In FanDuel, Inc., v. Interactive Games LLC, No. 2019-1393 (Fed. Cir. July 29, 2020), the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit held that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (Board) did not violate the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) by rejecting the prior-art combination on which it instituted inter parties review (IPR). The relevant patent claims related to a method of gambling on a mobile device ...
Key Points Public agencies must retain emails that would be required for inclusion in an administrative record pursuant to CEQA. Agencies must retain “[a]ll written evidence or correspondence submitted to, or transferred from” them “with respect to” CEQA compliance or “with respect to the project.” This includes emails that fit this description ...
Since 1995, the Federal Court of Canada has refused to hear questions relating solely to patent ownership. In Lawther v. 424470 BC . Ltd ...
Banco Nacional de Angola (“BNA”) continues to be very active in producing foreign exchange legislation. It recently revised the rules on foreign exchange operations of current invisibles, goods and capital, carried out by resident and non-resident individuals, through Notice 17/20 of 3 August (the“Notice”). The main change made by this notice concerns non-resident foreign workers (“expatriates”) ...
In order to tackle the effects of the Corona crisis, it is planned at EU level to temporarily facilitate the raising of equity capital for companies. This will enable certain issuers to publish a shortened prospectus with only 30 pages instead of a full prospectus to issue shares. Through this, issuers will have the option to issue shares at short notice, without bureaucracy and inexpensively, thereby improving the debt-to-equity ratio in their balance sheets ...
A recent New York federal court decision has called into question whether businesses may safely rely on Department of Labor guidance regarding the recently passed Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The FFCRA provides employees of businesses with fewer than 500 employees with two temporary forms of paid leave—Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Emergency Family and Medical Leave ...
Recent statistics from London’s Commercial Court and major arbitration institutions confirm London’s reputation as an international hub for dispute resolution, with English law remaining the most popular choice for the resolution of international disputes ...
In the recent English case of Lamesa Investments v Cynergy Bank [2020] EWCA Civ 821, the Court of Appeal (“CA”) affirmed the High Court (“HC”)’s ruling that non-US financial institution borrower Cynergy’s (a) refusal to pay Lamesa did not constitute a default where the ultimate beneficial owner of Lamesa remained a blocked person under US sanctions law based on a clause in the facility agreement that Cynergy would not be at fault if a sum was not paid
In John Innes Foundation and Others v. Vertiv Infrastructure Limited [2020] EWHC 19 (TCC), England’s Technology and Construction Court had to decide whether a sub-contractor to a managing agent maintaining standby power equipment was liable to the owners of premises for failure to make site visits and therefore identify that batteries (said to have caused a fire on the premises) needed replacing ...
The recent case of Bond Tak (Holdings) Ltd v King Fame Trading Ltd, HCA 2129/2018, concerned an application by the Defendant to dismiss or permanently stay the High Court action on the grounds that the dispute was subject to an arbitration agreement and should be submitted to arbitration or, alternatively, the action should be stayed on the grounds of forum non conveniens and in favour of the Intermediate People’s Court of Guangzhou City in Mainland China (Guangzhou Court) ...
In the recent case of 1955 Capital Fund I GP LLC & ANOR v Global Industrial Investment Ltd, HCCT 61/2019, Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance set aside an Enforcement Order, whereby the Applicants had been given leave to enforce in Hong Kong an arbitration award (Award) made in California. The Court found that there had been material non-disclosure by the Applicants in their affidavit in support of the application for the Enforcement Order ...
It is no secret that business bankruptcies are surging in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, chapter 11 filings increased 26% in the first half of 2020,[1] and some expect the number of cases to increase even more in the coming months.[2] From retailers to airlines to telecommunications companies, few sectors of the economy are immune. As a result, more and more businesses will face the prospect of one or more of their customers filing chapter 11 ...
This 18th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, sees us return to what, even in these early days of the pandemic, must be considered as some of the hottest topics. Thus, we discuss new insurance coverage disputes from the owners of Cheers in Boston and the internationally known restaurateur Jose Andres in Washington, D.C ...
