The Ninth Circuit recently considered an issue of first impression: What standard of review does an appellate court apply when reviewing a district court’s grant of summary judgment in a trademark infringement case on the...more
The Indiana Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion in In re the Matter of the Estate of Dean C. Krieger, reversing summary judgment dismissal of a will contest. The appellate court found that the opposing party presented...more
This week, we take a look at the Ninth Circuit’s decisions construing the Biomaterials Access Assurance Act’s immunity for “biomaterials suppliers” and addressing the standard of review when a district court grants summary...more
Ninth Circuit Affirms Decision Rejecting Suit Seeking Early Retirement Benefits - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has affirmed a district court’s decision rejecting a plaintiff’s lawsuit seeking to overturn...more
Expert witness testimony is a frequent (almost ubiquitous) feature of patent litigation, if only because questions of the state of the art or the understanding of one having ordinary skill in the art are almost always at...more
In Nichols v. Reliance Standard Life Ins. Co., 924 F.3d 80 (5th Cir. 2019), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that when an LTD policy funding an ERISA plan defines "regular occupation" as the way the...more
Massachusetts state and federal courts issued a number of important product liability decisions in 2019. The Product Liability practice group at Nutter recently reviewed these cases. Highlighted below are some of the key...more
In Ariana M. v. Humana Health Plan of Texas, Inc., No. 18-20700, 2019 WL 5866677 (5th Cir. Nov. 8, 2019), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected a plaintiff’s petition for attorneys’ fees under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(g). This...more
Many U.S. employers have recently experienced frustration over legal obstacles to keeping high quality foreign-national employees. These valuable employees have often been with the company since finishing a degree and...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court finding that three patent claims were invalid under the on-sale bar but remanded two other patent claims for trial, explaining that the district court...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a denial of attorneys’ fees under 35 USC § 285 and cautioned future litigants to “tread carefully” in criticizing district courts. Spineology, Inc. v. Wright Medical...more
• Central District of California Local Rule 23-3 requires plaintiffs to file a motion for class action certification within 90 days of service of the complaint. • The 9th Circuit in ABS Entertainment overturned Local Rule...more
Federal Circuit Summary - Before Prost, Dyk and Moore. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota. Summary: A party’s continued, but ultimately unsuccessful, pursuit of a claim...more
Gust, Inc. v. AlphaCap Ventures, LLC, Appeal No. 2017-2414 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 28, 2018) In an appeal from a district court decision awarding fees pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1927, the Federal Circuit reversed. The decision makes...more
• The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has affirmed a U.S. District Court's application of deferential standard to the review of an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) administrator's decision based on broad...more
In the recently-decided Cherry Community Organization v. City of Charlotte, the North Carolina Court of Appeals determines that standing to bring a declaratory judgment action challenging a rezoning requires both allegations...more
Federal Circuit Construes Claim Term in a Manner that Rendered Claim Language Superfluous - In SimpleAir, Inc. v. Sony Ericsson Mobile Commc’ns AB, Appeal No. 2015-1251, the Federal Circuit vacated the district court’s...more
Supreme Court Advance Release Opinions: SC19493 - Standard Oil of Connecticut, Inc. v. Administrator, Unemployment Compensation Act - SC19493 Dissent - Standard Oil of Connecticut, Inc. v. Administrator,...more
Overly Narrow Statement Of Problem Can Show Reliance On Hindsight - In INSITE VISION INCORPORATED v. SANDOZ, INC., Appeal No. 2014-1065, the Federal Circuit held that enunciating an overly narrow statement of the problem...more
With the dog days of summer upon us, the Rhode Island Supreme Court has concluded its Spring 2014 term, leaving practitioners with new guidance on a variety of trial and appellate practice issues. In one of its last...more