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THE ZERO SUM GAME IN THE COLA WARS
In Royal Crown Company and Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc v The Coca-Cola Company, Opposition 91178927, each party opposed the other’s trademark applications containing the term ZERO for soft drinks, sports drinks and energy drinks. Although Coca-Cola was...
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CUOZZO V. LEE: SUPREME COURT AFFIRMED THAT CLAIMS SHOULD BE GIVEN THEIR BROADEST REASONABLE INTERPRETATION IN INTER PARTES REVIEW
On June 20th, in Cuozzo v. Lee, the Supreme Court affirmed the Federal Circuit holding that claims should be given their broadest reasonable interpretation in inter partes review...
Read Article SUPREME COURT IN KIRSTAENG V WILEY: objective reasonableness not controlling for attorney fees
The case of Kirstaeng v. Wiley hit the headlines in 2013 when the Supreme Court held that importation and sale in the United States of books bought from the copyright owner in Thailand was not an infringement of copyright, even though a notice in...
Read Article HALO V PULSE: HIGH COURT RELAXES STANDARD FOR ENHANCED PATENT DAMAGES
On June 13, 2016, Chief Justice Roberts delivered a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Halo v. Pulse on the question of when enhanced damages can be awarded for patent infringement. This decision reversed an earlier decision of...
Read ArticleCALIFORNIA DISTRICT COURT PUTS BABY IN A CORNER
In the United States, federal laws take precedence over state law and common law causes of action where there is an overlap. This lesson was recently learned again in Lions Gate Entertainment Inc v TD Ameritrade Services Co, where the Central...
Read Article CHANGE HAS COME TO TRADE SECRETS IN THE United States: The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016
Concerns about trade secret theft have been increasing in recent years and the America Invents Act included provisions that reduced the commercial risks that a business would run by trying to keep inventions as trade secrets rather than patenting...
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