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Trademark Office to cancel two smaller rivals' "Taco Tuesday" trademarks in what the largest Mexican fast-food chain in the U.S. called a bid to "liberate the phrase for restaurants nationwide." Taco Bell's petitions said the trademarks, owned by Gregory's Restaurant & Bar in New Jersey and Wyoming-based Taco John's in the rest of the country, wrongly monopolize the use of the phrase in the restaurant industry. "Nobody should have exclusive rights in a common phrase," the petitions said. Representatives for Taco John's, whose "Taco Tuesday" trademark registration dates to 1989, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the petitions. The office last year cited similar reasons for rejecting a brewery's bid for a federal "Taco Tuesday" mark covering beer.

Circuit Court of Appeals said Corellium lawfully recreated Apple's system under the U.S. copyright doctrine of fair use, furthering scientific progress by aiding important security research. Apple sued Corellium for copyright infringement in South Florida federal court in 2019. Apple unsuccessfully tried to buy Corellium for nearly $23 million before filing the lawsuit, the appeals court said. The appeals court rejected Apple's arguments that Corellium simply repackaged iOS in a different format for profit, harming Apple's market for its operating system and its security-research programs. Corellium "opened the door for deeper security research into operating systems like iOS," the circuit court said.

Sonos alleges Google infringed two of its patents related to multi-room wireless audio. Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda said the case relates to "some very specific features that are not commonly used," and that Sonos "mischaracterized our partnership and technology." Sonos first sued Google for patent infringement in Los Angeles and at the U.S. International Trade Commission in 2020, accusing the tech giant of copying its technology during their collaboration. Sonos won a limited import ban on some Google devices from the ITC last year, which Google has appealed. Google has countered with its own patent lawsuits in California and at the ITC.

of revealing secret information about a settlement agreement between them, including how much Apple paid, during Arendi's separate infringement trial against Alphabet's Google LLC (GOOGL.O). Apple asked a Delaware federal judge to impose monetary sanctions against Arendi and its law firm Susman Godfrey one day after Google defeated Arendi's $45.5 million lawsuit at the trial, which did not involve Apple. Arendi's attorneys and representatives for Apple and Susman Godfrey did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. Apple's Wednesday filing said it attended the Google trial because it feared Arendi would misuse its confidential business information during the proceedings. Susman Godfrey previously represented Arendi in other patent lawsuits against companies including Apple, Samsung and LG.

Townsend's heirs sued Sheeran for copyright infringement in 2017, contending that "Thinking Out Loud" copied the "heart" of Gaye's song including its melody, harmony and rhythm. Testifying during the trial, Sheeran denied the copyright infringement claims, telling the jury, "I find it really insulting to devote my whole life to being a performer and a songwriter and have someone diminish it." The heirs said in a court filing that they received 22% of the writer's share of Gaye's song from Townsend. I am not and will never allow myself to be a piggy bank for anyone to shake," Sheeran said after the verdict. Sheeran won a trial in London last year in a separate copyright case over his hit "Shape of You."

CompaniesCompanies Law Firms Google Inc FollowAlphabet Inc Follow(Reuters) - Alphabet's Google LLC won a jury trial on Tuesday in a long-running patent lawsuit in Delaware federal court over features in Google's smartphones and apps. The jury decided that Luxembourg-based patent owner Arendi SARL's patent was invalid and that Google did not infringe it, according to the verdict made public on Wednesday. Google spokesperson José Castañeda said the company was pleased with the decision and appreciated the jury's "careful attention to the extensive evidence presented in this case." Norwegian inventor Atle Hedloy's Arendi sued Google in 2013 over the patent, which relates to retrieving information like names and addresses from a database and entering it into word processors and spreadsheets. It asked the court for $45.5 million in damages, according to a spokesperson for Google's law firm Paul Hastings.

