summary judgment Archives

summary judgment

Ain’t worried about local rules: Scope of sound recording protection is narrow

by Connor M. Larson | Oct 30, 2025 | Copyrights

Addressing for the first time what evidence is required to prove infringement of a sound recording copyright, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision to grant summary judgment to the defendant, finding that the plaintiff’s copyright registration of his work as a sound recording required proof of actual sampling to establish infringement. Richardson v. Kharbouch, Case No. 24-1119 (7th Cir. Oct. 16, 2025) (Brennan, Jackson-Akiwumi, Pryor, JJ.)

In 2012, then-16-year-old Eddie Richardson created a hip-hop beat titled “*Hood* Pushin Weight” (HPW). Months later, while listening to the hit song “Ain’t Worried About Nothin” (AWAN) by Karim Kharbouch, who is better known by his stage name French Montana, Richardson believed that he recognized his own HPW beat. The next day, Richardson registered a sound recording copyright with the US Copyright Office. Richardson did not obtain a copyright registration for his musical composition. After Richardson’s attempts to negotiate with French Montana and his representatives failed, Richardson filed a copyright infringement lawsuit.

The district court conducted two rounds of summary judgment briefing. In both rounds, neither party complied with a local rule that required each side to respond to the opposing party’s statement of material facts. The court, in its discretion, declined to deem the unopposed facts admitted. After French Montana’s reply brief in the first round included a “passing comment” on the nature of Richardson’s copyright, raising a potentially dispositive issue, the district court ordered supplemental briefing.

In the second round of briefing, the district court determined that because Richardson had registered his copyright as a sound recording rather than a musical composition, he was required to show duplication or sampling, not mere imitation. Finding no such evidence, the court granted summary judgment in favor of French Montana. The district court then awarded costs to French Montana but denied attorneys’ fees. Richardson appealed the grant of summary judgment and the court’s decision not to enforce the local rules against French Montana while French Montana cross-appealed the denial of attorneys’ fees.

Richardson argued that the district court abused its discretion by failing to deem his unopposed factual statements admitted under the local rules. The Seventh Circuit found no abuse of discretion by the district court, reasoning that because neither party complied with the local rules, the district court acted appropriately in declining to enforce them against only one side.

The Seventh Circuit also affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of French Montana, explaining that “sound recording copyrights only protect those sounds that directly or indirectly recapture the actual sounds fixed in the recording from infringement.” Mere imitation, even if indistinguishable to the listener, is not infringement, and Richardson failed to present evidence of actual duplication of the sound recording.

Finally, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of attorneys’ fees to French Montana. Although there is a “strong presumption in favor of awarding fees in copyright infringement cases,” the Seventh Circuit held that the district court properly applied the four-factor Fogerty [...]

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No curtain call yet: Mixed verdict in patent, trademark, standing case

by Hannah Hurley | Oct 9, 2025 | Patents, Trademarks

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit addressed a wide array of issues in a long-running dispute over shower curtain technology. The Court provided important guidance on patent claim scope using intrinsic evidence, trademark standing and ownership of the mark in issue, trade dress functionality under TrafFix, and the need for district courts to provide a reviewable explanation when issuing patent infringement summary judgment based on the facts of this case. Focus Products Grp. Int’l, LLC v. Kartri Sales Co., Inc., Case No. 23-1446 (Fed Cir. Sept. 30, 2025) (Moore, Clevenger, Chen, JJ.)

The decade-long dispute started when Focus Products sent a cease-and-desist letter to Kartri Sales and its supplier, Marquis Mills International. The letter asserted patent infringement but was largely ignored. Focus Products then filed suit asserting three utility patents, two trademarks (HOOKLESS® and EZ ON), and unregistered trade dress rights in the appearance of its shower curtains.

Four months after the Supreme Court’s 2017 decision in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, Kartri raised a venue objection and filed a motion to dismiss or transfer venue. The district court denied the motion, finding it to be unreasonably late, especially considering that Kartri actively conducted litigation after TC Heartland.

The district court construed several disputed claim terms. Based on its constructions, it found no triable issue of fact and granted summary judgment of patent infringement to Focus Products. However, the district court found genuine disputes of material fact regarding trademark and trade dress infringement and ordered a bench trial on those issues.

On the eve of trial, Kartri asserted unclean hands and equitable estoppel defenses. The district court denied these defenses because they were improperly raised for the first time immediately preceding trial.

After a bench trial, the district court held that:

Focus Products had standing to enforce the unregistered EZ ON mark.
Kartri infringed the mark and Focus Products’ trade dress, which was determined to be nonfunctional.
Kartri infringed Focus Products’ HOOKLESS® mark.

