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Public Policy
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May 17, 2024
Patent Office Gets Another Earful About 'March-In' Plan
Industry groups of all stripes have lined up at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to complain yet again about a Biden administration proposal from last year to potentially use "march-in" rights and seize pharmaceutical patents using the Bayh-Dole Act.
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May 17, 2024
Zero Duty Doesn't Address Exporter's Benefits, Calif. Biz Says
A juice wholesaler's attorney argued Friday that the U.S. Department of Commerce ignored the relationship between a Brazilian lemon juice exporter and its supplier, while calling for higher duties to account for benefits the Brazilian company may have received.
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May 17, 2024
Home Distillers Tell Feds Ban Fails Under Spirit Of The Law
The Hobby Distillers Association said the federal government is exceeding its constitutional powers and treading on states' rights by banning homemade liquor under its taxing authority, as the group laid out its position Friday at the request of a Texas federal judge.
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May 17, 2024
Crypto Firms Back FIT 21 Legislation Ahead Of House Vote
The advocacy group Crypto Council for Innovation gathered 60 industry signatories for a Friday letter to House leaders expressing support for an anticipated vote on a framework to regulate digital assets.
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May 17, 2024
Chicago Wants Climate Deception Claims Back In State Court
The city of Chicago says it should be in state court hashing out climate change deception claims against several of the nation's largest oil producers because the companies lodged "objectively baseless" arguments to remove its case to federal court.
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May 17, 2024
Broadband Advocates Decry Delays On Senate Spectrum Bill
Broadband advocates who work on fixing the "digital divide" said they are dismayed the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee again delayed a markup Thursday to advance legislation renewing the soon-to-expire Affordable Connectivity Program.
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May 17, 2024
Inside The New Legal Push To End Calif.'s Death Penalty
In a first-of-its-kind case in the Golden State, the California Supreme Court is being asked to permanently dismantle the nation’s most populous death row on grounds that capital punishment has been administered in a racially discriminatory manner that disproportionately harms people of color.
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May 17, 2024
Off The Bench: Golf Star Arrest, Fla. Gambling, Gruden V. NFL
In this week's Off the Bench, the world's top-ranked golfer is arrested after a traffic incident outside the PGA Championship, the federal government urges the U.S. Supreme Court to stay out of Florida's sports gambling dispute and Jon Gruden's defamation brawl with the NFL heads to arbitration.
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May 17, 2024
Koch-Tied Group Says Transparency Law Offends Federalism
The Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional because it does not regulate interstate commerce yet mandates that state-registered entities disclose personal information, a conservative group affiliated with the billionaire Koch brothers told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday.
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May 17, 2024
Utilities Need More Airwaves To Drive Growth, FCC Hears
Utilities need more spectrum to keep their networks running smoothly as they move toward digitizing the electric grid, which is already under significant strain, a wireless service provider has told the Federal Communications Commission.
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May 17, 2024
Las Vegas Sun Wants Day In Court Against Review-Journal
The Las Vegas Sun asked a Nevada federal judge Thursday to schedule trial in its antitrust suit against the Las Vegas Review-Journal, arguing the larger paper and soured distribution partner cannot be allowed to continue running out the clock in an effort to put the Sun out of business.
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May 17, 2024
New Domestic Content Guidance May Boost Energy Credits
The U.S. Treasury Department's new guidance on bonus tax credits for clean energy projects that source domestic-made materials and components aims to simplify the process for determining eligibility and spur more development to get those extra incentives.
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May 17, 2024
Short-Term Rental Owners Sue Colo. City Over Phase-Out Law
A group of short-term rental property owners claimed in Colorado federal court that a local ordinance enacted late last year "effectively bans most existing short-term rentals."
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May 17, 2024
Sanctioned Man's Daughter Says Blacklist Inescapable
A Myanmar woman the U.S. blacklisted based on conclusions her father provided fuel to Myanmar's military regime accused the U.S. government of trapping her on a sanctions list, leaving her unable to support herself or complete studies at Columbia University.
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May 17, 2024
Good Behavior Can Shave Contempt Sentences, Judge Rules
A Michigan federal judge on Friday said he would not ask the state's highest court to decide whether civil litigants held in criminal contempt in state court can get time off their sentences for good behavior, saying he was confident justices would agree with him that they can.
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May 17, 2024
Chancery Rulings Stir Up Del. Corporate Bar Push-Back
Intrigue surrounding closed-door talks on amendments to Delaware's General Corporation Law picked up in recent days, bringing greater scrutiny to an often sedate effort stirred up this year by a draft proposal seen as potentially removing some corporate policing powers traditionally given to the state's courts.
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May 17, 2024
Google Says Payment Means No Need For DOJ Ad Tech Jury
Google is arguing in Virginia federal court the government has no right to a jury trial in a case accusing the company of monopolizing key digital advertising technology, especially after Google issued a check for the money enforcers could be awarded if they won.
