On Monday, April 11, 2022, Chris Kopitzke will lead a discussion of the issues before the Supreme Court in the long-running copyright infringement case based on Andy Warhol’s “Prince” series of artworks, and about the CAFC’s recent holding that a party lacked Article III standing to challenge the TTAB’s ruling on likelihood of confusion involving [...]
Please join us on Monday, April 4, 2022 at Noon , where we will discuss discovery in the United States District Courts. The presentation will cover suggestions for discovery in federal courts. Attachments include copies of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26, 30, 33, 34 and 37, corresponding local rules from C.D. Cal., and quotations from [...]
Please join us on Monday, March 28, 2022 at 12:00 pm, where we will discuss two recent Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit decisions. Dyfan, LLC v. Target Corp., No. 21-1725 (Fed. Cir. 2022) addresses claim construction to determine whether a patent is invalid. The evaluation includes consideration of whether patent claims adhere to [...]
Please join us on Monday, June 13, 2022 at 12:00 pm, where we will discuss recent Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit action regarding Intrinsic Evidence on Indefiniteness and Sanctions; and regarding Damages Calculation For Intrinsic Evidence on Indefiniteness and Sanctions please see: ClearOne v Shure. For Damages Calculation please see: Pavo v. Kingston. [...]
The USPTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) handles five kinds of cases: 1. Appeals by patent applicants when an examiner has rejected their application at least twice.2. Appeals by patent owners in reexaminations3. Inter parte reviews (IPRs)4. Post Grant Reviews (PGRs)5. Covered Business Method Patent Reviews (CBMs) In support of the PTAB's public outreach [...]
Please join us on Monday, March 14, 2022 at 12:00 pm, where we will discuss the concept of Analogous Prior Art in Obviousness rejections, as well as delve into the issues in the Moderna-NIH conflict over Covid vaccine patent rights. Please see Analogous Prior Art slides here. Please see Moderna-NIH slides here, and patent filing [...]
In unrelated opinions published one week apart, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has pushed out the boundaries of IPR estoppel. IPR estoppel, like many patent law issues, seems esoteric, but it can have tremendous economic impact. Though estoppel is usually an issue of equity, well within a judge's sense of fairness, IPR [...]
On Monday, February 14, 2022 (Happy Valentine's Day!), SoCal IP Law Group partner Jonathan Pearce will present on several patent and trademark cases involving "exceptional case" determinations. Our firm has handled a few litigation matters involving potential or actual exceptional cases recently. As a result, we have some experience in these determinations and thought them [...]
On Monday, February 7, 2022 at 1:00 pm, Marina Lang will present on recent caselaw dealing with Generic trademarks. Eleven years into a dispute, a federal court ruled that the "Pretzel Crisps" brand is a generic. See the opinion. Ms. Lang will discuss the "not so simple" legal standard that is required for a [...]
On Monday, January 31, 2022 at 1:00 pm, we will discuss the following cases. The first, from the Supreme Court, Minerva Surgical, Inc. v. Hologic, Inc., 141 S. Ct. 2298 (2021) (Justice Kagan), revisits the assignor estoppel doctrine. “That doctrine, rooted in an idea of fair dealing, limits an inventor’s ability to assign a patent to [...]