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Expert Analysis

• Series

  Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

• 2024's Most Notable FTC Actions Against Dark Patterns And AI

  

  In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission ramped up enforcement actions related to dark patterns, loudly signaling its concern that advertisers will use AI to manipulate consumer habits and its intention to curb businesses' use and marketing of AI to prevent alleged consumer deception, say attorneys at Goodwin.

• Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

  

  In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

• 4 Trade Secret Pointers From 2024's Key IP Law Developments

  

  Four significant 2024 developments in trade secret law yield practical tips about defending trade secrets overseas, proving unjust enrichment claims, forcing compliance with posttrial orders and using restrictive covenants to prevent employee leaks of confidential intellectual property, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

• Trends In Section 101 Motions 6 Years After Berkheimer

  

  A half-dozen years after the Federal Circuit's landmark patent eligibility ruling in Berkheimer, empirical data offers practitioners some noteworthy insights on Section 101 motions, both nationally and across four exemplary jurisdictions, says Alexa Reed at Fisch Sigler.

• Opinion

  1 Year After Rule 702 Changes, Courts Have Made Progress

  

  In the year since amendments to the Federal Rules of Evidence went into effect, many federal judges have applied the new expert witness standard correctly, excluding unreliable testimony from their courts — but now state courts need to update their own rules accordingly, says Lee Mickus at Evans Fears.

• Using Contracts As Evidence Of Trade Secret Protection

  

  Recent federal and U.S. International Trade Commission decisions demonstrate an interesting trend of judges recognizing that contracts and confidentiality provisions can serve as important evidence of the reasonable secrecy measures companies must take to prove the existence of protected trade secrets, say attorneys at Finnegan.

• Unwrapping Retailer AI Risks Amid Holiday Shopping Season

  

  While generative artificial intelligence tools can catalyze game-changing results for retailers looking to stay ahead of the competition during the holiday season, and year-round, it can also bring certain legal risks, including product liability concerns, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

• An Underutilized Tool To Dismiss Meritless Claims In Texas

  

  In Texas, special appearances provide a useful but often overlooked tool for out-of-state defendants to escape meritless claims early in litigation, thus limiting discovery and creating a pathway for immediate appellate review, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

• The Implications Of 2024's AI Rules And Regs For Patent Attys

  

  Christina Huang, John Smith and Devin Stein at Faegre Drinker review this year's new rules and regulations on the development and use of artificial intelligence — from the Biden administration, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the American Bar Association and various states — as they apply to patent attorneys.

• When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

  

  As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

• Looking For Patterns In Pharmaceuticals' Use Of AI Patents

  

  Merging data from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's artificial intelligence patent dataset and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Orange Book sheds light on pharmaceutical patents involving AI technology, as well as trends in the industry's use of this technology, says Kiefer Ahn at NERA.

• Notable 2024 Trademark Cases And What To Watch In 2025

  

  Emerging disputes between established tech giants and smaller trademark holders promise to test the boundaries of trademark protection in 2025, following a 2024 marked with disputes in areas ranging from cybersquatting to geographic marks, says Danner Kline at Bradley Arant.

• How A 9th Circ. Identicality Ruling Could Affect AI Cos.

  

  If the Ninth Circuit agrees to settle a district court split over whether the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires a copy to be identical to an original to support an actionable claim for removing copyright management information, the decision could have important ramifications for artificial intelligence businesses, says Maria Sinatra at Venable.

• The State Of USPTO Rulemaking At The End Of Vidal's Term

  

  As U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director, Kathi Vidal placed a particular emphasis on formal rulemaking — so as she returns to private practice this week, attorneys at Irell take stock of which of her proposals made it across the finish line, and where the rest stand on the cusp of a new administration.