The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s summary judgment denial and determination that the definition of “beer” (which encompassed “other versions and combinations” of beer and malt...more
Based on a recent Delaware Chancery Court decision, parties outside of a transaction—not just the buyer or seller—may be able to enforce continuing employment provisions in a purchase agreement. This decision shows that a...more
FRAUNHOFER-GESELLSCHAFT v. SIRIUS XM RADIO INC. Before Dyk, Linn, and Taranto. Appeal from the District of Delaware. Summary: Contract interpretation must be applied in determining whether a sublicense survives...more
Thanks to inexact language in a settlement agreement, a for-profit hospital chain can challenge whistleblowers’ eligibility for attorneys’ fees under the False Claims Act (“FCA”). The single sentence that spawned nearly 5...more
The Supreme Court of Canada in Free World Trust v Électro Santé Inc, 2000 SCC 66 rejected the use of extrinsic documents such as file wrappers (patent prosecution histories) for claim construction, on the basis that allowing...more
On Monday, the Colorado Supreme Court issued its decision in American Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Hansen, No. 14SC99 (Colo. June 20, 2016), holding that extrinsic evidence can only be used to interpret ambiguous policy language,...more
In insurance litigation, insureds often argue that, if a provision in an insurance policy is found to be ambiguous, that ambiguity should be resolved in favor of the insured, and against the insurer that drafted the contract,...more
On July 3, 2013, a closely divided Florida Supreme Court held that judges were required to interpret ambiguous policy language strictly against the insurer and in favor of coverage, and that courts should not first attempt to...more