2021
Brann & Isaacson Secures Dismissal of Patent Case Against PetSmart
David Swetnam-Burland / 0 CommentsOn January 4, 2021, Senior District Judge Bruce S. Jenkins of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah ordered the dismissal with prejudice of a patent infringement action filed by Modern Font Innovations against Brann & Isaacson client PetSmart. After hearing oral argument from partner David Swetnam-Burland, the judge ruled that Modern Font...
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2020
B&I Lawyers Prevail on Venue Motion for Major Retailer PetSmart
David Swetnam-Burland / 0 CommentsJust because your client is one of the largest multi-channel retailer for pet supplies in America doesn’t mean that it can be sued anywhere for patent infringement. On April 15, 2020, United States Senior District Judge Bruce S. Jenkins granted a motion to dismiss for improper venue filed by Brann & Isaacson client, PetSmart, in...
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2018
Federal Circuit Directs ITC To Consider Revoking Or Modifying Civil Penalty For Infringement of Invalid Patent
David Swetnam-Burland / 0 CommentsIn a victory for Brann & Isaacson clients, DBN Holding, Inc. (formerly DeLorme Publishing Co.) and BDN LLC, the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has issued an opinion reversing and remanding the International Trade Commission’s decision not to rule on the merits of a petition asking the ITC to set aside a civil penalty order....
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2017
Supreme Court Sharply Limits Patent Forum–Shopping In TC Heartland
David Swetnam-Burland / 0 CommentsToday, May 22, 2017, the Supreme Court struck a powerful blow against forum–shopping in patent litigation and the related patent troll plague. In a concise opinion by Justice Thomas in TC Heartland v. Kraft Foods Group Brands, a unanimous Supreme Court held that a domestic corporation “resides” only in its State of incorporation for purpose...
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2017
What Happens In East Texas Definitely Doesn’t Stay There
David Swetnam-Burland / 0 CommentsThis week has witnessed once again the oversized impact the Eastern District of Texas has in patent litigation—after all, that district was home to 44.2% of all patent cases filed in 2015 and 35.4% of all patent cases filed in 2016, with Judge Rodney Gilstrap presiding over an astounding one–quarter of all patent cases filed...
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2017
Patent Trolls Still Can’t Find A Way Through Alice’s Looking Glass
David Swetnam-Burland / 0 CommentsWe (and others) have written frequently and at length about the impact of Alice v. CLS Bank on patent litigation—how the test set out in that case has enabled litigants and courts to obtain an early determination of whether a patent claims a viable invention or just an abstract idea. Parties who assert patents in...
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2016
What’s Your Damage, Apple?
David Swetnam-Burland / 0 CommentsThe opinion of the Supreme Court is in, in Samsung v. Apple, and the news is not appetizing for Apple. Justice Sotomayor, writing for a unanimous Court, did just enough to (temporarily?) undo the $399–million verdict Apple had secured in this skirmish of the smartphone wars for infringement of its design patents. But the Court...
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2016
Supreme Court To Decide Which Exports Can Trigger Patent Infringement Liability For World–Wide Sales
David Swetnam-Burland / 0 CommentsThe Supreme Court term is closing this week with a flurry of long-awaited, contested opinions on abortion, gun control, and government corruption. But intellectual property–minded court–watchers found interest in the Court’s decision to grant cert. (in part) in the case of Life Technologies v. Promega. While U.S. patent law is generally limited to domestic conduct,...
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2016
Supreme Court Rejects “Unduly Rigid” Federal Circuit Test For Enhanced Damages
David Swetnam-Burland / 0 CommentsThere is a certain Groundhog Day–effect to many recent Supreme Court patent cases. The Supreme Court takes up a case challenging a legal test the Federal Circuit has created, rejects that test, and sends the case back to the lower court with an admonition not to be too rigid in its approach. In so doing,...
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2016
A Rare Sight: East Texas Judge Grants Motion to Dismiss Patent Infringement Suit
David Swetnam-Burland / 0 CommentsThe data are in. As we’ve previously discussed, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas outstrips all others for patent infringement litigation, with approximately 40% of all recent cases filed in that one court. The reasons plaintiffs—especially patent trolls—favor this district have been studied. Most recently, in an August 2015 article, “Forum...
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