Are These Two “Bull” Designs Confusingly Similar For Auto Parts?

Here’s another Section 2(d) opposition involving dueling design marks, this time for overlapping and related auto parts and services. Applicant K2 refers to its mark (on the left) as “an abstract partial body view of a cattle like creature.” Opposer Streetcar refers to its mark (on the right) as a “fanciful design of a bison.” Confusable? You be the judge. StreetCar ORV, LLC d/b/a American Expedition Vehicles v. K2 Motor Corp., Opposition No. 91248742 (May […]

By | May 10th, 2021 ||

Patent Owner Tip #5 For Surviving An Instituted IPR: The Right Expert Can Save Your Patent

The right expert can be the critical piece that saves the validity of your patent. Finding the right expert for a patent owner requires careful selection and due diligence. We previously detailed how your expert’s testimony can make or break your Patent Owner’s Response (“POR”). The following details what actions and considerations Patent Owners should take to locate and identify the best experts for testifying to the Board, which can be different considerations than those for […]

By | May 7th, 2021 ||

Ideas Not Rising To The Level Of Protectable IP Do Not Trigger An Obligation To Assign

In Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. v. ITC, No. 2020-1785, (Apr. 29, 2021), the Federal Circuit affirmed the ITC’s decision that Bio-Rad infringed three patents owned by 10X Genomics by importing and selling microfluidic systems.

Bio-Rad presented an ownership defense to infringement—that it co-owned and therefore could not infringe—the asserted patents. Inventors on 10X Genomics’ asserted patents worked at Bio-Rad before inventing the claimed subject matter. While employed by Bio-Rad, these inventors assigned to Bio-Rad their “entire right […]

By | May 5th, 2021 ||