Category Archives: Intellectual Property

Free Form of the Month

PLI PLUS offers unlimited electronic access to more than 4,500 downloadable, searchable, and editable legal forms ready for use in your practice. In an effort to highlight this unique content type, we’ve selected one form per month and made it available for anyone to download for free – no subscription required.

September’s free form:

Sample Settlement and Release Agreement

More information about Legal Forms & Checklists:

  • Forms & Checklists Flyer – This flyer provides an overview of the forms & checklists on PLI PLUS and highlights a handful of popular examples.

New Edition: Fashion Law and Business: Brands & Retailers (Third Edition)

Fashion Law and Business: Brands & Retailers (Third Edition) provides clear guidance on the wide range of legal and business issues faced by fashion industry participants, including designers, suppliers, manufacturers of apparel and accessories, retailers, and emerging entrepreneurs. Written by three of America’s leading fashion and retail law authorities, the new edition incorporates coverage of AI as well as new discussion of sustainability and relevant rules of environmental law to provide a comprehensive guide to the issues affecting the fashion industry today.

Readers will learn the considerations involved in starting a company in the fashion industry, including:

  • developing a business plan, determining the form and structure of the legal entity, and obtaining financing;
  • how patent, trademark, copyright, and international design rights protection laws have been applied to the fashion industry, and their impact in such areas as gray market goods and counterfeiting;
  • the contractual relationships and regulatory issues applicable to the design and production of fashion products;
  •  the dynamics of retail sales in the apparel industry;
  • the legal issues involved in leasing and licensing brick-and-mortar retail stores;
  • how to deal with labor and employment issues that relate to the fashion industry,
  • The legal and practical concerns that affect sales and acquisitions of fashion companies, going public, and restructuring or bankruptcy.

Testimonials:

“A comprehensive guide that clearly addresses, in an approachable manner, all facets of law in the retail industry. Fashion Law and Business is unique in its global insider’s view and thorough understanding of the nuanced retail industry.”

–Kelly Koyama-Garcia, Retail Brand General Counsel

“…[T]his guide goes beyond the expected and usual topics to focus on key practice areas such as manufacturing, sustainability, real estate, and employment law. This publication is a must-have for any modern fashion lawyer who seeks to be well-rounded in law and business.”

–Lisa Keith, Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Steve Madden, Ltd.

“Fashion Law and Business is THE go-to resource for any (and every) fashion law practitioner, as it masterfully blends real-world industry challenges with insightful legal analysis.”

–Danielle Garno, Adjunct Professor in Fashion Law at the University of Miami School of Law and Partner, Daniel Ebeling Maccia & Cohen

“In an ever more rapidly evolving world where brands can take fashion they see on the street (or social media) and turn it into commercial production orders within hours, it is more important than ever to have a good understanding of the legal rules of the road. This casebook is an indispensable resource for designers, brands, and the ecosystem of partners who work with them.”

–Craig Fleishman, General Counsel of MycoWorks, Inc., formerly General Counsel to Rebecca Minkoff LLC

Order a print copy today.

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription.

Book Update: Patent Litigation (Third Edition)

Patent Litigation (Third Edition) explores key strategies and intricacies of patent litigation. Readers receive real-time guidance from an experienced litigator who has represented U.S. and international patent holders before U.S. courts and the International Trade Commission. The book covers the patent case life cycle, from pre-suit investigations to appellate practice, offering pointers on developing case themes, assembling strong litigation teams, leveraging discovery, and maximizing the impact of evidence and experts. It also addresses case management concerns, including setting budgets, working with consultants and vendors, and using technology to enhance advocacy. 

The new release includes the following updates: 

  • Chapter 6, Case Strategy and Management, discusses the introduction of remote depositions, (Section 6:5.5). 
  • Chapter 10, Injunctions, notes a recent Federal Circuit case instructing that opponents of a preliminary injunction must show that the public would miss out on superior foregoes products, not just face limited choices, (Section 10:5). 
  • Chapter 11, Pretrial Proceedings, provides an updated list of technology available in certain courts, (Section 11:7.4). 
  • Chapter 14, Patent Litigation Other Than District Court Infringement Actions, includes revisions of the 2025 amendments to deposition and interrogatory rules, (Section 14:4.6), the Federal Circuit’s ruling in Zircon Corp. v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, (Section 14:4.8[B][1]), and the impact of Loper Bright v. Raimundo on ITC practice, particularly regarding the exclusion of infringing articles from importation, (Section 14:4:13). 
  • Chapter 15, Challenging Validity in the PTO Under the 2011 America Invents Act, has been revised to discuss the PTO’s Interim Director Review Process guidance and the recently established Appeals Review Panel process, (Sections 15:8.1 and 15:8.2). 

