While courts have often warned that hindsight bias should be avoided when assessing whether a patented invention would have been obvious to the skilled person, the application of this principle can be challenging in practice....more
On January 24, 2025, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in Laboratory Corp. of America v. Davis, No. 24-0304, which may result in the resolution of a long-standing circuit split on a dispute key to class certification. In...more
Federal courts can adjudicate state-law claims arising out of the same facts as federal-law claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1367, but what happens if, after removal, the plaintiff amends her complaint to remove the federal questions...more
Ever had to explain to a client why a sweet win in the lower courts doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s time to dig in and eat? In City of Martinsville, VA v. Express Scripts, a Fourth Circuit majority opinion used a...more
In Matco Tools Corporation v Canada (Attorney General), 2025 FC 118 (Matco Tools), the Federal Court found that a decision by the Commissioner of Patents to refuse to reinstate a patent application following the failure to...more
Snap removal is a rare but useful procedural device to remove an action from state to federal court under the diversity jurisdiction rules, even when the plaintiff’s complaint names an in-state defendant as a party....more
In 2024, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Government Accountability Office issued five noteworthy bid protest decisions: - Percipient.ai Inc. v. U.S. - Oak...more
In PMC Casualty Corp. v. Virginia Surety Co., the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, addressed a motion to dismiss a complaint filed by a party to a reinsurance agreement alleging...more
The Supreme Court ruled on January 15, 2025, that if a plaintiff amends a complaint to remove federal claims after a case has been removed to federal court, the federal court loses its jurisdiction over the remaining...more
On January 15, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States in Royal Canin U.S.A., Inc., et al. v. Wullschleger et al., upheld the Eighth Circuit’s decision, holding that when a plaintiff amends their complaint and deletes...more
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously upheld plaintiffs’ ability to divest federal courts of jurisdiction through post-removal amendments to their complaints, overturning the prevailing appellate consensus. The decision in...more
On January 15, 2025, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a unanimous decision in Royal Canin U.S.A., Inc. v. Wullschleger, No. 23–677, holding that when a case alleging both state and federal claims is removed to...more
A federal judge in Minnesota recently granted a motion to exclude an expert declaration explaining the dangers of AI deepfakes because the declaration itself contained AI-hallucinated citations. The case was a First Amendment...more
The Federal Circuit just dismissed the Government’s “Late is Late” appeal on Dec. 16th as moot, preserving the split between the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the issue of...more
On Thursday, in two separate decisions, a federal district court in Texas struck down the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule that expanded the definition of “dealer” to include proprietary traders and some...more
The legal arguments advanced in these court cases mainly concern whether the FTC has the statutory authority to enact such a ban. Shortly before the September 4, 2024 effective date of FTC’s ban on covenants not to compete,...more
By statute, judgments of state courts are entitled to the same preclusive effect in subsequent federal litigation as they would have in subsequent state court litigation. 28 U.S.C. § 1738. A recent decision by the U.S. Court...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of Delawares recent decision in Landbridge Port Services (Hong Kong) Ltd. v. Notarc Port Investment LLC further deepens the split among U.S. federal courts regarding jurisdiction under...more
On February 29, 2024, the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in Lexington Insurance Co. v. Smith (Suquamish Tribe). The Court affirmed the tribal court’s subject-matter jurisdiction over Lexington pursuant to the Tribe’s...more
The number of securities class action lawsuits increased slightly in 2023, reversing the trend of decline over the last three consecutive years, according to a report released today by Cornerstone Research and the Stanford...more
On January 12, 2024, a northern California federal district court dismissed the PFAS-related class-action case of Lowe v. Edgewell Personal Care Company on the grounds that its plaintiffs had not plausibly alleged injury from...more
Companies facing lawsuits involving alleged claims of willful acts have had a rude awakening following the ruling in The Wonderful Co. LLC et al. v. Starr Indemnity & Liability Co. by a California federal court that came at...more
How do you determine whether a case should be heard in state court or federal court? Lawsuits can be filed in either state or federal court, depending on where the litigants live or do business, the type of case, the amount...more
The London Engineering Group’s LEG 3 exclusion—one of three standard form provisions issued by the London Engineering Group addressing coverage arising from construction or design defects—is an increasingly common defects...more
On November 2, 2023, the Federal Court dismissed The Winning Combination (TWC)’s application for judicial review of Health Canada’s decision to refuse a natural health product licence for Resolve, a smoking cessation aid:...more