This week in Other Barks & Bites: the U.S. Department of Justice proposes multiple remedies to Google’s alleged monopolistic practices, including breaking up the tech giant; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) overturns a lower court ruling, reviving a patent infringement lawsuit against Salesforce; and Limp Bizkit sues Universal Music Group for $200 million in unpaid royalties ..read more

The U.S. trademark application process can be a complex and time-consuming endeavor for businesses of all sizes, from startups to multinational corporations. However, by understanding best practices, employing time-saving techniques, and implementing efficient strategies, you can significantly streamline the application process. This comprehensive guide will delve into key aspects to help you navigate the trademark filing landscape with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), potentially saving you time, money, and resources ..read more

The recently-formed Inventors Defense Alliance (IDA) sent a letter yesterday to the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure in the Administrative Office of the United States Courts urging it not to heed the call of a letter sent to the Committee last week by 124 large companies to implement a uniform process on disclosure of third-party litigation financing (TPLF) sources. The letter sent last week was organized by Lawyers for Civil Justice (LCJ) and signed by some of the world’s largest and most well-known corporations, including all of the major internet platforms, pharmaceutical and au ..read more

In a landmark judgment with far reaching ramifications, a German court recently held that the copying of images by Large-scale Artificial Intelligence Open Network (LAION) - a nonprofit organization that provides datasets, tools and models to liberate machine learning research – did not infringe copyright law. The Kneschke v. LAION case, heard by the Hamburg Regional Court, centered on LAION's automatic downloading of images, including a copyrighted work by photographer Robert Kneschke, for AI training purposes. In 2021, LAION, based in Hamburg, automatically downloaded images from the interne ..read more

The ongoing debate over the nearly two-decades long battle to restore injunctive relief to prevailing patent owners is no doubt a vigorous one. Two different camps within the pro-strong-patent rights community have emerged. One camp consists of those backed by and/or supporting corporate innovators. The other camp consists of those supporting small, independent innovators ..read more

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced today that it has finalized a proposed rule expanding opportunities to practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). After considering comments received, the final rule will allow parties to proceed without separate backup counsel contingent upon a showing of good cause. However, the final rule scrapped a proposal to permit non-registered counsel admitted pro hac vice to serve as lead counsel in America Invents Act (AIA) proceedings ..read more

As more states legalize recreational marijuana, the incidence of children accidentally ingesting cannabis edibles has also risen dramatically. According to Pediatrics, a journal published by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the number of children under six years old who have consumed cannabis products surged by 1,375% from 2017 to 2021. See Marit S. Tweet et al., Pediatric Edible Cannabis Exposures and Acute Toxicity: 2017–2021, Pediatrics (Jan. 3, 2023). Children between the ages of two and three years old were at the highest risk ..read more

Business inventor James Jorasch says identifying inventions is something that everyone can achieve with a little training. On the premiere episode of Season 4 of the podcast Understanding IP Matters (UIPM), he discusses what companies need to do to identify untapped inventions they and their employees are overlooking. Jorasch is the founder of Science House, an innovation and collaboration facilitator in Manhattan. Jorasch is a named inventor on 780 U.S. issued patents that focus on the interaction between people and machines, spanning telecom, financial services, healthcare, and gaming ..read more

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (CAFC) issued a precedential opinion affirming-in-part, vacating-in-part, and remanding a district court’s dismissal of a patent infringement complaint filed by AlexSam, Inc. against Aetna, Inc. AlexSam’s complaint alleged that Aetna had marketed Mastercard and VISA products that directly and indirectly infringed upon its Patent No. 6,000,608 (“’608 patent ..read more

On October 7, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an order list that included cert denials for several intellectual property cases that were presented to the nation’s highest court. In rendering those denials, the Supreme Court leaves in place an appellate ruling invalidating patents claiming improvements to computer networking technologies under Section 101’s abstract idea jurisprudence. U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) requirements on listing domicile addresses on trademark applications, and the Federal Circuit’s application of obviousness double-type patenting doctrine in the patent term ..read more