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Judge Claude M. Hilton

Firefighter and fire truck
Jul 24, 2023

Fire chiefs burnt in overtime lawsuit

Ten Alexandria fire department battalion chiefs who claimed they were owed overtime under the Fair Labor Standards Act, or FLSA, saw their claim snuffed out by the Eastern District of Virginia.

Jul 3, 2023

CIty prevails in overtime suit by fire battalion chiefs

Where Alexandria fire department battalion chiefs argued they were owed overtime under federal and state law, but they qualified as a highly compensated employee, or HCE, they were exempt from the overtime rules. Background Plaintiffs are or have been fire department battalion chiefs, or BCs, for the City of Alexandria. From 2019 to 2022, when […]

Jun 6, 2023

Trademark attorney sanctioned by USPTO

Where a trademark attorney failed to act diligently and promptly in representing her clients before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO, she was issued a public reprimand and placed on probation for 12 months. Background This matter comes before the court on Elizabeth Pasquine’s amended petition for review of an agency order […]

Apr 24, 2023

Nutritional formulations ineligible for protection

Where an inventor argued the United States Patent and Trademark Office wrongfully denied patent protection to his nutritional formulations, but each of the claims dealt with products of nature or abstract ideas that are patent ineligible and the additional claim elements did not transform the natural products into a patent-eligible application, the USPTO was granted […]

Mar 28, 2023

Man fired for deception, not FMLA leave

Where a salesperson argued he was terminated because he took leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, but the record showed his employer terminated him after learning that he was permanently banned from entering Inova facilities, which he failed to disclosure after being made aware that Inova was the largest client in […]

Jan 9, 2023

Boot’s functional features don’t suggest single source

Timberland boots have an iconic look that has been copied by numerous competitors. That didn’t stop a federal court from upholding the USPTO’s denial of an application seeking registration of several specific features of one of its boots as a trademark. TBL Licensing LLC argued its alleged trade dress satisfied the requirements for registrability — […]

Jan 5, 2023

Trademark protection denied to Timberland boots

Where the company that makes Timberland boots argued that eight specified features of one of its boots qualified for a trademark, but the evidence showed that the features were functional, the boots were ineligible for registration under the Lanham Act. Background TBL Licensing LLC filed a trademark application, seeking registration of eight specified features of […]

Nov 28, 2022

Trademark infringer still liable years later

Even though a cybersecurity company stopped selling goods online using an unregistered mark years before a competitor registered a similar mark, its continued use of the mark online subjected it to liability for trademark infringement. Judge Claude M. Hilton of the Eastern District of Virginia rejected the defendant’s argument that it couldn’t be held liable […]

Nov 14, 2022

Defendant infringed on company’s trademark

Where GoSecure owns the mark GOSECURE and operates in the cybersecurity space, a man was liable for trademark infringement for using GOSECURE on his website, blog and Twitter account, all of which contained information about cybersecurity services and goods. Background GoSecure Inc. has raised a federal trademark infringement claim under the Lanham Act against Billa […]

Oct 24, 2022

Res judicata bars fifth suit arising from same facts

Where the court previously dismissed with prejudice a suit brought by disgruntled bank customers for failure to state a claim, their current complaint — which was their fifth complaint — was substantially similar to the previously filed complaints and the five suits involved the same parties, the latest suit was barred by res judicata. Background […]

Sep 30, 2022

Petitioner failed to show eligibility for citizenship

Where the petitioner was required to demonstrate that he was lawfully admitted to the United States, but he had been previously deemed inadmissible to the United States because of a prior conviction for embezzlement, he failed to meet his burden of demonstrating he was lawfully admitted when he last entered this country. Background On July […]

Sep 26, 2022

Sanctions levied for Rule 11 violations

The plaintiff in a long-running dispute over the management and distribution of the assets of a bankrupt partnership must pay the defendant’s legal fees, a federal judge has ruled. In this case, the plaintiff’s amended complaint “is baseless on all counts in terms of evidentiary support,” U.S. District Judge Claude M. Hilton of the Eastern […]

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