Patents

As with anything else in law, practice and preparation usually lead to positive results.

How long has it been since you've read a comic strip? And what do you remember from it?

A future patent litigator weighs offers from firms on either side of the country. Let's help make the decision.

The latest Federal Circuit ruling in the long running Apple v. Samsung patent saga presents an opportunity to discuss what it means to win in litigation.

Patent litigation isn't as lucrative as it used to be, but those who were around for the glory days did very, very well for themselves.

It sounds like this prominent intellectual-property firm is in trouble.

Patents may soon be joining state-law trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, as an effective way to protect cannabis intellectual property.

Bookmark this post because now you know the proper Bluebooking for a comic book.

Patent litigators: no matter whom you represent or what you are doing on that client’s behalf, expect vocal criticism of your actions from some quarter.

* Hank Greenberg won his lawsuit against the government for illegally seizing insurance giant A.I.G. as part of a bailout. But the court awarded no damages, finding that shareholders weren’t harmed by the takeover. So, to translate this, the court basically said to Greenberg, “You were so bad at running your business that a cabal of bureaucrats acting illegally did better for shareholders than you.” That’s… gotta sting. [New York Times]

* Lost in the excitement of today’s Baker Botts decision was the Supreme Court declining to save North Carolina’s struck-down abortion law that would have required doctors to bend over backwards to dissuade women from getting an abortion. Over the dissent of Justice Scalia, the Court killed the law without giving it a chance. [Jezebel]

* If you’re going to Richmond, California, make sure you’ve left your Ultimate Nullifier at home. [Lowering the Bar]

* Something finally goes wrong for wealthy people moving into Brooklyn. SPOILER: it’s other wealthy people moving into Brooklyn. [Brownstoner]

* Justice Ginsburg tells the crowd at the annual ACS Convention that Natalie Portman held up the upcoming RBG biopic, On the Basis of Sex, demanding that the film have a female director. Men’s rights activists can take heart that a man will be directing the inevitable porn version. [The Week]

* Alan Dershowitz worries that the Zivotofsky decision gives the White House too much power over foreign policy as opposed to some myopic former water commissioner awash in lobbyist money from AIPAC and apocalyptic-minded Evangelicals Congress. [The Blaze]

* Do you hate patent trolls? Good. Consider supporting this feature comedy film trolling patent trolls. [Indiegogo]

* If you’re in D.C. Thursday morning, come hear our own David Lat discuss the future of the Roberts Court with some other people who are nowhere near as important. Like congresspeople and former federal judges and such. [Politico]

* More whining about President Obama opining on Supreme Court cases while the justices “deliberate” — as though anyone’s opinion is up in the air. Apparently presidents have rarely done this. Fun fact: cynical lawyers have rarely gotten to the Supreme Court to attack a president’s landmark legislation on a tortured textual reading, but here we are. [The Volokh Conspiracy / Washington Post]

* It’s like the Hangover. Except in prison. With more drugs. [Legal Juice]

* Hey, remember when Jeb Bush got behind a law that required rape victims to publish their sexual histories in the newspaper until the law was shot down by the courts two years later? Good times. [Salon]

* The Right proclaims Jeb Bush really doesn’t believe in publicly shaming women for having sex. Hm. See item 3 supra. [Legal Insurrection]

* Wow. The Senate actually passed something. It’s a resolution hailing the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Is it a sign of my cynicism that I’m shocked even that got approved? [Constitutional Accountability Center]

* Why the rationale of Roe doesn’t really matter. [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

* Fourth Circuit panel snipes at each other over whether to call out overzealous prosecutors. It got so bad they actually sealed the opinion. [Maryland Appellate Blog]

* Derek Khanna has a new report on patent reform written with Lincoln Labs. The fundamental premise: patents are not encouraging innovation any more. [Lincoln Labs]

* Watchdog is reporting that Kroll Associates conveniently overlooked dozens of terrible LSAT scores in its report on University of Texas admission standards. It bears repeating: just how dumb must Abigail Fisher be to not get into this school? [Watchdog]

* A short memoir about suing The Grateful Dead. [The Faculty Lounge]

Change is constant, as columnist Gaston Kroub notes: starting yesterday, filing civil cases in the S.D.N.Y. will be done electronically in the vast majority of cases.

* Cue the Subway song: 130 Million. 130 Million Dollar. 130 Million Dollar Sandwich! [Law360]

* Lawyers who denigrate jury duty become inmates who denigrate jury duty. [Las Vegas Review-Journal]

* Vox gets into the business of opining on law school. It takes a decidedly more enlightened approach than Slate. [Vox]

* After arresting a guy for crack possession and figuring out it was really “cracker crumbs,” the cops charged the guy with obstruction because admitting you’re wrong is so passé. Thankfully the cooler heads of the judicial system prevailed and the guy is getting a $35,000 settlement for his troubles. Did he have Wheat Thins? Because I’m pretty sure those are crack. [NJ.com]

* Oil heir Al Hill III, whom we’ve previously described as, “by most accounts, the epitome of the spoiled rich kid you desperately want to punch,” owes his lawyers some money. Like $40.9 million worth. [Texas Lawyer]

* Crowdsourcing: Is this racist? Personally, I think no if specifically intended as a parody, but we’ll see. [What About Clients?]

