Who is a skilled artisan?

In patent law, a “person of ordinary skill” (also known as a “skilled artisan”) is a hypothetical person presumed to have known the field of an invention at the time of its patenting. If an invention would have been obvious to a skilled artisan, it’s unpatentable. This article summarizes a case in which a patentee argued that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s interpretation of the qualifications of a person of ordinary skill strained the definition of “ordinary.” Sage Products LLC v. Stewart, No. 23-1603, April 15, 2025, Fed. Cir.

When “convoyed sales” entitle patentees to lost profits

A convoyed sale occurs when a patent-infringing product is sold with a functionally associated nonpatented product. In some cases, a patentee is entitled to lost profits for such sales — but not always. This case is a reminder that patentees seeking lost profits on unpatented components must clearly demonstrate a functional relationship with the patented products to be eligible for lost profits. Wash World Inc. v. Belanger Inc., No. 23-1841, March 24, 2025, Fed. Cir.

Copyright Office weighs generative AI training against fair use

In May 2025, the U.S. Copyright Office issued the latest in a series of reports examining copyright and artificial intelligence (AI), this time considering the so-called training required for generative AI. As the report notes, the training draws on “massive troves of data,” including copyrighted works. The report focuses heavily on whether such use of copyrighted material falls under the fair use doctrine — a question currently at issue in dozens of lawsuits. This article summarizes the report’s conclusions about the fair use issue while a brief sidebar covers a district court’s findings on the issue. Bartz v. Anthropic PBC, 3:24-cv-05417 (N.D. Cal.).

It’s not easy being green – Federal Circuit affirms TTAB test for color marks

It’s been 30 years since the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal trademark law permits the registration of a trademark that consists, purely and simply, of a color. Obtaining registration for a color mark, however, is no small task. This article reviews a case in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit weighed in on the proper test for determining whether a color mark is generic and therefore ineligible for registration. In re PT Medisafe Technologies, No. 23-1573, April 29, 2025, Fed. Cir.; Qualitex Co. v. Jacobson Products Co., 514 U.S. 159 (1995); Sunrise Jewelry Mfg. Corp. v. Fred S.A., 175 F.3d 1322 (Fed. Cir. 1999).