A significant problem confronting many debtors seeking to reorganize through Chapter 11 involves the resolution of labor contract issues. A recent decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit will likely impact how that problem is solved by debtors teetering on the brink of, or already in, Chapter 11 where their operative collective bargaining agreement has or soon will expire.
The year 2005 really marked the beginning of the "era of data breaches," and with it, the "era of data breach lawsuits." In its place, what is now commonplace in the wake of major data breaches ' class action "privacy" litigation on behalf of data subjects, seeking millions of dollars in damages, under a dizzying array of legal theories.
Like many others, parties engaged in or deriving income from the legal commercialization of medical marijuana, either directly or through another party are not immune to financial distress, and sometimes, seeking bankruptcy relief may be strategic or necessary. Unfortunately, Marijuana-Related Parties have found elusive the protections and benefits under the Bankruptcy Code.
If you are advising a health care provider entity, such as a nursing home, what can you tell them regarding their liability? Is the institution itself at risk because of the personal failings of certain employees? What if it is staffed by independent contractors? Can a uniform plan or employee manual be developed, and will that help?
Fed. Cir.: PTAB Panel That Institutes Inter Partes Review May Also Make Final Decision on the Merits
Federal Circuit: Ambiguous Testimony Failed To Show Infringement
In January, the United States Supreme Court rendered its decision, in an 8-1 vote, in Montanile v. Board of Trustees of the National Elevator Industry Health Benefit Plan, an Eleventh Circuit case in which an ERISA health plan sought to recover medical benefits paid to an injured participant after that participant's personal injury settlement funds had already been spent. Here's an analysis of that ruling.
On Feb. 5, 2016, in TriVascular, Inc. v. Samuels, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the written decision of the PTABin an Inter Partes Review. In particular, the court affirmed the Board's conclusion that the '575 patent was not invalid as being obvious over the prior art of record despite the Board's initial institution of the IPR based on obviousness grounds.
On Feb. 5, 2016, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a unanimous decision in TriReme Med., LLC. v. AngioScore, Inc., holding that AngioScore's consulting agreement had failed to assign inventive contributions made by a consultant before the effective date of the agreement. The decision highlights the need for attentive drafting of agreements with new employees and contractors, especially if they may have engaged in relevant inventive activity before the start of the employment or contractor relationship.
A number of recent discoveries are challenging the idea that infectious diseases are sporadic and relatively rare causes of illness and death, and those discoveries are revolutionizing our understanding of the microbial world around us and presage significant changes in the legal landscape.
The producers of the movie The Hurt Locker had a First Amendment right to fictionalize the experience of a U.S. Army explosives technician in the Iraq war, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled.
