The Made in the USA label carries significant marketing weight, especially in today’s political landscape, but it also comes with legal risks. Federal regulators and class action attorneys are scrutinizing origin claims,...more
7/2/2025
/ Advertising ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Country of Origin ,
False Advertising ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Labeling ,
Made in the USA ,
Manufacturers ,
Product Labels ,
Risk Management ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
Apple has escaped a $300 million patent infringement verdict after a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated both the infringement and damages judgment because of faulty jury...more
6/26/2025
/ Abstract Ideas ,
Appeals ,
Apple ,
Damages ,
FRAND ,
Jury Instructions ,
Jury Trial ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Rules of Civil Procedure ,
Seventh Amendment ,
Standard Essential Patents ,
Vacated
Under current Federal Trade Commission (FTC) policy, an advertising claim requires substantiation if it makes an objective assertion about a product or service. But a new lawsuit filed by a former defendant in an FTC suit...more
The Federal Trade Commission’s (“FTC”) Negative Option Rule, dubbed the “Click-to-Cancel” Rule (the “Rule”), stands to substantially change the way online businesses must interact with customers. Its fate is now in the hands...more
6/18/2025
/ Appeals ,
Consent ,
Consumer Protection Laws ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Final Rules ,
Negative Option Rule ,
Oral Argument ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Subscription Services ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices
For years, one of the world’s most popular online video games, Fortnite, profited from in-game purchases (or “microtransactions”) that, according to the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), were unlawful and deceptive. Although...more
1/28/2025
/ Consent ,
Consumer Privacy Rights ,
COPPA ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Online Safety for Children ,
Parental Consent ,
Privacy Laws ,
Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices ,
Website Design ,
Websites
To be eligible for trademark registration, a color must have acquired distinctiveness and must not be functional. Recently, the Federal Circuit discussed the importance that a color mark not be functional. ...more
Color trademarks have traditionally been difficult to obtain. Of the over 4 million trademark registrations, there were less than 1000 color trademarks as of 2019. To be eligible for trademark registration, a color must have...more
The United States Patent and Trademark Office ("PTO") has issued its Final Rule adjusting filing fees at all stages of the trademark application and maintenance filing process. The new fees will take effect on January 18,...more
On May 9, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court held the Copyright Act entitles a copyright owner to obtain damages for a timely infringement claim, even if the infringement occurred prior to the Copyright Act's three-year statute of...more
Earlier this year, the Haas F1 Team announced it would compete in the 2024 Formula One Championship without the leadership of its former principal Guenther Steiner. Following this separation, Steiner sued his former team for...more
5/10/2024
/ Advertising ,
Endorsements ,
Fair Use ,
Goods or Services ,
Likelihood of Confusion ,
Name and Likeness ,
Photographs ,
Popular ,
Sponsors ,
Sports ,
Trademark Infringement ,
Trademarks
Two of the busiest airports in the United States are battling with their smaller counterparts to retain trademark rights in the name of the major cities the airports serve. While the smaller airports want to capitalize on...more
A common problem for intellectual property owners in the age of e-commerce is trying to unmask the identity of anonymous infringers to get the infringing activity to stop. Even if a brand owner is successful in unmasking the...more
A recent Supreme Court decision could add a new dimension to the patentability review process before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.
On June 21, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court decided United States v. Arthrex, Inc.,...more
7/1/2021
/ Administrative Patent Judges ,
Appointments Clause ,
Arthrex Inc v Smith & Nephew Inc ,
Executive Branch ,
Executive Powers ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
SCOTUS ,
United States v Arthrex Inc ,
USPTO
In a relatively quiet third quarter of 2020, the Federal Circuit decided issues on joinder, estoppel, claim preclusion, and importantly, upheld the Patent Trial and Appeal Board process finding that cancellation of patent...more
12/7/2020
/ Claim Preclusion ,
Estoppel ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Intellectual Property Litigation ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Inventors ,
Joinder ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Invalidity ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents
In the second quarter of 2020, the Supreme Court decided five intellectual property focused cases in which it resolved a longstanding circuit split in Romag Fasteners and opened the door to the trademark registration of...more
7/21/2020
/ Attorney's Fees ,
Lanham Act ,
Lucky Brand Dungarees v Marcel Fashion Group ,
Nike ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Romag Fasteners v Fossil ,
SCOTUS ,
Trademarks ,
United States Patent and Trademark Office v Booking.com BV ,
USPTO
Introducing the IP Litigation Quarterly Update, a quarterly newsletter summarizing noteworthy and interesting opinions related to intellectual property law.
In this first edition covering the first quarter of 2020, the...more
5/12/2020
/ Copyright ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Design Patent ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Joinder ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Prior Art ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Sovereign Immunity ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Trademarks
The Federal Circuit issued a precedential opinion on July 23, 2019, affirming the validity of two design patents related to the Ford F-150 hood and headlamp and sweepingly rejecting arguments that the patents on automotive...more
The Supreme Court granted certiorari in two trademark cases on June 28, 2019, adding them to its docket for next term.
Romag Fasteners, Inc. v. Fossil, Inc., et al. concerns whether, under Section 35 of the Lanham Act, 15...more
7/3/2019
/ Certiorari ,
Defense Strategies ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Lanham Act ,
Patent Applications ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Res Judicata ,
SCOTUS ,
Split of Authority ,
Time-Barred Claims ,
Trademark Litigation ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Willful Infringement
In an 8-1 decision on May 20, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Mission Product Holdings Inc. v. Tempnology, LLC that a debtor's rejection of a trademark license under Section 365 of the Bankruptcy Code...more
5/28/2019
/ Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) ,
Bankruptcy Code ,
Breach of Contract ,
Commercial Bankruptcy ,
Debtors ,
Executory Contracts ,
IP License ,
Mission Product Holdings Inc v Tempnology LLC ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 365 ,
Trademark Licenses
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board ("PTAB") has issued a precedential opinion that gives a green light to same-party and issue joinder. This practice will provide discretion to PTAB judges to allow a petitioner to add new...more