The U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruled in favor of Erise IP and clients FanDuel and DraftKings after the panel ruled all of the challenged claims of the plaintiff’s patent were invalid as obvious.

It marks the fourth of four IPR wins Erise has secured for FanDuel and DraftKings in the past month against the plaintiff.

Law360 reported on the most recent win for FanDuel and DraftKings, who were represented by partners Eric Buresh and Megan Redmond, and technical advisor Callie Pendergrass, writing that in its final decision, the PTAB said, “the two [daily fantasy sports] companies had shown the five separate claims of the patent were ineligible for patent protection.”

The patent, which had 25 claims, five that were challenged, covered a “type of gaming system where players can use their cellphones to connect to a central server in order to play.”

“The PTAB rejected all five, saying each would be obvious to a person of skill in the art at the time of their invention,” Law360 wrote.

Erise IP is pleased to announce that Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers has featured seven of its partners in its latest annual guide.

The guide, which is published by Thomson Reuters, named Adam Seitz, Eric Buresh, Michelle Marriott, Jason Mudd and Marshall Honeyman as Super Lawyers and recognized Carrie Bader and Megan Redmond as Rising Stars.

It marks the eighth consecutive year Mudd has been recognized for his work in Intellectual Property Litigation, who is joined by Michelle Marriott for the second consecutive year. For Buresh and Seitz, it is the sixth straight year they’ve been listed for Intellectual Property, which included Honeyman, who returns to the list.

Both Bader and Redmond were honored for their Intellectual Property Litigation work, marking the second and eighth consecutive years, respectively, being named Rising Stars.

Up to 5 percent of attorneys in each state are named as Super Lawyers, and up to 2.5 percent are named Rising Stars. The selection process includes peer nominations, third-party research and an evaluation by a panel of attorneys.

The lists, which are published nationwide in Super Lawyers magazines and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country, serve as a resource for attorneys and consumers seeking legal counsel.

Super Lawyers 

Eric Buresh, 2013 – 2018, Rising Stars 2009
Intellectual Property

Marshall Honeyman, 2005, 2018
Intellectual Property

Michelle Marriott, 2017 – 2018
Intellectual Property Litigation

Jason Mudd, 2011 – 2018, Rising Stars 2014 – 2015
Intellectual Property Litigation

Adam  Seitz, 2013 – 2018, Rising Stars 2010 – 2012
Intellectual Property

Rising Stars

Carrie Bader, 2017 – 2018
Intellectual Property Litigation

Megan Redmond, 2011 – 2018
Intellectual Property Litigation

Erise IP is pleased to announce the addition of Karyn Kesselring as an associate in the firm’s Denver office. She focuses her practice on intellectual property litigation, particularly defensive matters, utilizing her varied background and experience to assist clients.

Kesselring earned her law degree in June from the University of Colorado Law School where she was a member of a number of organizations on campus including the Intellectual Property Association at the University of Colorado Law School, the Women’s Law Caucus and the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association. She was a Production Editor for the Colorado Law and Technology Journal, and prosecuted patents and drafted documentation for start-up businesses in CU Law’s Entrepreneurial Law Clinic.

“Karyn was outstanding as a summer associate with us last year, and we were all impressed with her personally and with her meaningful contributions to our cases,” said Abran Kean, a shareholder in Erise IP’s Denver office. “We are thrilled that she is on our team full-time, and Karyn will be an important asset to our firm, and to our clients, for years to come.”

Prior to law school, Kesselring was a quality specialist at a pharmaceutical company where her duties included auditing, reporting and remediation of documentation issues within manufacturing batch records and logs. She later worked at a medical device company, working on regulatory affairs and quality assurance.

Erise IP partner Megan Redmond earned a place in the National Law Journal’s second annual Elite Boutique Trailblazers class. 

In recognizing Redmond, the National Law Journal published a profile on her, highlighting how well she knows her clients’ needs and position when they come to her and the firm for key litigation. The NLJ also highlighted her ability to adjust case strategy based on ever-changing precedent.

