Federal Circuit Holds that Solo’s Marking of Lids after Patent Expiration Did Not Violate False Marking Statute By Ian B. Brooks – Edited by Matt Gelfand Pequignot v. Solo Cup Co., No. 2009-1547 (Fed. Cir. June 10, 2010) Slip Opinion On June 10, 2010, the Federal Circuit affirmed the judgment of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, which had entered summary judgment in favor of Solo for “false marking” related to Solo’s practice of marking expired ... Read More...

Stored Communications Act Protects Facebook and MySpace Users’ Private Communications By Kathryn Freund – Edited by Jad Mills Crispin v. Christian Audigier, Inc., CV 09-09509-MMM-JEMx (C.D. Cal. May 26, 2010) Order The Central District of California reversed and quashed Magistrate Judge McDermott’s order granting a subpoena to obtain private Facebook and MySpace messages and vacated and remanded his order granting a subpoena to obtain Facebook wall postings and MySpace  comments. Judge Morrow held that private messages sent using Facebook and ... Read More...

By Chinh Vo Spyware Vendor Settles Suit with FTC, Promises To Take Steps To Reduce Misuse Ars Technica reports that software company Cyber Spy has agreed to cease marketing its keystroke-logging spyware in a way that attracts malicious users. The company’s promise is part of a settlement with the FTC, which charged Cyber Spy in 2008 with unfair selling and advertising because its Remote Spy product provided customers with instructions for attaching spyware to emails in order to track a ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Chooses Absurdity Over Judicial Claim Redrafting By Chinh Vo – Edited by Jad Mills Haemonetics Corp. v. Baxter Healthcare Corp., No. 2009-1557 (Fed. Cir. June 2, 2010) Slip Opinion On June 2, 2010, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the claim construction of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts and vacated a jury verdict in favor of the plaintiff in a patent infringement suit. Haemonetics Corp. (“Haemonetics”) had filed a patent infringement lawsuit ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Patent Infringement Suit on Grounds of Equitable Estoppel By Abby Lauer – Edited by Chinh Vo Aspex Eyewear, Inc. v. Clariti Eyewear, Inc., No. 2009-1147 (Fed. Cir. May 24, 2010) Slip opinion In a recent opinion, the Federal Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which had granted defendant Clariti’s summary judgment motion to dismiss a patent infringement lawsuit brought by plaintiff Aspex. The Federal Circuit held that Aspex’s ... Read More...