Katherine Pappas
Subscribe to Katherine Pappas's PostsKatherine (Kathy) Pappas focuses her practice on intellectual property matters, particularly in patent litigation within the life sciences sector. Kathy handles matters involving a large variety of technologies, ranging from mechanical inventions (e.g., microfluidic devices; injector pens) to pharmaceutical litigation under the Hatch-Waxman Act. Read Katherine Pappas's full bio.
It’s All Grecco to Me: No “Sophisticated Plaintiff” Exception to Discovery Rule
By Katherine Pappas on Aug 29, 2024
Posted In Copyrights
In a case of first impression, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held that there is no “sophisticated plaintiff” exception to the Copyright Act’s discovery rule, which provides that a copyright claim only accrues upon the copyright owner’s discovery of the infringement or when the copyright owner (in the exercise of due...
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Unbranded Brandy: COGNAC Certification Mark Matters, Even in Hip-Hop
By Katherine Pappas on Aug 15, 2024
Posted In Trademarks
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated a ruling from the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board, disagreeing with the Board’s dismissal of Bureau National Interprofessionnel du Cognac’s opposition to a trademark application filed by Cologne & Cognac Entertainment related to a hip-hop record label. Bureau National Interprofessionnel Du Cognac v. Cologne &...
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Getting to the Core of It: Assignment Clause Is Ambiguous
By Katherine Pappas on May 30, 2024
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated and remanded a district court’s grant of summary judgment, finding that the language used in an invention assignment clause was subject to more than one reasonable interpretation (i.e., ambiguous) and thus remand was necessary for further fact finding. Core Optical Tech., LLC v. Nokia Corp.,...
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Google It: Federal Copyright Law Preempts California Causes of Action
By Katherine Pappas on Feb 1, 2024
Posted In Copyrights
Addressing a state law-based challenge to the way search results are displayed on copies of websites, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that copyright preemption precluded a website owner from invoking state law to control how the websites are displayed. Best Carpet Values, Inc. v. Google LLC, Case No. 22-15899 (9th...
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Espresso Yourself: When Prosecution History as a Whole Doesn’t Demonstrate Clear, Unmistakable Disclaimer
By Katherine Pappas on Jan 4, 2024
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed and remanded a district court’s claim construction and related summary judgment rulings after determining that the district court erred in construing a claim term by improperly limiting the plain and ordinary meaning of the term. K-fee System GmbH v. Nespresso USA, Inc., Case No. 22-2042...
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No Need To Be Explicit: Implicit Finding of Expectation of Success Is Sufficient
By Katherine Pappas on Oct 5, 2023
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a Patent Trial & Appeal Board unpatentability decision, finding that a combination of prior art references only requires an implicit indication of a reasonable expectation of success. Elekta Ltd. v. Zap Surgical Systems, Case No. 21-1985 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 21, 2023) (Reyna, Stoll, Stark JJ.)...
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Should This Be an Alice Two-Step or a Section 112 Enablement Waltz?
By Katherine Pappas on Aug 10, 2023
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a lawsuit for lack of subject matter eligibility under 35 U.S.C. § 101 based on an Alice two-step analysis, with Judge Newman filing a sharp dissent focused on “the current law of § 101.” Realtime Data LLC v. Array Networks Inc., Case No. 2021-2251...
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Invoking Generic Need for Claim Construction Won’t Avoid § 101 Dismissal
By Katherine Pappas on Jul 27, 2023
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a patent infringement suit on § 101 grounds, rejecting the patentee’s argument that claim construction or discovery was required before assessing patent eligibility. Trinity Info Media, LLC v. Covalent, Inc., Case No. 22-1308 (Fed. Cir. July 14, 2023) (Stoll, Bryson, Cunningham, JJ.) Trinity...
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Under High Pressure: New Mechanism of Action Can’t Save Drug Administration Claims
By Katherine Pappas on Jun 22, 2023
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a Patent Trial & Appeal Board ruling that method claims reciting a mechanism of action triggered by the co-administration of two known antihypertensive agents were obvious over the cited prior art. In re Couvaras, Case No. 22-1489 (Fed. Cir. June 14, 2023) (Lourie, Dyk, Stoll,...
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Remote Employees Support Patent Venue
By Katherine Pappas on Oct 13, 2022
Posted In Patents
In a per curiam opinion, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied a petition for a writ of mandamus seeking to direct the district court to dismiss or transfer the underlying case based on improper venue. In doing so, the Court pointed to remote workers residing in the district to find satisfaction...
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