Cantor Colburn June / July 2016 IP Newsletter
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Game changer
Federal Circuit rejects ban on disparaging trademarks
This article talks about a case involving the so-called disparagement provision of the Lanham Act, which concerns federal trademark law. The Federal Circuit rejected the government’s argument that the provision didn’t implicate the First Amendment. Among other things, the court found that trademark registration conveys rights unavailable without registration and that the government’s processing of trademark registrations doesn’t transform private speech into government speech. A sidebar discusses the “intermediate scrutiny” standard also applied by the court.
In re Tam, No. 14-1203, Dec. 28, 2015 (Fed. Cir.)
Stop, thief!
Court lowers bar for injunctions against infringers
Recently, the Federal Circuit ruled in a patent infringement case that, to establish irreparable harm, an infringing feature doesn’t have to be the exclusive driver of demand for the infringing product. This article summarizes the case and explains why showing infringement can be difficult — if not impossible — when dealing with technological devices with thousands of features.
Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Dec. 16, 2015, Nos. 2015-1171, 2015-1195, 2015-1994 (Fed. Cir.)
Price disparity does not preempt lost profits damages
This article covers the latest appellate court ruling in a long-running and wide-ranging patent infringement case, Akamai Technologies v. Limelight Networks, Inc. Specifically, the court found that lost profits damages were available, despite the fact that the infringing product sold for half the price of the patentee’s product.
Akamai Technologies, Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc., Nov. 16, 2015, Nos. 09-1372, 09-1380, 09-1416, 09-1417 (Fed. Cir.)
Computerized lending method found patent-ineligible, again
Patentees hoping to establish that inventions involving an abstract idea are patent-eligible generally must have an inventive concept. That’s the lesson the plaintiff learned in a recent case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit involving computer-implemented business methods. This article summarizes the case and discusses Section 101 of the Patent Act.
Mortgage Grader, Inc. v. First Choice Loan Services, Inc., Nov. 4, 2015, No. 15-1415 (Fed. Cir.)
