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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 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.

April 11 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court handed Moderna Inc (MRNA.O) a win on Tuesday, affirming a decision to cancel an Arbutus Biopharma Corp (ABUS.O) patent related to the companies' legal fight over Moderna's blockbuster COVID-19 vaccines. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tribunal's ruling that the patent for Arbutus' lipid nanoparticle (LNP) technology was invalid based on an earlier Arbutus patent that disclosed the same invention. Moderna challenged the patent at the PTO's Patent Trial and Appeal Board in 2018, and the board invalidated it in 2019. Arbutus separately sued Pfizer and BioNTech for patent infringement last week over their COVID-19 shots, in a lawsuit that also does not include the canceled patent. The Federal Circuit case is Arbutus Biopharma Corp v. ModernaTX Inc, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No.

April 5 (Reuters) - Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc sued fast-casual dining rival Sweetgreen Inc in California federal court Tuesday, claiming the salad chain's new "Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl" violates its trademark rights. Chipotle's lawsuit said Sweetgreen's "very similar and directly competitive" bowl is an attempt to capitalize on the Chipotle brand and likely to confuse consumers. Chipotle said it suggested changing the name to something that uses "chipotle in lower-case, in a textual sentence, to accurately describe ingredients of its menu item," like a "chicken bowl with chipotle." Chipotle asked the court for an order blocking Sweetgreen from using the "Chipotle" name and an unspecified amount of money damages. The case is Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc v. Sweetgreen Inc, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, No.

April 4 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) lost a bid to register part of a federal trademark for "Apple Music" on Tuesday after a U.S. appeals court ruled for a jazz musician who challenged the tech giant's application. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected Apple's argument that it had priority over trumpeter Charlie Bertini's "Apple Jazz" trademark rights based on its ownership of an earlier trademark from the Beatles' music label Apple Corps Ltd. The court allowed Bertini to block Apple's bid for a federal Apple Music trademark covering live performances, one of several trademark uses Apple sought to secure. Apple launched its streaming service in 2015 and applied the same year for a federal "Apple Music" trademark covering several categories of music and entertainment services. It said Apple could not "tack" its trademark rights for live performances to the Apple Corps trademark for sound recordings, a different category of goods.

Companies Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co Follow(Reuters) - Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co (GT.O) convinced an Ohio federal judge on Friday to throw out a $64 million jury verdict over its alleged theft of trade secrets related to self-inflating tires. A jury decided last year that Goodyear misappropriated five of the 12 trade secrets Coda accused it of misusing. But Lioi said Friday that four of the five secrets – related to Coda's design, development and placement of self-inflating tire pumps – were not specific enough to be considered protectable trade secrets. Lioi said Coda's fifth alleged secret, related to developing a functional self-inflating tire, was "no secret at all" because the concept was not new in 2009. The case is Coda Development SRO v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, No.

March 31 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) on Friday convinced a U.S. appeals court to throw out a $502 million verdict for patent licensing company VirnetX Inc (VHC.N) in a long-running fight over internet privacy technology. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said the verdict could not stand after the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board canceled the virtual private network (VPN) patents VirnetX accused Apple of infringing. The ruling follows the Federal Circuit's Thursday decision to affirm a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office tribunal's finding that the patents were invalid. Apple and VirnetX did not immediately respond to requests for comment. An East Texas jury awarded VirnetX $502 million in 2020 after finding Apple infringed the patents at issue in the Federal Circuit cases.

Such "skinny labels" typically allow generic drugmakers to launch their products earlier while avoiding liability for infringing brand-name drugmakers' patents. GSK sued Teva for patent infringement in Delaware federal court in 2014 over its generic version of Coreg. In its petition to the Supreme Court last year, Teva said the ruling would cause "havoc" for skinny labels, which it said are "extraordinarily common" and "save patients and the federal government billions." GSK countered that the case does not threaten generic drugmakers that "operate properly under the law." The Biden Administration backed Teva on Wednesday, arguing generic drugmakers should be entitled to rely on the FDA's carve-out instructions, which are based on brand-name drugmakers' own statements to the agency.

March 30 (Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) convinced a U.S. appeals court on Thursday to uphold a patent tribunal's ruling that could imperil a $502 million verdict for patent licensing company VirnetX Inc in the companies' long-running fight over privacy-software technology. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that invalidated the two patents VirnetX had accused Apple of infringing. An East Texas jury awarded VirnetX $502 million in 2020 after deciding that Apple infringed the virtual private network (VPN) patents at issue in Thursday's decision. Apple has separately appealed the verdict itself, but the Federal Circuit has yet to rule in that case. "If the court upholds the [USPTO's] decision, we have a big problem," VirnetX attorney Jeff Lamken of MoloLamken said at the September hearing.

Trademark Office to reject a Black Lives Matter application for a trademark featuring three parallel stripes. "Adidas will withdraw its opposition to the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation's trademark application as soon as possible," the company said in a statement. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is the most prominent entity in the decentralized Black Lives Matter movement, which arose a decade ago in protest against police violence against Black people. Representatives of the Black Lives Matter group did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. A jury in that case decided in January that Thom Browne's stripe patterns did not violate Adidas' trademark rights.

