Jodi Benassi
Subscribe to Jodi Benassi's PostsJodi Benassi focuses her practice on litigation and investigations. Jodi has experience in federal court district actions in California, Texas, Florida and Michigan and actions before the US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) of the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). She has also conducted internal investigations on behalf of audit committees from high profile Fortune 500 organizations to Silicon Valley start-ups. Jodi Benassi's full bio.
No specifics, no case? DTSA trade secret disclosure timing differs from CUTSA
By Jodi Benassi on Aug 21, 2025
Posted In Trade Secrets
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit found that a district court abused its discretion by striking several of the plaintiff’s trade secrets, concluding that the court improperly relied on Rule 12(f) and failed to support dismissal as a discovery sanction under Rule 37. The Court emphasized that the fact-specific question of “reasonable...
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From confidential to careless: The case of the unprotected customer list
By Jodi Benassi on Aug 14, 2025
Posted In Trade Secrets
The US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed a summary judgment dismissal of a trade secret misappropriation complaint, finding that the plaintiff failed to take reasonable measures to maintain the secrecy of a customer list. The Court also reversed the district court’s Daubert ruling, finding that it improperly exceeded the scope of Fed....
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Fair use or foul play? The AI fair use copyright line
By Jodi Benassi on Jul 2, 2025
Posted In Copyrights
The US District Court for the Northern District of California granted summary judgment in favor of an artificial intelligence (AI) company, finding that its use of lawfully acquired copyrighted materials for training and its digitization of acquired print works fell within the bounds of fair use. However, the district court explicitly rejected the AI company’s...
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Case closed: Commission sanctions ruling isn’t an import decision
By Jodi Benassi on Jun 26, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit dismissed an appeal for lack of jurisdiction, finding that a denial of sanctions at the International Trade Commission was not a “final determination” under trade law because it did not affect the exclusion of imported goods. Realtek Semiconductor Corp. v. ITC and Future Link Systems, LLC,...
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Designated Informative: PTO Director Declines IPR Institution Following District Court § 101 Invalidation
By Jodi Benassi on May 15, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) designated a recent Director Review decision as informative, signaling its significance for future proceedings. The decision emphasizes that a final district court ruling invalidating a patent weighs heavily against instituting inter partes review (IPR) under the Fintiv framework, reinforcing the agency’s stance on minimizing duplicative litigation. Hulu LLC...
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“Payment Handler”: A Nonce Term Without Instructions
By Jodi Benassi on May 8, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that a software term was a “nonce” term that invoked 35 U.S.C. § 112, sixth paragraph (i.e., a means-plus-function claim element). The Court further found that the patent specification did not recite sufficient corresponding structure, rendering the claim element indefinite. Fintiv,...
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Broadcast Alert! Applying Conventional Machine Learning to New Data Isn’t Patent Eligible
By Jodi Benassi on Apr 24, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that patents applying established machine learning methods to new data are not patent eligible under 35 U.S.C. §101. Recentive Analytics, Inc. v. Fox Corp. et al., Case No. 23-2437 (Fed. Cir. Apr. 18, 2025) (Dyk, Prost, Goldberg, JJ.) Recentive sued Fox,...
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When Is a Trade Secret Accessible? As Soon as It Can Be Reverse Engineered
By Jodi Benassi on Apr 10, 2025
Posted In Trade Secrets
Although the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a damages award for trade secret misappropriation and breach of a confidentiality agreement, it found that the district court erred in its determination of when the trade secret became publicly accessible for the purpose of applying a reverse engineering defense. The Federal Circuit also...
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Human Authorship Required: AI Isn’t an Author Under Copyright Act
By Jodi Benassi on Mar 27, 2025
Posted In Copyrights
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld a district court ruling that affirmed the US Copyright Office’s (CO) denial of a copyright application for artwork created by artificial intelligence (AI), reaffirming that human authorship is necessary for copyright registration. Thaler v. Perlmutter, Case No. 23-5233 (D.C. Cir. Mar. 18, 2025) (Millett,...
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Collateral Estoppel Doesn’t Apply to Unchallenged IPR Claims
By Jodi Benassi on Feb 20, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court Appeals for the Federal Circuit found that despite a Patent Trial & Appeal Board determination that certain challenged patent claims were unpatentable based on a preponderance of the evidence standard, the patent owner is not collaterally estopped from asserting other, unreviewed claims of that patent in district court litigation. Kroy IP Holdings,...
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