Spotify Settles Class Action Lawsuit for $43.4 Million In February of last year, I wrote a blog discussing the filing of a class action lawsuit against Spotify seeking $150 million in unpaid mechanical royalties (Read the previous post here). In a settlement announced on Friday, Spotify has agreed to set up a fund worth $43.4 million to compensate songwriters and publishers whose compositions […] Continue Reading →
U.S. Supreme Court Extends the Limitation of “Exhaustion” for Patent Rights A United States patent entitles the patent holder to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling [its] invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States. However, when a patentee sells one of its products, the patentee can no longer control that item through the patent laws— its […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit Opinion Does Little to Resolve Questions Regarding Online Retailers’ Liability for “Offers to Sell” Under 35 U.S. Code § 271(a), anyone who, without authorization, “offers to sell” a patented invention in the United States infringes said patent. This basis for liability is distinct from liability for theactual sale of a product and does not require acceptance of the offer—raising interesting questions for online retailers like Amazon. Notably, when an […] Continue Reading →
U.S. Supreme Court Limits Where Patent Infringement Defendants Can be Sued In TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC, the U.S. Supreme Court limited the locations that patent infringement suits can be brought against a defendant, i.e., venue for the lawsuit. Proper venue is established by 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b) as the place where (1) the defendant resides or (2) where the defendant has […] Continue Reading →
7 Reasons to Consider China in Developing an IP Strategy China now may have a better patent system for enforcing patent rights through litigation, as compared to their patent protection in past years. Before you dismiss this notion completely, consider the following: A very high win rate, up to 75% – 95%, is possible for a patent owner, especially a foreign patent owner, in a litigation. […] Continue Reading →
The U.S. Patent Office Is Improving The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, in remarks yesterday to the George Washington School of Law, noted numerous improvements and initiatives at the Patent Office to improve the patent process, such as: Time from filing to first action has decreased 43% in the past 5 years, from 28 months in 2011 to […] Continue Reading →
Prepping for Protection: First Steps to Developing an IP Strategy Whether you are an individual, a start-up company, or an existing business, two of the hardest (and most important) questions are: “Do I have intellectual property?” and “How do I protect it?” First, having a qualified attorney will help make answering these questions significantly easier and they can help guide you through the development of […] Continue Reading →
The Eagles Sue Hotel California On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair Warm smell of the courtroom, rising up through the air (sorry) Earlier this week, The Eagles sued a Mexico based hotel, aptly named Hotel California, alleging trademark infringement and unfair competition. The case, filed May 1, 2017, isEagles Ltd v Hotel California Baja LLC et […] Continue Reading →
Federal Circuit Clarifies The Post-AIA On-Sale Bar Yesterday, in Helsinn v. Teva, the Federal Circuit added greater clarity to the restrictions the sale of inventions pose to patentability. Under 35 U.S.C. § 102, an invention cannot be patented if the claimed invention was on sale before the effective filing date of the claimed invention. In Helsinn, the Federal Circuit took steps to […] Continue Reading →