Order a print copy today. 

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription. 

Book Update: Patent Claim Construction and Markman Hearings

Patent Claim Construction and Markman Hearings provides in-depth guidance to this important area of patent practice, walking the reader through the entire process of preparing for, conducting, and appealing a Markman hearing. This book helps readers understand how courts decide “what a person of ordinary skill in the field of the patent invention would understand the language of the claim to mean”, the impact of prior constructions on a new hearing, how to decide what claims or claim elements should be construed by the court, what constitutes intrinsic and extrinsic evidence in interpreting the claim, at what point in the overall patent proceeding a construction hearing should be held, and what are the rules that will be used when a contested construction is an issue in an appeal to the Federal Circuit.

The new release includes the following updates:

  • Reviews a case in which a district court judge recused himself from the case on remand from the Federal Circuit because he had “no idea how to reconcile the facts presented to the court with the Federal Circuit’s holding” and did not believe that that he could “set aside [his] previous conclusions to make an impartial determination.” (See section 1:3.1).
  • Covers Vascular Solutions LLC v. Medtronic, where the Federal Circuit rejected the notion that a term—“substantially rigid portion/ segment”—needed to be consistent across claims. (See section 2:2.1[B][5]).
  • Includes discussion of a case in which the Federal Circuit explained how to determine whether the lower court or Board construed a claim or whether it has simply compared the claim to prior art or an allegedly infringing technology (See section 11:2).

Appendix C, Table of Authorities and Index have also been updated.

Order a print copy today.

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription.

Most Popular Books on PLI PLUS in 2024

The tallies are in! Here are the most accessed books on PLI PLUS in 2024.

Popular Banking Titles

  1. Mutual Funds and Exchange Traded Funds Regulation
  2. Asset-Based Lending: A Practical Guide to Secured Financing
  3. Fund Finance
  4. Consumer Financial Services Answer Book
  5. Derivatives Deskbook: Close-Out Netting, Risk Mitigation, Litigation

Popular Corporate & Securities Titles

  1. Private Equity Funds: Formation and Operation
  2. Broker-Dealer Regulation
  3. Tax Strategies for Corporate Acquisitions, Dispositions, Spin-Offs, Joint Ventures, Financings, Reorganizations & Restructurings
  4. Drafting and Negotiating Corporate Agreements
  5. Corporate Compliance Answer Book

Popular Employment Titles

  1. Fragomen on Immigration Fundamentals: A Guide to Law and Practice
  2. Understanding Employment Law
  3. California Employment Law
  4. Sports Law
  5. Labor Management Law Answer Book

Popular Estates & Trusts Titles

  1. Manning on Estate Planning
  2. Art Law: The Guide for Collectors, Investors, Dealers & Artists
  3. Estate Planning Institute
  4. Private Clients Legal & Tax Planning Answer Book
  5. International Tax & Estate Planning: A Practical Guide for Multinational Investors

Popular Intellectual Property Titles

  1. Artificial Intelligence Law
  2. Technology Transactions: A Practical Guide to Drafting and Negotiating Commercial Agreements
  3. How to Write a Patent Application
  4. Faber & Kowalski on Mechanics of Patent Claim Drafting
  5. Intellectual Property Law Answer Book

Popular Litigation Titles

  1. Thinking Like a Writer: A Lawyer’s Guide to Effective Writing and Editing
  2. Stepping It Up: A Guide for Mid-Level Law Firm Associates
  3. Fundamentals of Taking and Defending Depositions
  4. Depositions Answer Book
  5. Attorney-Client Privilege Answer Book

Popular Real Estate Titles

  1. Real Estate Tax Forum
  2. Friedman and Smith on Contracts and Conveyances of Real Property
  3. Commercial Ground Leases
  4. Holtzschue on Real Estate Contracts and Closings: A Step-by-Step Guide to Buying and Selling Real Estate
  5. Commercial Real Estate Institute

