Due to federal illegality, the cannabis industry has long been plagued by federal agencies taking a variety of different enforcement approaches to cannabis businesses. From the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to the National...more
The False Claims Act (FCA) permits private individuals to bring lawsuits in the name of the United States—called qui tam—against those they believe have defrauded the federal government: 31 U.S.C. § 3730(b). The FCA thereby...more
The United States Supreme Court recently granted certiorari in a pair of cases out of the Seventh Circuit that will finally resolve a longstanding circuit split on the question of “scienter” under the False Claims Act...more
On Friday, January 13, the Supreme Court agreed to consider whether the False Claims Act (“FCA”) covers compliance lapses tied to regulatory interpretations that are incorrect but “objectively reasonable.” The Supreme Court...more
Twelve years after the Federal Circuit’s landmark In re Bose decision on fraud, the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (“TTAB”) has answered one of the questions not reached by Bose: whether reckless disregard of the truth...more
In a recent precedential TTAB case, Chutter, Inc. v. Great Management Group, LLC and Chutter, Inc. v. Great Concepts, LLC, 21 USPQ2d 1001 (TTAB 2021), the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board found that reckless disregard for the...more
The October 2021 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter discusses a precedential TTAB decision regarding fraud; the DEA's proposal to increase production quotas for several schedule I controlled substances,...more
The revived False Claims expansion bill in California, A.B. 2570, is on the agenda to be heard by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on May 11 at 10:00 am PDT. The proposal would authorize tax-based false claims actions,...more
Attorneys who appear in both state and federal courts must be familiar with the differences between the two systems. While some rules have harmonized over time, other procedures are entirely distinct. As a matter of...more