Ben Davidson interviewed by the Daily Journal Appellate Roundup to unpack Supreme Court decision eliminating laches defense in patent infringement cases. (Daily Journal April 14, 2017)
(Originally appeared in Los Angeles Daily Journal March 27, 2017) Last week, in SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag SCA Personal Care, Inc. v. First Quality Baby Products, LLC, 2017 DJDAR 2683 (March 21, 2017), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the equitable defense of laches is not available as a defense to a damage claim in…
On August 17, 2016, Davidson Law Group, ALC, obtained an award of $292,000 in attorneys’ fees on behalf of its client Melli Yellow Pages in a contentious trademark infringement suit brought by Plaintiff Ketab Corp. The award was issued against both Plaintiff Ketab Corp. and its counsel under 28 U.S.C. § 1927. Read more here.
On May 4, 2016, Davidson Law Group prevailed at trial on all claims asserted against Melli Yellow Pages by Ketab Corp., which had asserted claims of trademark infringement, unfair competition, and counterfeiting. Melli Yellow Pages succeeded in showing that Ketab’s alleged trademarks were generic and not protectable, and that there was no likelihood of confusion….
US Federal Circuit unanimously affirmed U.S. District Judge James V. Selna’s ruling confirming the unpatentability and invalidity of Essociate’s patent. Last February, Crakmedia won the first round of a hard-fought patent battle filed by Essociate, Inc. Essociate claimed Crakmedia was infringing on their patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,804,660. Their patent described a method and system for…
Federal Circuit Affirms Axing of Web Referral Patent Under Alice. (Law360 March 11, 2016). On March 11, 2016, the Federal Circuit affirmed judgment of invalidity in favor of Davidson Law Group client Crakmedia, finding that Plaintiff Essociate Inc. had used its e-commerce patent to claim an abstract idea that was ineligible for patenting under the…
(Originally appeared in Los Angeles Daily Journal Dec. 30, 2015) Can the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office refuse to register trademarks that are racist, offensive, and disparaging to minorities, religious groups, and others? For over a hundred years, the well-established answer to that question has been “yes.” Under Section 2(a) of the Lanham Act and…
(Originally published in Los Angeles Daily Journal 10/23/2015) On Monday Oct. 19, 2015, the Supreme Court decided to review the standard for determining willfulness and enhancing damages in patent cases. The Court granted certiorari in a pair of cases in which enhanced damages were rejected by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit,…
(Originally published in Los Angeles Daily Journal 9/28/2015) On Sept. 18, in SCA Hygiene Products Aktiebolag SCA Personal Care Inc. v. First Quality Baby Products LLC, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an en banc decision, holding that the equitable defense of laches remains a permitted defense to a damage…
By Rick Neifeld, of Neifeld IP Law, and Ben Davidson, of the Davidson Law Group 1 I. INTRODUCTION In the short time since it was created by the America Invents Act, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“PTAB”) has become one of the busiest venues for challenging issued U.S. patents. Companies accused of infringing patents…
