Ford Motor Co. v. Montana Eighth Judicial Dist. Ct. 141 S.Ct. 1017 (2021) For our discussion, we will analyze how the Supreme Court expanded personal jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants. The majority held that a Court’s specific jurisdiction standard includes suits that sufficiently “relate to” a defendant’s forum contacts, even in the absence of a "causal [...]
Real-Life Clash of Clans - Huge Verdicts are Alive and Well in the E.D. Tex. In Gree, Inc. v. Supercell Oy (E.D. Tex. 2019 and 2020), available here, here, here, here (judgment), here, here, here, and here (jury verdict). Gree, Inc. is (was?) a successful Japanese mobile game developer. Their games have been popular in Japan for at least [...]
Tattoo Copyright Infringement and Post-Brexit Trademark Considerations For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, June 7, 2021, Chris Kopitzke will lead a discussion of the legal issues arising from unauthorized copying of a photograph for a tattoo and will highlight selected trademark responsibilities resulting from Brexit. What happens when a celebrity tattoo [...]
For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, May 24, 2021, 1:00 pm PT, Michael Harris will lead a discussion of the Trademark Modernization Act. The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (TMA) (tm modernization act) is now law, but it needs PTO rules before TMA will become effective. The proposed rules are at TMA [...]
For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, May 17, 2021 at 1:00 pm, Mark Goldstein will lead a discussion of two recent Federal Circuit patent cases. Free Stream Media Corp. dba Samba TV v. Alphonso Inc. (Fed. Cir. May 11, 2021, 2019-1506, 2019-213) Samba sued Alphonso in two courts, asserting infringement of its [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, May 10, 2021 will be a discussion of two Federal Circuit cases: Functional Claim “Raises the Bar for Enablement” In Amgen v. Sanofi and Regeneron (Fed. Cir. 2021) (available - Amgen case) the CAFC provided another anti-functional-limitation decision — this time rendering Amgen’s monoclonal antibody claims invalid. [...]
Our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, May 3, 2021 will be a discussion of a Federal Circuit case finding quantum entanglement subject matter ineligible for patent and a TTAB opposition surviving a Rule 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss: In In re: Huping Hu, Maoxin Wu (Fed. Cir. March 17, 2021) (available here), Applicant claimed [...]
For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, April 26, 2021 we will discuss the following: Second Circuit Finds Andy Warhol’s Use of Prince Photograph Wasn’t All That Transformative After All - See The Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith, Case No. 19-2420 (2d Cir. March 26, 2021) In a recent decision, the Second Circuit [...]
Ethical Duties in the IP Attorney-Client Relationship A raft of ethical issues arise from the process of interacting with prospective clients, engaging new clients, working with clients, and disengaging. In our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, March 29, 2021 we'll discuss the interplay between the California Rules of Professional Conduct for Attorneys (the [...]
Issue Preclusion, Claim Preclusion, and Expansion of the Kessler Doctrine Dismissal with prejudice generally gives rise to the application of two doctrines, issue preclusion and claim preclusion. Issue preclusion prevents a party from raising an issue that was or could have been brought in a previous lawsuit. So, a party who sues another party may [...]
