The accused infringer in patent litigation will sometimes propose a negative claim construction that excludes a feature or aspect of the accused product, and thus avoid infringing the patent claim. But if the excluded feature does not have a uniform meaning in the art, then a more affirmative construction may be needed. In Sound View […]
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No Disclaimer for Unitary MONKIE KID
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office may require a disclaimer of an unregistrable component of an applied-for trademark that is otherwise registerable. In re La. Fish Fry Prods., Ltd., 797 F.3d 1332 (Fed. Cir. 2015); In re Stereotaxis Inc., 429 F.3d 1039 (Fed. Cir. 2005); In re Am. Furniture Warehouse Co., 126 USPQ2d 1400 (TTAB […]
Deposing Opposing Counsel
Courts are reluctant to allow a deposition of opposing counsel where such questioning under oath could reveal attorney-client privileged information, attorney work product, or litigation strategy of the lawsuit, even though “the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure do not specifically prohibit the taking of opposing counsel’s deposition.” Shelton v. Am. Motors Corp., 805 F.2d 1323, […]
Consumer Perception of the Color Auburn
The test for deceptive misdescriptiveness of a trademark under Section 2(e)(1) of the Lanham Act has two parts. 15 U.S.C. § 1052(e)(1). First, whether the matter sought to be registered misdescribes the goods or services. In order for a term to misdescribe goods or services, “the term must be merely descriptive, rather than suggestive, of […]
Appealing Partial Summary Judgment Under Rule 54(b)
Typically, a district court decision is appealable only if there has been a “final decision” on all claims in the case. 28 U.S.C. §1291. For example, a summary judgment of all claims in the case is appealable, but a partial summary judgment of only some of those claims typically is not appealable while the rest […]