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Life Sciences
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October 25, 2024
Inari Wins Bid To Kill Plant Gene Patent At PTAB
A Massachusetts-based plant breeding startup was able to show that a patent owned by a unit of a DowDuPont spin-off covering a plant gene resistant to weed killers wasn't patentable, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found.
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October 25, 2024
Vidal Warned Of 'Heightened' Burden, 'Loophole' In Seed Fight
Two new petitions in front of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director say the patent administrative board created "a heightened new standard" in one instance and a trade secrets "loophole" in another in order to protect patents covering purportedly novel corn seeds developed by a unit of DowDuPont spin-off Corteva.
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October 25, 2024
NJ Ethics Board Faces Contempt Bid In Retaliation Fight
Counsel for a New Jersey health official who claimed his firing during the COVID-19 pandemic was retaliatory asked a court to hold the State Ethics Commission in contempt for stalling discovery under the guise that the state health regulator initiated the termination, despite "well documented" evidence that it was the commission and Gov. Phil Murphy.
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October 25, 2024
Feds Seek 6½ Years For Ex-Takeda Worker Over Invoice Fraud
Federal prosecutors in Boston want a former senior Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. employee jailed for 6½ years for the complex scam she pulled off with her boyfriend that raked in millions of dollars through fake invoices, according to a Friday filing.
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October 25, 2024
High Court Bar's Future: Mitchell Law's Jonathan F. Mitchell
The pantheon of U.S. solicitors general doesn't include many lawyers who've openly challenged the U.S. Supreme Court's authority or sought to undermine its landmark precedents. But there aren't many lawyers like Jonathan F. Mitchell, a crusading conservative who rescued former President Donald Trump's reelection run — and in the process positioned himself to become the government's top oral advocate.
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October 25, 2024
Pharmacy Must Pay $39.2M In Conn. Kickback Case
A defunct compounding pharmacy must pay $39.2 million in damages and penalties for its role in a kickback scheme that made illegal payments to Connecticut state employees and retirees, a state court judge ruled Friday while letting the company's proprietor off the hook.
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October 25, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen the Competition and Markets Authority take action against a mattress retailer after it was caught pressuring its customers with misleading discounts, Lenovo and Motorola target ZTE Corporation with a patents claim, Lloyds Bank hit by another claim relating to the collapse of Arena Television and U.K. tax authority HMRC sued by the director of an electronics company that evaded millions of pounds in VAT. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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October 24, 2024
FTC Official Doubts Election Will Deter Antitrust 'New Era'
The Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition director defended the agency's new guidelines and its track record during a wide-ranging discussion at the 34th annual Golden State Institute on Thursday, and he expressed confidence that whichever presidential candidate wins, a new administration won't deter this "new era" of FTC antitrust enforcement actions.
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October 24, 2024
Del. Co. Tells 3rd Circ. €4.2M Award Was Properly Denied
A Delaware investment company wants the Third Circuit to affirm a lower court ruling that refused to enforce an approximately €4.2 million arbitral award issued in a dispute over failed plans for a French medical equipment company to expand into Colombia.
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October 24, 2024
IP Forecast: Inhibrx Co-Founder Faces Biotech Secrets Trial
A Wilmington federal jury next week will hear a trade secrets lawsuit that accuses a biotech executive of helping himself to confidential information about cancer treatment antibodies while being employed as an expert in an unrelated $200 million arbitration proceeding. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.
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October 24, 2024
7th Circ. Doubts Satanic Temple Can Wage Abortion Fight
A Seventh Circuit panel appeared skeptical Thursday that the Satanic Temple had standing to challenge Indiana's near-complete abortion ban, with questioning turning contentious when one judge pointed out that the religious organization would be blocked from providing abortion drugs through telehealth appointments even without the law.
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October 24, 2024
Sen. Presses US Trade Rep To Take Up Fentanyl Probe
A Democratic senator from Wisconsin asked the U.S. trade representative on Wednesday to take up a petition urging it to investigate the People's Republic of China's alleged vast illicit fentanyl exports to the United States that have resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths.
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October 24, 2024
'Will Of The People' Upheld With Ohio Abortion Ban Quashed
An Ohio state court judge on Thursday permanently blocked the state's "heartbeat law" that prohibited abortion around six weeks of pregnancy, citing a 2023 ballot measure that enshrined the right to an abortion in the state constitution.