REUTERS/Robert GalbraithCompanies Novartis AG FollowAmgen Inc Follow(Reuters) - Amgen Inc sued Novartis AG's Sandoz in New Jersey federal court Monday, accusing Sandoz's proposed versions of its multibillion-dollar bone-strengthening drugs Prolia and Xgeva of infringing several patents. Amgen asked the court to block Sandoz's biosimilars of the drugs until its patents expire. Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgen sold $3.6 billion worth of Prolia and $2 billion worth of Xgeva last year, according to a company report. The FDA accepted Sandoz's application for biosimilar versions of the Amgen biologic drugs — which are derived from living cells, unlike traditional small-molecule drugs — in February. Amgen said the proposed biosimilars infringe 21 patents covering Prolia and Xgeva.

Foster City, California-based Gilead collaborated with the CDC in the mid-2000s to test if Truvada could prevent HIV as well as treat it. The government received four patents for HIV prevention drug regimens that CDC researchers invented. Its lawsuit claims the patents also cover Gilead's pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drug regimen for lowering HIV infection risk. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Gilead's Truvada for HIV prevention in 2012 and approved its related drug Descovy for the same purpose in 2019. Descovy, which earned Gilead over $1.8 billion last year, is its fourth-best selling drug behind the HIV drugs Biktarvy and Genvoya and COVID-19 treatment Veklury.

CompaniesCompanies Law FirmsLaw Firms Related documents VMware Inc FollowMay 2 (Reuters) - VMware Inc (VMW.N) must pay $84.5 million for infringing two patents belonging to rival software company Densify, a Delaware federal jury said on Monday. The verdict, made public Tuesday, said VMware willfully violated Densify's patent rights with its software for optimizing "virtual machines" used in cloud computing. Densify CEO Gerry Smith said the company was "grateful" for the verdict, which "validated the hard work of our inventors." Canada-based Densify won a verdict worth nearly $237 million against VMware in the same case in 2020. The lawsuit alleged that VMware used Densify's technology as a "blueprint" for its own.

Chief Judge Colm Connolly's ruling for Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc (ALNY.O) came just over a month after a different judge in Delaware rejected Moderna's similar motion in another vaccine patent lawsuit. Representatives for Moderna and Alnylam did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Moderna made the same argument in a motion to dismiss part of another patent lawsuit brought by Arbutus Biopharma Corp (ABUS.O) and Genevant Sciences GmbH. U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg rejected Moderna's motion in that case last year and said it had not yet proven the government was more than an "incidental beneficiary" of the shots. Goldberg denied the motion for a second time last month after the federal government backed Moderna's position.

CompaniesCompanies Related documents Hermes International SCA FollowSkechers USA Inc FollowApril 26 (Reuters) - French luxury fashion house Hermès International SCA (HRMS.PA) has settled a lawsuit brought by Skechers USA Inc (SKX.N) that claimed Hermès sneakers infringed Skechers' patent rights, according to a Wednesday filing in Manhattan federal court. Representatives for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment and additional details. Manhattan Beach, California-based Skechers sued Hermès last year, alleging its Eclair and Envol sneakers infringe two Skechers design patents covering the undulating "Massage Fit" soles in its "Go Walk" walking shoes. Skechers said the soles of Hermès' shoes were "substantially the same" as its soles and requested an unspecified amount of money damages. Skechers has also sued Fila, Reebok, Steve Madden and other shoemakers in the past for infringing "Go Walk" design patents, in cases that later settled.

WASHINGTON, April 24(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a challenge by computer scientist Stephen Thaler to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's refusal to issue patents for inventions his artificial intelligence system created. According to Thaler, his DABUS system, short for Device for the Autonomous Bootstrapping of Unified Sentience, created unique prototypes for a beverage holder and emergency light beacon entirely on its own. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and a federal judge in Virginia rejected his patent applications for the inventions on the grounds that DABUS is not a person. Thaler has also applied for DABUS patents in other countries including the United Kingdom, South Africa, Australia and Saudi Arabia with limited success. The UK's Supreme Court heard Thaler's appeal of his loss there in March.

