Security First Approach Provides a Significant Advantage to Law Firms
December 01, 2017
Security first is a holistic approach that views security not as an information technology nuisance in need of tight cost-management controls, but as a competitive advantage to differentiation from traditional business offerings. Here's what you need to know.
How Defendant's Prior Conduct Can Impact Copyright Cases
In the context of a copyright case, a defendant's prior bad acts and prior conduct are more useful to a plaintiff than is typical in civil litigation. In many instances, copyright infringement lawsuits are brought against defendants who have been sued before for infringement, or related misconduct, or who have been the subject of allegations or informal complaints, or who simply have experience in copyright matters.
The New Patent Venue Regime
Venue in patent cases lies "in the judicial district where the defendant resides, or where the defendant has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business." Since 1990, the Federal Circuit interpreted the term "resides" coextensively with the general venue statute such that patent venue lay where the defendant was subject to personal jurisdiction. But this year, the Supreme Court greatly narrowed that definition in <i>TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods</i>. The Federal Circuit, in turn, interpreted the newly-relevant alternative phrase. After two decades of relaxed patent venue rules, these decisions work a seismic shift in patent litigation.
At High Court, Just One IP Case That Matters
<b><i>After Several IP-Heavy Seasons, the 2017 Term At the U.S. Supreme Court Looks to Be a Quiet One for Intellectual Property — with One Big Exception</b></i><p>The 2017 term at the U.S. Supreme Court looks to be a quiet one for intellectual property. But with one potential bang in the middle.
Retail Restructuring
Various debt-burdened retailers are looking to their intellectual property assets as a source of untapped value for refinancing transactions. While it remains to be seen which strategies will be most successful, IP assets will play a key role in future retail restructurings.
IP News
Federal Circuit: Collateral Estoppel Can Apply to Patents With Claims Similar To Those in Previously Litigated<br>Federal Circuit Uses 'Rule of Reason' To Determine Patent Owner Had an Early Reduction to Practice
Protecting Product Packaging and Product Configuration
November 01, 2017
Registering and protecting product designs is challenging. Preliminarily, trade dress cannot be registered or protected as a trademark if it is functional — if it is “essential to the use or purpose of the article or it affects the cost or quality of the article.”
Patent Lost Profit Damages and Apportionment
<b><i>Split Federal Circuit Declined to Reconsider Panel's Decision that Lost Profits Based on the</i> Panduit <i>Factors Are Fully Apportioned</b></i><p>On Sept. 1, 2017, a split Federal Circuit declined to rehear a panel decision in <i>Mentor Graphics Corp. v. EVE-USA, Inc.</i>, a case that could have significant implications for lost profit damages and apportionment.
