In VDPP v. Volkswagen, the Federal Circuit made short work of rejecting VDPP’s argument that settlement licenses are somehow different from ordinary licenses for marking purposes. Following up on Seeing More Clearly: Patent Marking Compliance in the Wake of
Is a pop star’s voice a trademark? Taylor Swift’s legal team is betting yes. On April 24, 2026, she filed three applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) seeking federal registration of two sound marks and one
Following up on What VDPP v. Volkswagen Could Mean for Patent Settlements and Marking and aspects of No Spectacle Worth Watching: How a Non-Practicing Entity’s Failure to Mind Its Licensees Cost It the Case, the Federal Circuit’s decision in
Trade secret lawyers commonly assert claims under both the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) and the applicable state’s version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”). But in doing so, they might overlook differences in the key elements and
The Federal Circuit’s decision in VDPP, LLC v. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. offers a clear-eyed look at three recurring pain points in patent litigation: what it takes to plead, what is “exceptional” under 35 U.S.C. § 285, and what
In a decisive reversal, the Federal Circuit handed Boston Scientific Corporation a complete victory in Board of Regents of the University of Texas System v. Boston Scientific Corp., vacating a jury verdict that had found Boston Scientific’s drug-eluting coronary
A new rule from the USPTO took effect July 20, effectively ending foreign pro se patent prosecution: Patent applicants and patent owners whose domicile is outside the United States or its territories must now be represented by a registered patent
On Monday of last week, the Supreme Court of the United States granted a writ of certiorari to review the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’s decision in RiseandShine Corporation v. PepsiCo, Inc. At the center of the
As drag has risen in pop culture, trademark law has become an unlikely topic of conversation. Most recently, on May 27, Pattie Gonia, an internet-famous drag queen and environmental activist, urged her more than 1.8 million social-media followers to ask
In Ollnova Technologies Ltd. v. ecobee Technologies ULC, the Federal Circuit handed Ollnova a string of doctrinal wins — three of its four patents cleared the patent eligibility hurdle under 35 U.S.C. § 101 — only to throw out
