In Cellspin Soft, Inc. v. Fitbit, Inc. et. al., the Federal Circuit recently held that a lower court wrongly invalidated four patents under Alice because they contain an inventive concept. The four patents at issue share the same specification and generally relate to connecting a data capture device, e.g., a digital camera, to a mobile device so that a user can automatically publish content from the data capture device to a website. Defendants had moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the patents are ineligible for patent protection under 35 U.S.C. § 101. The district court granted these motions and subsequently awarded attorney fees. However, the Federal Circuit concluded that the district court misapplied Federal Circuit precedent in granting Defendants’ motions to dismiss, and vacated the district court’s ruling.
Continue Reading Federal Circuit Sets Higher Standard for Early Alice Motions
Web/Tech
Web Domains and The Forgotten Tort of Trespass to Chattels
By James Kachmar on
California case law over the last few years is replete with instances where a new and/or small business has one of their employees take responsibility for various IT activities such as setting up the company website and/or email domains. Disputes arise when that employee leaves for other employment and refuses to give the former employer access to the business domain and/or emails. This is what happened in the recent case, Pneuma International, Inc. v. Cho, which made its way to the California First Appellate District. The Court was required to analyze an old, but largely forgotten, theory of tort liability, trespass to chattels, in connection with a defendant’s “control” over his former employer’s website domain.
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U.S. Supreme Court Allows App Store Anti-Trust Class Action to Proceed Against Apple
By Eric Caligiuri on
In APPLE INC. v. PEPPER ET AL., case number 17-204, the United States Supreme Court considered a case alleging Apple has monopolized the retail market for the sale of apps and has unlawfully used its monopolistic power to charge consumers higher-than competitive prices. As an early defense in the case, Apple asserted that the…
Google May be a Verb, but Verb Use Alone Does Not Constitute Genericness
Just Google it. Can you Google the score? Have you Googled the restaurant’s reviews? These are all common phrases in today’s internet-reliant society, and it’s entirely due to the creation of Google and its widespread success. By all measures, this should be a good thing for Google. Its company’s primary trademark, Google, has become such…
Diddy’s @Infringement Instagram Post
By Scott Hervey on
In today’s age of rapid fire social media, posting to feed the ever growing hunger of a digitally connected audience has become second nature to celebrities and other influencers. In fact, the larger the number of followers, the greater the compulsion to constantly connect. And that’s where the problems can arise.
The facts underlying the…