Author name: Gary

Copyright, Federal Circuit

4DD Holdings, LLC v. United States — Federal Circuit Vacates $12.7M Copyright Award, Clarifies Damages Rules Against the Government

The Federal Circuit vacated a $12.7 million copyright damages award against the government for unauthorized copying of healthcare interoperability software, holding that courts misapplied the ‘book of wisdom’ by considering unforeseeable events and that punitive willful-infringement damages are unavailable under 28 U.S.C. § 1498(b).

Tenth Circuit, Trademark, Federal

KetoNatural Pet Foods v. Hill’s Pet Nutrition — Tenth Circuit Revives Lanham Act Claims Over Alleged Grain-Free Dog Food Smear Campaign

The Tenth Circuit reversed dismissal of Lanham Act false advertising claims, holding that Hill’s Pet Nutrition’s website statements and veterinary education materials could constitute actionable commercial speech when they allegedly disparaged grain-free competitors—and that the “establishment claim doctrine” allows courts to probe whether cited science actually supports the marketing claims made.

Federal Circuit, Utility Patent

Google LLC v. Parus Holdings — Federal Circuit Vacates IPR Decision, Faults PTAB for Analyzing Prior Art in Isolation and for Secret Claim Construction

The Federal Circuit vacated a PTAB decision upholding Parus Holdings’ voice-browsing patent against Google’s IPR challenge, holding that the Board improperly analyzed prior art in isolation rather than in combination, secretly construed a claim term without notice to Google, and failed to explain its inconsistency with earlier IPR rulings on related Parus patents.

District Courts, Utility Patent

Valjakka v. Netflix — Judge Awards $3M Attorney Fees After Finnish Inventor Concealed Foreign Court’s Patent Ownership Ruling

A Northern District of California judge awarded Netflix $3 million in attorney fees after finding that plaintiff Lauri Valjakka and his counsel committed fraud by asserting ownership of U.S. Patent No. 8,495,167 while concealing a Finnish court’s prior determination that Valjakka did not own the patent — rendering the entire suit objectively baseless from its inception.

Federal Circuit, Utility Patent

Ridge Corp. v. Kirk NationaLease — Federal Circuit Reverses Preliminary Injunction, Finding Substantial Non-Infringement Questions on Three Patent Claim Limitations

The Federal Circuit reversed a preliminary injunction in a patent dispute over insulated truck cargo doors, holding that the accused ‘sandwich’ panel door raised substantial questions of non-infringement under three separate claim limitations and that the patentee failed to show irreparable harm.

Fourth Circuit, Trade Secret, Federal, Trademark, Federal

dmarcian, Inc. v. DMARC Advisor BV — Fourth Circuit Upholds Cross-Border IP Injunction Under Abitron’s Conduct Test

The Fourth Circuit affirmed a preliminary injunction against a Dutch software company’s use of an American company’s brand and trade secrets, holding that Abitron Austria’s conduct-focused test for the territorial reach of U.S. IP law is satisfied where the defendant directly targeted U.S. customers online.

IP Law, Other International

Illiquidx Ltd v. Altana Wealth — UK Court of Appeal Upholds Trade Secret Protection for Venezuelan Debt Fund Strategy

The England and Wales Court of Appeal dismissed an appeal by Altana Wealth and Brevent Advisory, upholding the High Court’s finding that they misused Illiquidx’s confidential information—a strategy for creating a sanctions-compliant Venezuelan debt fund—when they launched a competing fund after their joint venture collapsed.

Other International (India), Right of Publicity

Preity Zinta v. Google LLC — Bombay High Court Orders Takedown of 275 AI Deepfakes and Chatbot Personas

India’s Bombay High Court ordered Google, Meta, and X to remove approximately 275 deepfake videos, AI-generated chatbot personas, and morphed images exploiting actress Preity Zinta’s name and likeness — marking one of India’s first significant judicial interventions against AI-generated personality-rights violations.

Federal Circuit, Patent Subject Matter Eligibility

Dental Monitoring SAS v. Align Technology — Federal Circuit Holds AI-Powered Dental Imaging Patents Ineligible Under § 101

The Federal Circuit affirms invalidation of two Dental Monitoring patents covering deep-learning dental arch image analysis, holding that applying generic machine learning to a new domain — orthodontic imaging — does not supply the “inventive concept” required for patent eligibility under § 101.

Eighth Circuit, Trade Secret, Federal

Wilbur-Ellis Company v. Gompert — Eighth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Trade Secret Claims for Lack of Specificity

The Eighth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for four former employees, holding that Wilbur-Ellis Company’s trade secret claims failed because it never specifically identified what trade secrets were taken or how — and that the coordinated mass departure to a competitor did not, without more, breach the employees’ duty of loyalty.

Sixth Circuit, Trademark, Federal

Nelson v. MillerKnoll — Sixth Circuit Rules Authorization Defeats Bubble Lamp Trademark Claims

The Sixth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for MillerKnoll, holding that the Nelson family authorized the company’s ownership of the iconic George Nelson Bubble Lamp trademarks through a 2006 royalty agreement — and in a precedential ruling, confirmed that authorization defeats unregistered trademark infringement claims under Lanham Act § 1125(a).

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