IP LEGAL NEWS AND UPDATES

Supreme Court Loads Up IP Docket

Author: Martin L. Saad

Over the past two months, the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear five cases that will have a significant impact on intellectual property law. Three of the cases involve issues of patent law, one involves copyright, and the last involves false advertising claims under the Lanham Act. This article provides a brief summary of the issues presented to the Court in the cases.

Federal Circuit Clarifies Calculation of Patent Term Adjustment for Applications with Continued Examination Requests

Authors: Fabian M. Koenigbauer and Mark R. Shanks

In a recent ruling, the Federal Circuit clarified the scope of available Patent Term Adjustment (PTA) resulting from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's (PTO) failure to issue a patent within three years from the date the application was filed, for applications in which a request for continued examination (RCE) was made. Novartis AG v. Lee, 2013-1160, 2013-1179 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 15, 2014). Under the decision, PTA is not available for the period of prosecuting the RCE to allowance, but is available for the period from allowance to issuance.

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Chipotle Case Gives Hope Against Class Actions

Author: Greg Sater

As many advertisers and marketers know, the scourge of marketers these days is the California-based class action lawsuit. It seems that there is little you can say in an advertisement now that can't get you a demand letter or – worse – a lawsuit, from a California class action law firm. So anytime marketers score a victory, it is worth evaluating to determine why. In a U.S. District Court in Los Angeles this past month, Chipotle Mexican Grill successfully defeated a class action plaintiff's motion for class certification. Here is why.

ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REMINDERS

Venable Associate Christopher T. La Testa Named to the 2014 Maryland Edition of Super Lawyers

Venable LLP is pleased to announce that Christopher T. La Testa, of the firm's Intellectual Property Litigation Group, was named to the 2014 Maryland Edition of Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations.

"Balancing Act: Embracing Innovation and IP Protection" at Digital Entertainment World – Los Angeles, CA

Wednesday, February 19, 2014 | 2:45 p.m. PT

Justin Pierce will moderate the panel "Balancing Act, Embracing Innovation and IP Protection" at Digital Entertainment World on February 19. This panel will discuss the art of balancing technological innovation and intellectual property (IP) protection and how these sometimes competing interests play out in the real world.

Click here for more information and registration.

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