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October 24, 2024
PBMs Want Separate FTC Hearings Over Insulin Prices
Caremark Rx LLC, Express Scripts Inc. and OptumRx Inc. are calling for separate proceedings in the Federal Trade Commission's case accusing the pharmacy benefit managers of artificially inflating insulin prices through unfair rebate schemes.
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October 24, 2024
Bayer Hit With False-Ad Suit Over Malic Acid In Vitamins
Bayer is falsely advertising its Flintstones sour gummy vitamins as being free of artificial flavors, a California woman alleged in a proposed class action filed Wednesday in state court, saying the multivitamin supplement meant for children actually gets its sour flavor from synthetic malic acid.
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October 24, 2024
ITC Bans Foreign Counterfeit Tourniquets
The U.S. International Trade Commission banned foreign counterfeits of a tourniquet used by the U.S. military, finding that a broad exclusion order was necessary to protect the domestic manufacturers' intellectual property.
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October 24, 2024
Mass. Justices Reject Meta, Google 'Wiretap' Claims
Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday found that website operators' use of tracking software like Meta Pixel and Google Analytics does not violate the state's wiretap law, drawing a sharp dissent from one justice who said the legislature will now need to "correct" the court's mistake.
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October 23, 2024
Late Smoker's Spouse Can Argue Survivor's Benefits At Retrial
The husband of a deceased smoker whose $157 million win against tobacco companies was erased can claim surviving spouse damages under Florida's Wrongful Death Act on retrial even though he was not married to his partner at the time he was diagnosed with lung disease, according to an opinion released Wednesday by a Florida appeals court.
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October 23, 2024
NM Pot Cos. Say Border Agents Wrongfully Seized Product
A group of state-licensed New Mexico cannabis companies allege in a new lawsuit that federal agents have been unlawfully seizing inventory and cash in contravention of a long-held U.S. policy of not interfering with state-regulated marijuana entities.
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October 23, 2024
SoClean Says Philips Can't Stand In For Damaged CPAP Users
SoClean Inc. asked a Pennsylvania federal court to toss Philips RS North America's proposed class-action claims from a multidistrict litigation, arguing that after settling with customers who had to replace their CPAP and BiPAP breathing machines, Philips was really only coming after SoClean on its own behalf.
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October 23, 2024
Merck Bets More Than $1B On Yale Cancer Treatment Spinout
Pharmaceutical giant Merck has purchased New Haven, Connecticut-based Modifi Biosciences Inc. for $30 million upfront, plus potential milestone payments to shareholders totaling up to $1.3 billion, Modifi said Wednesday.
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October 23, 2024
Former Axinn Hatch Waxman Attys Team Up At Polsinelli
Polsinelli has hired a former Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP partner who spent more than 17 years with that firm litigating Hatch Waxman matters in biomaterials and biological-based pharmaceuticals.
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October 23, 2024
Roche CEO Says Novo-Catalent Deal Should Be Blocked
The CEO of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche injected himself into the controversy surrounding Novo Holdings' planned $16.5 billion acquisition of Catalent on Wednesday, stating that he thinks antitrust authorities should block the deal due to its anticompetitive implications.
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October 22, 2024
Suit Over Wash. Ban On 'DIY' Rape Evidence Kits Nixed
A Washington federal judge has tossed a challenge to a state ban on the sale of "DIY" DNA collection kits to sexual assault survivors, rejecting a kit developer's arguments that the ban infringes on its First Amendment rights.
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October 22, 2024
Pharma Co. Verrica Faces Derivative Suit Over FDA Inspection
Current and former officers and directors of dermatological medication maker Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc. face a shareholder derivative action alleging the company concealed a "litany of issues" with a manufacturer's facility that ultimately delayed U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval for a skin treatment.
Editor's Picks
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Supreme Court Will Tackle Patent Enablement In Amgen Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review Section 112 of the Patent Act for the second time in the law's history, accepting Amgen's request to consider how much a patent must disclose in order to meet enablement requirements.
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A Circuit-By-Circuit Guide To FCA Suits After High Court Snub
The U.S. Supreme Court's refusal to resolve one of the False Claims Act's most consequential controversies leaves circuit courts deeply divided over whistleblower pleading obligations in ways that will reverberate nationwide, attorneys say. Here, Law360 explores each circuit's approach and scenarios that might finally trigger high court intervention.
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Inside The Collapse Of A Pioneering Opioid Case For DOJ
The U.S. Department of Justice launched a "terribly flawed" criminal case against a drug distributor and several individuals amid pressure to alleviate Appalachia's opioid crisis, and a newly confirmed U.S. attorney displayed "courage and guts" by ending the case last month, defense counsel told Law360 in an expansive interview.
