Hala Mourad
Subscribe to Hala Mourad's PostsSignificant Third-Party Discovery Too Complex for ITC Early Disposition Program
By Hala Mourad and Jay Reiziss on Oct 22, 2020
Posted In Patents, Technology
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) denied a proposed respondent’s request to use the early disposition program to determine whether a complainant met the domestic industry requirement in a Section 337 investigation. The ITC concluded that the issues proposed for resolution were too complex to be decided within 100 days of institution because significant third-party...
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Non-Respondent’s Product Cannot Be Adjudicated for Infringement in Context of General Exclusion Order
By Hala Mourad and Jay Reiziss on Oct 15, 2020
Posted In Patents
The US International Trade Commission issued a general exclusion order (GEO) excluding from entry into the United States products infringing patents directed to luxury vinyl tile, but vacated findings in the Initial Determination (ID) adjudicating infringement for products belonging to entities not named as respondents in the investigation. The Commission explained that a finding should...
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By the Book: Unauthorized Material Doesn’t Forfeit Training Guide’s Copyright Protection
By Hala Mourad on Oct 8, 2020
Posted In Copyrights
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed a jury verdict in favor of a copyright owner in a lawsuit alleging infringement of the copyright in a home-services training manual, finding that the jury was correctly instructed that a work’s incorporation of some copyrighted content does not invalidate the copyright in the work’s...
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Unnamed Respondent Has Standing to Seek Rescission of ITC General Exclusion Order
By Hala Mourad on Jul 30, 2020
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a US International Trade Commission (ITC) decision denying a petition for rescission of a general exclusion order (GEO) prohibiting importation of products accused of patent infringement, because a post-investigation invalidity attack is not a changed condition warranting rescission. Mayborn Grp., Ltd. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n,...
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Reliance on Common Sense Permitted in Obviousness Analysis
By Hala Mourad on Jul 9, 2020
Posted In America Invents Act, Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a final written decision from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) finding patent claims directed to aircraft lavatories obvious based on prior art because a skilled artisan would have used common sense to incorporate a missing limitation into the prior art. B/E Aerospace, Inc....
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Advertising Falls within Commercial Activity Exception to Sovereign Immunity
By Hala Mourad on Jun 18, 2020
Posted In Copyrights
The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s denial of a motion to dismiss a copyright infringement suit on the ground of sovereign immunity, holding that advertising activity in the United States on behalf of a sovereign government falls within the commercial activity exception to sovereign immunity. Pablo Star Ltd. v....
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Double Meaning Can Make Mark Distinctive
By Hala Mourad on May 28, 2020
Posted In Trademarks
The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court’s grant of summary judgment invalidating a service mark for lacking distinctiveness, finding that a reasonable jury could understand the mark to entail a double meaning and therefore making it sufficiently distinctive to receive trademark protection. Engineered Tax Servs., Inc. v. Scarpello Consulting,...
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Defendant Not “Prevailing Party” for Purposes of Attorneys’ Fees After Voluntary Dismissal Without Prejudice
By Hala Mourad on Apr 30, 2020
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s denial of attorneys’ fees under § 285, finding that a defendant is not a “prevailing party” for purposes of collecting attorneys’ fees where the plaintiff voluntarily dismissed its case without prejudice and there was no final court decision designating either litigant as...
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