Intellectual Property « Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Default Sanction for Patent Infringement

By Deborah Elkins
Published: February 7, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Anthony J. Trenga, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

An Alexandria U.S. District Court accepts a magistrate judge’s recommendation to award default judgment against defendants Ali Hammoud and Al-Amir Inc. for infringing plaintiff’s line of hookah products and marks, and orders defendants to pay $288,419 in damages, $3,563 in costs and $248,863 in attorney’s fees,
The court concludes defendant Ali Hammoud’s objections to the magistrate’s [...]

Markman Hearing for Medical Device Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 26, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Mark Davis, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this patent infringement suit involving eight disputed claims for plaintiff’s ‘870 patent titled “Intramural Stent Graft,” a Norfolk U.S. District Court has concluded its Markman hearing and construes the following terms and phrases: stent, wall, multiplicity of openings, covering, affixing, seam extending from the exterior surface through to the luminal surface of the tubular [...]

‘Inequitable Conduct’ Defense Fails

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 12, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Leonie Brinkema, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In plaintiff Rolls-Royce’s patent infringement suit against defendant United Technologies involving patents for a jet engine swept fan blade, the Alexandria U.S. District Court denies Rolls-Royce’s motion to dismiss UTC’s third counterclaim and to strike its third affirmative defenses, each of which alleges inequitable conduct.
UTC’s four theories of inequitable conduct allege that: 1) the Rolls-Royce [...]

Airline Internet Deal Spawns Lanham Act Claim

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 10, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge John A. Gibney Jr., U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this contract action on a project to improve Internet service for airline passengers, plaintiff Lufthansa states a claim with allegations that defendant Wi-SKY Inflight made false statements and representations on the investor relations section of its public website concerning a business relationship between itself and Lufthansa, and the Richmond U.S. District Court denies defendant’s [...]

Prior Claim Construction May Affect New Suit

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 10, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Glen E. Conrad, U.S. District Court - Western District

Although plaintiff DE Technologies settled its earlier patent infringement suit against Dell Inc., the Roanoke U.S. District Court construed the claims of the same patents at issue in DE’s suit against two other companies, IShopUSA Inc. and International Checkout Inc., the court declines to apply the doctrine of collateral estoppel; absent a showing by DE [...]

No Preemption of False Marking Claims

By Deborah Elkins
Published: January 10, 2012
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge James C. Turk, U.S. District Court - Western District

In this suit alleging false marking under Section 292 of federal patent law, a Roanoke U.S. District Court rejects defendant’s multi-pronged claim that plaintiff’s claims under California and Washington state law are preempted by the America Invents Act, and defendant’s partial motion to dismiss is denied.
Nautilus wisely concedes there is no express preemption in the [...]

Plaintiffs win on claim that video content was pirated – $1,526,644 Verdict

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: December 26, 2011
Tags: Federal Courts, Intellectual Property, Judge Leonie Brinkema, Million-Dollar Verdicts

The plaintiffs alleged direct copyright infringement by defendants Young Min Ro and Daewoo Video Inc. (and vicarious copyright infringement against Ro) for duplicating and distributing the plaintiffs’ copyrighted video content after the defendants had terminated their licenses. The infringement included illegally pirating video content from the Internet and distributing that pirated content through retail video [...]

Judgment Amended in Viagra Case

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 15, 2011
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Rebecca Beach Smith, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this patent infringement case involving a drug to treat erectile dysfunction, a Norfolk U.S. District Court amends its Aug. 12 judgment [VLW 011-3-471] holding Pfizer’s patent supporting the drug Viagra is valid and enforceable and defendant Teva’s proposed generic equivalent of Viagra would infringe Pfizer’s patent, to prohibit approval of Teva’s Abbreviated New Drug [...]

Courts speak, lawyers listen

By Deborah Elkins
Published: December 12, 2011
Tags: Best of 2011, Business, Criminal, Federal Courts, Intellectual Property, Municipal, Real Estate, Supreme Court of Virginia News, Tort, Virginia Court of Appeals News

A Virginia Supreme Court case that struck a noncompete clause used by a pest control company – the same clause upheld by the high court over 20 years ago – caused the most buzz during 2011 among Virginia lawyers who track legal developments through their blogs.
Court watchers were charmed by the facts in Home Paramount [...]

Permanent Injunction Against Infringement

By Deborah Elkins
Published: November 30, 2011
Tags: Intellectual Property, Judge Robert E. Payne, U.S. District Court - Eastern District

In this litigation involving patents-in-suit relating to electronic sourcing systems, which allow prospective buyers to locate items to buy from multiple electronic catalogs, a Richmond U.S. District Court grants plaintiff’s motion for a permanent injunction.
Trial commenced on Jan. 4, 2011. On Jan. 27, the jury reached a unanimous verdict and found that the ‘683 [...]

Virginia Lawyers Weekly