Nestle, Kilpatrick Townsend, Groupon: Roundup of Recent Cases

Here are three recent notable cases out of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals:

Groupon

Groupon Inc. is enjoying a victory in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals this week. The online coupon company's patent lawsuit against Mobgob LLC and Cy Technology was successful, reports Bloomberg Businessweek.

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals issued the decision without comment, so for practitioners who want the juicy inside info on the case, there isn't much out there if you don't have access to PACER. But here's the gist of the case:

The disputed patent was patent number 7,672,897, which was related to a method of community purchasing. It was issued in March 2010. Groupon, as many know, is an online coupon website that allows daily deals to kick in after a certain number of people have "purchased" the coupon.

Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

Another interesting case out of the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals involves contempt sanctions against the law firm of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP. The case is a patent case where the law firm was subpoenaed to produce certain documents and didn't comply with the order. As a result, the law firm was sanctioned.

The Federal Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the district court's sanction, citing that the court used the wrong standard for analysis on the privilege question.

We'll have a greater breakdown of the court's opinion in a subsequent blog post, but for now, you can read the Federal Circuit's opinion here.

Nestle

Finally, we have a garden-variety trademark case, involving Nestle. The Trademark Trial and Appeals Board refused to register a trademark by the name of "Waggin Strips" due to the fact that there was a likelihood of confusion with Nestle's existing pet food product, "Beggin Strips." We'll have more on that case as well in a subsequent post.

Related Resources:

• Midwestern Pet Foods, Inc. v Societe Des Produits Nestle SA (Federal Circuit Court of Appeals)
• Browse Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Cases (FindLaw CaseLaw)
• Federal Circuit Court of Appeals (US Courts)