Popular Tax Titles

  1. The Partnership Tax Practice Series: Planning for Domestic and Foreign Partnerships, LLCs, Joint Ventures & Other Strategic Alliances Ventures & Other Strategic Alliances
  2. Tax Planning for Domestic & Foreign Partnerships, LLCs, Joint Ventures & Other Strategic Alliances
  3. Tax Strategies for Corporate Acquisitions, Dispositions, Spin-Offs, Joint Ventures, Financings, Reorganizations & Restructurings
  4. Business Taxation Deskbook: Corporations, Partnerships, Subchapter S, and International
  5. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act Answer Book

Download a PDF flyer of this post to share with colleagues: Most Popular Books on PLI PLUS in 2024. See also the Top 10 Most Downloaded Forms on PLI PLUS in 2024.

Treatise Update: Copyright Law: A Practitioner’s Guide (Second Edition)

Copyright Law: A Practitioner’s Guide (Second Edition) provides up-to-date analysis of court decisions and practical advice for the protection of copyrights. This book helps readers to understand the scope of copyright owners’ exclusive rights, prove copyright infringement and obtain appropriate remedies, renew, restore, and recapture copyrights, know when Internet-related activities constitute copyright infringement, find out who owns a work for clearance purposes, exploit unique defenses and statutory safe harbors that exist in the digital environment, get insurance against litigation risks arising from possible infringing uses, and to know when and how to register copyrights with the Copyright Office.

The new release includes the following updates:

  • The Ninth Circuit’s ruling that, for choreography, courts look at whether the “coherent whole” is protectable and will consider unique elements beyond individual poses, such as footwork; movement of the limbs, hands, fingers, and head; tempo; body shapes and positions; and transitions (see section 2:5.4).
  • The D.C. Circuit’s holding that the copyright deposit requirement constituted an unconstitutional taking of property (see section 5:2.1).
  • The Supreme Court’s decision in Warner Chappell Music, Inc. v. Nealy resolving a circuit split and holding that a plaintiff may recover damages for any “timely claim” (see sections 11:7.3 and 12:2).
  • The Tenth Circuit’s decision that repeatedly ignoring takedown requests and mocking the author of the allegedly infringed material were sufficient to plausibly allege material contribution to direct copyright infringement (see section 11:8.3[B]).

The Table of Authorities has also been updated.

Order a print copy today.

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription.

Treatise Update: Patent Law: A Practitioner’s Guide (Fourth Edition)

Patent Law: A Practitioner’s Guide (Fourth Edition)is a valuable guide for patent specialists and other intellectual property lawyers, corporate counsel and executives, inventors, and general practitioners representing inventors looking to gain knowledge of the legal framework governing patents. This includes developments under the America Invents Act, federal regulations and court decisions, the widely accepted four-step test used by the courts to determine an invention’s patentability, the various tests used to indicate direct infringement and other patent violations and drafting techniques used to prepare the full variety of documents, including specifications and claims.

The new release includes the following updates:

  • Section 1:7.1, Utility patent subject matter eligibility, discusses several Federal Circuit cases on section 101 eligibility including Weisner v. Google LLC, International Business Machines Corp. v. Zillow Group, Inc., and American Axle & Manufacturing v. Neapco Holdings.
  • Section 5:3.6, Statutory bars—disclosure, explores Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. v. Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp., in which the Federal Circuit considered whether prior disclosure of a genus of compounds and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts was sufficient to anticipate, under 35 U.S.C. §102, a claim directed to a species of a specific salt of a specific compound having a specific stoichiometric ratio.
  • Section 6:10.1, Unitary European patent, is a new section that reviews the unitary European patent and the now operative Unified Patent Court.
  • Section 24:6.1, Inter partes review, covers a Federal Circuit case considering whether applicant-admitted prior art could form the basis of invalidity in an IPR, and another case clarifying the scope of IPR estoppel under 35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2).

The Tables of Authorities and Index have also been updated.

Order a print copy today.

