SIONYX LLC v. HAMAMATSU PHOTONICS K.K.
Before Lourie, Reyna, and Wallach. Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Summary: A party who discloses confidential information pursuant to a NDA may be entitled to ownership of U.S. and foreign patents filed by the receiving party when the patents arise from confidential information provided by the disclosing party, and the terms of the NDA provide that any patents arising from confidential information are owned by the disclosing party, even if employees of the receiving party contribute to the patented invention.
On November 17, 2020, the Canadian House of Commons introduced the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2020 (“DCIA”), which includes the Consumer Privacy Protection Act (“CPPA”), a privacy focused arm of the legislation. The full text of the Bill can be found here. The CPPA would act as an update and expansion to the pre-existing federal, privacy law.
On October 27, 2020, the District Court in the Western District of Texas issued its Final Judgment in L’Oreal USA Creative, Inc. v. Drunk Elephant, LLC, 1:18-cv-00982 (W.D.Tex.), which approved the Joint Stipulation of Dismissal in view of the settlement between L’Oreal USA Creative Inc. (“L’Oreal”) and Drunk Elephant, LLC (“Drunk Elephant”) thereby officially ending the two-year legal battle between the parties.
VIDSTREAM LLC V. TWITTER, INC.
Before Newman, O’Malley, and Taranto. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Summary: Evidence of a prior art reference’s publication date submitted after an IPR petition may be appropriately considered by the Board if the evidence is a legitimate reply to a challenge by the patent owner.
When they launched “Call Her Daddy” in 2018, Sofia Franklyn and Alexandra Cooper were relatively unknown. They were two New York City friends candidly dishing about dating and sex without any euphemisms on the internet. Barstool Sports saw promise in their content, and signed the two to a three year contract. Now, each has a million Instagram followers (plus or minus) and together they have built a strong brand and a loyal audience by unabashedly offering their commentary and advice on modern relationships. Podcast listeners, self-identified as #DaddyGang, affectionately refer to Franklyn and Cooper as the “Founding Fathers.” To Barstool Sports, who signed Franklyn and Cooper to deliver their self-launched podcast on the Barstool platform, the duo were simply employees.
It well known that there are, unfortunately, many data breaches that frequently put private citizens’ data privacy in jeopardy. States have passed a variety of statutes aimed at addressing this problem in an attempt to provide data breach victims with some form of redress. Nonetheless, even where there has been a data breach, a plaintiff must meet certain requirements in order to have standing to bring a lawsuit in an Article III court. One such requirement, as the case described below illustrates, is that a plaintiff must have sufficiently pleaded injury-in-fact in his or her complaint.
VECTURA LIMITED v. GLAXOSMITHKLINE LLC
Before Prost, Bryson, and Wallach. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Delaware
Summary: Distinguishing prior art based on the structure of the particles, not the process used to manufacture them, does not import a process limitation into the claims.
SIPCO, LLC v. EMERSON ELECTRIC CO.
Before O’Malley, Reyna, and Chen. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Summary: The Board’s determination that a patent qualifies for CBM review is non-appealable under 35 U.S.C. § 324(e).
While most 2020 media election coverage focused on the races for President and control of Congress, privacy also had its day at the ballot box.
IN RE: GOOGLE TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS LLC
Before Taranto, Chen, and Stoll. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
Summary: Claim construction arguments are forfeited if not raised before the PTAB.
