Securities class action litigation have continuously skyrocketed over the past years. This trend is expected to grow in fiscal year 2020 as companies constantly engage in global expansions making securities markets more seemingly interconnected. With this, companies are encouraged to prepare for significant changes as well as potential risks and pitfalls. Being updated with the trends and recent court decisions to mitigate the possibility of setbacks is essentially recommended.
Securities class action litigation have continuously skyrocketed over the past years. This trend is expected to grow in fiscal year 2020 as companies constantly engage in global expansions making securities markets more seemingly interconnected. With this, companies are encouraged to prepare for significant changes as well as potential risks and pitfalls. Being updated with the trends and recent court decisions to mitigate the possibility of setbacks is essentially recommended.
Along with the increasing volume of commercial disputes is the emergence of various issues that continue to reshape the commercial law landscape. In this LIVE Webcast, seasoned litigators Reginald L. Snyder (Taylor English Duma LLP) and Steven Barber (Steptoe & Johnson LLP) will bring the audience to a road beyond the basics of commercial litigation.
Policy changes continue to reshape trial practice before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB). Some of the recent developments include expansion of the PTAB’s discretionary denial power, potential investigation of PTAB denials by the Congress, and judicial review of PTAB decisions following Thryv v. Click-to-Call.
Preference claims in bankruptcy litigation have long been a subject of concern among creditors. As significant cases continue to refine and expand this legal landscape, litigators must always expect the emergence of new complexities that may reshape how they defend their clients.
Challenges to mergers and acquisitions by US antitrust authorities spiked in 2019, with much attention paid to “nascent” competitive problems and vertical mergers. This was capped off by proposed Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) vertical merger guidelines, the first such guidelines issued since 1984. In addition, the DOJ has continued to express concern about merger remedies, leading to the DOJ’s attempt to stop the AT&T-Time Warner combination. The concern about remedies played another role in the court room, as one court engaged in an unprecedented expanded Tunney Act review of a merger consent order offered by the DOJ. And not to be outdone, the Attorney Generals of several states showed their dissatisfaction with the DOJ remedies in the T-Mobile/Sprint consolidation, bringing their own lawsuit to stop the deal.
In its continued effort to deter anticompetitive conduct and other violations affecting government procurement, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) created the Procurement Collusion Strike Force in 2019. It is comprised of state and federal investigators and prosecutors mandated to investigate and prosecute all types of procurement collusions and other similar misconduct in government purchasing and programs.
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. By rejecting and invalidating ODP, courts prevent the manipulation of issue dates and patent rights by patentees.
Since the beginning of 2019, the number of biosimilar litigation - particularly those concerning the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) “patent dance” - has drastically increased. One of the notable BCPIA cases that are being closely watched, is Amgen’s legal battle with Novartis’ Sandoz arm over the Enbrel patent, in which the former intends to hold commercial exclusivity for Enbrel until 2029. The legal precedents established in this dispute are expected to impact the biosimilar market as well as the pending and future biosimilar patent lawsuits.
With the growing competition in the marketplace and the increasing number of antitrust claims, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) continue to intensify its crackdown on anticompetitive conduct across all industries. The FTC recently announced the creation of an internal task force that would monitor and investigate potential antitrust violations arising in the technology markets.
Also known as claim construction hearing, the Markman hearing is a significant proceeding in a patent infringement case. Getting it right is crucial to the success of a case.
In December 2019, the Final Regulations for Qualified Opportunity Zone Program were issued by Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The Final Regulations were reported in the Federal Register in January 2020 and will become final in mid-March.
Effective calculation of intellectual property damages is a crucial factor in any IP litigation. However, with significant court cases constantly shaping the process, several risk issues including apportionment analysis, royalty base issues, and damages calculation methodologies must be carefully considered to avoid unwanted risks and pitfalls.
Special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), also known as “blank-check companies,” have recently reemerged as a feasible acquisition vehicle for many private companies. The sole purpose of SPACs is to purchase other companies by raising capital through initial public offerings (IPOs).
QA automation has been prevalent over decades in the Software Testing Industry, and it's continuing to mature to pace up with a wide variety of technologies, programming languages, and methodologies. While QA automation has helped enhance the test coverage, lower overall QA costs, and accelerate test cycles; however, we’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg.
