On August 13, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its decision in Akamai Technologies, Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc., a case remanded from the US Supreme Court relating to the law of infringement, and what happens when elements of the patent claims are performed by multiple... Continue Reading
On July 27, 2015 the Minister of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in Ireland introduced new regulations to strengthen the protection of the geographical integrity of Irish spirit drinks. The regulation becomes effective on October 30, 2015. A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used to indicate regional origin of... Continue Reading
Amgen vs. Sandoz provides the first substantive appellate interpretation of what is generally referred to as the “patent dance” under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009 (BPCIA). The July 21, 2015 decision by the Federal Court establishes definitive guidelines regarding patent challenge... Continue Reading
On June 4, 2015 the European Court of Justice (“ECJ”) issued a “preliminary ruling” clarifying the standard used to determine if a food label misleads consumers. Bundesverband der Verbraucherzentralen und Verbraucherverbände v. Teekanne GmbH & Co. KG, No. C-195/14 (E.C.J., order entered June 4, 2015).... Continue Reading
On June 25th, 2015, Judge John Gleeson of the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York, granted a Motion for Civil Contempt filed by Abelman, Frayne & Schwab on behalf of its client, Sportco, Inc. against TRT Tactical, LLC. In November 2014, Sportco had entered into a Consent Judgment... Continue Reading
The Federal Circuit has provided additional clarification about how “broadest reasonable interpretation” (BRI) is to be applied in Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings, bringing BRI claim interpretation standards closer to those applied by the courts. In its June 16, 2015 Decision in Microsoft Corporation vs.... Continue Reading
Even breakthrough technology can be patent ineligible. On June 12, 2015, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its opinion in Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc. v. Sequenom, Inc. This decision included a majority opinion by two of the three judges on the panel, and a “concurrence” that signal an extremely... Continue Reading
On April 20, 2015 a three judge panel of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“CAFC”) affirmed the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s (“TTAB”) decision refusing to register the mark THE SLANTS for “entertainment in the nature of live performances by a musical band” on the grounds that the mark... Continue Reading
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that a decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) on likelihood of confusion may preclude re-litigation of the issue in a later filed suit in a district court for trademark infringement, but only if the issues before the TTAB and district court are “materially the... Continue Reading
The firm is pleased to announce the publication of A Practitioner’s Guide to Patent Litigation in Germany, Japan and the United States (Hart Publishing 2015) co-authored by founding Partner Jeffrey Schwab. The book provides a comparative overview on patent law and patent litigation proceedings in Germany/Europe,... Continue Reading