When a Russian hands you a shot glass and as you drink down the clear liquid shouts ze vashe zdrovye!, he means to your health!
The vodka won't in fact extend your life, but it could make you giddy for awhile.
Russians may need a drink after last week's thrashing in the Second Circuit. Two entities from the
Rupert Murdoch's TV empire in the U.S. has lost its bid to stop you from avoiding the ads that Fox embeds in its shows — your Glees, your The Simpsonses, and your So You Think You Can Dances.
The Ninth Circuit turned back Fox's appeal of an order that denied its motion to enjoin
You can try a patent infringement case, win a verdict awarding millions in damages, and prevail on appeal as to the other side's invalidity defense, but still lose the case because the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office later declares the patent invalid.
So held the Federal Circuit, by a 2-1 vote, on July 2, 2013. Fresenius
Snappy reclines. The Empire State Building looms in the mid-distance. Bitey consults his notes. He clears his throat.
Bitey: The U.S. Supreme Court's summer break started last week, Snaps, and the time has come for us to look at the . . . uh . . . results of the 2012-13 Term for those commercial cases
Someone who uses a product that infringes a patent does what People Who Know call "direct" infringement. But what about the person who makes the product or sells it to the direct infringer? Does he get off scot-free?
Maybe. It depends on whether the seller "induced" the direct infringer to infringe.
An inducement claim requires
The right to due process limits an award of punitive damages to, oh, about 10 times the amount of actual damages. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co. v. Campbell, 538 U.S. 408 (2003).
Does the same 10x cap apply to a verdict falling within a range that Congress set by statute?
No, it doesn't, the
The owner of a patent on a brand-name drug sues a competitor for infringing the patent. The parties settle. But the infringer doesn't pay. The patent-owner does. Why? In return for the competitor's agreement not to compete during the rest of the patent's term.
Four of our 13 courts of appeals held that such a "reverse
Last week, a 9-0 Supreme Court ruled that human genes do not count as patent-eligible subject matter but that fake genes with some DNA missing may. Ass'n for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics, Inc., No. 12-398, slip op. 12 (U.S. June 13, 2013) ("Groundbreaking, innovative, or even brilliant discovery does not by itself satisfy
Electronic Arts, Inc., makes video games, including the NCAA Football series. EA put an avatar of Ryan Hart, an ex-quarterback at Rutgers, in the series. Hart sued EA for "violating his right of publicity as recognized under New Jersey law." Hart v. Electronic Arts, Inc., No. 11-2750, slip op. 5 (3d CIr. May 21
A Houston jury awarded Wellogix $94.4 million for Accenture's misappropriation of trade secrets in software that helped oil and gas companies track and manage costs of drilling wells. The judge cut the award to what Wellogix asked for — $26.2 million in actual damages plus $18.2 million in punies. And today the Fifth Circuit affirmed.