Blogs

In Polaris Innovations Ltd. v. Brent, No. 2019-1483, 2022 WL 4241665 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 15, 2022), the Federal Circuit faced an appeal that had bounced back and forth between the Court and Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“the Board”) several times while it was caught in the administrative ambiguity resulting from the Arthrex decision. Although... Continue Reading

Recently, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) announced a new interim procedure for decision circulation and internal review. This interim procedure is aimed at promoting feedback, eliminating inconsistencies, and increasing transparency during the decision pre-issuance process. The push for increased transparency comes as a result of last year’s Supreme Court decision in United States... Continue Reading

In Everstar Merch. Co. v. Willis Elec. Co., No. 2021-1882, 2022 WL 1089909 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 12, 2022), the Federal Circuit provided guidance to distinguish between raising a new argument and elaborating on previously raised arguments in proceedings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”). Here it was decided that a minor point in... Continue Reading

On September 9, 2022, Biogen Inc. and Biogen MA Inc. (“Plaintiffs”) filed suit against Sandoz Inc., Sandoz International GMBH, Sandoz GMBH, and Polpharma Biologics S.A. (collectively, “Defendants”) in the District of Delaware concerning twenty-eight different patents. Although the complaint was filed under seal, the complaint appears to be related to Defendants’ natalizumab biosimilar (proprietary name... Continue Reading

On August 2, 2022, Coherus BioSciences announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved CIMERLI™ (ranibizumab-eqrn) as a biosimilar product interchangeable with Lucentis® (ranibizumab injection) for all five indications, meeting the FDA’s rigorous standards to the reference product, including safety, efficacy, and quality.  Coherus plans to launch CIMERLI™ in early October 2022.... Continue Reading

Patent thickets, particularly those involving pharmaceutical patents, appear to have caught the ire of many U.S. senators. Within the past few weeks, two separate letters have urged action to find ways to prevent issuance of overlapping patents covering a single pharmaceutical product. The letters provide insights into the tools they believe are available to address... Continue Reading

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced yesterday a settlement reached with beauty product retailer, Sephora, Inc. (Sephora), resolving allegations that Sephora violated various provisions of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).  Specifically, it was alleged that Sephora failed to: Disclose to consumers that it was selling their personal information Process user requests to opt out... Continue Reading

In July 2020, the Schrems II decision issued and the European Commission’s adequacy decision for the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework was invalidated.  Further, and broader than the invalidation of Privacy Shield adequacy decision, the Schrems II judgement found that US surveillance measures interfered with what are considered “fundamental rights” under EU law, i.e., the rights... Continue Reading

On Friday, January 28, 2022, the California Office of Attorney General issued a press release announcing that California DOJ sent notices alleging non-compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) to a number of businesses operating loyalty programs in California.  The press release stated, inter alia: “Under the CCPA, businesses that offer financial incentives, such... Continue Reading

Spurred by the vast potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies, many countries are evaluating whether existing legal frameworks for intellectual property (IP) protection are adequate or need to adapt in order to promote key policy objectives concerning AI/ML technologies. Interestingly, not all countries have adopted the same approach. As a comparative... Continue Reading

Several patent litigations have been filed involving mRNA pioneers such as Moderna, Inc. and BioNTech, Inc. (with Pfizer) over the past year relating to sales of the Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine products (Spikevax® and Comirnaty®, respectively).  This post provides an overview of those cases, other cases involving other mRNA pioneers, and the overall mRNA... Continue Reading

On August 16, 2022, Merck (NYSE: MRK) and Orna Therapeutics each announced that they entered into a collaboration agreement relating to the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutics and vaccines in the oncology and infectious disease spaces. The deal centers around Orna’s “oRNA” technology which is reportedly directed to the creation of circular RNAs (oRNAs) from... Continue Reading

The Hook ’em Horns of the University of Texas earned a big win in a recent trademark opposition proceeding.  This is an interesting sports trademark case. The case, the Board of Regents of the University of Texas v. Kendall A. Beaver, was brought by UT against the owner of the following trademark application: The Applicant’s...

A trademark registration for the mark PROHEAR for audio headphones and related goods has been cancelled based on a likelihood of confusion with the mark PROTEAR for similar goods.   The trademark cancellation proceeding was filed and decided before the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. The case, Hangzhou Zhaohu Technology Co., Ltd. v. Hangzhou Johnson...

A recent trademark opposition is a lesson in how to properly establish a likelihood of confusion for apparel goods. In Roots Corporation v. Colorful Roots LLC, the Opposer, Roots Corporation, relied on several of its trademark registrations of ROOTS and its derivatives.  The “Roots” Marks, for various apparel items and related accessories in Class 25,...

A recent appeal of a trademark application refusal shows the importance of filing proper specimens of use. The matter, In Re Sciton, Inc., was an appeal filed by the owner of two applications to register the mark SCITON (in standard characters and composite design mark form) for various medical services related to cosmetic skin treatments... Continue Reading

A recent trademark opposition decision shows that protecting your nutritional supplement trademark is good for overall brand health. In Tom Miles v. Five Star Gourmet Foods, Inc.,  the Applicant (Five Star) sought to register the mark ENERGY2GO for fresh and packaged meals and snacks consisting primarily of vegetables, fruits, meats, cheese, and grains in International... Continue Reading

Healthcare CMOs have a valuable ally when seeking to justify their marketing budgets.  In a word, their brands. According to a recent article in Modern Healthcare,  revenue shortfalls in regional health systems are acute due to COVID-19.  One of the recommended remedies to this financial illness is to diversify sources of revenue.  There is no... Continue Reading