Accordingly, the district court awarded lost profits, reasonable royalties, attorneys’ fees, and enhanced damages for willful infringement. Kartri appealed.

The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s denial of Kartri’s motion to transfer venue under TC Heartland, finding Kartri’s objection untimely. Kartri waited four months after TC Heartland to raise the issue, during which time discovery had progressed significantly. The Court emphasized that venue objections must be raised seasonably and that continued litigation in the chosen forum may constitute forfeiture.

The Federal Circuit largely reversed the district court’s infringement findings, explaining that the district court erred in its claim construction because Focus Products had disclaimed shower rings with a flat upper edge during prosecution. While an affirmative disclaimer usually originates from the patent applicant, the Court found clear and unmistakable disavowal through the applicant’s acquiescence to the examiner’s species election, claim cancellation, and narrowed claim scope. This disclaimer was reinforced by the prosecution of a related asserted patent, which explicitly claimed the disclaimed feature. A patentee cannot try [...]

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Striking a chord: Ninth Circuit revives copyright suit over liturgical music

by Hannah Hurley | Sep 11, 2025 | Copyrights

In a copyright case involving liturgical music, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded a district court summary judgment after finding triable issues of fact regarding access and similarity between two musical compositions. The Court upheld the exclusion of the plaintiff’s late-disclosed evidence on access. Ambrosetti v. Or. Cath. Press, et al., Case No. 24-2270 (9th Cir. Aug. 27, 2025) (Thomas, Smith, Rayes, JJ.)

Vincent Ambrosetti, a prolific composer of sacred music, alleged that Bernadette Farrell copied his 1980 composition “Emmanuel” when writing her 1993 hymn “Christ Be Our Light.” Both works are widely used in Catholic liturgy, and Farrell’s song has become a staple in worship settings around the globe. Ambrosetti claimed that Farrell had access to “Emmanuel” through her association with Oregon Catholic Press (OCP), which published her work and had received copies of Ambrosetti’s music in the 1980s. He also pointed to striking musical similarities between the two compositions.

The district court excluded key evidence (letters from OCP’s then-publisher Owen Alstott acknowledging receipt of Ambrosetti’s music) as a sanction for late disclosure and barred Ambrosetti from arguing that Farrell accessed “Emmanuel” through those letters. Without that theory of access, and finding no striking similarity, the district court granted summary judgment for OCP. Ambrosetti appealed.

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the exclusion of the letters, finding that the sanctions were not “claim dispositive” since Ambrosetti could still pursue other theories of access and striking similarity. However, the panel reversed the summary judgment ruling, concluding that triable issues of fact existed as to whether Farrell had access to “Emmanuel” based on her and Alstott’s attendance at music conventions where Ambrosetti performed.

The Ninth Circuit also found that there was a genuine issue of material fact as to whether “Emmanuel” and “Christ” were substantially similar. According to Ambrosetti’s expert, 23 similarities in pitch, rhythm, and melodic development supported a finding of substantial similarity, with the district court noting that while individual elements may not be protectable, the unique combination could be. In vacating the summary judgement, the Ninth Circuit noted that summary judgment is “not highly favored” in copyright cases involving musical works where the evidence relied on is primarily competing expert testimony.

The Ninth Circuit upheld the exclusion of Alstott’s letters as a discovery sanction but found a genuine issue of material fact on the issue of access remained, thus precluding summary judgement.

From confidential to careless: The case of the unprotected customer list

by Jodi Benassi | Aug 14, 2025 | 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. R. of Evid. 702. John Snyder v. Beam Technologies Inc., Case No. 24-1136 (10th Cir. Aug. 5, 2025) (Matheson, Bacharach, Federico, C.J.)

John Snyder downloaded a national customer list containing more than 40,000 names from his former employer’s client-relationship management system. According to metadata analysis, Snyder last modified the file only three minutes after its creation, strongly suggesting that no meaningful changes or additions were made after the download. Snyder’s employment with the company ended in 2016. Following a two-year period of unemployment, he accepted a position with Beam in 2018.

Synder claimed that Beam induced him to join the company by promising compensation in exchange for customer information he obtained from his former employer. After beginning his employment at Beam, Synder created derivative documents containing subsets of the customer list. However, he inadvertently included the entire customer list as a separate tab in each of the documents he emailed to Beam employees. The documents were sent without any confidentiality markings or indications that they contained trade secrets. Snyder did not restrict access to the documents, apply password protection, or notify Beam that any of the content was proprietary or confidential.

