ABA Journal

Patent Law

569 ABA Journal Patent Law articles.

Federal judge bans potentially inflammatory words, such as ‘yahoos’ and ‘fake news’

Lawyers in a case in the Eastern District of Texas can’t refer to jurors, the court or the jury pool as “yahoos” or by other similar, derogatory references, according to a motion granted by a federal judge last month.

Weekly Briefs: Same-sex marriage bill sent to Biden; lawyer pleads guilty after swinging belt caught on video

Bill protecting gay marriage is sent to Biden

The U.S. House of Representatives approved a marriage equality bill Thursday that requires states and the federal government to recognize same-sex…

Corporate owners knew little about patents they got free of charge and the litigation that followed, judge finds

A federal judge in Delaware is explaining why he ordered patent holding company Nimitz Technologies to produce records showing how it came to own a patent at issue in four cases before him.

Weekly Briefs: Biden can’t grant student-debt relief, judge says; $32.3M malpractice award left in place

Judge strikes down student-debt relief

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman of Fort Worth, Texas, ruled Thursday that the Biden administration’s plan to forgive some federal student-loan debt was an unconstitutional…

Health justice lawyer is among 25 recipients of MacArthur ‘genius grants’

A lawyer who is trying to increase access to lifesaving medications by changing the patent system is one of 25 recipients of the MacArthur Foundation fellowships, commonly known as "genius grants."

Dentons’ $32.3M malpractice loss remains intact after top Ohio court declines to hear case

Updated: The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear Dentons’ appeal of a malpractice verdict requiring it to pay $32.3 million to a former corporate client that had to find new lawyers after the law firm was tossed from a patent case.

ABA supports use of ‘Kessler doctrine’ to discourage patent trolls

In 1907, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Kessler v. Eldred that after Eldred unsuccessfully sued Kessler for infringing his patent for an electrical cigar lighter, he couldn’t sue Kessler’s customers or Kessler, who intervened on their behalf, for infringing his patent on the same product.

AI system can’t be an inventor under US patent law, Federal Circuit rules

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has ruled that an artificial intelligence system can’t get a patent for two of its new inventions—a food container and a light beacon.

Federal judge sitting atop mound of patent litigation loses perch with equitable-distribution order

A federal judge in Waco, Texas, who hears nearly 25% of the nation’s patent cases will see his intellectual-property docket shrink as a result of a new order on case distribution.

Dentons loses appeal to overturn $32.3M malpractice judgment; verein conflict at issue

An Ohio appeals court has upheld a $32.3 million malpractice award to a former Dentons client that says it had to scramble to find new lawyers after the law firm was booted from its case.

Lawyer is accused of climbing down wall, entering Capitol during Jan. 6 riot

An Indianapolis patent and trademark attorney has been charged with entering the U.S. Capitol and engaging in disorderly conduct during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

Author metadata ‘is not a smoking gun’ indicating my opinions were ghostwritten, federal judge says

A federal judge in Pennsylvania has refused to recuse herself in a trade secrets case after a party claimed that author metadata indicated that her opinions may have been ghostwritten.

Chief Justice Roberts tasks judiciary with addressing three areas in year-end report

In an annual report released Friday, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said the Judicial Conference of the United States will address three areas “that have been flagged by Congress and the press over the past year” but doesn't need any help from legislators.

Kramer Levin lawyers are sanctioned for ‘vitriolic and unsubstantiated’ anti-Semitism claims

A federal judge has sanctioned three lawyers from Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel for “vitriolic and unsubstantiated allegations” that the opposing counsel resorted to anti-Semitic stereotypes to influence jurors.

Federal judge bashes Kramer Levin lawyers, even as he denies sanctions for their conduct

Three lawyers with Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel were spared sanctions but got no vindication in a federal judge’s critical decision earlier this week.

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