John Marshall is hosting its 11th annual Ethics in the Practice of Intellectual Property Law seminar on Friday, June 5, 2020, from noon – 3:45 pm CST. The seminar will be online and is offering 3.25 hours of professional responsibility credit, including 1 hour of mental health/substance abuse credit. Register here. Topics include: Conflicts & Representation for Patent Practitioners; IP & Ethics: Current Trends & Best Practices; No More Fear, No More Fright: How…

On Friday, April 24, Chief Judge Pallmeyer entered a Third Amended General Order updating the first two (which extended all civil deadlines 21 days and than an additional 28 days, respectively) and further addressing the “Coronavirus COVID-19 public Emergency.” Beyond setting out the further extension and addressing hearings, settlement conferences and trials, the biggest change in the third general order is the paragraph 5 requirement that for any case in which no docket entry…

Everite Transworld Ltd. v. MIEH, Inc., No. 19 C 678, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 24, 2020) (Rowland, J.) Judge Rowland granted in part plaintiffs’ Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss defendant MIEH’s counterclaims for tortious interference and civil conspiracy in this patent dispute involving toy vehicles that travel through tubes. MIEH did not meet its Fed. R. Civ. P. 9(b) heightened pleading requirement for its civil conspiracy claim. First, the Court disregarded…

Neurografix v. Brainlab, Inc., No. 12 C 6075, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 30, 2020) (Kennelly, J.) Judge Kennelly granted defendants’ (collectively “Brainlab”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 motion for summary judgment of no lost profits in this patent case involving tractographies. Plaintiff Neurografix was not entitled to lost profits because it had not made its own product and  it could not prove that it had the manufacturing and marketing capabilities to exploit the demand…

FameFlynet, Inc. v. Jasmine Enters. Inc., No. 17 C 4749, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Aug. 8, 2019) (Durkin, J.) Judge Durkin granted plaintiff FameFlynet’s motions for attorney’s fees as the prevailing party in this copyright dispute involving celebrity wedding photos, and granted in part defendant Jasmine’s motion to strike FameFlynet’s motion. Upon learning of FameFlynet’s allegations that Jasmine breached FameFlynet’s copyrights by posting FameFlynet’s images online, Jasmine took down the images. Additionally, at the outset…

On Thursday, April 23, 2020 from 12:00 – 1:15pm CT, the Federal Bar Association is hosting a virtual CLE with three of the Northern District’s newest district judges: Martha M. Pacold Mary M. Rowland Steven C. Seeger The panel will be moderated by retired Chief Judge Ruben Castillo. In addition to comments on written and oral advocacy, the program promises question and answer sessions with the judges. Click here to register.  …

Black & Decker Inc. v. Positec USA Inc., No. 13 C 3075, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 20, 2020) (Gottschall, J.) Judge Gottschall denied defendants’ (collectively “Positec”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 56 motion for summary judgment of invalidity and granted it as to noninfringement in this patent case involving string trimmers, commonly known as weed-whackers. The Court did not rely upon plaintiff Black & Decker’s expert opinion regarding infringement because it solely provided conclusions without…