April 21 (Reuters) - Computer-memory company Netlist Inc (NLST.PK) convinced a federal jury in Texas on Friday to award it more than $303 million for Samsung Electronics Co's (005930.KS) infringement of several patents related to improvements in data processing. Irvine, California-based Netlist sued Samsung in 2021, alleging Samsung memory products used in cloud-computing servers and other data-intensive technology infringe its patents. A Netlist attorney told the jury that Samsung took its patented module technology after the companies had collaborated on another project, according to a court transcript. Samsung had argued that the patents were invalid and that its technology worked in a different way than Netlist's inventions. The case is Netlist Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, No.

Heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend sued Sheeran, his label Warner Music Group and music publisher Sony Music Publishing for allegedly ripping off Gaye's classic, which Townsend co-wrote. Townsend's heirs sued Sheeran for copyright infringement in 2017, claiming "Thinking Out Loud" copied the "heart" of Gaye's song including its melody, harmony and rhythm. The heirs said in a court filing that they received 22% of the writer's share of Gaye's song from Townsend. Sheeran won a trial in London last year in a separate copyright case over his hit "Shape of You." Gaye's heirs won a landmark verdict in 2015 over claims that the Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams song "Blurred Lines" copied Gaye's "Got to Give It Up."

Companies Tesla Inc FollowApril 19 (Reuters) - Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) has settled a lawsuit against one of its former engineer, Alexander Yatskov, whom it accused of stealing trade secrets related to its AI-training supercomputer Dojo, according to a filing on Wednesday in San Francisco federal court. The joint filing said the terms of the settlement were confidential but Yatskov would make a monetary payment to the company. Yatskov was a thermal engineer working on Dojo, a supercomputer that Tesla said in its lawsuit would "help solve difficult engineering problems, such as vehicle autonomy." Tesla sued Yatskov that month for allegedly keeping confidential information about Dojo on his personal computer. The lawsuit also alleged Yatskov had provided a "dummy" computer for Tesla to investigate to "cover his tracks."

The ruling blocks proposed Otezla generics until 2028. A spokesperson for Sandoz said Wednesday that the company was pleased with the decision allowing for Otezla generics in 2028 instead of 2034. Celgene sued several drugmakers over their proposed Otezla generics starting in 2018, and 17 of the 19 lawsuits have been settled since. U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp said in 2021 that Switzerland-based Sandoz and India-based Zydus' generics would infringe three Amgen patents. The case is Amgen Inc v. Sandoz Inc, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Nos.

SummarySummary Companies Artists' accused companies of misusing works to train AI systemsCompanies said artists failed to identify infringement(Reuters) - Stability AI, Midjourney, and DeviantArt fired back Tuesday at a group of artists who accused them of committing mass copyright infringement by using the artists' work in generative AI systems. The companies asked a San Francisco federal court to dismiss the artists' proposed class action lawsuit, arguing that the AI-created images are not similar to the artists' work and that the lawsuit did not note specific images that were allegedly misused. Representatives for Stability, DeviantArt and the artists did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday. Midjourney's motion said that the lawsuit also does not "identify a single work by any plaintiff" that it "supposedly used as training data." The case is Andersen v. Stability AI Ltd, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No.

spray really isn't butter, U.S. appeals court says9th Circuit ruling affirms dismissal of false advertising class actionApril 18 (Reuters) - Unilever's (ULVR.L) "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!" A split 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected claims that Unilever based its zero-fat, zero-calorie advertising for the spray on artificially low serving sizes. Representatives for Unilever and Upfield, the Unilever spinoff that now sells "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" products, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The court said the FDA properly classified the product as a spray, and that if the plaintiffs "believe that Butter! The case is Pardini v. Unilever United States Inc, U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, No.

April 18 (Reuters) - Alphabet's Google LLC (GOOGL.O) on Tuesday convinced a U.S. appeals court to cancel three anti-malware patents at the heart of a Texas jury's $20 million infringement verdict against the company. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said that Alfonso Cioffi and Allen Rozman's patents were invalid because they contained inventions that were not included in an earlier version of the patent. But the Federal Circuit said Tuesday that all of the patents were invalid. The appeals court said the new patents outlined technology specific to web browsers that the first patent did not mention. The case is Cioffi v. Google LLC, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No.

