country’s government implemented the EU Copyright Directive; Redbubble’s print-on-demand service survives trademark and counterfeit infringement claims filed by Atari; Google enters a 10-year, $1 billion partnership with futures exchange company CME Group; and NXP Semiconductors files a Section 337 complaint against Amazon and other tech firms for infringing patent claims covering integrated circuits and chipsets.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Federal Circuit issues a partial remand asking the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to analyze the distinctiveness of the “BROOKLYN BREW SHOP” trademark; the Copyright Royalty Board finalizes its ratemaking determination for statutory licenses on digital performances of sound recordings; China’s IP administration issues draft regulations that would allow foreign patent agencies to open representative offices in China; a joint communiqué between ministers from the EU and Africa committed to increasing COVID-19 vaccine production without mention of a waiver of IP obligations under TRIPS; the U.S. government is found liable for more than $100 million in damages for infringing an airport security checkpoint tray system patent; the Ninth Circuit finds that an Arizona state law protecting consumer personal data collected by car dealerships did not conflict with the Copyright Act; the EUIPO extends Bayer’s EU patent rights for Xarelto until 2026; and Microsoft becomes the world’s most valuable company after Apple’s disappointing earnings report lowers its market cap.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: Facebook comes to a preliminary agreement on copyright royalties with French news publishers; Senator Thom Tillis announces his support of a bill increasing cyber-attack reporting requirements for critical infrastructure owners; the Federal Trade Commission issues a report on “troubling” ISP practices surrounding consumer personal data; a Moscow court enters a ruling banning dozens of Samsung smartphone models from Russia after finding infringement of mobile payment system patents; Snap’s earnings show that Apple’s app privacy changes are having a sizable impact on advertiser revenues; the EPO releases a study showing that the U.S. and the EU account for 60 percent of clean plastics patent filing activity; the House of Representatives passes a series of four bills that would secure supply chains for telecommunications infrastructure and improve competition in telecom networks; and the Copyright Royalty Board reopens a public comment period on Section 115 statutory licenses after major copyright owners and record companies reach a partial settlement.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: the U.S. Copyright Office announces that it will study the current state of copyright protections for news content; the Ninth Circuit affirms the dismissal of copyright claims against The Weeknd over the 2016 release of “A Lonely Night”; the Sixth Circuit finds that laches are not available to Honeywell as an equitable defense against claims that its online sales of MAX-branded earplugs violates a 1995 consent decree; news reports indicate that negotiations between the EU and South Africa on the proposed TRIPS IP waiver for COVID-19 vaccines have been increasing in recent days; the USPTO issues a final rule on high-capacity physical media submissions for determining patentability of amino acid sequences and computer program information; the U.S. Supreme Court approves the Solicitor General’s request to participate in oral arguments for Unicolors v. H&M; and a Federal Circuit panel majority nixes due process arguments raised by Mobility Workx regarding bias in IPR proceedings at the PTAB.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Second Circuit affirms an attorneys’ fee award to Spanish Broadcasting System after finding that key plaintiff witness was “basically making up his testimony”; Circuit Judge Reyna calls out the Federal Circuit’s Section 101 analysis under Alice; Senator Tillis renews call to end U.S. support of TRIPS waiver after calls to extend waiver to copyright; Circuit Judge Newman dissents from a Federal Circuit panel majority’s decision that a forum selection clause in a non-disclosure agreement did not prevent Samsung from challenging patent validity in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings; Moderna announces its plans to invest $500 million in building a vaccine manufacturing facility in Africa; the Copyright Office starts a crowdsourcing campaign to digitally transcribe 95,000 title pages from works registered during the Office’s first century of existence; and the U.S. Supreme Court invites the Solicitor General to file a brief on PersonalWeb’s petition for writ challenging the Federal Circuit’s application of Kessler v. Eldred to create patent-specific preclusion doctrine.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: CAFC grants mandamus to Apple regarding Western District of Texas transfer from Austin to Waco; the Department of Justice’s Jeffrey Wilder remarks at an SEP conference that antitrust is “not the right tool” for licensees dissatisfied with SEP royalty rates; the Ninth Circuit reverses a class certification in a class antitrust action against Qualcomm’s SEP licensing practices because of an improper choice of law analysis; the Second Circuit affirms that Victor Miller was an independent contractor when writing the screenplay for Friday the 13th; the Federal Circuit clarifies its willfulness standard in reinstating a damages award against Cisco, and orders the USPTO to dismiss a petition for ex parte reexamination filed by a serial petitioner of IPRs at the PTAB; Judge Albright dismisses Google and YouTube’s arguments that VideoShare patent claims should be invalidated due to a terminal disclaimer linking the patent-in-suit to two previously invalidated patents; the Unified Patent Court is set to begin hearing EU patent cases by mid-2022 after Germany ratifies jurisdictional protocols; and Merck enters into a $11.5 billion agreement to buy Acceleron Pharma in a bid to stave off the 2028 patent cliff for Keytruda.
This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Federal Circuit grants mandamus in another motion to transfer case from the Western District of Texas; the U.S. Department of Justice unseals an indictment charging three individuals with conducting a TV piracy scheme worth $30 million; the Third Circuit holds that right of publicity claims fall under the IP claim carveout to Section 230’s limited liability provisions; the leadership of the Senate IP Subcommittee starts to take action on a set of patent bills that are receiving mixed reactions within the IP community; DABUS AI loses another inventorship case in the UK; Nike revises its 2022 sales forecast downward due to supply chain issues; the United States maintains its third-place ranking in WIPO’s Global Innovation Index; Senator Tillis issues questions to Google and Facebook executives regarding ad-supported copyright piracy abetted by online platforms following a contentious Senate Antitrust hearing on Big Data; and the USPTO publishes an interim rule increasing the annual limit of Track One prioritized examination requests to 15,000.