Federal Circuit Invalidates Real Estate Investment Claims Following Bilski Precedent By Elettra Bietti – Edited by Charlie Stiernberg Fort Props., Inc. v. Am. Master Lease LLC, No. 2009-1242 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 27, 2012) Slip Opinion The Federal Circuit affirmed the District Court for the Central District of California, which had granted summary judgment in favor of Fort Properties. In a pre-Bilski decision, the district court had invalidated all 41 claims in American Master Lease’s (“AML”) real estate investment patent for ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Clarifies the Fame Standard for Trade Dilution By Sonal Mittal – Edited by Laura Fishwick Coach Servs., Inc., v. Triumph Learning L.L.C., No. 2011-1129 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 21, 2012) Slip Opinion The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed-in-part the decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”), which had dismissed the notice of  opposition filed by Coach Services, Inc. (“CSI”) opposing the registration of the COACH mark by Triumph Learning L.L.C. (“Triumph”). The Federal Circuit ... Read More...

District court holds that an advertisement-like salute to Michael Jordan is constitutionally protected free speech By Abby Lauer – Edited by Laura Fishwick Jordan v. Jewel Food Stores, Inc., 2012 WL 512584 (N.D. Ill., Feb. 15, 2012) Slip Opinion (hosted by Justia.com) The Northern District of Illinois has ruled that a national grocery store chain’s reference to basketball superstar Michael Jordan in a page published in a commemorative issue of Sports Illustrated is constitutionally protected free speech. The court has ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Affirms $371 Million Judgment Against W.L. Gore By Michael Hoven – Edited by Matt Gelfand Bard Peripheral Vascular, Inc. v. W.L. Gore & Assocs., No. 2010-1050 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2012) Slip opinion The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a decision from the District of Arizona, which upheld a jury verdict that W.L. Gore & Associates’s employee had not jointly invented a vascular graft patented by Bard Peripheral Vascular, and that Gore had willfully infringed ... Read More...

Federal Circuit Holds That a Computer-Aided Clearinghouse is a Patent-Ineligible Abstract Idea By Laura Fishwick – Edited by Adam Lewin Dealertrack, Inc. v. Huber, Nos. 2009-1566, 2009-1588, 2012 WL 164439 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 20, 2012) Slip Opinion The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California’s grant of summary judgment regarding the invalidity of Dealertrack’s U.S. Patent 7,181,427 (filed Sep. 3, 1997) (“the ’427 patent”), which had claims that covered ... Read More...