Trademark Office to reject an application for a Black Lives Matter trademark featuring three parallel stripes, arguing it could mislead the public. Adidas told the office in a Monday filing that Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation Inc's yellow-stripe design would create confusion with its own famous three-stripe mark. Representatives for the Black Lives Matter group did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday. The Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation is the most prominent entity in the decentralized Black Lives Matter movement, which arose a decade ago to protest police violence against Black people. The Trademark Office gave the Black Lives Matter group until May 6 to answer.

March 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. International Trade Commission said on Tuesday it would ban imports of SharkNinja Operating LLC robot vacuums that infringe a patent owned by Roomba maker iRobot Corp (IRBT.O). The full commission upheld part of a trade judge's October decision that SharkNinja violated two of its rival's patents, affirming that SharkNinja's devices mimicked iRobot navigation technology. Bedford, Massachusetts-based iRobot filed the ITC complaint in 2021 along with a lawsuit against SharkNinja in Boston federal court. Another patent lawsuit iRobot brought against SharkNinja in 2019 has also been paused during related proceedings at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The ITC case is In the Matter of Certain Robotic Floor Cleaning Devices and Components Thereof, U.S. International Trade Commission, No.

Some companies have expressed concern that a ruling against Jack Daniel's would weaken their control over their brands and reputations. The toy mimics Lynchburg, Tennessee-based Jack Daniel's famous whiskey bottles with humorous dog-themed alterations - replacing "Old No. "Jack Daniel's loves dogs and appreciates a good joke as much as anyone," the company told the justices in a brief. "But Jack Daniel's likes its customers even more, and doesn't want them confused or associating its fine whiskey with dog poop." VIP Products has said a ruling favoring Jack Daniel's would make it easier for trademark owners to stifle free speech.

March 17 (Reuters) - A computer scientist who has waged a global campaign for patents covering inventions conceived by his artificial intelligence system asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday to hear his case. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and a Virginia federal court rejected 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. The UK's Supreme Court heard his case there earlier this month. The case is Thaler v. Vidal, U.S. Supreme Court.

Copyright Office issued new guidance on Wednesday to clarify when artistic works created with the help of artificial intelligence are copyright eligible. "The answer will depend on the circumstances, particularly how the AI tool operates and how it was used to create the final work," the office said. Generative AI systems like Midjourney, ChatGPT and DALL-E, which create text and images in response to human instructions, have recently skyrocketed in popularity. The office reiterated Wednesday that copyright protection depends on the amount of human creativity involved, and that the most popular AI systems likely do not create copyrightable work. The office also said that copyright applicants must disclose when their work includes AI-created material, and that previously filed applications that do not disclose AI's role must be corrected.

March 13 (Reuters) - Dish Network LLC (DISH.O) must pay $469 million for infringing two patents held by parental-control technology maker ClearPlay Inc related to filtering material from streaming video, a jury in U.S. federal court in Utah has decided. While jurors found that Dish's technology violated ClearPlay's patent rights, they rejected ClearPlay's contention that Dish copied its technology intentionally. Salt Lake City-based ClearPlay's technology lets users filter out adult content like sex, violence and drug use from DVDs and streaming video. Englewood, Colorado-based Dish said that AutoHop works differently from ClearPlay's patented technology. The case is ClearPlay Inc v. Dish Network LLC, U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, No.

Apple, Google, Cisco, Intel Corp (INTC.O) and Edwards Lifesciences Corp (EW.N) sued the PTO in the California federal court in 2020 over the rule. They argued it undermined the role inter partes review plays in "protecting a strong patent system" and violated federal law. Companies including Tesla, Honda, Comcast and Dell filed briefs at the Federal Circuit in support of the plaintiffs. The California court dismissed the case in 2021, citing U.S. Supreme Court rulings that Patent Trial and Appeal Board decisions on whether to review inter partes review petitions cannot be appealed. The case is Apple Inc v. Vidal, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, No.

March 9 (Reuters) - Bytedance's TikTok Inc persuaded a federal jury in Los Angeles on Thursday that its Stitch feature does not violate trademark rights belonging to British video-editing company Stitch Editing Ltd. The jury rejected Stitch Editing's argument that TikTok confuses consumers by using the Stitch name to brand the popular social-media platform's technology for "stitching" videos together. It sued in 2021 over TikTok's Stitch technology, which allows users to splice other videos on the platform into their own. Stitch Editing told the court that TikTok's use of "Stitch" gave users the mistaken impression that the companies are affiliated and threatened to drown out its brand. The case is Stitch Editing Ltd v. TikTok Inc, U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, No.

☆ As Big Law looks to tech to help draft legal briefs and log billing hours, top firms like Orrick and Shearman & Sterling are using AI to fast-track work on M&A deals
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-20 | by ( Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Top Big Law firms like Shearman & Sterling, White & Case, and Orrick use artificial intelligence. AI tools by companies like Thomson Reuters, Litera, and Evisort are helping firms manage M&A work. Shearman & Sterling uses a wide variety of AI tools for different uses — one of the firm's go-tos for deals due diligence is Kira, a tool owned by Litera, a document-technology company that works with law firms. Even more said that over the next five years, they expected most M&A work at their firms to be supported by AI. The company uses tools such as Brainspace and Relativity, Janet Sullivan, the firm's global director of practice technology, said.

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