Lisette Donewald
Subscribe to Lisette Donewald's PostsLisette Donewald focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation matters. Read Lisette Donewald's full bio.
Transformative documentary use, work made for hire doctrine defeat copyright claims
By Lisette Donewald on May 14, 2026
Posted In Copyrights
Elaborating on the application of the fair use doctrine in the documentary context, the US Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed summary judgment after determining that seven of the eight works at issue were works made for hire and that the defendant’s use of the eighth work constituted fair use under all four...
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How ex parte is ex parte reexam?
By Lisette Donewald on Apr 16, 2026
Posted In Patents
Under a new procedure, announced in an Official Gazette Notice dated April 1, 2026, patent owners may now provide input before the United States Patent and Trademark Office decides whether to initiate an ex parte reexamination proceeding. Previously, while patent owners could participate after reexamination was ordered, they had no opportunity to submit arguments before...
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Did you account for the entire corresponding disclosed structure?
By Lisette Donewald on Mar 5, 2026
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment of noninfringement of a means-plus-function claim element, emphasizing that a patentee must compare the accused product to the entire disclosed structure, not just a selected subset. Genuine Enabling Tech. v. Sony Group Corp., et al., Case No. 24-1686...
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Relax, design patent claim scope doesn’t include functional elements
By Lisette Donewald on Feb 12, 2026
Posted In Patents
Addressing the issue of functional versus ornamental features, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s summary judgment of noninfringement, concluding that no reasonable juror could find the accused product’s design substantially similar to the patented design once functional features were properly excluded. Range of Motion Prods. v. Armaid Co.,...
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Direct injection fuel dispute fizzles
By Lisette Donewald on Jan 8, 2026
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed three Patent Trial & Appeal Board final written decisions finding claims of three related patents unpatentable as obvious and reiterated that challenges to the Board’s authority to institute inter partes review (IPR) proceedings are largely insulated from appellate review under 35 U.S.C. § 314(d). Ethanol...
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