Addressing the standards necessary to prove inequitable conduct in patent cases, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, sitting en banc, recently added new contours to a doctrine that, in its words, “has plagued not only the courts but also the entire patent system.”

Tagged with: July 2011 issue

The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued three opinions involving intellectual property law. One deals with the extent to which the Bayh-Dole Act controls patent ownership, while the other two address the evidentiary standards needed to prove patent invalidity and inducement ...

Tagged with: July 2011 issue

Love them or hate them, non-competes are a fact of business in all states but California, Oklahoma and North Dakota. Whether your employee left and you need to enforce a non-compete, or you are hiring an employee subject to a ...

Tagged with: July 2011 issue

Many in-house counsel and the law firms they engage to represent their companies continue to self-collect electronic data, even though they recognize the legal issues and potential dangers involved.

Tagged with: July 2011 issue

In a significant decision for employers, the U.S. Supreme Court recently rejected an attempted nationwide class-action sex-discrimination lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

Tagged with: July 2011 issue

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. v. Siracusano held that a company could be liable for a material misstatement that might have affected the “total mix” of information in the marketplace, even when that misstatement lacked ...

Tagged with: July 2011 issue

Hospital risk managers in Massachusetts may be blind-sided by a new wave of tort claims coming their way. The claims are not the malpractice actions that hospitals so often see. They have nothing to do with medical care and don’t arise out of activities in the ER, operating room or radiology lab.

Tagged with: July 2011 issue

Publicly traded companies and their subsidiaries and affiliates would be well-advised to start preparing now for the wave of Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblower claims that is currently sweeping the nation.

Tagged with: July 2011 issue

Employers — including law firms — need to take a closer look at their social media policies and how they enforce those policies in light of recent actions taken by the National Labor Relations Board.

Tagged with: July 2011 issue

A recent consumer protection action by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley against a Boston area pub and restaurant chain victimized by credit card hackers provides a road map for what the liability landscape could look like in future data breach ...

Tagged with: July 2011 issue