Expert Analysis
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The Strategic Advantages Of Appointing A Law Firm CEO
The impact on law firms of the recent CrowdStrike outage underscores that the business of law is no longer merely about providing supplemental support for legal practice — and helps explain why some law firms are appointing dedicated, full-time CEOs to navigate the challenges of the modern legal landscape, says Jennifer Johnson at Calibrate Strategies.
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How 2 Proposed Bills Could Transform Patent Law
The Patent Eligibility Restoration Act and the Prevail Act may come up for vote by the Senate Judiciary Committee after the election, and both offer benefits and challenges for inventors and companies seeking to obtain patents, says Philip Nelson at Knobbe Martens.
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Series
Beekeeping Makes Me A Better Lawyer
The practice of patent law and beekeeping are not typically associated, but taking care of honeybees has enriched my legal practice by highlighting the importance of hands-on experience, continuous learning, mentorship and more, says David Longo at Oblon McClelland.
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Budding Lessons From Landmark Plant Seed Patent Battle
The Corteva v. Inari case involving intellectual property rights in genetically modified plants is now proceeding through discovery and potentially to trial, and will raise critical questions that could have a major impact on the agriculture technology industry, say Tate Tischner and Andrew Zappia at Troutman Pepper.
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The Key To Solving High Drug Costs Is Understanding Causes
One-sided views on who or what contributes to the high cost of pharmaceuticals render possible solutions much harder to discover and implement, and a better approach would be to examine history and learn why costs have increased and what legislation has and hasn't helped, says Nancy Linck at NJ Linck Consulting.
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Opinion
Legal Institutions Must Warn Against Phony Election Suits
With two weeks until the election, bar associations and courts have an urgent responsibility to warn lawyers about the consequences of filing unsubstantiated lawsuits claiming election fraud, says Elise Bean at the Carl Levin Center for Oversight and Democracy.
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Opinion
Bring Back Patent Models To Shut Down The Patent Trolls
By reintroducing the requirement that inventors submit a miniature working model of their inventions along with their patent, legislators could help to deter patent trolls, reduce frivolous litigation and support legitimate inventors in protecting their innovations, says Darin Gibby at Kilpatrick.
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Strategies To Avoid Patent Issues In AI Drug Discovery
Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve drug discovery and design, but companies should consider a variety of factors when patenting drugs created using AI systems, including guidance from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and methods for protecting patent eligibility, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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How Cos. Can Build A Strong In-House Pro Bono Program
During this year’s pro bono celebration week, companies should consider some key pointers to grow and maintain a vibrant in-house program for attorneys to provide free legal services for the public good, says Mary Benton at Alston & Bird.
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Bristol-Myers Win Offers Lessons For Debt Security Holders
A New York federal judge's recent dismissal of a $6.4 billion lawsuit against Bristol-Myers Squibb, due to plaintiff UMB Bank's lack of standing, serves as an important reminder to debt security holders to obtain depositary proxies before pursuing litigation, say attorneys at Milbank.
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Series
Home Canning Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Making my own pickles and jams requires seeing a process through from start to finish, as does representing clients from the start of a dispute at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board through any appeals to the Federal Circuit, says attorney Kevin McNish.
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Navigating The Bankruptcy Terrain After Purdue Pharma
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June ruling in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma is having a significant impact on bankruptcies, with recent cases addressing nonconsensual third-party releases and opt-out mechanisms, and highlighting strategies practitioners can employ to avoid running afoul of the decision, say Brett Axelrod and Agostino Zammiello at Fox Rothschild.
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5 Considerations For Obviousness-Type Double Patenting
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent denial of certiorari for In re: Cellect highlights the current state of obviousness-type double patenting based on that case and another recent Federal Circuit decision, including that ODP is not fatal, that divisional applications are protected from ODP and more, says Fabian Koenigbauer at Ice Miller.
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Patent Lessons From 7 Federal Circuit Reversals In August
The Federal Circuit’s seven vacated or reversed cases from August provide helpful clarity on obviousness-type double patenting, written description and indefiniteness, and suggest improved practices for petitioners and patent owners in inter partes review, say Denise De Mory and Li Guo at Bunsow De Mory.
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Use The Right Kind Of Feedback To Help Gen Z Attorneys
Generation Z associates bring unique perspectives and expectations to the workplace, so it’s imperative that supervising attorneys adapt their feedback approach in order to help young lawyers learn and grow — which is good for law firms, too, says Rachael Bosch at Fringe Professional Development.