Expert Analysis


What Fed. Circ.'s Poultry Patent Ruling Says About 'About'

The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Enviro Tech v. Safe Foods highlights how approximation language in patent claims affects not only litigation outcomes, but also portfolio value, competitive positioning and prosecution strategy, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.


Cuba Sanctions Shift Puts Foreign Cos. In OFAC's Crosshairs

A recent executive order marks an extreme shift for foreign companies whose Cuban dealings have no relation to the U.S. and are entirely lawful under the laws of their home jurisdictions, such that their existing ring-fence protocols no longer offer protection from the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s secondary sanctions, says Jeremy Paner at Hughes Hubbard.


DOJ Activity Indicates Rising Antitrust Risk For Hospitals

Two civil actions filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against New York-Presbyterian Hospital and OhioHealth, both alleging that the hospital systems used their market power to stifle competition, highlight the government's growing scrutiny of barriers to lower-cost insurance options, say attorneys at Freshfields.


Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four recent rulings from cases involving allegations of Title VII violations, the Employment Retirement Income Security Act, prison dental care violations and overcharging for PACER access.


5 Rules In 10 Weeks: Inside Genius Act's Implementation Blitz

Regulators have proposed five Genius Act rules in a striking span of 10 weeks, building a stablecoin framework that, with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency at its operational center, will shape oversight and force issuers, banks and fintechs to take action as deadlines approach, say attorneys at Cahill.


SEC Enforcement Has Continued Its Asset Management Focus

While the total number of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement actions is down, certain novel theories of liability have been abandoned, and the SEC has embraced a back-to-basics posture, most of the regulatory risks for asset managers that existed in the prior commission have not gone away, say attorneys at Weil.


Texas Ruling Makes Avoiding Appraisal Nearly Impossible

By deciding that a coverage dispute doesn't nullify an appraisal clause, the Texas Supreme Court, in its recent Ace American Insurance ruling, makes appraisal nearly unavoidable in state personal auto and residential property disputes, says David Winter at Norton Rose.


5 Risks For U.S. Cos. From New EU Product Liability Directive

When the European Union's revised Product Liability Directive takes effect this year, it will fundamentally reshape product liability litigation across all EU member states — so U.S.-based companies operating in Europe should prepare now for broader discovery rules, narrower attorney-client privilege and heightened forum-shopping risks, say attorneys at DLA Piper.


Advice For Responding To Minority Preservation Letters

Democratic lawmakers have recently issued document preservation letters to potential investigative targets, signaling that the minority party intends to advocate for accountability if it regains power, but there are several steps that can be taken to manage these demands and stay ahead of potential risks, say attorneys at Covington.


Series

NY Times Word Puzzles Make Me A Better Lawyer

Every morning I let The New York Times humble me with word games, which offer a chance to recalibrate my brain before the day's chaos arrives and remind me that a solution — whether to a puzzle or employment law issue — almost always exists once I find the right angle, says Amy Epstein Gluck at Pierson Ferdinand.


Engaging With FDA's New Complete Response Letter Policy

A citizen petition filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month puts renewed focus on the agency's practice of releasing complete response letters in near real time, materially altering the context in which life sciences companies communicate with investors regarding regulatory developments, say attorneys at Debevoise.


How Anthropic's Mythos May Upend Defense Cyber Rules

Anthropic’s recent announcement that Claude Mythos, an AI general-purpose language model, could soon enable virtually anyone to exploit vulnerabilities in major web browsers and operating systems marks an imminent increase in threat levels that current defense cybersecurity regulations were not designed to navigate, say attorneys at Fluet.


Data Center Developer Lessons From Maine's Vetoed Ban

The regulatory and political dynamics that recently led Maine’s governor to veto a popular bipartisan bill proposing a temporary data center development ban offer a useful template that developers can use to help their projects survive other states' attempts at moratoriums, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.


Tracking Tech Suit Is A Risk Management Reminder For Cos.

The Fifth Circuit recently heard oral argument in Rand v. Eyemart Express — an appeal that could reshape the legal landscape for businesses that deploy tracking tech on their websites — underscoring the importance of proactive risk management for companies across multiple industries, say attorneys at Blank Rome.


Submitting Ideas To AI Platforms May Affect Patent Rights

Recent judicial developments suggest that disclosing an invention to a consumer artificial intelligence platform constitutes public disclosure, making disciplined use of such tools and early filing strategies essential to preserving patent rights, say attorneys at Day Pitney.


Revised Fed Principles Balance Risk And Remediation

The Federal Reserve's recently updated supervisory principles sharpen standards for enforcement actions while rewarding self-identification and remediation, signaling a more transparent approach that could reduce uncertainty and reshape how banks manage examination risk and regulator engagement going forward, say attorneys at Davis Wright.


Big Issues Linger After Senate Prediction Market Trading Ban

Whether the Senate can — or should — extend prediction market trading restrictions beyond itself will test not only the boundaries of insider trading law, but also the structural limits of legislative power in an era where information itself has become a tradable asset, say attorneys at Benesch.


Series

Law School's Missed Lesson: Diagnose Before Arguing

Law school often skips over explicitly teaching students how to determine what kind of problem a case presents before they commit to a particular doctrinal path, which risks building arguments that are internally coherent but externally misaligned, says Melanie Oxhorn at Kobre & Kim.


Trump's Psychedelics EO Creates A Regulatory Collision

Sponsors pursuing U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for psychedelic drug access must tackle how to generate regulatory-grade safety and efficacy data in controlled trials when President Donald Trump's recent executive order on psychedelics mandates uncontrolled access through Right to Try, say Kimberly Chew at Husch Blackwell and Odette Hauke at Odette Alina.


A Fed. Circ. Blueprint For Drafting Medical Device Patents

The Federal Circuit's decision in Constellation Designs v. LG last month, among other recent rulings, underscores the importance of emphasizing engineering, rather than clinical goals, when drafting patent claims for medical devices and software as a medical device, says Brandon Theiss at Volpe Koenig.



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Special Series


My Hobby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

From quilting to clowning to raising miniature livestock, attorneys share how their unusual extracurricular activities enhance professional development.




Judges On AI

Do artificial intelligence tools have any practical judicial applications? In this Expert Analysis series, state and federal judges explore potential use cases for AI in adjudication and beyond.




Opinion


5th Circ.'s Abortion Pill Order Is Shaky On Multiple Grounds

The Fifth Circuit's recent order in Louisiana v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, reinstating an in-person dispensing requirement for the abortion medication mifepristone, seems to turn federalism upside-down, and is also questionable for several other reasons, says Gregory Curtner at Curtner Law.

USPTO Must Address The Right Question In Sanofi Case

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Appeals Review Panel's questions in Ex parte Baurin indicate recognition of broader doctrinal issues, but rather than approaching from separate angles, the panel should concentrate on a single fundamental question about obviousness-type double patenting, says Jeremy Lowe at Spencer Fane.



Access to Justice Perspectives


Negotiating Power Imbalance In Pro Bono Client Relationships

The inherent power advantage of an attorney in a client relationship is magnified in pro bono representation, but lawyers can help ease this imbalance by implementing several principles, such as sharing control, identifying resource barriers and more, says Alicia Aiken at PLI.