General IP News

Hangzhou Aoshuang E-Comm. Co. v. 008Fashion, et al., No. 19 C 4565, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Dec. 3, 2019) (Cole, Mag. J.). Magistrate Judge Cole granted defendants’ (collectively “008Fashion”) motion for an extension to respond to discovery requests and to vacate the Court’s prior order finding that 008Fashion’s responses were ... Read More

This guest blog has been written by Prof. HAO Yuan of  Tsinghua University School of Law.  China is facing a pressing need to build its innovation-driven economy. To facilitate key features of an innovative economy Chinese anti-monopoly authorities, along with their worldwide peers, face a daunting challenge of transition from ... Read More

This is a translation of an Official Notice from the Israel Patent Office. From the initial corona epidemic outbreak, the ILPO has been functioning under its regular framework (with majority of its employees working from home). On March 21st, 2020 the Israeli government approved an Emergency Regulation (expansion of the ... Read More

The newly-enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides patent and trademark applicants the opportunity for temporary relief from certain deadlines as more and more businesses face mandatory shutdowns due to effects of COVID-19. In the United States, many filing deadlines are set by statute. Because of that, ... Read More

On March 15, 2020, the Supreme People’s Court of China issued a notice soliciting public comments on the Implementation Plan for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Judgments (Draft for Public Comment) 知识产权判决执行工作实施计划（征求意见稿）and the Guidelines for the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Judgments (Draft for Public Comment) 知识产权判决执行工作指南（征求意见稿 ). Comments are due ... Read More

On March 23, 2019 the Ministry of Commerce released its  Rules for Foreign Investment Complaints (Draft for Public Comment (外商投资企业投诉工作办法[征求意见稿]) (the “Rules”).  Comments are due by April 22.  This is one of several recent Phase 1 / trade responsive initiatives that have been announced or are expected in the near ... Read More

Beckman Coulter, Inc. v. Sysmex Am., Inc., No. 18 C 6563, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 26, 2020) (Lee, J.). Judge Lee denied plaintiff Beckman Coulter (“BCI”) Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(d) motion for additional discovery in this patent dispute involving automated laboratory software. Defendants (collectively “Sysmex”) sought summary judgment ... Read More

As “non-essential” businesses are required to close in more and more United States jurisdictions, many businesses have paused operations. This pause may interrupt continuous use of trademarks in connection with the products and services that the affected businesses offer. When renewing trademark registrations, trademark holders must declare that the trademark ... Read More

Rice-Sherman v. Big Heart Pet Brands, Inc., No. 19-cv-03613-WHO, 2020 WL 1245130 (N.D. Cal. Mar. 16, 2020)Plaintiffs alleged that Big Heart falsely markets its Grain Free Easy to Digest Salmon Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Recipe Dog Food as “Grain Free,” and as containing “No Corn” and “No Soy Protein.” Most ... Read More

Selkirk v. Grasshopper House, LLC, 2020 WL 1241565, No. B294568 (Cal. Ct. App. Mar. 16, 2020)Defendants Grasshopper House and Passages Silver Strand “are luxury facilities that purport to treat drug and alcohol addiction.” Former patients sued them for allegedly making false statements about the efficacy of their treatment programs. Under ... Read More

Sansi North America, LLC v. LG Electronics USA, Inc., 2019 WL 8168069, No. CV 18-3541 PSG (SKx) (C.D. Cal. Nov. 14, 2019)LG used a picture of Sansi’s LED displays in an article for a trade publication and accidentally labeled it as LG displays. This lawsuit followed. LG is currently the ... Read More

On March 18, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order under authority of the Defense Production Act of 1950. The Executive Order stated: “I find that health and medical resources needed to respond to the spread of COVID-19, including personal protective equipment and ventilators, meet the criteria specified in section ... Read More

Life After Hate, Inc. a/k/a ExitUSA v. Free Radicals Project, Inc., No. 18 C 6967, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Mar. 3, 2020) (Cole, Mag. J.). Magistrate Judge Cole denied plaintiff ExitUSA’s Local Rule 7.1 motion to exceed the fifteen page limit for its discovery motion in this Lanham Act case. ... Read More

Section 104 of the Israel Patent Law states: The Minister may permit the exploitation of an invention by Government departments or by an enterprise or agency of the State, whether a patent for it has or has not already been granted or has or has not already been applied for, ... Read More

Neurografix v. Brainlab, Inc., No. 12 C 6075, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Feb. 26, 2020) (Kennelly, J.) Judge Kennelly denied plaintiffs’ (collectively “Neurografix”) motion for reconsideration of the Court’s order granting defendants (collectively “Brainlab”) summary judgment on lost profits in this patent case tractographies. Fed. R. Civ. P. 54(b) allows ... Read More

Yesterday, Chief Judge Pallmeyer entered a general order addressing the “Coronavirus COVID-19 Public Emergency.” The Court ordered as follows: For all civil cases, all case deadlines whether set by the Federal Rules, Local Rules, Court order or Executive Committee order. The Order notes that the Court is accessible by ECF ... Read More