After realizing he had distributed the full list to multiple Beam employees, Snyder took no action to object to Beam’s use of the data or attempt to retrieve the documents. He also failed to inform Beam that he considered any of the materials to be trade secrets. Instead, Snyder appeared to ratify the disclosure, telling Beam’s chief executive officer that he had intentionally shared the customer list with the recipients. A few months later, Beam terminated Snyder for unexplained reasons.

Synder sued Beam for trade secret misappropriation and several state law claims. Beam moved for summary judgment on the trade secret claims, which the district court granted, finding that Synder failed to show that he owned the customer list. The district court denied Beam’s motion on Synder’s other claims.

Both parties filed motions to exclude expert witness testimony at trial. The district court granted Beam’s motion to exclude Snyder’s damages expert under Fed. R. of Evid. 702, ruling that the expert could not support Snyder’s claimed damages for the remaining causes of action.

The district court found that Synder failed to show that he could obtain lost wages damages on any of the surviving claims. Expanding the scope of its ruling, the district court excluded not only the expert testimony, but also all evidence and fact witnesses related to lost wages damages at trial. Following the court’s ruling, Snyder and Beam settled one of the claims and jointly moved to dismiss the remaining claims. Snyder then appealed.

Synder argued that the district court erredin [...]

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Appeal is too late to raise percolating claim construction dispute

by Sarah Mezini | Jul 17, 2025 | Patents

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s finding of noninfringement, concluding that the patent owner had improperly raised a claim construction issue for the first time on appeal – an argument not preserved at the district court level. Egenera, Inc. v. Cisco Systems, Inc., Case No. 23-1428 (Fed. Cir. July 7, 2025) (Prost, Taranto, Stark, JJ.)

Egenera owns a patent that enhances traditional server systems by enabling a one-time physical setup followed by flexible virtual reconfiguration. The company alleged that Cisco infringed specific claims of the patent.

During claim construction, the parties disputed the interpretation of two terms: “computer processor/processor” and “emulate Ethernet functionality over the internal communication network.” The district court adopted the ordinary meaning of “computer processor,” which excluded Cisco’s unified computing system from its scope. Regarding the term “emulate,” the district court considered whether it implied an absence from the internal communication network but made no further determinations as the parties did not explicitly raise a dispute regarding the remainder of the claim term. Based on its construction of “computer processor/processor,” the district court granted Cisco’s motion for summary judgment on certain claims. Later, at trial, a jury found no infringement of other asserted claims. Egenera moved for judgment as a matter of law (JMOL) or alternatively for a new trial, both of which the district court denied. Egenera appealed the post-trial rulings and the earlier summary judgment ruling.

The Federal Circuit affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment. It concluded that the record lacked sufficient evidence to show that Cisco’s system “emulated” Ethernet functionality as required by the asserted claims. The Court emphasized that Egenera’s argument focused narrowly on the construction of the term “emulate,” rather than on the evidentiary record. Moreover, neither party clearly indicated that the dispute centered on unresolved claim construction rather than factual issues. The Court noted that it will not address claim construction on appeal where the issue was not preserved in the district court and was inadequately presented on appeal. As a result, the Court confined its analysis to the sufficiency of the evidence and upheld the district court’s finding of noninfringement.

The Federal Circuit also affirmed the district court’s denial of JMOL. The Court emphasized that it needed to address only one of Cisco’s proposed noninfringement grounds to determine whether substantial evidence supported the jury’s verdict. It concluded that the jury had a sufficient evidentiary basis to find that Egenera failed to prove infringement.

Finally, the Federal Circuit upheld the district court’s denial of Egenera’s motion for a new trial. It rejected all of Egenera’s arguments, which alleged errors related to jury selection, jury instructions, expert testimony, closing arguments, and a verdict contrary to the weight of the evidence.

Radio Silence Alone Doesn’t Prove Equitable Estoppel Defense

by Dexter Hamilton | Jun 18, 2025 | Patents

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a district court’s summary judgment grant based on an equitable estoppel defense, finding that the accused infringer failed to show that the patent owner’s silence or inaction influenced the decision to migrate to the accused system. Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft v. Sirius XM Radio Inc., Case No. 23-2267 (Fed. Cir. June 9, 2025) (Lourie, Dyk, Reyna, JJ.)

In 1998, Fraunhofer licensed patents related to satellite radio to WorldSpace International Network. This license was exclusive, with the right to sublicense. However, Fraunhofer also began a collaboration with XM Satellite Radio to develop satellite radio and required