This week in Other Barks & Bites: The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) considers breaking off parts of Google after it was ruled to be a monopoly; Cox Communications asks the Supreme Court to take on $1 billion copyright infringement case; and Amgen sues Samsung for patent infringement of bone disease drugs.

Bites

Cox Asks Supreme Court to Review $1 Billion Copyright Infringement Case

On Thursday, August 15, Cox Communications filed a petition for a writ of certiorari asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a copyright infringement case that held the company responsible for $1 billion of damages due to its users’ music piracy. Sony Music and more than 50 other music publishers sued Cox in 2018, and Cox argued that internet service providers would be targeted in the future for its users’ piracy without intervention from the Supreme Court. Cox wrote, “this Court should grant certiorari to prevent these cases from creating confusion, disruption, and chaos on the internet. Innovation, privacy, and competition depend on it.”

Court Overturns $107 Million Verdict in Pfizer-AstraZeneca Patent Battle

On Wednesday, August 14, a Delaware district court overturned a jury verdict that ordered AstraZeneca to pay Pfizer $107.5 million for infringing on the company’s cancer drug patents. The district judge ruled that the two Pfizer patents were invalid due to lack of enablement and lack of written description of the invention. Pfizer originally launched the lawsuit in 2021 and accused AstraZeneca of infringing its patent by producing the breast cancer drug Tagrisso.

Justice Department Officials Considering Breaking Off Parts of Google After Monopoly Ruling

On Tuesday, August 13, the New York Times and Bloomberg News reported that Justice Department officials are considering various consequences for Google after the tech giant was found to have violated antitrust law, including breaking off parts of the company from Alphabet. Judge Amit Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled on August 6 that Google has acted like a monopolist in the search engine and advertising industries. Thus, the Justice Department officials told the news outlets that it was considering breaking off the Chrome Browser or Google AdSense. Other possibilities include forcing Google to share data with competitors or forcing the company to give up deals with companies like Apple that make Google the default search engine. Judge Mehta has scheduled the next hearing for September 6.

Amgen Sues Samsung for Infringing on Bone Drug Patent

On Monday, August 12, Amgen filed a lawsuit against Samsung in a New Jersey district court accusing the conglomerate’s biologics division of patent infringement. According to the lawsuit, Amgen has accused Samsung of infringing on a range of patents covering active ingredients in Prolia and Xgeva, drugs used to treat osteoporosis and other bone diseases. Amgen asked the court to block Samsung from making and selling its version of the drug and requested monetary damages.

Barks

USPTO Provides Information on Potential Data Breach

On Thursday, August 15, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) warned the public that “a limited amount of protected information within Patent Center was potentially accessible to the public, through certain search functions on the Assignments page.” The USPTO was notified of the potential data breach on August 1, and it began notifying those potentially affected the next day. The exposed information was from unpublished applications including title of the application, application number, application owner name, application filing date, and name of the inventor/joint inventors. 

FTC Bans Fake Reviews in Final Rule

On Wednesday, August 14, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) banned fake reviews in a final rule that also attempts to curtail AI-generated fake reviews. “By strengthening the FTC’s toolkit to fight deceptive advertising, the final rule will protect Americans from getting cheated, put businesses that unlawfully game the system on notice, and promote markets that are fair, honest, and competitive,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. The final rule bans fake reviews, buying positive or negative reviews, insider reviews, company-controlled review websites, review suppression, and misuse of fake social media indicators.

CAFC Affirms Patent Victory for Google and Twitter

On Tuesday, August 13, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) ruling that granted a win to Twitter and Google in a patent dispute with B.E. Technology. The firm accused the tech giants of infringing on its software patents used for targeted advertising. For full IPWatchdog coverage click here.

California Judge Rules Class Action Lawsuit Against AI Product Stable Diffusion Can Proceed

On Monday, August 12, a California district judge ruled that allegations of induced infringement from a group of visual artists “are sufficient” for the case to proceed to the discovery phase. The group of visual artists has accused the generative AI platform Stable Diffusion used copyrighted images as training materials and thus produce AI-generated images in similar style to copyrighted material. Several of the artists in the cases celebrated the victory in public statements, including Karla Ortiz who said, “we are now potentially one of [the] biggest copyright infringement and trade dress cases ever! Looking forward to the next stage of our fight.” For full IPWatchdog coverage click here.

This Week on Wall Street

Cisco Reports Strong Earnings Off Back of AI and Layoffs

On Wednesday, August 14, Cisco reported strong fourth quarter and 2024 fiscal year earnings after the company cut costs and announced it laid off 7% of its workforce. While the company has faced declining revenue for three straight quarters, the fourth quarter figures still bear expectations and its stock bounced on the news. At several points in the financial report, executives touted the company’s shift to AI technology. “As we look to build on our performance, we remain laser focused on growth and consistent execution as we invest to win in AI, cloud and cybersecurity, while maintaining capital returns,” said Scott Herren, Cisco CFO. 

Trump and Vance Suggest President Should Have More Control Over Monetary Policy, Interest Rates

On Sunday, August, 11, Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance appeared on several weekend news shows to support his presidential nominee’s suggestion that the President should have a say on monetary policy set by the Federal Reserve. Last week, former President Trump said that the President should have influence over interest rates and other monetary policy. The Fed has resisted lowering interest rates as it attempts to achieve its mandate of price stability and full employment.

Quarterly Earnings – The following firms identified among the IPO’s Top 300 Patent Recipients for 2023 are announcing quarterly earnings next week (2023 rank in parentheses):

• Monday: None
• Tuesday: Medtronic (21), Alcon (295)
• Wednesday: Analog Devices (173), Snowflake (204)
• Thursday: Baidu (67), Intuit (179)
• Friday: None