For our weekly SoCal IP Institute meeting on Monday, November 2, 2020 we will discuss the following cases:

In Re Nitro Fluids LLC (CAFC 2020) (Case Here)

Nitro Fluids petitioned for mandamus review, the Federal Circuit granted in part and denied in part the decision. Interestingly, the Federal Circuit did not order transfer as the petition requested, but vacated the original judgment and demanded that on remand the district court consider whether its justification for keeping the case is “compelling.”

SFM, LLC v.Corcamore, LLC (TTAB 2020) (Case Here)

The TTAB granted sanctions due to discovery misconduct. Unlike Federal Court that can award sanctions in the form of monetary compensation or direct orders, the TTAB is limited to sanctions involving either  cancellation or transfer of marks. Here, after failing to produce documents, and failing to produce witnesses at depositions, the TTAB had enough and ordered an adverse judgment as a sanction.

We will also discuss a recent letter regarding Andrei Iancu

All are invited to attend. Due to the Covid-19 situation the meeting will be conducted via Teams video conference at 1:00pm PT. 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 to obtain a link to the video conference.