Cecilia Choy, PhD
Subscribe to Cecilia Choy, PhD's PostsCecilia Choy, PhD, focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation and transactional matters. Read Cecilia Choy's full bio.
Solidarity: Union’s commercial use may be Lanham Act violation
By Cecilia Choy, PhD on Sep 18, 2025
Posted In Trademarks
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s dismissal of a Lanham Act action, finding that this case was not the rare instance where there was no plausible likelihood that a reasonably prudent consumer would be confused about the origin of the goods that allegedly bore the distinctive...
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Identical or not? Jury can’t decide issues of claim construction
By Cecilia Choy, PhD on Aug 21, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s denial of a motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) of noninfringement, finding that the jury’s infringement findings were unsupported by sufficient evidence and that the district court had improperly delegated claim construction to the jury. Laboratory Corp. of America...
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No Blank Check: Vendor Can’t Claim Declaratory Judgment From Customer Lawsuits Alone
By Cecilia Choy, PhD on Jun 18, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a declaratory judgment action, explaining that declaratory judgment jurisdiction does not “arise merely on the basis that a party learns of the existence of a patent owned by another or even perceives such a patent to pose a risk of...
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No APA Review of Commission Refusal to Issue Sua Sponte Show Cause Order
By Cecilia Choy, PhD on Mar 27, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissed an appeal challenging a US International Trade Commission decision that upheld an administrative law judge’s (ALJ) order, ruling that such an order was within the Commission’s discretion and unreviewable. Realtek Semiconductor Corp. v. International Trade Commission, Case No. 23-1095 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 18, 2025) (Moore,...
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Equity Is Neither a “Good” Nor a “Service” Under Lanham Act
By Cecilia Choy, PhD on Jan 16, 2025
Posted In Trademarks
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision that, in terms of trademark use in commerce, corporate equity is not a “good” or “service” under the Lanham Act. LegalForce RAPC Worldwide, PC v. LegalForce, Inc., Case No. 23-2855 (9th Cir. Dec. 27, 2024) (Thomas, Wardlaw, Collins, JJ.) (Collins, J.,...
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Battle of the Bay: It’s Oakland Airport, Not San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport
By Cecilia Choy, PhD on Dec 5, 2024
Posted In Trademarks
The US District Court for the Northern District of California granted the city and county of San Francisco a preliminary injunction enjoining the Port of Oakland from using the name or trademark “San Francisco Bay Oakland Airport” based on the strength of San Francisco’s mark and the proximity of goods and services. City and County...
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Jurisdiction “Found”: Navigating E-Commerce Boundaries in Copyright Disputes
By Cecilia Choy, PhD on Oct 24, 2024
Posted In Copyrights
In a copyright case, the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit determined that the district court had jurisdiction over two Chinese companies that consented to jurisdiction in any judicial district in which a third-party e-commerce company could be “found.” The Tenth Circuit concluded that whether an e-commerce company is “found” in a district...
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Stay Focused: New Point of View of Patent Eligibility
By Cecilia Choy, PhD on Sep 19, 2024
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s decision that the asserted claims were patent ineligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101, finding that the district court improperly characterized the claims at an “impermissibly high level of generality.” Contour IP Holding LLC v. GoPro, Inc., Case Nos. 22-1654; -1691...
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Arguing Internet Availability to Establish Copyright Infringement Is Bananas
By Cecilia Choy, PhD on Aug 29, 2024
Posted In Copyrights
In an unpublished opinion, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision finding that a pro se Californian artist failed to establish that an Italian artist had reasonable opportunity to access the copyrighted work simply because it was available to view on the internet. Morford v. Cattelan, Case No....
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House Rules: Remote Gambling Activity Claims Go Bust
By Cecilia Choy, PhD on Jul 18, 2024
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit applied the Alice/Mayo framework to assess whether claims directed to remote gambling were patent eligible under 35 U.S.C. § 101 and determined that the claims were directed to a patent-ineligible abstract idea and did not otherwise recite an inventive concept. Beteiro, LLC v. DraftKings Inc., Case...
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