* On Tuesday, June 23, David and Seventh Circuit Judge John Tinder will be discussing “Judging, Clerking, Ethics, and Ambition” in the context of Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link) at the Conrad Indianapolis at 50 West Washington. So, you know, swipe right if you’re excited about seeing Judge Tinder. Full details at the link.
[Federalist Society]

* New developments in everyone’s favorite soap opera of a case: Faruqi & Faruqi LLP is cross-appealing the $140,000 judgment in favor of former associate Alexandra Marchuk. [Law360]

* Whoa. There’s one SEC Commissioner actually doing her job! So retro. Stay strong, Commissioner Stein. [Guile Is Good]

* Congress is working on a bill to prevent companies from foisting non-compete clauses on employees making less than $31,200/year. But, but, then someone else might learn the important trade secret of the Colonel’s 11 secret herbs and spices! [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

* Senior and junior lawyers speak a different language. This article comes to us from the U.K., but the sentiment is universal, even if the phrase “bugger off” isn’t. [Legal Cheek]

* Prosecutor called Asian Americans “greedy foreigners.” That goes over about as well as you’d expect. [Angry Asian Man]

* David spoke with the Legal Talk Network about “the importance of friendship and family and the psyche of young lawyers who often compromise personal relationships for career ambitions.” If you guessed they were discussing Supreme Ambitions (affiliate link), then you’re right. [Legal Talk Network]

* Where are LL.M.s valuable? [LLM-Guide]

* Lawyer sues EFF for calling his patent stupid. We here at Above the Law would like to reiterate that this patent is brilliant and probably the most Earth-shattering invention since the light bulb. [Corporate Counsel]

* Maybe legalizing drugs doesn’t solve all the violence. [Seattle Times]

* The NFLPA is appealing the 4-game suspension Tom Brady received in the wake of the Wells Report. It’s more probable than not that he’ll lose. [CNN]

* Lawyer tackles his own client trying to flee the courtroom. Great, now litigators have to start worrying about the long-term effect of concussions. [Legal Cheek]

* New rankings are out and Thomas M. Cooley Law School (or WMU or whatever) is NUMBER 1! Seriously. For real. Find out why… [Georgetown Law via TaxProf Blog]

* The Wright Brothers: The Original Patent Trolls. [Concurring Opinions]

* Are you into spy thrillers? What about lengthy treatises on standing? Well, then you’re in luck. [Dorf on Law]

* A Washington prosecutorial office rocked by misconduct allegations. Ho hum, prosecutors break the rules. But the source — a whistleblowing veteran prosecutor — is a new twist. [The Open File]

* The jury is deliberating on Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s fate in the Boston bombing trial [Law and More]

* The final two items both focus on agricultural regulations. First, a look back at the life of Roscoe Filburn, the wheat farmer at the center of Wickard v. Filburn. Now I’ll never not see Homer Simpson when I think of that case. [Lawyers, Guns & Money]

* Second, if you aren’t following the raisins takings case, basically the government takes a share of the annual raisin crop for its own use… without compensating the growers. Put aside the constitutionality, that’s startlingly inefficient when the government encourages farmers to shift away from a crop the government needs. Here’s a video about the farmers at the center of the case. [YouTube]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFbzLPJtYPE

* Supreme Court actually limits speech rights and upholds a Florida ban on judicial candidates’ direct fundraising. Here’s the excellent plain English breakdown of Williams-Yulee. [SCOTUSblog]

* Former NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver pleaded not guilty to a superseding indictment. [NY Law Journal]

* Professor Dorf analyzes the sex discrimination rationale in the same-sex marriage case. [Dorf on Law]

* $1 million in sanctions upheld against a Philadelphia lawyer. [Legal Intelligencer]

* So this is what they mean by practicing “sexy” law. 2015 list of 100 top Hollywood attorneys revealed. [Hollywood Reporter]

* In an increasingly rare bipartisan act, patent reform is back on the agenda. [Corporate Counsel]

* According to a new study by Harvard University, nearly 50% of millennials believe the criminal justice system is unfair. Welcome to the party kids. [NY Post]

* Oh no you didn’t. Benchslap comes down on firm who tried to squeeze words together and tighten spaces to stay within page limits. [How Appealing]

* “Five Charts That Show You Should Apply to Law School This Year.” Slightly less educational than the 30 Cats That Are More Badass Than You. [Bloomberg Business]

* In fact, law schools are really almost indistinguishable from the show Community. Funny but not quite as funny as 4 years ago? Well, maybe that too. [The Legal Watchdog]

* I’ll just leave this as a prompt for your own short fiction: “Lexington woman being strangled with bra fights off attacker with ceramic chicken”… [WKYT]

* Following on Alex Rich’s post about the “blame game” in eDiscovery, the problem goes well beyond that industry — even if it’s the most recent manifestation. [Law and More]

* Do you know your Earth Day history? Like which lawyer turned Senator founded the occasion? [What About Clients?]

Hilarious and biting takedown.