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About this Blog

Welcome to the Snell & Wilmer intellectual property and technology litigation blog! Check here for useful news and information about patent, trademark, copyright, trade secret, and other IP and technology litigation developments.

Supreme Court Addresses Covenants Not To Sue In Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc.

On January 9, 2013, in Already LLC v. Nike, Inc., No. 11-982, 2013 WL 85300 (U.S. Jan. 9, 2013), the U.S. Supreme Court held that a broadly-crafted covenant not to enforce a trademark against a competitor’s existing products and any future “colorable imitations” moots the competitor’s counterclaim to have the trademark declared invalid. Noting that […]

| 6 min read

Recent Decision Highlights Complex Interplay Between Standard-Essential Patents and FRAND Licensing Terms

Patents confer upon the owner of the patent the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention for a set period of time.  Tensions arise when patented technologies are included as part of industry technical standards, creating standard-essential patents that are required for system interoperability for certain technologies.  […]

The Evolving Scope of the Inequitable Conduct Defense: 1st Media, LLC v. Electronic Arts, Inc.

On September 13, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in 1st Media, LLC v. Electronic Arts, Inc., No. 2010-1435 (“1st Media”), reversed a Nevada district court’s ruling holding a patent owned by 1st Media unenforceable due to inequitable conduct.  1st Media, LLC v. do Pi Karaoke, Inc., No. 07-cv-1589 (Apr. 23, 2010).  The opinion […]

| 11 min read | Tagged: , ,

Supreme Court Grants Petition for Cert in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc.: Potential Ramifications for Covenants Not to Sue in Patent Cases

On June 25, 2012, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Already, LLC v. Nike, Inc., No. 11-982, on the issue of whether a federal district court is divested of Article III jurisdiction over a party’s challenge to the validity of a federally registered trademark if the registrant promises not to assert its mark against the […]

| 10 min read | Tagged: , ,

Ninth Circuit Clarifies the Role of Non-Consumer Confusion in Rearden LLC v. Rearden Commerce, Inc.

Trademark owners sometimes learn of potential infringers indirectly, such as when people mistakenly call or email the trademark owner when attempting to contact the infringer.  Often, these confused calls come from the trademark owner’s own vendors or potential investors and strategic partners.  While this “non-consumer confusion” is frequently just the first exposure to confusion in […]

| 3 min read

ICANN Reveals Applied-For gTLD Strings

June 13 marked “Reveal Day” — the day on which the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”) released the list of applied-for generic top-level domains (“gTLD”).  These new gTLDs, which follow the “.” in a domain name, expand the number of available options beyond the familiar “.com,” “.org,”  “.edu,” and other existing gTLDs. […]

| 3 min read

UPDATE: Supreme Court Revisits Patentable Subject Matter in Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc.

The Supreme Court has addressed the first question of patentability – whether the invention falls within the scope of patentable subject matter – for the second time in three years with its opinion in Mayo Collaborative Services, et al. v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc., 566 U.S. ___ (2012). Through unanimous decision, the Supreme Court has provided […]

| 6 min read | Tagged: ,

Supreme Court Denies Certiorari in Expansive Ninth Circuit Personal Jurisdiction Case

Last summer, we reported that the Ninth Circuit expanded the “effects test” of personal jurisdiction against foreign copyright infringers in Mavrix Photo v. Brand Technologies.  As we noted then, the Mavrix Photo decision represented an expansion of the Ninth Circuit’s (seemingly ever-changing) willingness to permit its district courts to exercise jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants, holding […]

| 1 min read