Recently in Intellectual Property Law Category

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Monsanto's patent rights were infringed by soybean farmer Vernon Bowman when he planted second-generation seeds that were meant for consumption.

The Court may have made its unanimous decision in the case in small part due to Bowman's somewhat ingenious way of selecting out Monsanto crops from bulk seed mixes and further developing those crops, reports The New York Times.

This ruling, issued Monday, may be the first of many in the battle over GMO foods. But this decision already has significant consequences for growers using genetically modified seeds.

In a major music download lawsuit, Capitol Records has won a ruling against ReDigi Inc. claiming ReDigi violated the company's digital music copyrights.

A federal judge in New York found that ReDigi was not allowed to let users buy and sell "used" digital music files on its website, reports Reuters. These songs had originally been purchased through Apple's iTunes.

The lawsuit is significant, as several companies have been making headway in creating a marketplace for used and unwanted digital works like music and ebooks. This is similar to how second-hand record and book stores resell used physical copies of records and books, but with one critical difference.

In a virtual clean sweep for Apple, Samsung must pay more than $1 billion for willfully violating Apple's patents in developing a wide variety of phones and tablet computers, a Silicon Valley jury announced Friday.

Jurors also found Apple did not infringe on any of Samsung's patents and will not have to pay its rival a dime, Reuters reports. An appeal is likely.

In a historic and closely watched case, Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple sued South Korea-based Samsung for allegedly copying the design and technology used in Apple's iPhones and iPad tablet designs.

What could the decision mean for consumers?

The pharmaceutical industry was given a nasty shock Monday when a federal court ruled that their practices violated antitrust law.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals struck down a settlement between Schering-Plough and a competing firm that would delay the sale of a generic drug. These pay-for-delay deals have been standard practice in the industry for many years and this decision may spell their end.

The Federal Trade Commission has opposed the deals for years, reports The Washington Post, but this is the first time a court has struck down the deals as anticompetitive.

This may be bad news for big pharma but it could be great for American consumers.

Louis Vuitton protects its monogrammed image like a mama bear protects its cubs.

Earlier this year, Louis Vuitton successfully sued Hyundai for including a Louis Vuitton basketball in one of its car commercials.

Piggybacking on that success, another Louis Vuitton lawsuit was brought, this time suing Warner Brothers for its Hangover movie for including a scene with knockoff Louis Vuitton luggage and a common American mistranslation of the name "Louis." But in this case, Louis Vuitton lost.

How was this case different from Hyundai?

French fashion house Hermès successfully won a fake Birkin bag lawsuit on Tuesday. A federal judge in New York awarded the high-end retailer $100 million in damages to be paid by 34 websites that had sold counterfeit versions of the company's luxury goods.

The sites, which didn't defend themselves, were found to have infringed upon 9 trademarks. In addition to fake Birkin bags, they sold fake wallets, watches, belts and jewelry.

Who owns "Ghost Rider" -- Marvel, or the man who created the comic book character? According to U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest, Marvel does. Writer and former Marvel employee Gary Friedrich's lawsuit against the comic book company was dismissed in federal court this week.

Friedrich created the fiery motorcycle-riding "Ghost Rider" character in the early 1970s.

He sought movie rights after he heard that Marvel planned other uses of the "Ghost Rider" character. The 2007 "Ghost Rider" flick, starring Nicolas Cage, grossed around $115.8 million in the U.S. and Canada.

A federal agency's ruling in Apple's HTC patent lawsuit is being called a partial victory for Apple in the increasingly competitive smartphone market.

The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled Monday that some user-friendly features available on several HTC smartphones are protected by an Apple patent, The New York Times reports.

Apple's patent covers touchscreen technology that allows a user to place a call by tapping a phone number embedded in an email or text message. The technology also allows users to tap on a date mentioned in an email to add an appointment to their calendar.

A fake Chanel lawsuit seems to be causing quite the stir. The real luxury manufacturer sued about 600 websites in federal court seeking an injunction against the sale of fake goods. But it's not the trademark infringement itself that is gaining attention: It's an order issued by the federal judge overseeing the case.

In addition to granting a preliminary injunction against the defendant websites, the judge instructs all Internet search engines and social networks to remove access to those sites. He specifically tells Google, Yahoo, Twitter and Facebook to "de-index" the domain names from all search results.

The Roche Supreme Court decision (in Stanford v. Roche) has come down in favor of Roche, 7-2, granting Roche and Stanford equal rights in the patent over a HIV testing technology.

The court decision centered around the Bayh-Dole Act, which governs who owns the right to inventions and discoveries made by employees under federal research funds.

The issue in the case was about the creation and discovery of a method for testing HIV treatment. Mark Holodniy, the employee at the center of the suit, originally worked for Cetus Corp. doing research, according to the opinion.