IP Law Watch – Page 2 – Legal issues, law and regulations concerning the world of IP

USPTO Director Ends IPR Against Midas Green Technologies

Jul 27 2025

On 25 July 2025, K&L Gates secured an important win for its client, Midas Green Technologies, LLC. Acting USPTO Director Coke Morgan Stewart granted Director review and denied institution of an inter partes review (IPR) petition filed by Midas Green’s competitor, Green Revolution Cooling, Inc., which had sought to invalidate U.S. Patent No. 10,405,457—currently being asserted by Midas Green in a parallel lawsuit pending in the Western District of Texas. The patent describes a modular immersion cooling system that circulates dielectric fluid to cool vertically mounted electronic appliances, such as computer servers, in a tank.

Return to In-Person Patent Trial and Appeal Board Hearings

Jul 23 2025

Effective 1 September 2025, all hearings before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) will be conducted in person. Parties involved must attend these hearings physically and in person unless they can demonstrate a valid reason for not doing so. Acceptable justifications typically include situations such as significant financial difficulty for the arguing attorneys, medical issues, or similar substantial barriers to travel.

New Aim Misses the Mark: Federal Court Clarifies What Constitutes Confidential Information

Jul 21 2025

The recent decision of New Aim Pty Ltd v Leung (No 4) is a timely reminder of how confidential information needs to be treated and restricted by businesses to allow it to be protected under law.

EU Designs: Genuine Design Activity and Intellectual Effort are not Required for Protection

Jul 18 2025

Advocate General Nicholas Emiliou has delivered his opinion in the case Deity Shoes, S.L. v Mundorama Confort, S.L. and another (Case C 323/24). The case considers whether a footwear design made by Deity Shoes, S.L. (Deity Shoes) qualified for protection as a design in the European Union and raised important questions about the relevance of the status of the designer’s effort and skill and surrounding factors in the assessment of design.

Brand Guardians: Effective Strategies Against Cyber Counterfeiting: Part 2

Jul 16 2025

Our first article in this series highlighted the financial and reputational damage counterfeiting causes to brand owners and the significant societal consequences associated with the reproduction, sale and dissemination of counterfeit products around the globe. We looked at how having strong Intellectual Property (IP) protection, selling through social or e-commerce platforms that have rigorous seller verification processes and educating consumers, retail and social platforms about the difference between genuine and counterfeit products, are all fundamental strategies which can be effective in the fight against online counterfeiting. Supplementing these steps with strategic enforcement action and IP protection measures are equally important.

Brand Guardians: Effective Strategies Against Cyber Counterfeiting: Part 1

Jul 08 2025

In this two-part series, we show not only how to protect your brand from counterfeiting but also how your efforts to do so can simultaneously reduce organised crime, people trafficking, forced labour, toxic health risks and environmental crimes.

Perfume, Proof, and Parallel Imports: How Coty’s Traceability System Won a Trade Mark War

Jun 27 2025

Background

On 16 April 2025, the District Court of The Hague in the Netherlands handed down a decision relating to the complex issue of trade mark exhaustion in the context of parallel trade disputes.

Post-Sale Confusion Relevant to UK Trade Mark Infringement Cases but Supreme Court Overturns Court of Appeal in the Umbro Case

Jun 25 2025

On 24 June 2025, the Supreme Court handed down its decision in the case of Iconix Luxembourg Holdings SARL v Dream Pairs Europe Inc and another (see here).

First Denial Based on USPTO’s New Discretionary Denial Factors

Jun 13 2025

Earlier this year, Chief Judge Boalick issued guidance on the USPTO’s recission of “Interim Procedure for Discretionary Denials in AIA Post-Grant Proceedings with Parallel District Court Litigation,” explaining how the Fintiv factors should be addressed going forward. Shortly after, Acting Director Stewart issued a memorandum titled “Interim Processes for PTAB Workload Management” that provided additional non-Fintiv discretionary factors that should be assessed to determine whether discretionary denial of an IPR petition is appropriate.

A Quest Against Middle-earth: Lord of the Fries Successfully Registers LORD OF THE Mark

May 13 2025

The intellectual property rights owner of The Lord of the Rings franchise, Middle-earth Enterprises, LLC (Middle-earth Enterprises) has renewed its pursuit against Lord of the Fries IP Pty Ltd (Lord of the Fries), having recently appealed the Australian Trade Marks Office’s decision allowing the registration of the word mark LORD OF THE filed by Lord of the Fries. We discuss below the key issues in dispute in the trade mark opposition filed by Middle-earth Enterprises.¹