Correspondent
White House correspondent, covers patent, trade and regulatory news
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued an opinion in this case. Judgment has been entered in accordance with the court's decision.
The Third Circuit affirmed a district court's imposition of Rule 11 sanctions against an attorney for filing a frivolous motion to alter or amend judgment. The court held that the attorney failed to conduct a reasonable inquiry into the factual basis of his client's claim that a collective bargaining agreement was newly available evidence.
The Fourth Circuit reversed a district court's grant of summary judgment in a contract dispute involving an elderly homeowner. The appellate court held that evidence of undue influence existed regarding a release signed under financial duress after a sewage backup.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision dismissing a likelihood of confusion claim. The court held that the dissimilarity between Fuente's letter X marks and Vaporous's stick figure design mark was dispositive, outweighing other factors favoring confusion.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed the Merit Systems Protection Board's decision in a nonprecedential order. The court issued a per curiam judgment without providing detailed legal reasoning.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court's summary judgment for the government in a challenge to the permanent disqualification of a convenience store from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The court held that the store failed to raise a genuine dispute of material fact regarding suspicious transaction patterns that evidenced SNAP trafficking.
The Eleventh Circuit vacated a Benefits Review Board decision, clarifying that the Black Lung Benefits Act does not require a miner to prove employment for a full 365-day calendar year to count as a year of service. Instead, the court held that working 125 days in coal mines during a calendar year is sufficient to establish a year of employment for benefit eligibility.
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction against the DEA's show cause proceedings. The court held that the pharmacy's constitutional challenge to the removal protections of administrative law judges was foreclosed by binding prior precedent.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit has issued an opinion in this intellectual property dispute. Judgment has been entered in accordance with the court's decision.
The Ninth Circuit reversed a district court's summary judgment, holding that an insurer breached its contract by refusing to defend an insured when the policy's sexual abuse exclusion was ambiguous. The court ruled that Washington law requires insurers to defend claims that could conceivably be covered, even if some allegations fall under an exclusion.
