Category Archives: Blog

Hermès’ Challenge of ‘MetaBirkin’ NFTs Foretells Future Trademark Litigation Trends

There are not many trademark cases that are of equal interest to high fashion, the art world and cutting-edge tech. The ongoing “MetaBirkin” lawsuit is unusual, however, in that it involves a designer brand and two of the latest, trending topics – non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and the metaverse. In a case that has bagged global…

SCOTUS Kicks Patent Eligibility Cases to the Curb in Last Move of the Term

The U.S. Supreme Court has denied certiorari in American Axle v. Neapco Holdings, Inc., leaving it up to Congress and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to restore any semblance of clarity on U.S. patent eligibility law for now. Many expected that the Court would grant the petition after the U.S. Solicitor General in…

INTA Asks Second Circuit to Limit Rogers’ Definition of ‘Expressive Work’ to Prevent Application of Test on Ordinary Consumer Products

On June 24, the International Trademark Association (INTA) filed an amicus brief in Vans, Inc. v. MSCHF Product Studio, Inc., a case currently on appeal from the Eastern District of New York to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In the brief, INTA urges the Second Circuit to clarify the kinds of…

Other Barks & Bites for Friday, July 1: Tillis and Daines Question Google on Political Email Censorship, Third Circuit Finds No Copyright in Fireworks Communications System, and Eleventh Circuit Clarifies Likelihood of Confusion Test in Reverse Infringement Cases

This week in Other Barks & Bites: the Eleventh Circuit overturns a summary judgment ruling against Wreal while clarifying the application of the likelihood of confusion factors in reverse infringement cases; the Supreme Court denies the petition for writ of certiorari in American Axle v. Neapco; the European Union creates its first regulatory framework for…

A wide range of routers are under attack by new, unusually sophisticated malware

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) An unusually advanced hacking group has spent almost two years infecting a wide range of routers in North America and Europe with malware that takes full control of connected devices running Windows, macOS, and Linux, researchers reported on Tuesday. So far, researchers from Lumen Technologies’ Black Lotus Labs say they’ve identified…

Patent Filings Roundup: Centripetal Sees More IPRs; Microsoft Engineer Sues Seven in Waco

Another light summer week in the patent world saw just 19 new petitions (all inter partes reviews [IPRs]), with 65 new district court cases (roughly average), including 75 newly terminated cases.  Five petitions were denied, with six granted; Peloton appears to have settled their dispute with Ifit (and dismissed the five related IPRs and district…

Pro-Russia threat group Killnet is pummeling Lithuania with DDoS attacks

Enlarge / Drowning in a sea of data. (credit: Getty Images) Internet services in Lithuania came under “intense” distributed denial of service attacks on Monday as the pro-Russia threat-actor group Killnet took credit. Killnet said its attacks were in retaliation regarding Lithuania’s recent banning of shipments sanctioned by the European Union to the Russian exclave…

YouTube content creator credentials are under siege by YTStealer malware

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) In online crime forums, specialization is everything. Enter YTStealer, a new piece of malware that steals authentication credentials belonging to YouTube content creators. “What sets YTStealer aside from other stealers sold on the Dark Web market is that it is solely focused on harvesting credentials for one single service instead of…