For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, August 5th, 2019, we will discuss the following cases:

Nuvo Pharmaceuticals v. Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories Inc. (CAFC 2019) (available here). Plaintiff sued defendant for patent infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,926,907 and 8,557,285 relating to combination dosing of pain relief drugs. At trial defendant asserted the specifications of the two patents were not enabling, the district court disagreed, but on appeal the federal circuit agreed. Specifically, the federal circuit reasoned that a PHOSITA would not have reasonably expected the combination disclosed by the claims to work, and thus the combination needed to be described in the specification with more particularity. The federal circuit also pointed out that the written description requirement does not always require proof a claimed treatment is effective, however in this case the effectiveness was claimed.

LTTB LLC v. Redbubble, Inc. (C.D. Cal 2019) (available here). Plaintiff owned several trademark registrations to the phrase LETTUCE TURNIP THE BEET for use with clothing. Plaintiff tried to sue a defendant for making clothing that also contained the registered mark. Both parties motioned for summary judgment, the court sided with defendant. Said the court, “LTTB is attempting to sell the pun it claims as a trademark. The products are simply the vehicle for distributing the claimed ‘trademark,’ rather than the other way around, where a trademark is used to identify the source of the goods.”

All are invited to join us on Monday August 5th, 2019, at noon in our Westlake Village office. This activity is approved for 1 hour of MCLE credit. If you will be joining us, please RSVP to Elisha Manzur by 9 am Monday morning.