Intellectual Property Law

Citing a Need to Encourage Scientific Discovery, Supreme Court Strikes Down Lab’s Patents

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled for Mayo Clinic in its challenge to a competitor’s patents on blood test methods to determine correct drug dosages. In a unanimous opinion (PDF), the court said the patents held by Prometheus Laboratories Inc. are invalid because they are based on laws of nature.…

Mar 20, 2012 3:21 PM CDT

Around the Blawgosphere: Favorite Android Apps for Lawyers; How One Law Blogger Remembered Pi Digits

Android’s Turn Attorney at Work’s Joan Feldman knows that despite all the hoopla surrounding the launch of the latest Apple, some lawyers prefer Android-powered devices. She asked some notable android users—including tech bloggers—about their favorite go-to apps. Nerino Petro, who blogs at Compujurist, cites the Flex T9 Text Input app.”It…

Mar 16, 2012 4:33 PM CDT

Navajo Nation Files Trademark Suit Claiming Urban Outfitters Uses Its Name and Tribal-Type Symbols

The Navajo Nation claims in a federal lawsuit that Urban Outfitters is infringing its trademark by using its name and tribal-type patterns on merchandise. The suit filed Tuesday in federal court in New Mexico claims the retailer is using the name “Navajo” and “Navaho” on goods that compete with the…

Mar 2, 2012 4:54 PM CST

Pin with Caution, Says Lawyer Who Deleted All Her Pinterest Posts

Updated: Pinterest is a great place to find new ideas for almost every topic imaginable, but if you’re posting images of those ideas, you’d better have permission, says a lawyer who recently deleted all her posts. Pinterest, a social sharing website where users “pin” things they like on “boards,” launched…

Feb 29, 2012 9:29 PM CST

Judge Boots Feinberg Day from Patent Case, Says Even ‘Collective Lobotomy’ Wouldn’t Resolve Conflict

A former team of DLA Piper attorneys now working at Feinberg Day on a major patent matter is going to have to find a new assignment. A federal judge in San Francisco says the firm must “phase itself out promptly” from working on Talon Research v. Toshiba. Now representing Talon…

Feb 28, 2012 11:51 PM CST

Artist Held in Contempt for Lying, Now Admits Basing Iconic Poster of Barack Obama on AP Photo

Shepard Fairey, a Los Angeles artist whose red, white and blue “Hope” poster of Barack Obama became iconic during the 2008 presidential campaign, has admitted that he initially lied to a federal court about the Associated Press photograph on which the poster, he now agrees, was based. He pleaded guilty…

Feb 27, 2012 10:04 PM CST

Lawyer Criticized for Nonconformist Outfits Discovers the Field of Fashion Law

In law school, Tricia Elam had imagined a legal career that would allow her to flaunt her fashion sense. Her bosses, however, were not so accepting. At Elam’s first job with a two-partner Washington, D.C., law firm in the early 1980s, her boss was mortified because she wore a cream-colored…

Feb 27, 2012 11:29 AM CST

Justin Bieber’s Lawyers Are Eager to Stop Beaver App

Updated: A 99-cent app created to appeal to Justin Bieber fans has raised the ire of the pop star’s lawyers. The app is a game called Joustin’ Beaver. A press release says the app “is an homage to teen heartthrob Justin Bieber. Fans of the pop star can help guide…

Feb 24, 2012 7:42 PM CST

Naked Cowboy’s Legal Suit Over CBS Soap Opera Character Is Found Lacking

A federal judge in Manhattan has reviewed a legal suit brought by a Times Square entertainer known as the Naked Cowboy and found it lacking. Robert John Burck had contended that CBS Corp. stole his shtick by including a similarly unclad character strumming a guitar in a Nov. 1, 2010…

Feb 24, 2012 6:35 PM CST

Jeremy Lin Seeks Trademark for ‘Linsanity’; Prior Applicant Wanted to Be Part of the Excitement

New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin has filed a trademark application for the word “Linsanity,” but he wasn’t the first or only person to do so. Alhambra, Calif., resident Yenchin Chang was the first to file, followed by two others, Bloomberg reports. Lin’s application was filed Feb. 13 by Arent…

Feb 24, 2012 12:37 PM CST

Two Lawyers Sue West and LexisNexis for Reproducing Legal Briefs

Two lawyers have filed a class action suit claiming West Publishing and Reed Elsevier are violating the copyrights of lawyers by reproducing their lawsuit documents in Westlaw and LexisNexis databases. The plaintiffs, Oklahoma lawyer Edward White and New York City lawyer Kenneth Elan, filed suit on Wednesday in Manhattan federal…

Feb 23, 2012 12:49 PM CST

Whiskey Maker’s Suit Claims Jameson Is Violating His ‘Big Ginger’ Drink Trademark

A Minneapolis area whiskey producer hopes to stop the Jameson Irish whiskey company from marketing a drink called the “Big Jameson Ginger” based on allegations it infringes his own trademarked cocktail name. Kieran Folliard owned several pubs in the Twin Cities before he began making whiskey, the Minneapolis Star Tribune…

Feb 16, 2012 3:30 PM CST

Honeywell Hits Rival Thermostat Company Founded by iPod Developer with Patent Infringement Action

Honeywell filed a patent infringement lawsuit today against Nest Labs, a company founded by iPod developer Tony Fadell, which offers thermostats that automatically turn down heating and cooling when no one is home. The complaint, filed in United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleges that Nest Lab…

Feb 6, 2012 7:41 PM CST

Calif. Highway Patrol Pays $2.37M to Settle Family’s Suit Over Grisly Internet Photos of Dead Teen

In a settlement of a precedent-setting case that established a right to file an invasion-of-privacy suit over published photographs of the dead, the California Highway Patrol has agreed to pay $2.37 million to the family of a teen who died in a Halloween 2006 car crash. Grisly photos of the…

Feb 1, 2012 12:35 AM CST

Claiming Conflict, Google Seeks Pepper Hamilton’s Disqualification in New Client’s Patent Case

Contending that Pepper Hamilton’s representation of a new tech client creates a conflict that it was never informed about, Google Inc. is seeking to disqualify the law firm from continuing to represent Digitude Innovations LLC in patent infringement matters. The law firm has done work for Google, starting in 2008,…

Jan 31, 2012 8:11 PM CST