District Courts, Utility Patent

MEMS Innovations LLC v. TDK Corporation — Court Dismisses Japanese Parent for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction in Piezoelectric Sensor Patent Case

Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the Northern District of California dismissed TDK Corporation of Japan from a piezoelectric MEMS patent infringement suit, holding that conclusory stream-of-commerce allegations were insufficient to establish personal jurisdiction and that plaintiff lacked a legitimate basis for naming the Japanese parent company as a defendant.

District Courts, Trade Secret, Federal

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG v. Zync Inc. — Federal Judge Blocks ITC Trade Secret Proceeding to Enforce Forum Selection Clause

Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California granted BMW a temporary restraining order blocking Zync Inc. from proceeding with an ITC trade secret investigation, finding BMW likely to succeed in enforcing a contractual forum selection clause designating German courts as the exclusive forum for disputes under their infotainment technology NDA.

District Courts, Trademark, Federal

Watts v. Amazon Studios — Court Dismisses ‘The Love Zone’ Trademark Suit Over Amazon’s ‘Cross’ TV Series

A Southern District of New York judge dismissed a trademark infringement suit by New York radio host Maurice Watts against Amazon Studios over use of the name ‘The Love Zone’ in Amazon’s crime thriller series ‘Cross,’ finding no evidence that the fictional reference misled viewers about the source of the real radio show.

Federal Circuit, Utility Patent

DynaPass IP Holdings v. Bank of America — Federal Circuit Affirms Dismissal on Claim Construction of Two-Factor Authentication Patent

The Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of DynaPass’s infringement claim against Bank of America, holding that the claim term ‘receiving the password’ requires the user to submit a pre-combined passcode-and-token password — not submit the two components separately as BofA’s mobile banking app does.

Copyright, Ninth Circuit

Sedlik v. Von Drachenberg — Ninth Circuit Grants Rare En Banc Rehearing in Kat Von D Tattoo Copyright Case

The Ninth Circuit granted en banc rehearing in the Kat Von D tattoo-copyright case, vacating the panel opinion that affirmed a jury verdict finding no substantial similarity between a photographer’s Miles Davis portrait and a photorealistic tattoo — a signal that the full court may overhaul the circuit’s decades-old “intrinsic test” for copyright similarity.

Fifth Circuit, Trade Secret, Federal

EnvTech Inc. v. DeBusk — Fifth Circuit Opens Door to RICO Treble Damages in Trade Secret Cases

The Fifth Circuit revived a trade secret RICO claim, holding that the systematic acquisition of trade secrets—not merely their ongoing use—can satisfy RICO’s ‘pattern of racketeering activity’ requirement, potentially enabling treble damages and attorney fees for trade secret owners whose secrets were stolen in a pattern of competitive IP raids.

District Courts, Patent Subject Matter Eligibility

IngenioShare v. Epic Games — Patent for Multi-Platform Messaging Identity Struck Down Under § 101

A North Carolina federal judge dismissed a patent infringement suit against Epic Games (Fortnite) with prejudice, holding that U.S. Patent 10,142,810 — claiming a method for managing communications across services using a single user identifier — was directed to an abstract idea and lacked any inventive concept under Alice.

Copyright, Federal Circuit

Aljindi v. United States — Federal Circuit Confirms §1498(b) Is Exclusive Path for Copyright Claims Against the Government

In a nonprecedential ruling, the Federal Circuit affirmed that copyright infringement claims against the U.S. government must proceed exclusively under 28 U.S.C. §1498(b) and cannot be recast as Tucker Act ‘takings’ claims — a ruling arising from a pro se plaintiff’s allegation that the government used his AI dissertation without compensation.

Other International (India), Trademark, Federal

Intas Pharmaceuticals v. Sun Pharma — Delhi High Court Vacates BEVETEX Trademark Injunction, Holds INN-Derived Prefixes Are in the Public Domain

India’s Delhi High Court Division Bench reversed a single-judge injunction against Intas Pharmaceuticals’ BEVATAS cancer drug, holding that the INN-derived prefix ‘BEV/BEVA’ is publici juris and that ten years of concurrent market use with no actual confusion disproved likelihood of confusion with Sun Pharma’s BEVETEX.

Copyright, Fourth Circuit

Deque Systems v. BrowserStack — Fourth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment After Copyright Plaintiff’s Repeated Failure to Disclose Damages

The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment for BrowserStack after Deque Systems repeatedly failed to disclose its damages calculations in a copyright infringement case over web accessibility software, holding that the district court properly excluded Deque’s damages evidence under Rule 37(c)(1) and that Deque failed to raise a genuine dispute on injunctive relief.

Scroll to Top