Novartis Pharms. Corp. v. Accord Healthcare, Inc., Appeal No. 2021-1070 (Fed. Cir. June 21, 2022) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit granted panel rehearing of and vacated its prior decision in Novartis Pharms. Corp. v. Accord Healthcare, Inc., 21 F.4th 1362 (Fed. Cir. 2022). Our write-up of that opinion can be found here ...
Pavo Solutions LLC v. Kingston Technology Company, Inc., Appeal No. 2021-1834 (Fed. Cir. June 3, 2022) In our Case of the Week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a $7M compensatory damages award and, in doing so, dealt with questions of when a district court can correct errors in patent claims, whether a defendant can willfully infringe a patent that has been judicially corrected, when to exclude expert testimony, and when an issue has been preserved for appeal ...
BOT M8 LLC v. Sony Corporation, Appeal No. 2020-2218 (Fed. Cir. July 13, 2021) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit addressed the stringency of pleading requirements alleging patent infringement. At issue in the case was Bot M8 LLC’s lawsuit against Sony Corporation of America, alleging infringement of six patents relating to gaming machines ...
Hologic, Inc. v. Minerva Surgical, Inc., Appeal Nos. 2019-2054, -2081 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 11, 2022) Our Case of the Week follows the Hologic saga as it returns to the Federal Circuit on remand from the Supreme Court’s decision vacating the prior Federal Circuit opinion in 2021. We covered that decision here. The case concerns the doctrine of assignor estoppel. In this decision on remand, the Federal Circuit concluded that assignor estoppel applied ...
This week, we provide extensive write-ups about two consequential decisions issued by the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concerning two procedural issues under the America Invents Act (“AIA”), both following Supreme Court decisions. In In re: Palo Alto Networks, Inc., Appeal No. 2022-145 (Fed. Cir. Aug ...
Best Medical International, Inc. v. Elekta Inc., Appeal Nos. 2021-2099, -2100 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 26, 2022) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit addressed issues of jurisdiction where a challenged claim was canceled through ex parte reexamination during pending inter partes review proceedings, and otherwise affirmed the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s determination that challenged claims were obvious over the prior art ...
MLC Intellectual Property, LLC v. Micron Technology, Inc., Appeal No. 2020-1413 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 26, 2021) For those interested in an important Section 112 written description case, we recommend reading the Juno Therapeutics decision below, one of many significant precedential opinions issued this week. We choose as our Case of the Week another important decision issued this week, on the issue of damages, discovery, and expert disclosures ...
PATENT CASE OF THE WEEK Thaler v. Vidal, Appeal No. 2021-2347 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 5, 2022) In its only precedential patent decision this week, the Federal Circuit answered a question that had long occupied the musings of law professors, students, and legal theorists everywhere: whether artificial intelligence software can be listed as an inventor on a patent application. It cannot ...
Arendi S.A.R.L. v. LG Electronics Inc., Appeal No. 2021-1967 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 7, 2022) In our Case of the Week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the District of Delaware’s application of the duplicative litigation doctrine. Arendi sued LG for patent infringement, claiming that hundreds of LG products, including LG’s Rebel 4 camera, infringed Arendi’s patent ...
Polaris Innovations Ltd. v. Brent, Appeal No. 2019-1483 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 15, 2022) In our Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit provided what appears to be its first precedential opinion construing Section 317 of the Patent Act—a provision concerning the effect of settlement during an America Invents Act (AIA) proceeding. The Court’s opinion construes the statute in ways that may be unexpected for parties who seek to settle inter partes review (IPR) petitions ...
INVT SPE LLC v. Int’l Trade Comm’n, Appeal No. 2020-1903 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 31, 2022) In its only precedential patent case last week, the Federal Circuit issued a lengthy opinion that revolved around claims that are drawn to “capability,” particularly for computer-implemented claims ...
In an effort to counteract the economic damage wrought by the COVID-19 Pandemic, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in November of 2021. Part of that bill set aside $370 billion to improve and expand transportation, and further earmarked 10% of those funds for socially and economically disadvantaged government contractors ...
In 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14026 to increase the minimum wage for federal government contractors to $15 per hour. On November 23, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued its final rule implementing Executive Order 14026. The rule requires any federal contractor to pay employees a minimum hourly wage of $15 and overtime wages for work beyond 40 hours per week. This wage is subject to yearly increases determined by DOL ...
A recent decision by a federal court of appeals found a New Orleans’ city code limiting short-term rentals of residential properties (such as AirBnB, Vrbo, Vacasa, etc.) to only landlords who lived inside the city was unconstitutional.In Hignell-Stark v. City of New Orleans, 46 F.4th 317 (5th Cir. Aug. 22, 2022), the Court held the city ordinance was an undue burden on interstate commerce ...
By choice or regulation, the future of the maritime industry bends toward decarbonization. The industry contributes (by one estimate) almost 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions and depends on one of the dirtiest energy sources, bunker fuel. But cleaner alternatives are on the horizon for everyone. Companies that commit to decarbonization early have an opportunity to drive change instead of reacting to it ...
In April of 2021, President Biden issued Executive Order 14026, which increased the minimum wage for employees of federal government contractors to $15. The Executive Order provided that this minimum wage would be adjusted to account for inflation. On September 29, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor announced that the $15-an-hour minimum wage for federal contractors will increase to $16.20 because of inflation ...
Late last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a draft guidance intended to assist regulated entities and permitting authorities in applying the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in County of Maui, Hawaii v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, concerning Clean Water Act (“CWA”) jurisdiction over discharges to groundwater ...
On Tuesday, February 21, 2023, the three-member Democratic majority of the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) issued a decision in McLauren Macomb, reverting back to pre-Trump era standards and ruling that non-disparagement and confidentiality provisions in a separation agreement violated the concerted right activity provisions of Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”). Section 7 of the NLRA applies to most U.S ...
On Tuesday, December 7, 2021, in The State of Georgia, et. al. v. Biden, et. al., Case No. 1:21-cv-163, a federal district court judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of the vaccine mandate for federal contractors and subcontractors in all covered contracts in any state or territory of the United States. This injunction is nationwide and states that it applies to all federal contractors ...
American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rule 4.2, the “no-contact rule,” provides that: “In representing a client, a lawyer shall not communicate about the subject of the representation with a person the lawyer knows to be represented by another lawyer in the matter, unless the lawyer has the consent of the other lawyer or is authorized to do so by law or a court order ...
Before adjourning its 2021 session, the Oregon legislature passed an act that will make it more difficult for health care systems, insurers, and other health care entities to merge with, acquire, or otherwise join forces with their industry counterparts. Proponents of the Equal Access to Care Act, which is also known as House Bill 2362, contend that the new legislation is necessary to combat access limitations and price increases caused by consolidation in the health care arena ...
On July 27, 2021, Governor Kate Brown signed into law a bill that will make it more difficult for health care entities in Oregon to consummate mergers and similar transactions ...
As a business owner in the Pacific Northwest, you likely have heard of the changes to California’s regulations regarding warning labels on consumer products, Proposition 65, which takes effect August 30, 2018. Your business may be affected by the changes if your business conducts any consumer product-related business in California ...
On December 1, 2022, the United States Department of Defense, General Service Administration, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) issued a final rule amending the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) to implement a section of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. The previous FAR 1 ...
On July 19, 2021, Governor Kate Brown signed a bill that is intended to combat discrimination in health care. SB 567 prohibits health care providers in Oregon from denying medical treatment, or limiting the amount of medical resources allocated, to patients based on their race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, or disability. SB 567 has been the subject of considerable debate ...
