In Shipping and Transit, LLC v. Hall Enterprises, Inc., a district court recently held that a patent infringement case was “exceptional” under 35 U.S.C. § 285 and the defendant was entitled to recover attorney fees and costs from the plaintiff. The court’s ruling was in part because the plaintiff’s position was “objectively unreasonable” with regard to the validity of asserted claims under 35 U.S.C. § 101.
On remand from the Federal Circuit, the PTAB granted Veritas’s Supplemental Motion to Amend for one substitute claim and denied the motion with respect to a second claim in Veeam Software Corporation v. Veritas Technologies LLC, IPR2014-00090, Paper 48 (P.T.A.B. Jul. 17, 2017).
On July 13, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Tremfya (guselkumab), a biologic manufactured by Janssen Biotech, for the treatment of moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis patients who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy.
Trademark law is an important form of protection for the fashion and beauty industry. It protects both brand owners and consumers by regulating the registration of brands, or source identifiers, of fashion and beauty products. Historically, it has been difficult to federally register marks that might be deemed “offensive” to others because the Lanham Act, the federal statute governing trademarks, includes a ban against registering marks that are immoral, scandalous, or disparaging. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) has been inconsistent in its application of the statute over the years.
The Trump White House released a Statement of Administration Policy on Wednesday in response to the House of Representatives’ passage of H.R. 2430, a bill that would reauthorize the use of four FDA user fee programs: the Prescription Drug User Fee Act, the Medical Device User Fee Amendments, the Generic Drug User Fee Amendments, and the Biosimilar User Fee Act.
The PTAB has again addressed sovereign immunity in the context of an IPR. Reactive Surfaces, LTD. petitioned for IPR of U.S. Patents No. 8,394,618 and 8,252,571. The ’618 and ’571 patents are co-owned by Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) and the Regents of the University of Minnesota (UMinn).
Philips recently announced that it will purchase Electrical Geodesics, Inc. (EGI). The total value of the deal is estimated to be GBP 29.0 million (approximately $36.9 million). According to its website, EGI designs, develops, and commercializes various non-invasive neurodiagnostic products that monitor and interpret brain activity, such as its dense array electroencephalography (EEG) platform.
In an appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB), the Federal Circuit held that claims related to methods of testing for fetal chromosomal abnormalities were not invalid because there was not substantial evidence that the claims lacked written description support.
As discussed in our previous blog post Puma Treads New Territory Hitting Forever 21 with Copyright Allegations after the Supreme Court’s Star Athletica Decision, Puma sued Forever 21 for design patent infringement, trade dress infringement, copyright infringement and unfair competition in the Central District of California. Specifically, Puma alleged that Forever 21 copied its “Fenty” label shoes which were designed by Puma with the help of famous pop star, Rihanna.
The University of Twente in Enschede, Netherlands recently introduced “the world’s smallest and most accurate 3D-printed biopsy robot,” called the Stormram 4. The device is designed to carry out biopsies during breast cancer scans and was developed by a team at the university’s Robotics and Mechanics lab in collaboration with Ziekenhuis Groep Twente.
