Hala Mourad
Subscribe to Hala Mourad's PostsHala Mourad focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation matters in federal district court and the US International Trade Commission. She works with clients to litigate patent cases spanning various technologies including consumer electronics, telecommunications, medical and surgical devices, materials engineering, and biotechnology. She has experience in all phases of litigation from pre-litigation investigations through trial and appeal. Read Hala Mourad's full bio.
Discretion to Authorize Hague Alternative Service on Foreign Defendant—it’s All About Time and Cost
By Hala Mourad on Sep 23, 2021
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied a petition for a writ of mandamus, directing the US District Court for the Western District of Texas to dismiss multiple infringement actions for insufficient service of process and lack of personal jurisdiction where the plaintiff used alternative methods to effect service of process on...
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Lanham Act Reaches Foreign Defendants’ Extraterritorial Conduct, but Worldwide Injunction Too Broad
By Hala Mourad on Sep 2, 2021
Posted In Trademarks
The US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld a district court’s injunction barring multiple foreign companies from directly or indirectly using a US remote control manufacturer’s trade dress based on the extraterritorial reach of the Lanham Act. However, the Court narrowed the scope of the worldwide injunction to countries where the US company...
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Objective Indicia of Nonobviousness for Design Patents: Same Nexus Requirement as Utility Patents
By Hala Mourad on Aug 26, 2021
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed two decisions by the Patent Trial & Appeal Board (Board), finding that a soup company and soup dispenser manufacturing company failed to prove the unpatentability of two design patents covering can dispensers. The Court also concluded that the analysis for objective indicia of nonobviousness for...
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Publisher’s Co-Authorship Claim Arises Under Copyright Act, Invoking Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction
By Hala Mourad on Aug 19, 2021
Posted In Copyrights
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal of a copyright authorship dispute, finding that the district court had exclusive jurisdiction over the case because a book publisher’s claim of co-authorship arose under the federal Copyright Act, not state contract law. Di Angelo Publ’ns, Inc. v. Kelley, Case No....
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Injunctive Relief Available Even Where Laches Bars Trademark Infringement, Unfair Competition Damage Claims
By Hala Mourad on Aug 12, 2021
Posted In Trademarks
The US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit affirmed a district court’s conclusion that laches barred an advertising and marketing company’s claims for monetary damages for trademark infringement and unfair competition, but remanded the case for assessment of injunctive relief to protect the public’s interest in avoiding confusion between two similarly named companies operating...
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Employment Agreement Assignment Provisions Don’t Reach Post-Employment Inventions
By Hala Mourad on May 6, 2021
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit rejected a biotechnology company’s argument that assignment provisions in its employment agreements granted ownership rights in post-employment inventions. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, Case No. 20-1785 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 29, 2021) (Taranto, J.) 10X filed an International Trade Commission (ITC) complaint against Bio-Rad, alleging...
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Zero Hero: Disclaiming Disputed Term Renders Dispute Moot
By Hala Mourad on Apr 15, 2021
Posted In Trademarks
The Trademark Trial & Appeal Board redesignated as precedential a decision dismissing a beverage company’s opposition to trademarks using the term “ZERO” for zero-calorie drinks after the trademark applicant disclaimed the term ZERO in its pending applications, the sole remedy requested in the opposition. Royal Crown Co., Inc. v. The Coca-Cola Co., Opposition Nos. 91178927...
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First-to-File Rule Requires That Action Could Have Been Brought in Transferee Forum
By Hala Mourad on Mar 11, 2021
Posted In Patents
After issuing a rare grant of a mandamus petition directing a district court to stay proceedings until ruling on a pending motion to transfer, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied a subsequent mandamus petition to compel transfer after that district court denied the transfer. In re SK hynix Inc., Case No....
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Eight-Month Delay on Transfer Motion Ruling Is “Egregious,” Warrants Stay
By Hala Mourad on Feb 11, 2021
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a rare grant of a mandamus petition directing a district court to stay proceedings until ruling on a pending motion to transfer, stating that the district court’s eight-month delay in ruling on the motion while allowing substantive issues to proceed “amounted to egregious delay and...
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2020 IP Law Year in Review: Patents
By Amol Parikh, Cecilia Choy, Ph.D., Amy Mahan, PhD, Hala Mourad, Colin J. Stalter and Elizabeth Teter on Jan 28, 2021
Posted In Patents
Executive Summary In 2020, the US Supreme Court and Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit continued to refine key aspects of intellectual property law on issues that will have an impact on litigation, patent prosecution and business strategy. This Special Report discusses some of the most important decisions. The Federal Circuit issued several panel...
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