Supreme Court and Federal Circuit Review – Intellectual Property

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Please join us on July 18, 2023, for our next CLE event. This month’s CLE will be held from 12:00 to 1:15 pm via webinar. We anticipate 1.00 General CLE credit in Ohio for this event.

Our speakers will be John Luken and Matthew Molloy of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP.

John Luken
Matthew Molloy

Mr. Luken and Mr. Molloy will discuss this term’s Supreme Court decisions directed to Copyright Fair Use (Warhol v. Goldsmith), Parody as Protected Speech in Trademark Law (Jack Daniel’s v. VIP), and Patent Enablement (Amgen v. Sanofi). Additionally, they will discuss the upcoming Supreme Court trademark decision in the “Trump too small” case (Vidal v. Elster) and Federal Circuit decisions directed to patent eligibility for diagnostic methods (CareDx Inc. v. Natera, Inc.), AI Inventorship (Thaler v. Vidal), IPR Estoppel (Ironburg Inventions), as well as some follow-on decisions of Minerva and Arthrex.

Finally, Mr. Luken and Mr. Molloy will also discuss any changes in the law or courts, including the judicial fitness lawsuit against Federal Circuit Judge Newman.

The webinar event will be 60 minutes.

Registration is:

  • free for CincyIP members, 
  • free for students and academics, and 
  • $15.00 for non-members. 

Register here by Monday, July 17, 2023, at 5:00 PM.

About the Speakers:

John Luken focuses his practice on patent infringement litigation and appeals, as well as complex commercial and other intellectual property litigation. He has handled patent infringement cases involving a variety of services and products, including commercial forms and related software, software-related business method patents in the printing and financial services industries, metal beverage cans and closures, surface coal mining blasting methods, liquid beverage concentrates and related packaging, automated barge refurbishing methods, service station petroleum equipment, and retail security products. While his practice currently focuses largely on patent infringement matters, John has handled a wide variety of other types of complex litigation matters, ranging from securities, commodities, RICO and fraud claims arising out of complicated derivatives transactions to shareholder derivative litigation, environmental litigation, business and government contracts cases, and ERISA class action cases. Clients appreciate his ability to prioritize their needs and objectives and to  approach  matters  flexibly  and  creatively  –  rather  than  in  a  one-size-fits-all  manner. John’s methods help complex matters be resolved favorably, expeditiously and cost-effectively. He has been an active member of the influential Sedona Conference Working Group on Electronic Document Retention and Production (WG-1), participating in several Sedona drafting teams, including the Sedona Case for Cooperation (urging more rational, expeditious, and less expensive discovery processes).

Matthew Molloy is admitted to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office and has extensive experience in the preparation and prosecution of patents in the U.S. and abroad. He manages international patent portfolios and his practice encompasses a variety of technical areas such as chemical/chemical engineering, materials, polymers, petroleum refining, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, mechanical engineering, software, and business methods. Additionally, Matt is experienced in rendering patent opinions, including freedom to operate, validity, state-of-the-art, patent landscape, patentability, and due diligence opinions. He is adept at negotiating, drafting and analyzing IP licensing agreements, and has counseled a broad range of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to small startups, regarding the protection of intellectual property and innovation. His patent and intellectual property knowledge has led to speaking engagements over the last year related to supreme court and federal circuit intellectual property and patent law decisions.

Trademark and Unfair Competition Law Developments

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Ted Davis, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP

Please join us on June 20, 2023, for our next CLE event. This month’s CLE will be held from 12:00 to 1:15 pm via webinar. We anticipate 1.00 General CLE credit in Ohio for this event.

Our presenter will be Ted Davis of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP. Mr. Davis will cover recent developments in United States trademark and unfair competition law over the trailing twelve months. In particular, Mr. Davis will discuss the following:

  • The Supreme Court’s Jack Daniel’s and Abitron (pending) opinions;
  • The apparent consensus regarding the role of mark strength in cases presenting allegations of reverse confusion;
  • Clarification by the Sixth Circuit of the test for standing to bring false advertising claims under Section 43(a) of the Lanham Act;
  • Clarification by the Sixth Circuit of the test for trade dress functionality;
  • The possible evisceration of the confirmed/restored presumption of irreparable harm in cases presenting actual of likely violations of the Lanham Act;
  • Bad craziness under New Mexico law; and
  • The USPTO’s proposed revised fee schedule for trademark filings.

