Taylor MacDonald
Subscribe to Taylor MacDonald's PostsTaylor MacDonald focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation matters. Read Taylor MacDonald's full bio.
Associational standing requires concrete, non-speculative harm
By Taylor MacDonald on Oct 16, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court decision dismissing a lawsuit against the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for lack of associational standing since no member of the association had standing to sue. US Inventor, Inc. v. United States Patent and Trademark Office, Case No. 24-1396 (Fed....
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Bank on it: Likelihood of confusion analysis requires factual consistency when evaluating DuPont factors
By Taylor MacDonald on Oct 2, 2025
Posted In Trademarks
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed in part a decision by the Trademark Trial & Appeal Board and remanded for new analysis of two factors under the Dupont likelihood of confusion test. The Court emphasized that the factual determination in factor two (similarity of the parties’ goods or services) should remain...
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Specification controls: Written description must be clear
By Taylor MacDonald on Aug 21, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s decision upholding patent validity, finding that the subject patent’s specification clearly established that the written description failed to adequately support the full scope of the asserted claims (35 U.S.C. § 112). Mondis Technology Ltd. v. LG Electronics Inc., Case Nos. 23-2117; -2116...
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Que sera, sera: No declaratory relief after songwriter’s heir terminated copyright assignments
By Taylor MacDonald on Jul 17, 2025
Posted In Copyrights
Addressing the intersection of a trust beneficiary’s rights to royalties and an heir’s copyright termination rights under 17 U.S.C. § 203, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order dismissing the beneficiary’s request for declaratory relief for failure to state a claim. Tammy Livingston v. Jay Livingston Music, Inc....
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Running on Empty: ‘Stang’ With No Anthropomorphic Characteristics Isn’t Copyrightable Character
By Taylor MacDonald on Jun 5, 2025
Posted In Copyrights
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s denial of copyright protection for a car that had a name but no anthropomorphic or protectable characteristics. Carroll Shelby Licensing, Inc. v. Denice Shakarian Halicki et al., Case No. 23-3731 (9th Cir. May 27, 2025) (Nguyen, Mendoza, JJ.; Kernodle Dist. J., sitting...
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Up in Smoke: Statutory Trademark Damages Can Exceed Actual Damages
By Taylor MacDonald on May 15, 2025
Posted In Trademarks
Addressing a jury’s statutory damages award that surpassed the plaintiffs’ actual damages, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of the defendant’s motion for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL), finding that the award was consistent with trademark damages law given the jury’s finding of no willfulness...
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Ill-Gotten Gains: Unjust Enrichment Remedy Not Barred by Limitation of Liability Provision
By Taylor MacDonald on Apr 17, 2025
Posted In Trade Secrets
Examining the issue of trade secret misappropriation when parties have contractually limited their liability from breach, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the district court’s dismissal of the case, finding that a plaintiff could still recover damages under a theory of unjust enrichment. Pemco Aircraft Engineering Services Inc. v. The Boeing...
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Construing Unambiguous Claim Language and Qualifying Challenged Expert as POSITA
By Taylor MacDonald on Mar 20, 2025
Posted In Patents
Addressing the issues of claim construction and the requisite expert qualifications to testify on obviousness and anticipation, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated a Patent Trial & Appeal Board decision invalidating half of the challenged patent’s claims and instructed the Board to clarify whether the patent owner’s expert was indeed qualified...
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Interesting Delay: Prejudgment Interest Accrues Despite Unreasonable Delay
By Taylor MacDonald on Mar 13, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a decision on enhanced damages and prejudgment interest, concluding that the district court correctly applied the appropriate standard for enhanced damages in accordance with established precedent. Halo Electronics, Inc. v. Pulse Electronics, Inc., Case Nos. 23-1772; -1966 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 28, 2025) (Prost, Bryson, Reyna,...
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It’s Obvious: Erroneous Claim Construction Can Be Harmless
By Taylor MacDonald on Feb 13, 2025
Posted In Patents
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a Patent Trial & Appeal Board obviousness determination even though it found the Board had improperly construed a claim term, because the Court found the error harmless in the context of the prior art. HD Silicon Solutions LLC v. Microchip Technology Inc., Case No. 23-1397...
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