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Halfway into President Trump's administration, the Department of Justice (DOJ) provided a clearer image of its enforcement priorities for the False Claims Act (FCA).

The Standard Essential Patent (SEP) litigation landscape continues to evolve as years pass. Interestingly, its interplay with other legal areas presents unique challenges for businesses and patent owners.

Tax automation is not necessarily a new topic for global manufacturers. Over the years, many businesses within this sector have adopted scalable and affordable technology solutions enabling significantly improved accuracy in determination, filing and remittance.

Several regulatory updates and trends on consumer law have resulted in thousands of consumer class actions over the last few years. Concurrently, the present economic upheaval brought by the COVID-19 pandemic fueled a spike in the number of consumer lawsuits filed from various industries.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought an immense economic toll on businesses across the globe. Specifically, it prompted a spike in the number of lost profit damages lawsuits as businesses seek to recover lost profits because of pandemic-related damages. However, although there are various damage calculation theories available, pandemic-related lost profit claims can be taxing and challenging. Thus, businesses and their counsel must always exercise diligence in documenting their revenues and profits. They must also be abreast of emerging regulatory developments to avoid pitfalls.

The spread of the coronavirus has massively disrupted the way lawyers fulfill their obligations to their clients. From work-from-home set-up to virtual proceedings, lawyers had to adjust to the new means of working.

In the U.S. and Canada, courts have designed the doctrine of obviousness-type double patenting (ODP) to prevent inventors from gaining an unjust extension of their patent rights by obtaining patent on the obvious variants of an invention.

Since its enactment last 2014, the Supreme Court's Alice decision has continuously raised the bar for patent eligibility. Software innovation went up and it has significantly altered the patentability of software, business methods, and e-commerce technologies. In addition, software patent litigations have also changed dramatically.

The swift and unregulated development of artificial intelligence (AI) is significantly affecting innovation and the intellectual property (IP) landscape. As AI-based products, applications, and techniques continue to emerge in high volume, IP protection and enforcement issues are expected to increase.

In January 2019, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued a revised guidance to be used when evaluating subject matter eligibility and updated same in October 2019. The revised and updated guidelines primarily focus on patent eligibility procedures involving patent claims and applications. By providing new guidance in identifying whether a patent claim or patent application claim is directed to a judicial exception, it aims to bring better clarity and predictability to Step 2A of the Alice/Mayo test.

The anti-money laundering (AML) due diligence and compliance landscape continue to heighten with the passing of the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (AMLA). The AMLA, which is regarded as the most crucial AML legislation to date, was designed to modernize the anti-money laundering policy in the U.S. It also aims to strengthen the current financial system, improve government coordination, and streamline AML compliance obligations.

To keep businesses running efficiently even amid the COVID-19 crisis, different organizations shifted their operations to the "new normal" remote workforce environment. However, aside from the challenges of this sudden shift, the risks of cybersecurity attacks have also rapidly increased. Cyber threats have become more rampant, taking advantage of the situation and specifically targeting remote workers.

Today's business landscape has been significantly confronted with profound economic disruptions and income losses due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. These disruptions have made business interruption insurance a standard component for several business sectors seeking assistance in recovering lost revenue amid the crisis.

The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping antitrust law enforcement across the globe. Recognizing the need for a closer cooperation among private businesses, the US government seems to be more flexible now in reviewing COVID-19-related competitor collaborations. In April, both the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the expedited seven-day evaluation procedure, which typically takes months for traditional business reviews.

The current COVID-19 crisis has greatly impacted all industries across the world and the legal industry is no exception. Recently conducted studies show how the pandemic instigated a spike in the stress and anxiety levels of lawyers. Thus, a significant increase of alcoholism, mental health distress, and other related health problems had been noted in the legal industry.