Intellectual Property Law

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

Public Access ‘Robin Hood’ Wants Case Law Free

Public information crusader Carl Malamud is the latest of a growing number of individuals who are looking for a way to make court decisions more accessible to the general public. At his site, public.resource.org, Malamud plans to post case law previously only available in law libraries or through subscription services…

Aug 20, 2007 2:36 PM CDT

Documentary Tests Fair Use

A new documentary called “War Made Easy” tests fair use law by using unlicensed network news footage. The producers paid for about 60 percent of the clips and contend they are permitted to use the other footage under fair-use provisions of federal copyright law, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The…

Aug 17, 2007 12:27 PM CDT

Violent Femmes Bassist Blisters Over Royalties

The ’80s American folk-punk band known widely for its song “Blister in the Sun” is now embroiled in litigation. Violent Femmes bassist Brian Ritchie has filed a federal suit in New York against the band’s lead singer Gordon Gano, accusing him of failing to pay a fair share of royalties,…

Aug 16, 2007 4:28 PM CDT

Qualcomm GC Resigns

On the heels of several legal setbacks, Qualcomm has announced the resignation of its general counsel, Lou Lupin. He will be replaced on an acting basis by former U.S. attorney Carol Lam, the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) reports. She joined Qualcomm in February. The company said in a press…

Aug 13, 2007 7:25 PM CDT

Facebook Favored in Faceoff

The creator of Facebook has the upper hand in a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by the founders of a competing social networking Web site, according to one expert. R. Scott Feldmann, an intellectual property lawyer at Crowell & Moring, said Facebook appears to have the better legal arguments, according to…

Aug 13, 2007 3:45 PM CDT

Panelists Ask: Who Owns Your Genes?

Michael Crichton, who fills a rather unique niche in turning science into literary fiction, says the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office goofed in dealing with one of the most fundamental aspects of life. It let our individual genes be patented by drug companies and other enterprises. And that is thanks…

Aug 13, 2007 12:12 AM CDT

Real Suit Over Animated Sex Character

We’ve written about the virtual online world of Second Life—how lawyers take on second identities there, find business and create legal guidelines to rule their make-believe towns. Now the Associated Press reports on a real lawsuit brought by the creator of a virtual Second Life sex machine that seeks the…

Aug 10, 2007 6:09 PM CDT

J&J Is Cross Over Symbol License

A dispute over rights to the red cross symbol has led to a lawsuit and dueling press statements. Johnson & Johnson, the health-care products company, sued the American Red Cross yesterday, claiming the charity infringed its trademark by licensing the cross for commercial purposes. The suit seeks an injunction against…

Aug 9, 2007 2:22 PM CDT

Quelle Crime! Teen Held for Potter Book Posted en Français

A 16-year-old has been arrested and briefly jailed for allegedly translating the entire 759-page book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, into French and posting it on the Internet within days of its July 21 release. The teen, a high school student from Aix-en-Provence in southern France, is not named…

Aug 8, 2007 7:27 PM CDT

Lawyer Defends Qualcomm Representation

U.S. District Judge Rudi Brewster didn’t name the lawyers who represented Qualcomm when he issued an opinion chastising the company for failing to turn over evidence in its patent infringement suit against rival microchip maker Broadcom. But the Recorder says the lawyers representing Qualcomm included Stanley Young of Heller Ehrman…

Aug 8, 2007 10:29 AM CDT

Qualcomm ‘Litigation Abuse’ Cited

A judge has ruled that Qualcomm Inc. waived its rights to enforce two patents for video compression and engaged in “aggravated litigation abuse.” The judge said Qualcomm had deliberately concealed patents from a standard-setting body and failed to turn over thousands of discovery documents in its patent infringement suit against…

Aug 7, 2007 7:16 PM CDT

Record Patent Award Overturned

A federal judge has overturned a $1.5 billion judgment against Microsoft that is one of the largest amounts ever awarded in a patent infringement suit. Alcatel-Lucent had obtained the award in a suit claiming that Microsoft had infringed two patents for the MP3 format for copying digital music files, the…

Aug 7, 2007 2:00 PM CDT

Drug-Price Law Overturned

An appeals court has struck down a Washington, D.C., law barring drug companies from charging excessive prices for prescription drugs. The D.C. law didn’t define excessive pricing. But it said a prima facie case could be established if the whosesale price of a patented drug was more than 30 percent…

Aug 3, 2007 2:28 PM CDT

Patent Rulings Favoring Defendants

Courts are citing a recent U.S. Supreme Court case to justify rulings in favor of companies defending patent infringement claims. The Supreme Court’s ruling in KSR International Co. v. Teleflex Inc. three months ago made it easier to invalidate patents for obvious inventions. The court said an invention is not…

Aug 1, 2007 6:17 PM CDT