Intellectual Property

Care should be taken in foreign patent prosecution, as it is likely to be monitored and considered by opponents in U.S. litigation, and there may be an effort to introduce into evidence some aspect of the foreign proceedings.

The Seventh Circuit issued the first Circuit-level critique of Cariou v. Prince, creating a noteworthy Circuit split on the correct application and significance of a work’s “transformative use” on the fair use inquiry.

When Monster energy drink sent Victory Energize a cease-and-desist letter, Victory went on the offensive, painting Monster as a “trademark bully” and asking a Court to dismiss, and award legal fees. Steve Baird of Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. outlines the case, and examines whether “bully” is an appropriate claim.

The Copyright Office’s Copyright Compendium, effective Dec. 2014, includes helpful guidance regarding website and website content, including authorship of a site, though Mark Sableman with Thompson Coburn LLP says other notable areas – fair use and implied license – are nearly ignored.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas turned to patent law for guidance in assessing post-verdict royalty fees to compensate damage resulting from trade secret misappropriation.

A recent federal court case that found an inventor engaged in material misconduct in an attempt to deceive the USPTO reveals several ways attorneys can avoid behavior resulting in such a finding, including verifying facts and arguments on prior art.