On December 23, 2021, the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA) of the federal government’s Small Business Administration (SBA) issued a decision in the size appeal of Odyssey Sys. Consulting Grp., SBA No. SIZ-6135 (Dec. 23, 2021), that contains a helpful discussion of the principle that an entity’s status as a small business at the time of “offer plus price” remains through the life of the contract, even if that entity subsequently becomes other than small ...
DBN Holding, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, Appeal No. 2020-2342 (Fed. Cir. Mar. 1, 2022) The Federal Circuit issued only one precedential decision this week relating to a patent case. On this appeal—the fourth in the case—the issues were far removed from issues concerning patent law, and instead related to modifications of consent orders. Thus, we cover the case only in abbreviated form ...
Last week the government issued the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Bill. The bill looks set to become law later this month and it will have a significant impact on the process of overseas entities acquiring or disposing of land in the UK ...
In December, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal reversed a judgment in favor of a landlord holding that a contractor’s lien could not attach to the real property being improvement by a tenant of the landlord. The reversal allowed the contractor’s lien enforcement claim to proceed. K.D. Construction of Florida, Inc. v. MDM Retail Ltd, arose from improvements made to a movie theater by a contractor ...
Since the beginning of the year, Florida’s courts have issued three decisions impacting contractors, which are summarized below. Does Failure to Obtain Local Licenses Render Contracts Unenforceable? A decision from Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal addressed the issue of whether a subcontractor that failed to obtain local licenses required by a county ordinance was allowed to litigate claims for work that required those licenses ...
On March 1, the U.S ...
Creating a family using surrogacy is a popular option for male same-sex couples. Surrogacy is when a woman carries and gives birth to a baby for a couple, or another person. Altruistic surrogacy is available in the UK and preliminary considerations are likely to include, which of the couple will be biologically linked to the child and what type of surrogacy will be used ...
Investors were awarded compensation under a bilateral investment treaty, but under EU law, payment of the award constitutes unlawful State aid. This Catch-22 situation is at the heart of a long-running case across jurisdictions. In the latest development, the European Commission has decided to refer the United Kingdom to the European Court of Justice in relation to a judgement of the UK’s Supreme Court to lift the stay of enforcement of an ICSID arbitration award against Romania ...
[!<CDATA[ As costly class action retirement plan litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) proliferates, mandatory individual arbitration has become an increasingly appealing alternative for certain benefit plans. However, the benefits of arbitration can only be realized if it is enforceable ...
This article examines whether the UK competition authority's decision means a change in the analysis of mergers in the digital economy. On 30 November 2021 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) concluded in its Report that its concerns can only be addressed by Facebook selling GIPHY in its entirety to an approved buyer ...
The Court of Appeal has considered the question of whether it is fair and appropriate for a Court of Protection Judge to visit the person who lacks mental capacity and about whom the Judge is being asked to make a best interest decision. Mr Justice Mostyn, sitting in the Family Court, has recently provided further guidance about determining whether a party to litigation has mental capacity to litigate ...
On 19 January 2022, the Scottish Government approved legislation that will require local authorities to set up licensing schemes for short-term lets, and require all short-term let properties to hold a suitable licence ...
The scope of the insured’s liability (and thus, the insurance companies’ auxiliary liability) is affected not only by national law, but also by EU legislation and case law regarding “use of a motor vehicle.” After a recent Supreme Court resolution, a contradiction between the two has emerged. Motor insurance is one of the most economically significant types of insurance policies ...
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act from the U.S. Congress, signed into law November 15 by President Biden, provides $1.2 trillion to rebuild roads and bridges, water infrastructure, resilience, and internet, with a focus on infrastructure improvements and expansion of broadband networks. The Biden Administration has established a website for the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act that contains helpful links to programs and program descriptions ...
Adapt Pharma Operations Limited v. Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc., Appeal No. 2020-2106 (Fed. Cir. Feb. 10, 2022) In our Case of the Week, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in both the majority opinion and dissent, provided an extended discussion of obviousness analyses. This discussion comes in the context of the Federal Circuit affirming the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey’s finding, namely, that U.S. Patent Nos ...
HMRC publishes updated guidance on termination fees and compensation payments and confirms the VAT treatment of dilapidations. On 7 February 2022, HMRC published Revenue & Customs Brief 2 (2022) (the 2022 Brief), its long-awaited updated guidance on early termination fees and compensation payments ...
In Stadler v Currys, the High Court awarded summary judgment against a claimant who alleged distress following an inadvertent data breach. Here, Philip Tansley and Kathryn Williamson consider the court's reasoning and the implications of the decision. Introduction The High Court has last week handed down yet another useful judgment for defendants facing claims for breach of UK GDPR, misuse of private information, breach of confidence and negligence as a result of a data breach ...
When contractors are engaged in construction projects, the employer/clientundertakes to make payments to the contractor in instalments and through the mechanisms provided under their contract. One important mechanism for payment in a construction contract is the contractor’s payment application. Usually, the contract will require that the contractor submitsits payment application every month or after the agreed milestones ...
February 10, 2022 By: Tracy A. Warren, Kathryn B. Fox, and Michelle K. Meek On Thursday, February 9, 2022, the U.S. Senate passed a bill that would prohibit companies from compelling to arbitration cases where there are allegations of sexual assault or sexual harassment, even where an employee has signed an otherwise enforceable arbitration agreement. The bill, the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act, was previously passed by the U.S ...
2021 was a doozy for business litigators — and their clients — in Florida state court. In the span of about a year, the Florida Supreme Court introduced three sweeping changes to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure: a fresh summary judgment standard, a new apex deponent rule and immediate review of early punitive damages decisions. While these changes touch all civil litigation, they've reverberated particularly powerfully throughout the Florida business litigation world ...
The Federal Circuit issued numerous precedential opinions last week, two of which answered long simmering questions about inter partes reviews (IPRs). Below we discuss a case addressing whether admissions of prior art in the patent itself can be considered as prior art in an IPR. Our Case of the Week reversed Federal Circuit precedent concerning the scope of IPR Estoppel ...
Investing in India can be challenging in view of the myriad of laws at both the Central and State level, as well as cumbersome sector specific requirements. Many-a-times, foreign investors tie up with Indian promoters to overcome these hurdles. However, difficulties get amplified when they get embroiled in litigation / arbitration with Indian promoters over issues related to mismanagement, control, earn-out payments etc ...
The Third District Court of Appeal recently reinforced the deference afforded to cities and counties in interpreting subjective design guidelines for residential development. (Old East Davis Neighborhood Association v. City of Davis (2021) WL 6426082 ...