Unfortunately due to the Corona virus preventing both international travel to Israel and prohibitions against congregating, the highly regarded Best Practices in Intellectual Property Conference scheduled for March 23rd & 24th, 2020 has bee postponed. The conference will take place on June 23, 2020 assuming things are back to normal, ... Read More

Republic Techs. (NA), LLC v. BBK Tobacco & Foods LLP d/b/a HBI Int’l., No. 16 C 3401, Slip Op. (N.D. Ill. Jan. 14, 2020) (Harjani, Mag. J.) Magistrate Judge Harjani denied defendant HBI’s 28 U.S.C. § 1782 motion for an order to take discovery for use in a foreign proceeding ... Read More

The International Trademark Association (INTA) announced today that it has rescheduled its 2020 Annual Meeting and will now be holding it in November in the United States. The change is in response to the latest developments regarding the global outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), and INTA’s prioritization of the health ... Read More

This blog provides an update on recent legislative developments involving the interface between IP and China’s Anti-Monopoly law. On November 28, 2019, SAMR published the Anti-Monopoly Compliance Guidelines for Undertakings (Draft for Public Comment) (“Draft Compliance Guidelines”) 经营者反垄断合规指南（公开征求意见稿）, which according to SAMR is specifically intended to “encourage undertakings’ compliance with ... Read More

Federal Trade Comm’n v. Agora Financial, LLC, 2020 WL 998734, No. 1:19-cv-3100-SAG (D. Md. Mar. 2, 2020)The defendants do relatively well here by selling scammy and deceptive books. To the extent that the deception is contained in the books, they get to advertise the contents of those books, but when ... Read More

Shaeffer v. Califia Farms, LLC, 44 Cal.App.5th 1125, No. B291085 (Feb. 6, 2020)Califia sells a “100% Tangerine Juice.” The front label includes “100% Tangerine Juice,” “No Sugar Added,” and “Never From Concentrate.” Shaeffer brought the usual California claims, alleging that she chose Califia’s Cuties juice over “other, similar tangerine juices” ... Read More

On Friday, March 13, 2020, the UIC John Marshall Law School is putting on a day long – 8:45am to 4:30pm – program focused on cutting edge legal issues surrounding the Internet of Things. Here is their description: Online platforms have become a focal point for many in the United ... Read More

Strauss v. Angie’s List, Inc., --- F.3d ----, 2020 WL 1126523, No. 19-3025 (10th Cir. Mar. 9, 2020)Lexmark, most courts have recognized, changed prong 2 of the standard Gordon & Breach test for “commercial advertising or promotion.” Unfortunately, the Tenth Circuit casts unwarranted doubt on that change, potentially rendering meaningless ... Read More

Devane v. Church & Dwight Co., No. 3:19-cv-09899-BRM-LHG, 2020 WL 998946 (D.N.J. Feb. 28, 2020)Plaintiffs brought consumer protection claims based on Church & Dwight’s purportedly false labelling of several multivitamins, including L’il Critters Multivitamins, Vitafusion Women’s Complete Multivitamins, and Vitafusion Men’s Complete Multivitamins, which allegedly lacked at least three essential ... Read More

Monster Energy Co. v. Vital Pharm., Inc., 2019 WL 8112506, No. 5:18-cv-01882-JGB (SHKx) (C.D. Cal. Oct. 16, 2019)I don’t cover many discovery disputes, but this one has some passing interest for the substance of false advertising law. Monster & Vital filed a stipulated protective order providing two tiers of protection, ... Read More

FDA Licensure Process and U.S. Biosimilar Markets   [I entered in media res]· Eva Temkin, Acting Director for Policy, Office of Therapeutic Biologics and Biosimilars,  CDER, FDA  · Christine Simmon, Executive Director, Biosimilars Council, AAM: barriers to entry for biosimilars: exclusionary contracts, rebates, stakeholder misinformation. misinformation can include explicit and implicit, ... Read More

Congratulations to Mr. Daren Tang (邓鸿森) (48), the Chief Executive of the IP Ofice of Singapore for his successful nomination by the Coordination Committee of WIPO as WIPO’s next Director General. Hopefully, Mr. Tang will bring the much-lauded management expertise and accountability of Singaporean bureaucracy to WIPO, which has had ... Read More

Serova v. Sony Music Entertainment, 44 Cal.App.5th 103 (2020) Hard to believe the reasoning in this case could get worse, but they may have achieved it. The California Supreme Court told the court of appeals to reconsider its earlier decision in light of FilmOn.com Inc. v. DoubleVerify Inc., 439 P.3d ... Read More

Lugones v. Pete & Gerry’s Organic, LLC, No. 19 Civ. 2097 (KPF), 2020 WL 871521  (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 21, 2020 Plaintiffs alleged that they bought defendant’s eggs, branded as Nellie’s Free Range Eggs, based on false advertisements indicating that the hens were loved and are given ample access to open, green ... Read More