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription

Free Legal Form of the Month

PLI PLUS offers unlimited electronic access to more than 4,500 downloadable, searchable, and editable legal forms ready for use in your practice. In an effort to highlight this unique content type, we’ve selected one form per month and made it available for anyone to download for free – no subscription required.

October’s free form:

Sample Discovery Confidentiality Order Regarding Trade Secrets

More information about Legal Forms & Checklists:

  • Forms & Checklists Flyer – This flyer provides an overview of the forms & checklists on PLI PLUS and highlights a handful of popular examples.
  •  Popular PLUS Forms – This flyer provides a list of the top five most downloaded forms in prominent practice areas on PLI PLUS.

Send us an email at plus@pli.edu to learn more.

Free Legal Form of the Month

PLI PLUS offers unlimited electronic access to more than 4,500 downloadable, searchable, and editable legal forms ready for use in your practice. In an effort to highlight this unique content type, we’ve selected one form per month and made it available for anyone to download for free – no subscription required.

September’s free form:

Patent License Agreement

More information about Legal Forms & Checklists:

  • Forms & Checklists Flyer – This flyer provides an overview of the forms & checklists on PLI PLUS and highlights a handful of popular examples.
  •  Popular PLUS Forms – This flyer provides a list of the top five most downloaded forms in prominent practice areas on PLI PLUS.

Send us an email at plus@pli.edu to learn more.

Most Popular Books on PLI PLUS So Far This Year!

The tallies are in! Here are the books PLI PLUS users are accessing the most in 2024 so far…

Popular Banking Titles

  1. Asset-Based Lending: A Practical Guide to Secured Financing
  2. Financial Product Fundamentals: Law, Business, Compliance
  3. Fund Finance
  4. Consumer Financial Services Answer Book
  5. Coping with U.S. Export Controls and Sanctions

Popular Corporate & Securities Titles

  1. Private Equity Funds: Formation and Operation
  2. Broker-Dealer Regulation
  3. Drafting and Negotiating Corporate Agreements
  4. Corporate Compliance Answer Book
  5. Acquiring or Selling the Privately Held Company

Popular Employment Titles

  1. Fragomen on Immigration Fundamentals: A Guide to Law and Practice
  2. Understanding Employment Law
  3. Employment Law Institute
  4. Wage & Hour Litigation and Compliance
  5. California Employment Law

Popular Estates & Trusts Titles

  1. Art Law: The Guide for Collectors, Investors, Dealers & Artists
  2. Manning on Estate Planning
  3. Blattmachr on Income Taxation of Estates and Trusts
  4. Annual Estate Planning Institute
  5. Private Clients Legal & Tax Planning Answer Book

Popular Intellectual Property Titles

  1. Artificial Intelligence Law
  2. How to Write a Patent Application
  3. Patent Law: A Practitioner’s Guide
  4. Faber & Kowalski on Mechanics of Patent Claim Drafting
  5. Intellectual Property Law Answer Book

Popular Litigation Titles

  1. Thinking Like a Writer: A Lawyer’s Guide to Effective Writing and Editing
  2. Stepping It Up: A Guide for Mid-Level Law Firm Associates
  3. Fundamentals of Taking and Defending Depositions
  4. Attorney-Client Privilege Answer Book
  5. Trial by Jury

Popular Real Estate Titles

  1. Annual Real Estate Tax Forum
  2. Friedman and Smith on Contracts and Conveyances of Real Property
  3. Annual Commercial Real Estate Institute
  4. Commercial Ground Leases
  5. Holtzschue on Real Estate Contracts and Closings: A Step-by-Step Guide to Buying and Selling Real Estate

Popular Tax Titles

  1. The Partnership Tax Practice Series: Planning for Domestic and Foreign Partnerships, LLCs, Joint Ventures & Other Strategic Alliances
  2. Tax Planning for Domestic & Foreign Partnerships, LLCs, Joint Ventures & Other Strategic Alliances
  3. Business Taxation Deskbook: Corporations, Partnerships, Subchapter S, and International
  4. Tax Strategies for Corporate Acquisitions, Dispositions, Spin-Offs, Joint Ventures, Financings, Reorganizations & Restructurings
  5. Transfer Pricing Answer Book

Download a PDF flyer of this post to share with colleagues: Popular Books on PLI PLUS. See also the Top 10 Most Popular Forms So Far in 2024.