Fletcher YoderSovereign immunity can be used by states as a shield from copyright suits in federal court. Abrogation of that immunity by Congress requires an explicit statement to do so and must meet the congruent and proportional test between the injury to be prevented or remedied and the means adopted to that end.
Laches does not bar plaintiff’s claim for infringement of copyright in a motion picture screenplay relating to conduct falling within Copyright Act’s three-year statute even though plaintiff did not file suit until 18 years after renewing the copyright.
There is a presumption that the same claim terms within different claims in a patent will be construed in the same manner, unless it is clear from the specification and prosecution history that the terms have different meanings at different portions of the claims. The doctrine of prosecution history estoppel can bar a finding of infringement by equivalents.