Author name: Gary

Federal Circuit, International Trade Commission, Utility Patent

BISSELL v. ITC — Federal Circuit Affirms That Redesigned Tineco Vacuums Do Not Infringe, Clarifies Expert Reliance on Discovery Source Code

The Federal Circuit affirmed the ITC’s finding that Tineco’s redesigned wet-dry vacuum cleaners do not infringe BISSELL’s patents, while also establishing that ITC experts may rely on source code produced in discovery but never formally admitted as a hearing exhibit under FRE 703.

District Courts, Trademark, Federal

Impossible Foods v. Impossible X — Court Denies Laches Defense After Jury Finds Willful Trademark Infringement, Awards Fees and Permanent Injunction

After a jury found Impossible Foods willfully infringed a smaller company’s IMPOSSIBLE trademark on apparel and a cookbook, a federal judge denied laches, awarded attorney fees, and permanently enjoined Impossible Foods from using ‘Impossible’ as a standalone mark on apparel and cookbooks.

District Courts, Utility Patent

Maquet v. Abiomed — Court Issues Three Pre-Trial Rulings on Blood Pump Patent, Preserves Written Description Challenge but Strikes Indefiniteness and Means-Plus-Function Arguments

In three pre-trial rulings, the District of Massachusetts denied summary judgment on Abiomed’s written description defense, eliminated its indefiniteness arguments, declined to kill the reverse doctrine of equivalents, and found waiver on a last-minute means-plus-function claim construction bid — setting the stage for trial on Maquet’s intravascular blood pump patent.

Copyright, District Courts

Nazemian v. NVIDIA — Court Allows AI Copyright Training Claims to Proceed, Applies Cox Framework to Dataset Scripts

A federal judge denied most of NVIDIA’s motion to dismiss a class action alleging the company trained AI models on pirated books, finding that dataset download scripts ‘have no other purpose than to speed up the process of infringement’ and that the Supreme Court’s Cox ruling does not shield NVIDIA from contributory liability.

EU Courts, Utility Patent

Gilead Sciences v. Academy of Military Medical Sciences — UPC Revokes Chinese Military Institute’s Remdesivir COVID-19 Patent for Lack of Inventive Step

The UPC Central Division in Milan revoked the Academy of Military Medical Sciences’ European patent on the use of remdesivir to treat COVID-19, finding the claimed invention lacked inventive step because prior art published just ten days before the priority date already identified remdesivir as likely effective against the newly emerged Wuhan coronavirus.

Copyright, EU Courts

GEMA v. VHC 2 Seniorenresidenz — CJEU Rules Retirement Homes Do Not Need Copyright Licenses for TV Retransmission to Residents’ Rooms

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that a retirement home’s retransmission of satellite television and radio broadcasts to residents’ rooms via internal cable does not constitute a ‘communication to the public’ under EU copyright law, distinguishing permanent care home residents from transient hotel guests.

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