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WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 6 affirmed a Virginia federal judge’s finding that a pharmaceutical company’s patent application for a treatment for ovarian and other cancers contains “‘fatally indefinite and obvious’” claims, nearly three years after the Federal Circuit vacated the judge’s grant of summary judgment against the company.
PASADENA, Calif.— The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 6 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that an email exchange a year before an errors and omissions insurance policy’s inception put the insured on notice of circumstances reasonably expected to lead to a claim and, therefore, the insurer has no duty to defend an underlying negligence claim.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A panel in the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 6 affirmed a Virginia federal judge’s grant of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) motion to dismiss a tech company’s complaint seeking review of the rejection of its patent application, holding that the company forfeited its arguments based on the Appointments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.
GREENBELT, Md. — A temporary restraining order (TRO) preventing the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) from permitting access to the personally identifiable information (PII) of a group of veterans and labor organizations by personnel from the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was extended March 6, with a Maryland federal judge granting the plaintiffs’ motion and ruling that the TRO will now expire on March 17, which is when a hearing on the plaintiffs’ pending preliminary injunction motion is scheduled.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald J. Trump and Marvin Kaplan, the chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, filed a notice of appeal in a federal court in the District of Columbia on March 6 after a judge in that court ruled the same day that the “[p]resident is not a king” and “does not have the authority to terminate members of the National Labor Relations Board at will.”
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on March 6 announced that a physician and his wife who cofounded a medical clinic agreed to pay $450,000 to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by improperly billing Medicare for noncovered electric acupuncture devices.
PITTSBURGH — A disability claimant is entitled to attorney fees of $241,746 and costs of $8,277, a Pennsylvania federal judge said after determining that the claimant achieved success on the merits of his claim based on the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ decision to vacate a summary judgment ruling in favor of the disability plan.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on March 6 denied as moot an application by the federal government to vacate a trial court order that President Donald J. Trump does not have the authority to remove Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger without cause; the high court denial was filed one day after the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals granted the government’s emergency motion in the case for a stay pending appeal.
NEW ORLEANS — An interlocutory appeal by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) in a lawsuit in which it challenges the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board’s structure was dismissed March 5 by a Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel that found that it lacked jurisdiction; the opinion was filed two days after the NLRB filed a notice in the appeal stating that it “is modifying its position with respect to the constitutionality of removal restrictions for NLRB administrative law judges (ALJs) and Board members.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 5 granted an emergency motion for a stay pending appeal sought by the federal government after a trial court found that President Donald J. Trump does not have the authority to remove Special Counsel Hampton Dellinger without cause; the order was issued one day after the trial court denied a stay.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on March 5 agreed with a beauty company that the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) incorrectly applied a test from the Tariff Act when considering whether artificial eyelash products imported into the country infringed on the company’s patents; the panel vacated the ITC’s denial of the company’s requested relief.