Intellectual Property Law

Two US Nonprofits Challenge Patent on Nutrition Paste

Two U.S. nonprofits are challenging a patent on Plumpy’nut paste, a high-protein food developed for those who are severely malnourished. The nonprofits, Breedlove Foods Inc. and the Mama Cares Foundation, contend the patent is so broad that it appears to apply to several products already on the market, the Associated…

Jan 13, 2010 1:10 PM CST

Google IDs Defenses in YouTube Suit, Faces New Smartphone Name Claim

Attorneys for Google Inc. and Viacom Inc. are sharpening their legal weapons as they prepare for a federal court battle over an asserted $1 billion in damages over thousands of unauthorized third-party postings of copyrighted movie and television videos on YouTube. In letters to a Manhattan federal judge that were…

Jan 9, 2010 12:28 AM CST

Weatherproof Will Take Down Billboard of Obama in its Jacket

The president of the Weatherproof Garment Company says he will take down a Times Square billboard featuring President Obama wearing his clothier’s Ultra-Tech jacket. Weatherproof president Freddie Stollmack agreed to take down the billboard in a phone conversation with the White House counsel’s office, Fox News reports, citing Fox News…

Jan 8, 2010 3:41 PM CST

Judge Seeks Contrition, Not Money, from Settling Lawyers

Potential jurors who arrived in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday found there was no longer a case involving a trademark dispute over the DWG extension given to design files. The parties had settled shortly after midnight, spurring U.S. District Judge William Alsup to express sympathy for the jurors. Morrison…

Jan 6, 2010 5:22 PM CST

Patent Pending

A plan to help some federal judges wade deeper into the pool of patent cases is awaiting U.S. Senate approval—just like it has for two congressional sessions.

Jan 2, 2010 4:40 AM CST

Condé Nast Sues over Hacked GQ Pages Leaked by Anonymous Blogger

Condé Nast has filed an infringement lawsuit in hopes it will learn the identity of an anonymous hacker who stole online GQ content before the magazine hit newsstands. The material found its way to the blog FashionZag, published by an anonymous blogger, Women’s Wear Daily reports. The blog published the…

Dec 23, 2009 5:03 PM CST

Sudden Defection of Senior IP Partner Sparks Storm at Sonnenschein

After a senior intellectual property partner at Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal announced yesterday that he is leaving the firm immediately to join McDermott Will & Emery, fireworks reportedly erupted. A war of words ensued between the departing lawyer, Palo Alto, Calif., office co-managing partner Yar Chaikovsky, and other senior attorneys…

Dec 22, 2009 8:32 PM CST

Appeals Court: Microsoft Owes $290M, Must Alter Word or Stop Sales By Jan. 11

Upholding a small company’s stunning patent-infringement win against the world’s biggest software seller, a federal appeals court today not only upheld a $290 million verdict in favor of I4i LP but ruled that Microsoft Corp. must either alter its Word software by Jan. 11 or stop selling the popular product,…

Dec 22, 2009 7:04 PM CST

Suit Claims Search Engine’s ‘Bing’ Name Infringes Trademark

A small St. Louis design company claims in a lawsuit that Microsoft infringed its trademark when it called its new search engine Bing. The suit was filed in St. Louis circuit court this week by Bing! Information Design, according to Ars Technica’s One Microsoft Way blog, IDG News Service and…

Dec 18, 2009 1:26 PM CST

The North Face Sues The South Butt for Trademark Infringement

The North Face Apparel Co. has filed a trademark infringement suit against a teen who started a company called The South Butt to help pay for college. The North Face’s tag line is “Never Stop Exploring” while The South Butt sells products with the tag line “Never Stop Relaxing,” according…

Dec 15, 2009 12:46 PM CST

IRS and Foreign Countries May Jointly Audit Some Corporations

After collecting millions of dollars in unpaid taxes from Americans with secret bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, the Internal Revenue Service is expanding its overseas enforcement efforts. The tax agency is working with its counterparts in other countries to develop a plan for conducting joint audits of multinational corporations,…

Dec 11, 2009 5:30 PM CST

Womble Carlyle Snags Biotech Patent Team from Pillsbury Winthrop

In a staggered series of moves that began in early November, in order to ease the transfer of clients, a team of four lawyers and two patent agents have departed Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman for Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice. Headed by Thomas Cawley Jr., who joins Womble Carlyle as…

Dec 10, 2009 11:38 PM CST

Detective Says Death of L.A. Lawyer Might Be a ‘Targeted Killing’

Although no weapon reportedly was recovered, authorities say they have not yet ruled out suicide in the case of a prominent Los Angeles lawyer who was shot in the head outside his upscale home Monday night and died the next morning at a hospital. (Subsequently, authorities did rule out suicide…

Dec 9, 2009 9:06 PM CST

Brinks Hofer Cuts 7 Lawyers & 19 Staff, May Reduce Associate Pay Next Year

As other law firms made layoffs, deferred start dates for new associates and cut attorney pay in response to the difficult new legal economy of the past year or so, Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione stayed the course. But that changed today, when the Chicago-based intellectual property firm announced layoffs…

Dec 9, 2009 12:56 AM CST

Obama Names First ‘IP Czar’

President Barack Obama named Victoria Espinel as the first U.S. Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator on Friday. The Senate confirmed Espinel late Thursday, according to the National Journal’s Tech Daily Dose blog. Espinel has most recently served as founder and president of the nonprofit Bridging the Information Divide, and she was…

Dec 4, 2009 6:44 PM CST