The Puerto Rico Supreme Court has issued an opinion interpreting, for the first time, several provisions of the Puerto Rico Labor Reform Act of 2017, specifically holding the McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework...more
The Texas Legislature created a statute to protect parties’ rights to freedom of speech and to petition the courts: the Texas Citizen’s Participation Act (TCPA). See Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code Ann. §§ 27.001-.011....more
In virtually all litigation, the party that commences the lawsuit, typically referred to as the plaintiff, bears the burden of proof to establish his/her claims for which they seek relief from the Court. A defendant’s role is...more
On March 28, 2022, the Supreme Court of Delaware settled a 15-year battle between asbestos plaintiffs and defendants by affirming the burden-shifting framework provided in a 2006 Superior Court decision This decision affirms...more
The Minnesota Supreme Court recently reaffirmed the use of the familiar McDonnell Douglas burden-shifting framework to analyze claims of retaliation under Minnesota law, despite the ask by the plaintiff-appellant and amici to...more
In July 2021, a bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill, S. 2428, entitled the False Claims Amendments Act of 2021 ("S. 2428"), which proposed substantive and procedural amendments to the False Claims Act ("FCA")....more
The outcome of litigation often depends on which party has the burden of presenting evidence to support its claim (the “Burden of Production”) and persuading the judge or jury that it has a viable claim (the “Burden of...more
The Situation: China's legislature has recently eased the challenge of prosecuting trade secret misappropriation cases in that country. The Result: As recently amended, Chinese law now follows some case law developments...more
On April 6, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court held that federal-sector plaintiffs in age discrimination cases brought under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) need not show that negative consideration of age is a...more
In August 2019, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) proposed rulemaking that potentially would make it harder to bring disparate impact discrimination claims under the Fair Housing Act. The proposed...more
What does an age discrimination plaintiff have to prove to succeed? Federal employees may have an easier path for proving an age discrimination claim, if we are reading the tea leaves correctly on the Supreme Court’s oral...more
A California Court of Appeal held that courts should not enforce forum selection clauses in contracts that also contain a jury waiver. For franchisors that have California franchisees, this ruling could complicate the ability...more
For decades, Tennessee courts have utilized conflicting tests for analyzing the corporate opportunity doctrine. Recently, however, the Tennessee Court of Appeals addressed this inconsistency by determining that the Delaware...more
Unanimous decisions from the Federal Mine Safety and Health Commission are rare, but on July 11, 2019, the Commission ruled 5-0 to reverse an Administrative Law Judge’s finding of a fall protection violation in Sims Crane...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: There is a deep circuit split on who bears the burden of proving loss causation on ERISA breach of fiduciary duty claims. ...more
In 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit docketed close to 600 appeals from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). That is the second highest number since starting to hear post-American Invents Act...more
IPR Petitioner’s Initial Identification of the Real Parties in Interest Is to Be Accepted Unless and Until Disputed by a Patent Owner - In Worlds Inc. v. Bungie, Inc., Appeal Nos. 2017-1481, -1546, -1583, the Federal...more
A recent case in the Fifth Circuit, Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London v. Lowen Valley View, L.L.C., provides a valuable reminder to policyholders of the importance of promptly investigating any event that could cause...more
As first discussed with the 50+ participants at the inaugural Global IP Strategy Conference held at our firm’s offices on Friday March 9, 2018, the Federal Circuit’s October en banc decision in Aqua Products Inc. v. Matal...more
Appellate Court Advance Release Opinions: AC39520 - Stratek Plastics, Ltd. v. Ibar - Remember the case that held you could not recover your attorney fees in a mechanic lien foreclosure as the plaintiff unless there had...more
Federal Circuit Summaries - Before NEWMAN, CHEN, and HUGHES. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: In inter partes review, the patent challenger bears the burden of proving that proposed amended...more
An ongoing debate exists regarding the nature and extent to which transnational companies should be held directly and legally liable for human rights impacts. Much of this debate has involved calls for additional regulation...more
In an en banc decision, the Federal Circuit in Aqua Products, Inc. v. Matal addressed the question of who bears the burden of proving that claims amended during inter partes review ("IPR") proceedings are or are not...more
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) gets most of its attention (judicial and otherwise) regarding its decisions in inter partes review and covered business method proceedings. But the Board also has responsibility for...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Aqua Products Inc., v. Matal materially changes the burden of proof associated with the patentability of amended claims during an inter partes...more