Section 337 investigations at the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) involve high-stakes and complex procedures. These are governed by unique cross-disciplinary rules which call for a deep understanding of the ITC’s thought process and a specialized defense strategy for one’s intellectual property rights. To prevail in Section 337 investigations and dodge red flags, attorneys and practitioners should stay close to the recent developments in this field of law.
Commercial litigation can be a complex and costly process. Stakes are often high especially when it comes to calculating lost profits. In the battle over lost profit damages, both sides must face the tough challenge of choosing which calculation methodologies, documentation, and expert evidence to use. Defendants will often try to push back, citing credible damages studies that often leave the opposition with little to no significant damages awards.
On March 29, 2022, the United States Senate passed Resolution 561 which aims to educate the general public about the prevalence of asbestos-related diseases and the risks of asbestos exposure. To this day, it remains heavily monitored by US regulators and many corporations face a difficult road ahead in dealing with various complex asbestos issues.
In today’s highly competitive work environment, trade secrets are the lifeblood of a business. As more and more companies move to hybrid and remote work structures, the risk of misappropriation magnifies. This underscores the need for businesses to level up their trade secret protection and create sophisticated confidentiality controls without stifling collaborative workspaces.
The past years have seen drastic changes and challenges in in-person proceedings and trials. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has put restrictions on court operations which resulted in unprecedented trial backlogs, difficulty in jury selection, as well as other challenges.
The past months have seen a rise in new insurance coverage and bad faith filings. Notably, a significant number of claims filed at both federal and state courts were dismissed favoring insurers due to the lack of "direct physical loss or damage" to property. In the recent McNamara v. Government Employees Insurance decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the Florida district court’s decision dismissing the bad faith claim. The Eleventh Circuit held that “consent judgment is the ‘functional equivalent’ of an excess judgment that permits the insured to proceed against the insurer for bad faith.”
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) remains the avenue for investigating complex intellectual property (IP)-related disputes. Successful representation at the ITC draws heavily on strategic capabilities to handle intricate claims and high-stake investigations.
The disruption in the court system brought by the COVID-19 pandemic instigated the courts to transition into a virtual environment. However, using technology to facilitate remote hearings poses several challenges to the efficiency of the judicial workload process.
In the United States, Amgen Inc. v. Sanofi-Aventis (2021) has revived the discussion on the enablement of genus claims in biotechnology inventions. Moreover, the multiple filings for abbreviated new drug applications (ANDA) also raise concerns, particularly in cases that may provoke multidistrict litigation.
Construction claims, which typically arise from disagreements, failed obligations, or violations on construction contracts, can be challenging and time-consuming. Failure to effectively manage and resolve such disputes can have a profound effect on a project’s lifecycle and deter good relationship between parties.
With the evolving regulatory and compliance landscapes, class action litigation has significantly raised specific legal challenges and vulnerabilities to businesses across industries. In addition, although courts are generally adjusting the rules applicable to the concerns of class action lawsuits, several unsettled and divergent viewpoints can vastly cause critical issues and complications in this complex and multifaceted area of law.
Data breaches in the U.S. have shown no signs of slowing down in the last several years, neither have the wave of class action cases associated with these. Recent breaches include some of the largest companies such as LifeLabs, Yahoo, Equifax, and Google LLC. Such breaches, as well as the infringements incorporated with it, can impose tremendous burdens on banks and credit card companies that have to respond to a flood of fraud claims and canceled cards.
There are two kinds of trials in the U.S. — bench trials and jury trials. Unless a party asks for a jury, civil cases that proceed to trial will most likely be tried without a jury. This is even more so now that courts are postponing jury trials to help stem the spread of the coronavirus in the country.
The litigation funding landscape remains highly active as more legal and corporate companies turn to litigation finance in resolving disputes. Significantly, several risk issues were opened because of the absence of clear regulatory guidance for the effective use of litigation finance. The ongoing pandemic has also added to the complexity of this area.
Lawsuits against employers allegedly violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when conducting employee background checks have been continuously increasing. One of the factors behind this significant shift includes the highly technical FCRA requirements that are oftentimes prone to violations.
