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 [...]
On Monday, January 10, 2022 at 1:00 pm, Jonathan Pearce will re-present a recent presentation to the Video Game Bar Association made by himself and fellow practitioner Allison Rothman. Mr. Pearce and Ms. Rothman previously made this presentation during the VGBA's annual summit to provide its members with an update on the state of intellectual property [...]
On Monday, December 20, 2021, Steve Sereboff will lead a discussion of an older decision by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) about single color trademarks, and about a more recent decision by the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) providing more guidance on its false trademark declaration jurisprudence. In re Cook [...]
Join us in watching this webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUWbCZj4WHk After, we will discuss our various thoughts and perspectives on watching ourselves practice law, before our very eyes and behaving civilly when the "connection is poor." We will discuss this webinar on November 15, 2021 via Teams and in-person for those wishing to attend. All are welcome to [...]
On Monday, November 8, 2021, Chris Kopitzke will lead a discussion of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s ruling that reckless disregard satisfies the requisite deceptive intent to establish fraud on the USPTO, and the Ninth Circuit’s rejection of de minimus use by an infringer as a defense to the admitted copying of an entire [...]
At SoCal IP Law Group LLP we protect the intellectual property rights of our clients in the US and internationally. We rely on our foreign associates to protect our clients’ IP in their jurisdictions. To maintain ongoing, strong relationships with our trusted foreign associates and keep up to date on current US and international IP [...]
Which Pizza has better ingredients and who is allowed to say so? Our two cases are Lanham Act court of appeals cases. The first, Pizza Hut, Inc. v. Papa John’s Int’l., 227 F.3d 489 (5th Cir 2000) (here), from the Fifth Circuit in 2000, relates to Pizza Hut’s claim the Papa John’s advertising using the phrase [...]
