by BHMK | Sep 10, 2020 | Litigation, Newsletter, Patterson Thuente News, Trademark
Two companies with similar marks operated in the same region for more than 40 years without any actual confusion arising for consumers. Nonetheless, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) found a disqualifying likelihood of confusion when one company tried to...
On behalf of Patterson Thuente Pederson, P.A. | May 7, 2020 | Litigation, Patent Law, Patterson Thuente News
Inter partes review (IPR) offers parties an expedited opportunity to challenge the validity of a patent outside of court. But, as one challenger recently learned the hard way, it’s critical that arguments against patentability be raised at the proper time. Out of the...
On behalf of Patterson Thuente Pederson, P.A. | Apr 20, 2020 | Litigation, Newsletter, Patterson Thuente News
Federal Circuit rejects narrow approach to relation back doctrine The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the appellate court that hears all patent-related appeals, recently revived an infringement lawsuit based on the relation back doctrine. The court...
On behalf of Patterson Thuente Pederson, P.A. | Apr 15, 2020 | Copyright Law, Litigation, Newsletter, Patterson Thuente News
In 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court in Star Athletica, L.L.C. v. Varsity Brands, Inc., established a two-part test for analyzing which elements of a piece of clothing are design elements protectable by copyright and which are nonprotectable functional elements. The U.S....
On behalf of Patterson Thuente Pederson, P.A. | Mar 31, 2020 | Copyright Law, Litigation, Newsletter, Patterson Thuente News
After securing a copyright infringement verdict, it should be easier to obtain a permanent injunction against the infringing party, right? Not so in several jurisdictions. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has now made it harder for copyright holders to...
On behalf of Patterson Thuente Pederson, P.A. | Mar 24, 2020 | Newsletter, Patterson Thuente News, Trademark
It’s easy to understand why willful infringement deserves a harsher punishment than nonwillful infringement. But it’s not always so easy to understand the type of conduct that gives rise to the level of “willful.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has...
On behalf of Patterson Thuente Pederson, P.A. | Mar 18, 2020 | Litigation, Newsletter, Patent Law, Patterson Thuente News
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) doesn’t always get it right. This was demonstrated once again in a case where the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that the board had improperly failed to consider some vital factors when evaluating whether a...
On behalf of Patterson Thuente Pederson, P.A. | Mar 13, 2020 | Patterson Thuente News
As the situation in the US and across the world is changing rapidly, Patterson Thuente IP is taking precautionary steps to ensure the health and safety of our employees by allowing all attorneys and staff to work from home effective Monday, March 16. We have put...
On behalf of Patterson Thuente Pederson, P.A. | Mar 8, 2020 | Design Patents, Litigation, Newsletter, Patterson Thuente News
Holders of design patents received some welcome news recently from a case in which some auto parts distributors sought declaratory judgment for invalidity of design patents to sell parts that were covered by a major vehicle manufacturer’s designs. The U.S. Court of...
On behalf of Patterson Thuente Pederson, P.A. | Mar 3, 2020 | Copyright Law, Design Patents, International IP Protection, Newsletter, Patent Law, Patterson Thuente News, Trade Secrets, Trademark
The strength of a company’s intellectual property portfolio often drives the value of corporate transactions. Regardless of whether you are the acquisition target or the buyer in a transaction involving IP, the due diligence process should be designed to reveal the...
