Chicago, Illinois – California attorney Leslie S. Klinger, co-editor of multiple collections of annotated works based on Arthur Conan Doyle‘s Sherlock Holmes fiction sued Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd. under the Declaratory Judgment Act in the Northern District of Illinois seeking a declaratory judgment that he may freely use material from…
Indianapolis, Indiana – Pennsylvania trade secret attorneys, in conjunction with Indiana co-counsel, for Distributor Service, Incorporated (“DSI”) of Pennsylvania sued in the Southern District of Indiana alleging that Rusty J. Stevenson (“Stevenson”) of Indiana and Rugby IPD Corp. d/b/a Rugby Architectural Building Products (“Rugby”) of New Hampshire violated an agreement…
South Bend, Indiana – An Indiana intellectual property attorney for Burns Rent-Alls, Inc. of Mishawaka, Indiana filed a cyberpiracy lawsuit in the Northern District of Indiana alleging that Michael Sharpe and Aays Rent-All Co., Inc., also of Mishawaka, Indiana, had wrongfully registered and used domain names that would result in…
How does a patent infringement lawsuit begin? A patent lawsuit begins with the filing of a complaint alleging patent infringement by the patent holder. If a lawsuit is filed against you, the patent owner must serve two documents on you: (1) a document called a “complaint,” which explains the accusations…
Fort Wayne, Indiana – Judge Theresa L. Springmann of the Northern District of Indiana held that a patent infringement defendant’s claim of inequitable conduct by the patentee had been insufficiently pled. The defendant’s counterclaim was dismissed and its affirmative defense struck. In 2013, an Indiana patent attorney for Unverferth Manufacturing…
Washington, D.C. – In two related rulings, the United States Supreme Court addressed the standards for granting and reviewing awards of legal fees in patent infringement lawsuits. In the first matter, Octane Fitness, LLC was sued by Icon Health & Fitness, Inc. At issue was Icon’s contention that the use…
Evansville, Indiana – In the matter of Berry Plastics Corp. v. Intertape Polymer Corp., Indiana patent attorneys for Berry Plastics Corporation (“Berry”) invoked the crime-fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege, asking the court to compel Intertape Polymer Corporation (“Intertape”) to produce documents and testimony it had withheld as privileged. Magistrate…
Indianapolis, Indiana – In the matter of American Petroleum Institute v. Bullseye Automotive Products, et al., Indiana trademark litigators Paul B. Overhauser and John M. Bradshaw of Overhauser Law Offices, attorneys for Carlos Silva, petitioned the court to dismiss Silva for lack of personal jurisdiction. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt…
Washington, D.C. – The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia handed copyright trolls a major defeat recently by removing one of their most powerful tactics: the ability to sue large groups of John Doe defendants together with minimal evidence. The case, AF Holdings v. Does 1-1058,…
Fort Wayne, Indiana – Magistrate Judge Roger Cosbey of the Northern District of Indiana denied the motion for transfer filed by patent attorneys for Anchor Packaging, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri (“Anchor”). Anchor sought a transfer of the declaratory judgment action filed by Mullinix Packages, Inc. of Fort Wayne, Indiana…