A recent case involving Redmond’s client, PACCAR, was noted as it was sued for trademark infringement but early on Redmond and Erise IP realized it was the plaintiff that was infringing upon PACCAR. They turned the tables on the Plaintiff and obtained a two-million-dollar settlement for PACCAR, as a defendant.

For the honor, the National Law Journal said it selected attorneys considered agents of change, including those who have made significant marks on the practice, policy and technological advancements.

Click here to view the National Law Journal’s 2018 Elite Boutique Trailblazers edition, which includes a profile on Redmond.

Erise IP is pleased to announce it has earned the distinction of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” for 2019.

The firm earned a Metropolitan Tier 1 ranking in Kansas City-KS for the practice areas of in Litigation – Intellectual Property.

The firm ranking comes after partners Adam Seitz and Marshall Honeyman were recognized by Best Lawyers in America in August for Litigation – Intellectual Property.

Bloomberg BNA and Law360 highlighted a recent case where Erise IP partners Eric Buresh and Michelle Marriott and associate Mark Lang were able to secure a venue change for an ongoing case involving its client Walt Disney Co.

On Oct. 25, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas transferred the case involving plaintiff Interactive ToyBox LLC’s to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California because “Disney did not have a regular and established place of business” in Texas.

Erise IP shareholders Eric Buresh, Jason Mudd and Carrie Bader co-authored a chapter in the recently published book Evidence in Patent Cases. 

Buresh’s, Mudd’s and Bader’s chapter, “Contents of Writings, Records, and Photographs,” analyzes Article X of the Federal Rules of Evidence in context of patent litigation. The three offer explanatory commentary, practice tips, and a collection of annotated case digests showing application of the rules to patent cases to give patent litigators a quick and easy reference to quickly find support for evidentiary positions during the heat of pre-trial, trial, and/or evidentiary hearings.

Buresh and Mudd are members of the editorial board and were Associate Editors of the book.

The book will be featured by BNA at a booth at the American Intellectual Property Law Association Annual Meeting held October 25-27 in Washington, DC.

Abran Kean recently participated in a Law Week Colorado roundtable that featured partners of boutique firms.

Kean, along with Pat Linden of Linden Segal and Michael Mihm of Ogborn Mihm, sat down with Law Week Colorado managing editor Tony Flesor to discuss the benefits and struggles that are unique to boutique law firms and how they face competition from BigLaw.

The roundtable in its entirety can be read here (subscription required).

Erise IP partners Eric Buresh and Megan Redmond, and technical advisor Callie Pendergrass defended FanDuel from patent infringement claims.

The Kansas Business Journal reported on the firm’s inter partes review win before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board, noting the ruling “is a big one for anyone utilizing online gaming or gambling associated with sports. It’s a growing industry, especially since the Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in May that opened the door for states to legalize betting on sports.”

The plaintiff argued it owned the rights to a type of technology that weeded out players who are under age or in states where gambling is illegal.

However, the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruled the subject matter behind the patent “would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which said subject matter pertains.”

Law360 also reported on the firm’s victory.

On October 4, the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board ruled in favor of Erise IP and its client FanDuel, writing that a number of claims of a video system “would have been obvious and, thus, are unpatentable.”

Law360 reported that FanDuel – represented by partners Eric Buresh and Megan Redmond, and technical advisor Callie Pendergrass – and other petitioners argued “the combination of Walker and Kelly disclosed most claims in the ‘818 patent.”

“The ‘818 patent covers an interactive video game system that comprises a central processing unit, or CPU, connected to a video screen and wireless game controllers to play the game,” Law360 writes.

FanDuel was sued in April 2016 by CG Technologies, which had accused the companies of infringing several patents, including the ‘818 patent. The companies had then requested inter partes review of the patent, and the PTAB agreed to institute review, finding they had shown a ‘reasonable likelihood’ they could prevail on at least one of the claims.

While the ‘818 patent has been resolved, the case is still ongoing with a number of additional patents still involved.