10/14/21
By: Caitlin McQueen Tubbesing Belmora LLC has petitioned for writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court for a second time in a decades-long trademark dispute between Bayer Consumer Care AG (Bayer) and Belmora over their use of the FLANAX mark for over-the-counter pain relievers sold in Mexico and the United States. Should the Supreme Court grant Belmora’s petition, it would resolve the current circuit splits on the issues…
United States Supreme Court Provides Additional Avenue for Patent Appeal
8/18/21
By: Vicki Fuller, Jessica Kelly, and Kendal Mitchell On June 21, 2021, the United States Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in United States v. Arthrex, No. 19-1434, 2021 U.S. LEXIS 3124, *1, *20 (June 21, 2021). In Arthrex, the Court analyzed whether administrative judges on the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”), the executive agency that conducts inter partes review (“IPR”), would retain their power to make final decisions for patent validity. Because the Administrative Patent Judges (“APJ”) are not constitutionally appointed the Supreme Court held the…
Using a Picture That Someone Else Took – You Could Be Facing a Copyright Claim
6/4/21
By: Neil Hartzell United States copyright law protects “original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium and the protection is available to published and unpublished works.” The law is codified in Title 17 of the United States Code. The case of Choobeck v. Gurzanski, U.S.D.C. Central District California, March 16, 2021, illustrates the issues…
Trademark Battle Questions Meaning of “Beer”
5/27/21
By: Ben Dunlap What is the difference between beer and bubbly water? This is not a riddle. The distinction features prominently in a trademark suit between Anheuser-Busch InBev and Constellation Brands pending in the Southern District of New York. The suit, filed in February 2021 by Anheuser-Busch’s Grupo Modelo, the global owner of the Corona…