Hala Mourad
Subscribe to Hala Mourad's PostsReliance 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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