REUTERS/Brian Snyder/File PhotoWASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp's (NOVN.S) bid to revive a key patent on its blockbuster multiple sclerosis drug Gilenya that was invalidated amid a legal dispute with China's HEC Pharm Co Ltd (1558.HK). Novartis sued HEC and more than a dozen other generic drugmakers for patent infringement in Delaware federal court after they applied for FDA approval of Gilenya generics. Novartis settled with some of the drugmakers, allowing for some Gilenya generics before a key patent's 2027 expiration. The Supreme Court in October rejected a Novartis emergency bid to pause the decision. HEC responded that the Federal Circuit "followed its own rules," and that "no Federal Circuit judge - including the dissenter - suggested any procedural concern" with the decision.

April 17 (Reuters) - Grunge music pioneers Soundgarden and Vicky Cornell, the widow of lead singer Chris Cornell, have settled a legal dispute over the late singer's unreleased recordings, according to a joint post from their Instagram accounts on Monday. They said the "amicable" settlement marked a new partnership between Soundgarden and Cornell's estate that will allow fans to "hear the final songs that the band and Chris were working on." She claimed the band members withheld the estate's share of royalties to "strong arm" her into giving them unreleased recordings Chris Cornell made before his death in 2017. Her lawsuit argued that Cornell recorded the songs separately from the band and that he was their sole owner. The band countersued her for refusing to turn over the recordings, which it said were meant for a Soundgarden album for UMG.

Google spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement the company appreciated the decision to invalidate one of Sonos' patents and that Sonos "misrepresented our partnership and mischaracterized our technology." Sonos accused Google in the San Francisco case of infringing four patents related to multi-room wireless speaker technology. Alsup found Thursday that a second Sonos patent was also invalid, but rejected Google's request to cancel the remaining two patents before trial. The judge also said Google did not infringe one of the surviving patents willfully, reducing Sonos' potential damages. Alsup also said he would hold a separate bench trial after the jury trial to determine whether Google's redesigned speakers infringe Sonos' patents.

April 14 (Reuters) - A federal appeals judge in Washington, D.C. is under investigation by her own court for allegedly failing to carry out her duties and refusing to respond to other judges' concerns, court officials at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said on Friday. The Federal Circuit acknowledged the probe in a Friday statement. It said court officials "all recognize and admire the lifelong contributions of the justly esteemed Judge Newman," and "are committed to fulfilling their difficult obligations in this process." Federal judges serve lifetime appointments in the United States. The average age of federal appeals court judges was about 65 in 2017, according to a report from the Congressional Research Service.

April 12 (Reuters) - Monster Beverage Corp (MNST.O), the maker of Monster Energy drink, on Wednesday persuaded a California federal court to block rival Vital Pharmaceuticals, maker of Bang Energy, from marketing its drinks as containing "Super Creatine." U.S. District Judge Jesus Bernal said the order of a permanent injunction was necessary to keep Monster from continuing to lose prospective customers and market share because of Bang's "Super Creatine" labeling. Bernal's order requires Bang and its founder Jack Owoc to stop using "Super Creatine" in marketing, take down related ads and issue corrective statements. Bang has become one of the best-selling energy drinks in the United States behind leading brands like Monster and Red Bull. It accused Bang and Owoc of touting their energy drink with "Super Creatine" as a "miracle drink" that can "reverse mental retardation" and help cure neurological disorders.

Lidar technology is used for 3D mapping, navigation and object detection in various high-tech industries. Ouster's complaints said Hesai incorporated its digital lidar technology into the Shanghai-based company's sensors. Ouster accused Hesai's sensors of infringing five patents covering core aspects of its digital lidar technology. It asked the Delaware court for an unspecified amount of money damages and the ITC to bar imports of infringing Hesai products. Hesai settled a patent dispute with San Jose, California-based Velodyne Lidar Inc in 2020.

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