The webinar event will be approximately 60 minutes.

Registration is:

  • free for CincyIP members, 
  • free for students and academics, and 
  • $15.00 for non-members. 

Register here by Friday, June 16, 2023, at 5:00 PM. CincyIP will send a webinar link to all registrants after event registration closes.

About the Speaker:

Ted Davis divides his practice between litigation and client counseling in the fields of trademark, copyright, false advertising, and unfair competition law. He is a member-elect of the American Bar Association’s Board of Governors and a past chair of the ABA’s Section of Intellectual Property Law, on behalf of which he has testified before Congress on trademark and Internet issues. He also has served on the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Board of Directors and on the Executive Committee of the International Trademark Association. He frequently serves as an expert witness in trademark-related matters and is an adjunct professor at the Emory University School of Law.

Patents vs. Trade Secrets: Panel Discussion on Considerations for Computing and Consumer Products

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Please join us on May 16, 2023, for the next monthly CLE luncheon. This month’s CLE will be held 12:00-1:15 pm by webinar. We anticipate 1.00 General CLE credit in Ohio for this event.

Our speakers will be Ali Anoff (P&G), Mark Vallone (IBM), and Wade Lin (PhenomeX).









  Ali Anoff, Procter & Gamble




Mark Vallone, IBM





Wade Lin, PhenomeX

Innovative companies must balance filing patents and maintaining trade secrets to secure competitive advantage. It can be difficult to determine which option will offer the best protection since patents and trade secrets seem to present opposing choices. A patent holder in the United States can obtain 20 years of exclusivity in exchange for a public disclosure of information. While trade secrets theoretically last forever, they only ensure protection while the information is not discovered by the public, and trade secrets, unlike patents, can be reverse engineered or otherwise independently obtained. 

Companies must carefully consider whether seeking patents or trade secret protection is preferred for their valuable IP assets. It is important for each company to understand the competitive landscape and their business goals when making these decisions and companies will reach different conclusions depending on their industry, size, and location of manufacturing and sales. Our panelists will consider these issues while working through two scenarios that contrast how trade secrets and patents are used in computer software and hardware and consumer packaged goods industries.

The webinar event will be 60 minutes.

Registration is:

  • free for CincyIP members, 
  • free for students and academics, and 
  • $15.00 for non-members. 

Register here by Friday, May 12, at 5:00 PM.

About the Speakers:

Ali Anoff is Director and Assistant General Counsel at Procter & Gamble. She is the primary patent attorney for Olay® skin care, a brand with net sales of more than $1 billion annually. Ali provides strategic legal counsel to the business to create and protect global intellectual property assets. Her practice focuses on IP strategy development, preparation and prosecution of global patent applications, freedom-to-practice assessments, enforcement, and due diligence.

Mark Vallone is Senior IP Counsel at IBM, where he manages IBM’s in-house team that primarily handles U.S. patent application preparation and prosecution matters.  Mark is also active in IBM patent strategy and policy matters.  He formerly led the team responsible for IBM’s U.S. Patent Procedures, which are followed by IBM’s in-house and outside patent counsel.  He also served as lead IP Counsel for IBM Cloud and IBM Commerce, for which he supported transactions and product clearances, led patent procurement operations, and provided counsel on a wide range of other IP matters.  He received his B.S. in Computer Science from The Pennsylvania State University in 1998, after which he spent five years as a software developer for IBM in the areas of network security, distributed computing and e-commerce.  He received his J.D., summa cum laude, from Syracuse University in 2006. He is a registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and is a member of the New York State Bar.

Wade Lin is a patent agent registered in Taiwan and the United States and also qualified in China. His scientific background is molecular biology. He had over ten years of experience working at one of the biggest law firms in Taiwan specializing in global patent prosecution, patent analyses and representing clients in patent infringement litigations. He currently works at PhenomeX as a Senior Patent Agent.