Correspondent
White House correspondent, covers patent, trade and regulatory news
The Seventh Circuit held that a 2024 Illinois amendment to the Biometric Information Privacy Act applies retroactively to pending cases. The court ruled that the amendment, which limits damages to a per-person basis, is a procedural change that courts must apply to cases filed before its enactment.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment, holding that Clear Touch's federal intellectual property claims were barred by a broad release and dismissal clause in a prior state-court settlement. The court reasoned that the agreement's plain language encompassed all claims that could have been brought in the earlier litigation, regardless of when they accrued.
The Third Circuit affirmed the District Court's dismissal of Antoine Poteat's initial Rule 60(b) motions as moot. The appellate court found no abuse of discretion in treating the original motions as superseded by a subsequently filed amended motion that incorporated their arguments.
The Fifth Circuit affirmed summary judgment against Robert Allen Stanford, holding that his prior criminal convictions established civil liability under federal securities laws through collateral estoppel. The court found Stanford forfeited all substantive challenges to jurisdiction and the definition of certificates of deposit by failing to raise them at the summary-judgment stage.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the district court's grant of judgment as a matter of law, holding that a repossession agent did not breach the peace under Florida law. The court found that superficial property damage and a debtor's statement about making a payment, without further objection or confrontation, were insufficient to convert a peaceful repossession into a breach of the peace.
The Federal Circuit affirmed summary judgment of noninfringement, holding that the patent applicant's prosecution history disclaimer limited the scope of the term 'specular UV reflector' to mirror-like surfaces. Consequently, the accused products utilizing diffuse reflective surfaces fall outside the patent's claims.
The Ninth Circuit held that applying non-mutual offensive collateral estoppel to invalidate arbitration agreements violates the Federal Arbitration Act. The court reasoned that such preclusion undermines the FAA's core principle of consent and effectively transforms individualized proceedings into an unagreed-upon class action.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed that journalists and protesters likely succeeded on First Amendment retaliation claims against federal officers but vacated a preliminary injunction as overbroad. The court remanded the case for the district court to fashion a narrower order strictly tailored to the specific harms alleged by the plaintiffs.
The Fourth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of a petition to return a child to France under the Hague Convention, finding the child faced a grave risk of harm if returned. The court held that the lower court did not clearly err in crediting evidence of abuse and declining to exercise discretion to order the child's return.
The Seventh Circuit affirmed summary judgment for Trunkline Gas Company, holding that Indiana law allows unexercised rights under a floating easement to remain unfixed to a specific location. The court declined to certify the question to the Indiana Supreme Court, finding existing precedent clearly establishes that such rights do not require immediate fixation.
