Intellectual Property Law

Bill Would Ban Tax-Strategy Patents

A ban on patents for tax-planning strategies is included in legislation to reform the patent code. The ban is part of a patent reform package that passed the House earlier this month, but isn’t yet part of the Senate bill, the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req). Tax lawyers argue…

Sep 24, 2007 7:02 PM CDT

Cabbies Sue, Say GPS Risks Trade Secrets

Fearful of an invasion of privacy that could allow others to take advantage of a valuable trade secret—the best driving routes to find fares—New York cabdrivers have filed suit to block new rules requiring the installation of GPS and other new technology. While not all taxi drivers and cab owners…

Sep 20, 2007 1:25 AM CDT

New Procedure Resolves Patent Cases

Companies accused of infringing patents are increasingly turning to a process known as inter partes re-examination, a less costly method of resolving patent disputes that appears to favor defendants. Most alleged infringers win, according to statistics, but the process is not without risk, the Recorder reports. If an accused infringer…

Sep 12, 2007 12:19 PM CDT

It’s My Trademark, Bon Jovi Says

Musician Jon Bon Jovi is claiming that a new energy drink called Mijovi infringes his trademarked name. In a cease-and-desist letter Bon Jovi’s lawyer protested the name of the drink and its use of the slogan “itsmilife,” the New York Times reports. The letter asserts the drink maker is attempting…

Sep 11, 2007 3:05 PM CDT

Paris Hilton Hot Over Hallmark Card

“That’s hot,” is Paris Hilton’s trademark phrase, both figuratively and literally. Those are the allegations in a lawsuit Hilton has filed over a Hallmark moment that was not a happy one for the heiress. Hilton has sued the card company for superimposing a photo of her face on a cartoon…

Sep 11, 2007 2:28 PM CDT

Lawsuit! is a Game to NY Lawyer

Tina Eskreis Nelson’s job as an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law is now history. That’s because the mother of three came up with a unique way in 2003 of explaining to her then 6-year-old son what his parents, both lawyers, are trained to do. She stopped…

Sep 7, 2007 10:29 PM CDT

Nursing Homes Sue Over PI Firm’s Ad

A personal injury law firm has been sued by the owners of a nursing home chain prominently mentioned in the law firm’s Web site advertising. Genesis Healthcare Corp. contends McHugh Fuller Law Group misappropriated its trademark and logo by including these brands on a Web page seeking plaintiffs interested in…

Sep 7, 2007 5:27 PM CDT

Microsoft Trial Win a Legislative Loss?

A stunning $1.52 billion verdict against Microsoft Corp. in a patent case earlier this month was the impetus for planned changes in U.S. patent law. But now that the computer megalith has succeeded in getting the federal jury verdict overturned, its courtroom win is likely to mean a legislative loss.…

Sep 5, 2007 3:58 PM CDT

Google Ad Suit Settled

A blinds and wallpaper company says American Airlines has a better chance of making its trademark infringement claim fly against Google. American Blind and Wallpaper Factory has settled a declaratory judgment suit brought by Google posing an unusual legal question: whether a search engine violates a company’s trademark by allowing…

Sep 5, 2007 11:10 AM CDT

Suit Claims Right to Choreography

A lawsuit against the New Dance Group claims choreographers or their heirs have the right to control performances of dances first staged by the New York company in the 1930s and ’40s. The suit claims the choreographers own the dances, with copyright registrations in some cases that prove their claims,…

Sep 4, 2007 6:01 PM CDT

Designers Sue Over Knockoffs

More than 20 designers concerned about knockoffs of their fashions have filed lawsuits against the clothing chain Forever 21. Other stores have been sued as well, the New York Times reports. The designers are hoping to expand laws that bar counterfeit goods to prevent sales of clothing that copies their…

Sep 4, 2007 4:18 PM CDT

Rehearing in Freelancer Copyright Case

A federal appeals court has agreed to rehear a case that considers whether freelance writers have rights to stories published in a magazine’s exact reproduction in digital CD-ROM format. The decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear the case en banc could reinstitute a conflict with…

Sep 4, 2007 11:04 AM CDT

Jones Day Snares Hong Kong IP Lawyers

Jones Day has hired four intellectual property lawyers for its Hong Kong office from Baker & McKenzie’s office in the same city. They are Peggy Cheung, Anita Leung, Chiang Ling Li and Helen Tang, the National Law Journal reports. Tang will have of-counsel status, and the others will be partners.…

Aug 31, 2007 10:21 AM CDT

Top Experts Trump Lawyers: $2,000/Hour

A very select group of lawyers reportedly now bills at hourly rates that can exceed $1,000. But they are topped by an even more select group of experts, whose fees can hit $2,000 per hour. Intellectual property knowledge can earn such stratospheric fees for experts—who typically, at four-figure rates, are…

Aug 30, 2007 8:05 PM CDT

Patent Ruling Favors Defendants

An en banc opinion by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit makes it more difficult to obtain triple damages for willful patent infringement. The court ruled yesterday (PDF) that to prove willful infringement, “a patentee must show by clear and convincing evidence that the infringer acted despite…

Aug 21, 2007 10:37 AM CDT