The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has determined that a trial court does not lose subject matter jurisdiction over a patent or copyright infringement case where all sales of accused products to U.S. customers were made f.o.b. in Canada by a Canadian corporation.
In Quanta Computer, many observers believed that the Court would address whether, and to what extent, a party can contractually restrict application of the patent exhaustion doctrine, under which patent rights covering a product are extinguished when the product is sold without restriction. Instead, the Court's decision in Quanta appears to be relatively narrow, confirming that the sale of unpatented components can exhaust a system patent that is substantially, but not completely, embodied by those components, but leaving open the broader question of whether parties can contractually limit application of the patent exhaustion doctrine to the detriment of downstream good faith purchasers.
Medical Services Must Be Legally Rendered to Qualify for Payment
More and more frequently, insurers are including 'choice of forum' provisions in their policies in which these insurers identify a particular state or country where coverage litigation 'must' be pursued. While in the past few decades a body of law has developed in federal courts that provides some support for this approach, the standard is not nearly as rigid as insurers would have their insureds and courts overseeing coverage litigation believe.
A majority of courts consider the contra proferentem doctrine to be a pillar of insurance law. The doctrine requires ambiguous terms in an insurance policy to be construed against the insurer and in favor of coverage for the insured. A prominent rationale behind the doctrine is that insurance policies are usually standard-form contracts drafted entirely by insurers.
This article examines potential conflicts of interest between an insurer and its insured and the extent of an insured's right to its own independent counsel in such circumstances. This article also discusses other situations that may raise conflicts of interest between an insurer and an insured sufficient to trigger a right to independent counsel. Finally, it considers whether the insurer or the insured has the right to select that counsel.
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Although credit applications assist lessors in making these credit decisions, the lessor should make sure that it avoids the pitfalls of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act ('ECOA') and that the financial information it obtains through the credit application is stored appropriately to avoid liability under various state laws regulating the storage of private financial information. This article discusses the components of a good credit application, the requirements of the ECOA, and the best practices for storing private financial information.
For traditional institutional equity investors in leveraged and single-investor equipment lease transactions, solar equipment may offer an attractive investment opportunity. Leasing solar equipment may also provide an attractive investment structure for traditional investors in power projects looking to expand investments in renewable energy projects.
