• The Supreme Court in WesternGeco LLC v. ION Geophysical Corp. held 7-2 that because ION exported components of WesternGeco’s patented system in violation of 35 U.S.C. § 271(f)(2), WesternGeco was entitled to recover damages...more
6/26/2018
/ 35 U.S.C. § 271(f)(2) ,
35 U.S.C. § 284 ,
Appeals ,
Damages ,
Domestic Injury ,
Extraterritoriality Rules ,
Foreign Sales ,
Lost Profits ,
Patent Act ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patents ,
Remand ,
SCOTUS ,
Vacated ,
WesternGeco LLC v Ion Geophysical Corporation
• The Supreme Court in Murphy v. NCAA ruled 7-2 that a federal law prohibiting states from authorizing sports betting violated the constitutional rule that the federal government may not “commandeer” the states.
• The...more
5/18/2018
/ Anti-Commandeering ,
Appeals ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Indian Gaming ,
Indian Gaming Regulation Act ,
Murphy v National Collegiate Athletic Association ,
NCAA ,
PASPA ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Sports Gambling ,
State Sovereignty ,
States Rights ,
Tenth Amendment
• The Supreme Court in Oil States v. Greene’s Energy ruled 7-2 that cancellation of patent claims in an inter partes review does not violate either Article III or the Seventh Amendment of the Constitution.
• In SAS...more
5/1/2018
/ America Invents Act ,
Article III ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Inter Partes Review (IPR) Proceeding ,
Oil States Energy Services v Greene's Energy Group ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Patents ,
Public Rights Doctrine ,
SAS Institute Inc. v Iancu ,
SCOTUS ,
Seventh Amendment ,
USPTO
• The Supreme Court in Jesner v. Arab Bank ruled 5-4 that suits against foreign corporations under the ATS are barred, answering a question left unresolved in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.
• Although the decision...more
• The Federal Circuit held that the “immoral or scandalous” clause of Lanham Act § 2(a), which prohibits registration of a trademark that “consists of or comprises immoral or scandalous matter,” is unconstitutional under the...more
12/20/2017
/ Appeals ,
Commercial Speech ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Intent-to-Use ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
Patent Trial and Appeal Board ,
Reversal ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO
Securities defendants can rest easier after the Supreme Court’s decision to strictly construe certain statutory time limits under the Securities Act of 1933. On June 26, 2017, the Court issued its opinion in California Public...more
7/1/2017
/ CalPERS v ANZ Securities ,
Class Action ,
Equitable Tolling ,
Opt-Outs ,
Pension Funds ,
SCOTUS ,
Section 11 ,
Section 13 ,
Securities Act ,
Securities Act of 1933 ,
Securities Fraud ,
Securities Litigation ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Statute of Repose ,
Underwriting
On June 19, 2017, in Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court of California, the Supreme Court held, by a vote of 8 to 1, that California courts lack specific jurisdiction to entertain a nonresident’s claims that are...more
On June 19, 2017, the Supreme Court in Matal v. Tam unanimously held that a portion of 15 U.S.C. § 1052(a), the Lanham Act provision that prohibits the registration of trademarks that may “disparage . . . persons, living or...more
6/21/2017
/ Disparagement ,
First Amendment ,
Free Speech ,
Government Speech Doctrine ,
Lanham Act ,
Matal v Tam ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
SCOTUS ,
The Slants ,
Trademark Registration ,
Trademarks ,
USPTO ,
Viewpoint Discrimination
This week, the Supreme Court in Kokesh v. SEC unanimously held that the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) equitable disgorgement remedy is subject to a five-year statute of limitations because it is a “penalty”...more
In a highly anticipated opinion significantly narrowing the first prong of the patent venue statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1400(b), the Supreme Court in TC Heartland LLC v. Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC unanimously held that a domestic...more
5/25/2017
/ Forum Selection ,
Patent Infringement ,
Patent Litigation ,
Patents ,
Personal Jurisdiction ,
Primary Residence ,
Principal Place of Business ,
SCOTUS ,
State of Incorporation ,
TC Heartland LLC v Kraft Foods ,
Venue
On December 6, 2016, in an opinion written by Justice Alito, the Supreme Court unanimously affirmed the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Salman v. United States, a closely-watched insider trading tipping case. Salman builds upon...more
On June 16, 2016, Justice Thomas, writing for a unanimous Court in Universal Health Services, Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar,examined the circumstances under which an “implied false certification” can trigger liability...more
If you read one thing ...
- The Supreme Court discarded the Federal Circuit’s heightened Seagate standard for awarding enhanced damages under the Patent Act.
- The new standard increases the chance of an...more
If you read one thing...
- SCOTUS declines to adopt broad or categorical rules governing use of representative evidence in class actions, holding instead that the use of such evidence will depend on the purpose for...more
Last week, in two closely watched cases, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit vacated a 2013 district court decision that:
(i) found individuals working on the film Black Swan to be improperly classified as...more
7/8/2015
On Monday, April 27, 2015, the Supreme Court agreed to hear an important constitutional case that could dramatically limit the viability of class action lawsuits claiming millions or billions of dollars in statutory damages...more
The U.S. Supreme Court found middle ground in Omnicare this week, holding that issuers’ statements of opinion issued in registration statements can be the basis for liability under Section 11 if either the speaker does not...more
On November 10, 2014, the Supreme Court (No. 14-389) declined to review the 3rd Circuit decision (No. 13-1237), In Re: Grand Jury Subpoena, leaving intact the 3rd Circuit’s ruling on the proper bounds of the crime-fraud...more
On October 6, 2014, the Supreme Court declined to review the 11th Circuit’s decision in U.S. v. Esquenazi, et. al., leaving standing the appellate court’s expansive definition of “foreign official” under the Foreign Corrupt...more
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court saved securities class-action plaintiffs from their worst nightmare and upheld the fraud-on-the-market presumption of reliance in securities class actions filed under Section 10(b) of the...more
On June 23, 2014, in Utility Air Regulatory Group v. EPA et al., No. 12-1146 (and related cases), the Supreme Court held that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may require certain greenhouse-gas emitters to install...more
On June 19, in Alice Corp. Pty. Ltd. v. CLS Bank Int’l et al., No. 13-298, the Supreme Court unanimously held that a party may not patent “generic computer implementation” of an abstract business idea. Relying on the Court’s...more
On June 2, 2014, in Limelight Networks, Inc. v. Akamai Technologies, Inc., et al., No. 12-786, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Federal Circuit’s conclusion that a defendant can be liable for inducing infringement...more
On June 2, 2014, in Nautilus, Inc. v. Biosig Instruments, Inc., No. 13-369, the Supreme Court unanimously rejected the Federal Circuit’s test for determining indefiniteness of a patent claim as “lack[ing] the precision that §...more
On May 19, 2014, in a six-to-three decision written by Justice Ginsburg, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the doctrine of laches did not bar either legal or equitable relief in a copyright case that was brought within the...more