Features

Influence of Lost Profits Damages In Patent Cases
In two recent decisions, the Federal Circuit and a Delaware district court took account of the underlying economic conditions that permit and prevent awards of lost profits, and looked at the implications of those conditions on otherwise unrelated areas of law.
Columns & Departments
IP News
District Court: Exceptionality Found and Attorney Fees Awarded When Patent Owner Pursued Litigation With a Fraudulently Obtained Patent
Features

Trademarks Making Advertising Claims Create Sticky Situations
The SharkNinja case as well as other well-established precedents serve as powerful reminders to advertisers of certain best-practices in choosing their trademarks or evaluating whether to challenge their competitors' trademarks.
Features

Creative vs. Corporate: Patent Infringement Awards Respawn the Debate over Patenting Video Games
Patents can provide the broadest and strongest form of protection in the video game field. They can protect the methods and processes performed by the game software, and they can protect the hardware components of the game system, both in function and aesthetic design.
Features

Defamation Investigations: A Big Leap in Fighting Back
Internet tools are becoming more sophisticated in measuring the impact of online disparaging and defamatory statements, paving the way for affected business owners and celebrities to fight back by filing defamation suits seeking to recover damages for the harm to their reputation and brand value.
Columns & Departments
IP News
Federal Circuit: Case Belongs In the Northern District of California, Not Western District of Texas Federal Circuit: Arbitration Clause Did Not Prevent Institution of IPR Petitions
Features

Sender Beware: Jurisdictional Risks of Pre-Litigation Communications
The Federal Circuit recently clarified — and lowered — the threshold to exercise specific personal jurisdiction over an out of state declaratory judgment defendant.
Features

Impact of Disney's Motion to Compel Arbitration In Scarlett Johansson's Lawsuit Over 'Day-and-Date' Release of 'Black Widow'
Johansson alleges that, in order to generate new subscribers for Disney+, Disney intentionally interfered with her talent agreement with Disney affiliate Marvel Studios for her featured role in Black Widow — and thus allegedly induced Marvel to breach a promise in the Johansson/Marvel agreement for the film to be initially distributed in exclusive "wide theatrical release." Updated Oct. 1 to reflect a confidential settlement reached in the case.
Features

Eighth Circuit Permits Recovery for 'Initial-Interest Confusion' In Trademark Cases
The likelihood of confusion analysis is often focused on confusion at the time of purchase, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, Tenth and Federal Circuits permit mark holders to allege infringement based on presale, initial-interest confusion. Earlier this year, the Eighth Circuit joined the majority of circuits in permitting recovery for initial-interest confusion in certain circumstances.
Features

Tenth Circuit Adds to Split on Lanham Act's International Applicability
the Tenth Circuit held that the Lanham Act can have extraterritorial application, if certain conditions are met. In doing so, the appellate court recognized — and further deepened — an ongoing circuit split.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Protecting Innovation in the Cyber World from Patent TrollsWith trillions of dollars to keep watch over, the last thing we need is the distraction of costly litigation brought on by patent assertion entities (PAEs or "patent trolls"), companies that don't make any products but instead seek royalties by asserting their patents against those who do make products.Read More ›
- Risks of “Baseball Arbitration” in Resolving Real Estate Disputes“Baseball arbitration” refers to the process used in Major League Baseball in which if an eligible player's representative and the club ownership cannot reach a compensation agreement through negotiation, each party enters a final submission and during a formal hearing each side — player and management — presents its case and then the designated panel of arbitrators chooses one of the salary bids with no other result being allowed. This method has become increasingly popular even beyond the sport of baseball.Read More ›
- Private Equity Valuation: A Significant DecisionInsiders (and others) in the private equity business are accustomed to seeing a good deal of discussion ' academic and trade ' on the question of the appropriate methods of valuing private equity positions and securities which are otherwise illiquid. An interesting recent decision in the Southern District has been brought to our attention. The case is <i>In Re Allied Capital Corp.</i>, CCH Fed. SEC L. Rep. 92411 (US DC, S.D.N.Y., Apr. 25, 2003). Judge Lynch's decision is well written, the Judge reviewing a motion to dismiss by a business development company, Allied Capital, against a strike suit claiming that Allied's method of valuing its portfolio failed adequately to account for i) conditions at the companies themselves and ii) market conditions. The complaint appears to be, as is often the case, slap dash, content to point out that Allied revalued some of its positions, marking them down for a variety of reasons, and the stock price went down - all this, in the view of plaintiff's counsel, amounting to violations of Rule 10b-5.Read More ›
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- The DOJ Goes Phishing: The Rise of False Claims Act Cybersecurity LitigationWhile the DOJ Civil Cyber-Fraud Initiative is still in its early stages and cybersecurity regulations are evolving, whistleblower plaintiffs have already begun leveraging the FCA to pursue alleged noncompliance with government cybersecurity requirements.Read More ›