States are Immune from Copyright Infringement Suits Because Congress did not Validly Abrogate State Sovereign Immunity

SUMMARY:  A recent Supreme Court decision affirmed the Fourth Circuit’s holding that states are immune from copyright infringement lawsuits under sovereign immunity, invalidating an earlier statute that purported to abrogate state sovereign immunity from copyright infringement.  However, the Court left open the possibility that a more tailored statute could be promulgated to address copyright infringement …

Dority & Manning Continues to Grow with the Addition of Three IP Professionals

Dority & Manning is excited to welcome three new collaborators to the team! Michael Wrobel, Alicia Johnson, and Blake Nickles each joined Dority & Manning within the first quarter of 2020. Michael Wrobel, formerly in-house counsel for a global FinTech company, joins the firm as an Associate Attorney focusing on patent prosecution, portfolio management, and …

Anand Patel, Rhoades White, Joseph Probst, and Erik Sivertson Elected Principals

Dority & Manning is proud to announce the election of Anand Patel, Rhoades White, Joseph Probst, and Erik Sivertson as Principals of the firm. Anand Patel specializes in strategic patent portfolio management.  He has extensive experience in drafting and prosecuting U.S. and international patent applications as well as assisting with patent claim construction for pharmaceutical litigations.  …

A Defendant in a Patent Infringement Suit Dismissed for Mootness Based on IPR Success is a “Prevailing Party” Entitled to Costs Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 54(d)

Summary: In B.E. Technology, L.L.C. vs. Facebook, Inc., No. 2018-2356 (Fed. Cir. October 9, 2019) [hereinafter “B.E. Tech”], the Federal Circuit ruled that a defendant in a patent infringement lawsuit dismissed for mootness due to the claims-at-suit being found unpatentable in a concurrent inter partes review is a “prevailing party” entitled to costs under Federal …

Patent Law Issues Embedded In State Law Claims May Not Create Federal Jurisdiction

SUMMARY: In Inspired Dev. Grp. v. Inspired Prods. Grp., No. 2018-1616, 2019 U.S. App. LEXIS 27989 (Fed. Cir. Sep. 18, 2019), the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit explained that claims related to patent license agreements are not necessarily viable in federal court.  Although federal courts generally have exclusive jurisdiction over patent …

Dority & Manning to Participate in Artificial Intelligence Seminar in Tokyo, Japan

Dority & Manning is pleased to announce our collaboration with Marks & Clerk in the international seminar, Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: A Global Perspective. The seminar will be held at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, Japan on Tuesday, December 3rd.  Principal Neil Batavia and Senior Associate Joseph Probst will be presenting “An Overview of …

State Sovereignty Cannot Be Used as a Sword to Overcome Federal Venue Rules for Patent Infringement Suits When the State is Solely a Plaintiff in the Case

In July of 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”) held that tribal sovereign immunity does not apply in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings. Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe v. Mylan Pharm., Inc., 896 F.3d 1322, 1329 (Fed. Cir. 2018). But they left “for another day the question of whether there …

Statements Made During Patent Prosecution Held to Limit a Coined Term of Degree Despite No Clear Disavowal of Claim Scope by the Patentee

SUMMARY:  Acknowledging a lack of clear disavowal of claim scope, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit nevertheless recently upheld the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas’ claim construction limiting the scope of the phrase “high quality of service connection.” Iridescent Networks, Inc. v. AT&T Mobility, LLC, No. 2018-1449, 2019 …

A Document Accessible to the Public May Qualify as a Prior Art Reference Even If the Document Was Not Accessed

Summary: Whether a reference is publicly accessible and, therefore, available as prior art depends on whether a person of ordinary skill in the art could, after exercising reasonable diligence, access a reference.  The question of accessibility may depend on a careful, case-by-case examination of how the particular reference was disseminated, to whom, for how long, …

What’s in a Name? Establishing Irreparable Harm to Brand Equity Can Help Support a Preliminary Injunction

SUMMARY: To obtain a preliminary injunction in a copyright, patent, or trademark infringement case, a party must establish, among other things, a likelihood of success on the merits of its claims and irreparable harm resulting from the infringement.  The party may demonstrate irreparable harm through evidence showing lost brand equity, likely consumer confusion, lost goodwill, …