Intellectual Property Law

Judge Raps Abbott Attorney in Rare ‘Inequitable Conduct’ Sanction

A federal judge has held that an Abbott Laboratories patent is unenforceable because of the “inequitable conduct” of an in-house lawyer. Attorney Lawrence Pope withheld important information when applying for the so-called ‘551 patent, the judge found, concerning a position Abbott had previously taken on the so-called ‘381 patent, reports…

Jun 26, 2008 8:38 PM CDT

ICANN OKs Internet ‘Land Grab’ for New Domain Names

In what one news outlet termed a “big bang” revision of the 25-year-old international system of registering Internet domain names, and another termed a “land grab,” the Web’s main oversight agency today approved a number of sweeping changes. Among them: As many as new 5,000 address extensions will be available…

Jun 26, 2008 6:51 PM CDT

Would-Be Partner’s $12M Suit Says Law Firm Discriminates Against Women

A would-be partner’s suit against one of Canada’s top-tier law firms doesn’t just claim that McCarthy Tetrault discriminated against her because of her gender. It contends that the firm systemically discriminates against other women lawyers, too. But the Ontario-based firm, which has already paid Diane LaCalamita about $200,000 in severance,…

Jun 25, 2008 3:00 PM CDT

Three-Partner IP Team Jumps From Sonnenschein to MoFo

Morrison & Foerster has hired a team of three intellectual property lawyers from Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, including a Sonnenschein practice group chair. “Alexander Hadjis and Kristen Yohannan join as partners in Washington while Rudy Kim joins as partner in Palo Alto,” reports the Lawyer. All three were also partners…

Jun 24, 2008 7:17 PM CDT

Judge Sides With Naked Cowboy in Candy Co. Claim re Trademark Role

The Naked Cowboy clearly is unconventional. But Robert Burck is enough of a mainstream businessman to have successfully pursued an intellectual property claim over a candy company’s alleged misuse of his trademark persona past the motion-to-dismiss stage. It wasn’t a complete victory for Burck, whose seemingly naked guitar-playing character in…

Jun 23, 2008 7:45 PM CDT

Husch Blackwell Sanders Grows Again, Will Merge With Chicago IP Boutique

A rapidly expanding midwestern law firm with a presence in Washington D.C. and London is growing again. Since deciding to merge late last year, the St. Louis- and Kansas City-based firms that formed Husch Blackwell Sanders have opened offices in Chicago and Denver. Now the 630-lawyer firm plans to grow…

Jun 23, 2008 4:26 PM CDT

Howrey on Hunt for Calif. Laterals

Howrey is looking for lateral attorneys in California, where it expects to increase its attorney roster by 50 to 70 percent. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., Howrey now has 67 lawyers in San Francisco and East Palo Alto, representing about 10 percent of its worldwide attorney roster of 660, reports the…

Jun 20, 2008 7:09 PM CDT

Dispute Over Red Cross Symbol Settled

The cross symbol will continue to be used by a health-products company and a charity under a settlement reached yesterday. Johnson & Johnson had sued the American Red Cross last August, claiming the charity infringed its trademark by licensing the cross for commercial purposes. The Red Cross countersued. The litigants…

Jun 18, 2008 2:13 PM CDT

Baker & McKenzie in Court Fight Over 11-Year-Old’s Birthday Present?

Legal powerhouse Baker & McKenzie may have met its match: A threatened lawsuit over a domain name has pitted the Chicago-based international megafirm against an 11-year-old in Scotland who received it as a birthday present and his parents. “Gillian Ferguson and Richard Saville-Smith bought the narnia.mobi e-mail domain name in…

Jun 17, 2008 10:35 PM CDT

Mass Defection Shutters Buckingham’s Columbus Office, for Now

After 27 of 28 lawyers in its Columbus office jumped ship for a competing Ohio law firm, Buckingham, Doolittle & Burroughs has temporarily shuttered its shop there. But the president of the 140-attorney firm says it “probably” will reopen its Columbus office, reports the National Law Journal. It appears that…

Jun 17, 2008 4:11 PM CDT

Cancer a Chronic Rather than Fatal Disease for N.Y. Lawyer

New York patent lawyer Barry Cooper is one of a growing number of patients who are treating their cancer as a chronic disease rather than a fatal diagnosis. Cooper was diagnosed in 2005 with chronic myelogenous leukemia, the New York Times reports. The disease was once considered a killer, but…

Jun 17, 2008 1:49 PM CDT

Ballard Spahr to Acquire Atlanta IP Boutique

Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll has ended a 15-year search for an intellectual property group with the acquisition of Needle & Rosenberg in Atlanta. Ballard Spahr chairman Arthur Makadon told the Am Law Daily that the merger was approved on Thursday. Makadon said his firm had interviewed more than 100…

Jun 16, 2008 1:20 PM CDT

Claimed China Hack Attack Targets: US Gov’t, Business and Utilities

After news that China may have secretly copied information in the U.S. commerce secretary’s laptop last year, a Congressman says that’s far from the only intrusion for which computer hackers there may be responsible. China also seems to have been hacking into computers in Congressional offices, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.)…

Jun 11, 2008 7:19 PM CDT

Jury Can Learn Bratz Doll’s Creator Used ‘Evidence Eliminator’

A California federal judge has ruled that the jury hearing a dispute between the makers of Barbie and Bratz dolls can hear testimony that Bratz’s creator used computer software called “Evidence Eliminator” to scramble information. The software promises to eliminate “unwanted sensitive data.” Bratz creator Carter Bryant, who sold his…

Jun 11, 2008 11:10 AM CDT

ISPs to Block Child Porn in U.S., France

As a result of an ongoing probe by New York state authorities, three major Internet service providers have agreed to block access to the Web by groups that use the Web to share child pornography, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced today. Although it is with just one state, the…

Jun 10, 2008 9:15 PM CDT