IP Law News

Motorola’s Trade Secrets Win Shows U.S. Law’s Potential Reach

High Court Rebuffs Apple in $1 Billion Dispute With VirnetX

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Senators Grapple With Nationwide Injunctions That Anger Trump

Senators on both sides of the aisle wrestled with the question of establishing judicial guidelines for imposing nationwide injunctions and weighed suggestions that the Supreme Court may be best suited to address the issue first.

BioMerieux Loses Infringement Fight Over Hologic HIV Test (1)

A federal jury invalidated a bioMerieux patent for tests that screen donated blood for HIV-1 and other diseases, in a win for Hologic and Grifols.

Gameloft Wins Some Sanctions in ‘Acrimonious’ Copyright Dispute

Video-game maker Gameloft will get about $14,000 for having to quash purposely overbroad third-party subpoenas during a highly contentious copyright dispute, but not for other discovery-related issues, a California federal court ruled Tuesday.

Grubhub, Doordash Sued by Restaurant Group Over Trademarks (1)

Food delivery app makers Grubhub Inc. and Doordash Inc. were sued by a New Hampshire restaurant group for allegedly infringing its trademarks by offering deliveries from its restaurants without permission.

Fed. Cir. Judges Want Full Court to Review Patent Indefiniteness

A Federal Circuit panel ruling that Actavis Laboratories UT Inc. didn’t infringe Horizon Pharma USA Inc.‘s patents on osteoarthritis drugs will stand after the full court decided not to review it.

King & Spalding Nabs Kirkland International Arbitration Trio

King & Spalding has signed three international arbitration partners from Kirkland & Ellis in a bid to grow the firm’s commercial work in Latin America and Europe.

Sony Secures Appellate Win on PTAB’s Imaging Patent Ax (1)

Sony Corp. secured an appellate victory affirming the invalidation of an imaging device patent a rival accused the Japanese company of infringing with semiconductor devices.

In Brief

Case: Trade Secrets/Injunction (S.D. Cal.)

Javo Beverage Co.'s motion for a preliminary injunction in its action for the misappropriation of trade secrets against California Extraction Ventures Inc. was denied by a federal district court in California. The court found that Javo had not established (1) a likelihood of success in proving that the proprietary aspects of its extraction vessel and process for coffee, tea, and other botanicals were misappropriated by CEV and publicly disclosed in a Javo former employee’s patent applications for an apparatus and methods for coffee bean extraction or (2) irreparable harm. Moreover, the court held that the balance of equities tips in CEV’s favor because granting the injunction would effectively shut down CEV’s business by forcing it to cease all operations moving forward and that Javo failed to sufficiently show that it faces any immediate and significant threat to continue doing business or continue with its efforts to sell the company. The case is Javo Bev. Co. v. Cal. Extraction Ventures, Inc., 2020 BL 65926, S.D. Cal., 19-CV-1859-CAB-WVG, 2/24/20. Javo Bev. Co. v. Cal. Extraction Ventures, Inc., 2020 BL 65926, S.D. Cal., 19-CV-1859-CAB-WVG, 2/24/20

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Case: Trademarks/TRO (S.D. Fla.)

San Antonio Winery Inc. and Merritt Estate Winery Inc.'s motion for a temporary restraining order is denied in part and granted in part in this trademark and trade dress infringement action, a federal district court in Florida determined. The wineries claim that Enovation Brands Inc.'s Bella Rosa wine packaging infringes their trade dress and marks. According to the court, the wineries demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of San Antonio’s trade dress claim, but not with respect to Merritt’s trademark infringement claim. The Court enjoined Enovation, its officers, agents, servants, employees, and other people or entities in active concert or participation with them, from importing, selling, shipping, distributing or offering to sell its Bella Rosa wine. The case is San Antonio Winery, Inc. v. Enovation Brands, Inc., 2020 BL 66243, S.D. Fla., 20-20515-Civ-Scola, 2/24/20. San Antonio Winery, Inc. v. Enovation Brands, Inc., 2020 BL 66243, S.D. Fla., 20-20515-Civ-Scola, 2/24/20

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Case: Patents/Obviousness (Fed. Cir.)

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s unpatentability finding in two inter partes reviews of Collabo Innovations Inc.'s patent that is generally directed to a solid-state imaging device in which a plurality of light-sensitive elements are arranged in a matrix form was affirmed by the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit held that the board did not abuse its discretion when it declined to consider Collabo’s argument that the adopted claim construction for “reflecting walls” was unreasonably broad — an argument Collabo did not properly present to the board, so that argument is waived on appeal. Additionally, the Federal Circuit found that substantial evidence supports the board’s conclusion that a secondary reference discloses “a vertical cross section of the reflecting wall is a trapezoid whose upper base is longer than a lower base,” which makes claims 3 and 12 unpatentable as obvious. The case is Collabo Innovations, Inc. v. Sony Corp., 2020 BL 67018, Fed. Cir., 2019-1152, nonprecedential 2/25/20. COLLABO INNOVATIONS, INC., Appellant v. SONY CORPORATION, Appellee UNITED STATES, Intervenor, 2020 BL 67018, Fed. Cir., 2019-1152, 2/25/20

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Case: Patents/Claim Construction (W.D. Mo.)

Disputed claim terms in Nissei ASB Co..’s action against R&D Tool & Engineering Co. for the infringement of Nissei’s patents titled Blow Molding Apparatus, Blow Mold Unit and Blow Molding Apparatus Using the Same, and Blow Mold Unit and Blow Molding Apparatus Using the Same were construed by a federal district court in Missouri. The court construed these terms: (1) “inserted into"; (2) “securing section” and “a first securing section that is secured to the at least two reinforcement shafts"; (3) “supporting-mechanism” and “support-transfer member"; (4) “a base” and “blow molding apparatus"; (5) “pressure-receiving member"; and (6) “an upward position at which the roller does not come into rolling contact with the base.” The case is Nissei ASB Co. v. R&D Tool & Eng’g Co., 2020 BL 63439, W.D. Mo., 4:19-CV-00042-DGK, 2/21/20. Nissei Asb Co. v. R&D Tool & Eng’g Co., 2020 BL 63439, W.D. Mo., 4:19-CV-00042-DGK, 2/21/20