BLG again ranked highly by Chambers USA
October 12, 2009
| Firm News
For the sixth year in a row, Black Lowe & Graham has been ranked among the top intellectual property law firms in Washington. This prestigious listing of law firms describes BLG as a firm that has quickly developed an enviable practice. The Chambers listing is primarily derived by feedback from lawyers outside the firm and clients of the firm, and that feedback makes the ranking especially satisfying. Here are some of the things our clients have said:
“BLG is great about taking into account the business constraints when offering legal advice”
Clients feel “spoiled by the attention that the lawyers at the firm lavish upon them.”
“Larry Graham’s advice always balances what is ideal with what is reasonable from a business perspective. . . he is a great litigator and speaker. He is tenacious in defending his clients’ interests.”
Black Lowe & Graham offers “solid value to a good client list.”
The litigators at the firm “have a sage approach to litigation and advice generally.”
See this year’s ranking at http://www.chambersandpartners.com/USA/Editorial/32818
Patent 7,606,872
US Patent 7,606,872
September 2, 2009
A system and method providing a media server system are disclosed. A software module for storage on a computer and operable by the computer is provided to receive a media request for a media selection from a media source including video and audio data. The media selection is retrieved, and a media signal conveying the media selection is communicated. A communications hub receives the media signal and transmits the media selection for play on a remote media device. A receiver configured to communicate with the communications hub and with the remote media device receives the media selection and communicates the media selection to the remote media device for play. A set of media preferences associated with an identifier allows for selectable access to media content. A plurality of remote interfaces each can be coded for generating an identifier, whereby using a particular remote interface invokes a set of media preferences.
BLG prevails in Eighth Circuit appeal; contract ruled to require arbitration of patent claims
August 27, 2009
| Intellectual Property News
BLG attorneys achieved an order requiring a plaintiff in a patent infringement action to assert its claims in arbitration against BLG client Costco. In this action, filed in federal court in St. Louis, the plaintiff asserted claims for design patent infringement and trade dress infringement. We argued that because the plaintiff was a former vendor and had signed a vendor agreement requiring arbitration of all disputes, this particular dispute related to the sale of an item previously purchased from the vendor was one that must be resolved in arbitration. Though the district court disagreed, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision and ordered arbitration.
In an unusual twist, the district court initially sent the appeal to the Federal Circuit rather than the Eighth Circuit, even though the notice of appeal specified the Eighth Circuit. That mishap resulted in an evaluation by both Circuits regarding which was the proper forum to resolve arbitration issues relating to patent infringement causes of action. Currently, there is a split of authority regarding whether the Federal Circuit or the Regional Circuits have jurisdiction in such cases. The Federal Circuit ultimately decided that it lacked authority to decide the question in the first place because the notice of appeal directed the matter to the Eighth Circuit, which therefore had jurisdiction to address the issue in the first instance. The Eighth Circuit concluded that it had jurisdiction over appeals related to orders compelling arbitration, even in patent cases.
BLG obtains preliminary injunction against trademark and domain name infringement
August 20, 2009
| Intellectual Property News
BLG attorneys obtained a preliminary injunction leading to an eventual stipulated judgment in favor of our client Suarez Corporation Industries against Earthwise Technologies and Earthwise Innovations. This action involved trademark infringement and breach of contract claims in which former distributors of products originating with our client continued to use infringing trademarks and Internet domain names. The stipulated judgment included a monetary payment in favor of our client, entered as a judgment in the Western District of Washington.
BLG wins summary judgment finding trade dress to be functional in slurry pump case
August 15, 2009
| Intellectual Property News
BLG attorney Larry Graham teamed up with Beresford Booth in defending their client Atlas Equipment Company against charges that their slurry pumps infringed a trade dress owned by Weir Slurry Group and Weir Minerals. This complicated case involved gathering evidence and testimony from witnesses in China, Australia, and across the United States in order to evaluate several additional complicated claims related to breach of contract and palming off. Ultimately, BLG’s client Atlas prevailed on a motion for summary judgment prior to trial by proving that the alleged trade dress was functional rather than serving to identify Weir as the source of the pump. As the federal court for the Western District of Washington observed, it would create a case of first impression to hold that a non-functional trade dress can be comprised of a collection of individually functional elements.
BLG prevails in inter partes reexamination; patent claims upheld
June 5, 2009
| Intellectual Property News
In a statistically rare event, BLG attorneys have achieved a decision upholding the patentability of the claims of a patent related to a laryngoscope for their client Verathon. After asserting the patent against others in litigation, an inter partes reexamination request was filed to challenge the validity of the patent. During the reexamination process, BLG submitted about 400 new claims for evaluation, securing the patentability of nearly all of them. On June 5, 2009, the USPTO issued a Right of Appeal Notice indicating that the vast majority of the claims submitted in reexamination were allowable. In more than 90 percent of inter partes reexamination cases, there are no claims that remain patentable. The success in this case is unusual among inter partes reexaminations, placing BLG client Verathon in a strong position to enforce its key technology related to video laryngoscopes.
BLG wins summary judgment of patent invalidity in ski patent defense
June 5, 2009
| Intellectual Property News
BLG defended its client K2 by obtaining an order invalidating a patent that had been asserted against K2. The lawsuit was filed by Paul Nelson, who owned a patent related to a short, wide ski. Mr. Nelson had succeeded in licensing the patent to others before suing K2 in a patent infringement lawsuit filed in the Western District of Washington, case number C07-1660RSL. After evaluating K2’s motion for summary judgment, the court concluded that Mr. Nelson’s continuation-in-part patent was only entitled to the benefit of its actual filing date and not that of any of its parent applications. The court further found that Mr. Nelson had sold skis in accordance with the patent more than a year before that date, despite Mr. Nelson’s argument that his sales were merely experimental. With the patent invalidated, K2 prevailed on all claims against it and the case was dismissed.
Patent 7,614,059
US Patent 7,614,059
February 26, 2009
A method is presented for a mobile agent object to discover services available in a host-computing environment. According to an embodiment of this method, the mobile agent object requests a service listing from the host environment. The host environment returns a service listing to the mobile agent object in response to the request for the service listing. The mobile agent object then determines if a particular service is within the returned service listing and requests the particular service if the particular service is determined by the mobile agent object to be within the returned service listing.
BLG obtains favorable claim construction ruling and settlement in patent infringement defense
February 5, 2009
| Intellectual Property News
BLG attorneys defended their client Progressive International in a patent infringement case related to avocado slicers. The patent was originally licensed to Progressive, then terminated. Progressive redesigned its product to avoid the patent, with the assistance of BLG attorneys. The patent owner later sued Progressive while claiming that the redesigned product infringed the patent. BLG obtained a key ruling during a Markman hearing to interpret the meaning of a patent, leading to a dismissal of the claims against Progressive.
BLG wins Federal Circuit appeal in defense of patent infringement
January 8, 2009
| Intellectual Property News
BLG attorneys prevailed in the defense of a patent infringement action asserted against BLG client Arctic Cat. In this action, BLG obtained a dismissal of the action on procedural grounds related to failure to participate in pretrial events such as a pretrial conference, and for failure of a corporate party to be represented by counsel. The plaintiff appealed the dismissal of the action, which was on the merits and with prejudice. After briefing and arguing the case at the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, the dismissal of the case was affirmed and all claims against Arctic Cat dismissed.
