Deep cuts at HHS, including FDA; Canada’s action plan for managing avian flu; Utah’s fluoridation ban; soda; tariffs; eggs - Makary confirmed. On March 25, the Senate confirmed the nomination of Dr. Martin A. Makary as FDA...more
In Washington: Two public health experts on President-elect Biden’s COVID-19 task force rejected the idea of broad “lockdowns” like those seen in the spring designed to slow skyrocketing case numbers. Celine Gounder told...more
Businesses often worry that the information they provide to the government will be disclosed, and with good reason – such information is presumptively available to the public under the Freedom of Information Act...more
Rejecting a standard that had governed lower courts for 45 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has made it easier for federal agencies to protect companies’ commercial information from public disclosure under the Freedom of...more
At the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an important Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) decision that decreases the burden on contractors seeking to protect confidential information. As most contractors are aware,...more
In its recent decision in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media d/b/a Argus Leader, No. 18-481, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a decades-old legal standard for companies that wish to shield their business...more
Supreme Court Upends Half-Century Standard for Handling Confidential Commercial Information Under the Freedom of Information Act - Businesses that provide sensitive commercial or financial information to the federal...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 24, 2019, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media and resolved fractured circuit splits about the parameters for when the government may withhold...more
A recent Supreme Court case determined that private commercial and financial information that is transmitted to the federal government under an assurance of privacy is considered “confidential” and not subject to disclosure...more
The Supreme Court in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, No. 18-481 (U.S. June 24, 2019) recently relaxed the standard for withholding confidential information under Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act...more
Although patentees generally do not have great concerns about the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) because of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's secrecy requirements, they may lose control over their information under...more
In Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, the US Supreme Court held that private sector commercial information in the federal government’s possession may be withheld from public release without a showing that the...more
On June 24, the US Supreme Court issued its opinion in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, expanding the scope of information protected under Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FOIA establishes...more
Many companies that have submitted confidential business information to the federal government have learned the hard way that the Courts and federal agencies have not interpreted the word “confidential” under the Freedom of...more
On June 24, 2019, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media and resolved fractured circuit splits about the parameters for when the government may withhold information from a...more
On June 24, 2019, the United States Supreme Court, in an opinion by Justice Gorsuch, held that information that “is both customarily and actually treated as private by its owner and provided to the government under an...more
Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media, decided June 24, 2019 by the Supreme Court, substantially expands the Freedom of Information Act exemption for confidential business information. The ruling is significant for...more
If you thought a case, just decided last week by SCOTUS, involving a claim against the VA by a veteran who had been denied benefits (Kisor v. Wilkie) seemed far afield from the securities laws (but really could have a...more
FOOD MARKETING INSTITUTE V. ARGUS LEADER MEDIA. Before the Supreme Court with J. Gorsuch delivering the majority opinion. Summary: Commercial or financial information is confidential under the Freedom of Information Act...more
On June 24, 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”), which protects from public disclosure “trade secrets and commercial or financial information obtained from a person [that...more
You can rejoice in a recent Supreme Court decision if you have ever spent hours trying to convince a government agency not to release your company’s confidential information to the public in response to a Freedom of...more
The Supreme Court's June 24, 2019 decision in Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media makes it easier to protect trade secrets and confidential commercial or financial information provided to the government from public...more
• The Supreme Court held that the ordinary meaning of “confidential”—used at the time Congress enacted the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1966—should control its meaning. Where commercial or financial information is...more
Recently, 24 June 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a landmark decision, Food Mktg. Inst. v. Argus Leader Media, 139 S. Ct. 915 (2019), that overturns a half-century of precedent and significantly expands the ability of...more