Recent cases in e-commerce law and in the e-commerce industry.

The economy racked up another apparent e-commerce activity record in the first quarter, the U.S. Census Bureau reports. The government says that e-commerce sales, which include Internet and other electronically conducted transactions, rang up at a little more than $31.5 billion from January through March, plus or minus a 1.3% margin of error.

For clients whose primary presence is in the United States, including e-commerce businesses, cross-border cooperation among law-enforcement organizations raises distinct and difficult issues. An effective defense requires knowledge of treaties and criminal law in two or more jurisdictions and collaboration among defense counsel in different countries.

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Manufacturers and distributors use traditional stores and Internet sites to sell goods and services. But too often, when identical items are offered simultaneously through these channels, Internet price advertisements divert so much business from the traditional stores that those traditional outlets stop offering the items. MAP ('minimum advertised price') agreements, which prevent items from being advertised below some specified amount (the minimum advertised price), are often employed to maintain access to traditional and Internet sales channels.

Highlights of the latest intellectual property news and cases from around the country.

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The Second Circuit recently ruled that, in the absence of specific Congressional legislation, owners of famous foreign trademarks must show use within the United States to avail themselves of the protections offered by American federal law. The Court of Appeals also certified questions to the district court as to whether New York common law protects a famous foreign trademark that only has been used in a foreign country. The case is an instructive overview of the law of trademark abandonment and the famous marks doctrine.

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Continuing the recent trend of court decisions expanding jurisdiction over declaratory judgment challenges to patents, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the 'Federal Circuit' or the 'court') opened the door to increased challenges to drug patents in <i>Teva Pharms. USA Inc. v. Novartis Pharms. Corp.</i>, 482 F.3d 1330 (Fed. Cir. 2007). The Federal Circuit ruled that a generic drug company could, under the appropriate circumstances, pre-emptively seek a declaratory judgment that certain drug patents listed in the FDA's Orange Book are invalid or not infringed. Generic drug companies thus can have a court resolve patent infringement issues before undertaking the expense of launching a generic drug under the threat of patent litigation and any resulting injunction or treble damages for willful infringement. The <i>Teva</i> decision is expected to increase declaratory judgment challenges by generic drug companies and help speed generic drugs to market when those challenges are successful.

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Continuing a recent trend of toughening its position on fraud, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ('TTAB') has cancelled yet another registration because the registrant had failed to use the mark on every good for which it was registered. <i>Hachette Filipacchi Presse v. Elle Belle, LLC,</i> Cancellation No. 92042991 (T.T.A.B. April 9, 2007). This case is the second precedential decision this year in which the TTAB has cancelled a registration as fraudulently obtained because of overly broad claims regarding use of the mark. <i>See also Hurley Int'l LLC v. Volta,</i> 82 U.S.P.Q.2d 1339 (T.T.A.B. 2007).