Key Points The California Supreme Court clarified the so-called California Rule on public employee’s "vested rights" to pension benefits, holding that detrimental financial changes to employee pension benefits do not invariably require that offsetting comparable new advantages be provided. And it set a legal framework for analyzing that issue ...
China has become the largest emerging market economy and the second largest economy in the world. As a result, many Chinese companies have elected to access the U.S. capital markets for their financing needs. As of June 2020, there are over 200 China-based issuers listed on U.S. exchanges with a collective market capitalization of over $1.15 trillion. With the rising geopolitical tensions between China and the U.S ...
Early on the morning of June 13, 2017, over one hundred federal agents raided facilities across southern California belonging to behavioral health provider Sovereign Heath. The agents provided search warrants indicating that they were seeking evidence of fraudulent billing and kickbacks ...
This 17th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, discusses everything from insurance coverage disputes to statewide shutdown orders. Despite an uphill climb towards liability, businesses continue to challenge their insurers' denials of COVID-19-related claims. At the same time, they are looking to Congress for help against potentially ruinous liability claims while also trying to shift current COVID-19-related litigation to the federal courts ...
In the recent case of Hwang Joon Sang & Anor v. Golden Electronics Inc. & Ors (HCA 1529/2019; [2020] HKCFI 1084), Hong Kong’s Court of First Instance allowed a novel mode of ordinary service of court documents, using an online data room, to which the persons so served were given access by being sent a previously Court-approved letter providing a link to the data room with clear pictorial instructions, and by separate communication an access code to the data room ...
Section 9 of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance (Cap. 201) (POBO) criminalizes corrupt transactions with agents in both public and private sectors. The first question which would come to one’s mind is, who is an “agent”? Under section 2 of the POBO, an “agent” includes “a public servant and any person employed by or acting for another” ...
In Hwang Joon Sang & Anor v. Golden Electronics Inc. & Ors (HCA 1529/2019; [2020] HKCFI 1233), the Court made an order requiring various banks to supply documents by way of disclosure to the Plaintiffs and permitting (indeed, encouraging) the banks to do so by use of electronic or digital versions of those documents being uploaded to a data room ...
Cyber frauds, in particular email scams, have become a common trend of crime in Hong Kong in recent years. Fraudsters use various means to deceive the victims into transferring money to unauthorised bank accounts. Upon discovery of the fraud and based on information obtained from the bank, the victim may apply for an injunction from the court to freeze the recipients’ bank accounts and if the victim is lucky enough, there will be some credit balance left to recover ...
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, local municipalities and state governments throughout the country have implemented stay-at-home orders and mandated closures of businesses and restaurants to lower the spread of the disease. California, after having permitted much of the state to reopen businesses, has seen a recent spike in COVID-19 cases and on July 13th implemented a new statewide order to curb the increase, reimposing certain business closures ...
Companies subject to product liability lawsuits – and their counsel – know the importance of promptly examining whether the company is subject to general personal jurisdiction or specific personal jurisdiction of the forum court. A court with general personal jurisdiction over a defendant can hear any and all claims against that defendant. After the United States Supreme Court’s decisions in Daimler AG v. Bauman, 134 S. Ct 746 (2014) and BSNF Railway Co. v ...
This 16th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, discusses claims ranging from insurance coverage disputes to prisoners’ rights. The top story this week, however, is undoubtedly a Michigan ruling that dismissed business interruption claims on the merits—a major early victory for insurers. Even so, it seems doubtful that this one ruling will slow down the flood of coverage disputes ...
In a landmark victory for Federally-qualified health centers, a California Court of Appeal confirmed last October that federal and state law requires the State of California to pay FQHCs “100 percent” of their costs of furnishing core and other ambulatory services to Medi-Cal beneficiaries. (Tulare Pediatric Health Care Center v. State Department of Health Care Services (2nd Dist. 2019) 41 Cal.App.5th 163 ...
