On June 13, 2024, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Vidal v. Elster, a case that pitted trademark law against the First Amendment’s free speech protections. While the Court unanimously upheld the Patent and Trademark Office’s (PTO) refusal to register a contentious mark, the justices’ concurring opinions reveal sharp divisions over the
On May 9, 2024, the Supreme Court released its decision in Warner Chappell Music v. Nealy, a case with significant implications for damages available to plaintiffs in copyright infringement claims. The Court assumed, without deciding, that the discovery rule applies to copyright infringement claims. Operating under this assumption, the Court held that a copyright
The Supreme Court unanimously sided with Jack Daniel’s in the much-anticipated trademark case pitting trademark protection against parodic products. However, SCOTUS did not reach a final conclusion on whether VIP Products’ Bad Spaniels dog toy will live to see another day as a parody of the Jack Daniel’s whiskey bottle. Instead, the Court focused on
The questions from the high court during oral argument at the end of March 2023 were fairly telling of the 9-0 ruling that came down yesterday in Amgen, Inc. v. Sanofi (No. 21-757). In fact, it did not come as much of a surprise when the Supreme Court left intact the lower courts’ invalidity ruling
Well Amgen, that didn’t seem to go so well.
As a follow up to our post last week, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Amgen, Inc. v. Sanofi (No. 21-757). While we obviously don’t have a crystal ball, the questions from the high court suggest that Amgen’s claims are about to be delivered
On Wednesday, March 22, the Supreme Court heard a case for the dogs — and trademark law. Whiskey maker Jack Daniel’s Properties, Inc., sued dog toy parody company VIP Products LLC for trademark infringement and dilution over VIP’s Bad Spaniels dog toy, which is a plush toy resembling the Jack Daniel’s Old No. 7
The Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments in Amgen, Inc. v. Sanofi (No. 21-757) on Monday, March 27, 2023. The highly contentious question before the high court focuses what an applicant must show to meet the enablement requirement of patent law. The specific issue at hand is:
whether enablement is governed by the
Recently, the Federal Circuit affirmed a finding of non-obviousness from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) of a design patent owned by GM. While non-precedential, this decision is nonetheless a valuable read because the Federal Circuit scrutinized the obviousness standard applicable to design patents. In doing so, the appellate panel clarified that