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May 17, 2024
DC Circ. Won't Immediately Block EPA Power Plant GHG Rule
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is clear to implement its new greenhouse gas emissions rule for power plants — at least for now — after the D.C. Circuit on Friday rejected an effort to temporarily block it.
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May 17, 2024
Industry Emboldened After Justices Galvanize Agency Attacks
In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court said "extraordinary" and "far-reaching" attacks on administrative enforcers can skip agency tribunals and go straight to federal district court, ambitious challenges to regulatory powers are rapidly gaining traction, and the high court is poised to put them on an even firmer footing.
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May 17, 2024
Dozens Of Pro Bono Attys Back 3rd Circ. Nominee Mangi
Forty-nine pro bono partners, counsel and chairs from major law firms and organizations wrote to Senate leadership on Friday with concerns that the staunch opposition against Third Circuit nominee Adeel Mangi over his pro bono work will have a chilling effect on future attorneys seeking judgeships, according to a letter shared with Law360.
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May 17, 2024
Alito Flag Report Fuels Ethics Debate, But Likely No Recusal
Responses to a report that an upside-down American flag flew outside U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's home following the 2020 presidential election broke along partisan lines Friday, with conservatives decrying it as a smear campaign and liberals calling for his recusal from pending election-related cases and for general court ethics reform.
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May 17, 2024
Menendez Bribery Trial: 5 Things To Know About Week 1
Explosive opening statements, closed-door jury questioning and an FBI agent's recount of the moment he found a treasure trove of gold bars and cash highlighted the first week of trial in the government's second corruption case against U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez.
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May 17, 2024
Ga. Judge In 2020 Election Cases To Take Senior Status
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones of the Northern District of Georgia, who has presided over high-profile cases involving the 2020 election, voting rights and abortion, will take senior status on Jan. 1, 2025, according to an update Friday.
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May 17, 2024
Wash. Energy Codes Challenged Again After 9th Circ. Decision
In the wake of a Ninth Circuit ruling that forced Washington officials to revisit regulations on natural gas appliances used in new construction, a group of natural gas companies, homeowners and construction interests are claiming the state's apparent fix is again out of step with federal law.
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May 17, 2024
Trade Commission Affirms Harm From Indian Steel Cylinder
The U.S. International Trade Commission has determined that nonrefillable steel cylinders imported into the U.S. from India have harmed U.S. producers through unfair prices and government-backed subsidies, allowing the U.S. Department of Commerce to place anti-dumping and countervailing duties on the goods.
Expert Analysis
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How 3 Unfolding Cases Could Affect The Energy Industry
Three judicial decisions now in the pipeline — Texas' challenge to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's methane regulations, Delaware's climate suit against big energy companies, and a case before the Supreme Court of Texas on royalty lease interpretation — could have important implications for the energy industry, say Michelle Scheffler and Rachael Cox at Skadden.
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The Tricky Implications Of New Calif. Noncompete Laws
Two new California noncompete laws that ban certain out-of-state agreements and require employers to notify certain workers raise novel issues related to mergers and acquisitions, and pose particular challenges for technology companies, says John Viola at Thompson Coburn.
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Series
Illinois Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1
In the first quarter of 2024, Illinois lawmakers proposed a stack of bills aimed at modernizing money transmission, digital assets and banking laws, with a particular focus on improving consumer protections and better defining the state’s authority to regulate digital services, say James Morrissey and Mark Svalina at Vedder Price.
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Defense Attys Must Prep For Imminent AI Crime Enforcement
Given recent statements by U.S. Department of Justice officials, white collar practitioners should expect to encounter artificial intelligence in federal criminal enforcement in the near term, even in pending cases, say Jarrod Schaeffer and Scott Glicksman at Abell Eskew.
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How IRA Unlocks Green Energy Investments For Tribes
An Inflation Reduction Act provision going into effect May 10 represents a critical juncture for Native American tribes, offering promising economic opportunity in green energy investment, but requiring a proactive and informed approach when taking advantage of newly available tax incentives, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.
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Planning For Healthcare-Private Equity Antitrust Enforcement
U.S. antitrust agency developments could mean potential enforcement actions on healthcare-related acquisitions by private equity funds are on the way, and entities operating in this space should follow a series of practice tips, including early assessment of antitrust risks on both the state and federal level, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.
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What Nevada 'Superbasin' Ruling Means For Water Users
The Nevada Supreme Court's recent decision in Sullivan v. Lincoln County Water District, affirming that the state can manage multiple predesignated water basins as one "superbasin," significantly broadens the scope of water constraints that project developers in Nevada and throughout the West may need to consider, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Tipsters May Be Key To Financial Regulators' ESG Efforts
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are looking to whistleblowers to assist their climate and ESG task forces, suggesting insider information could be central to the agencies' enforcement efforts against corporate greenwashing, false investment claims and climate disclosure violations, says John Crutchlow at Youman & Caputo.
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Opinion
Why USPTO Should Issue Inherency Guidance Memo
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should issue a new guidance memo in regard to the standard for inherency during the examination process, as the standard is frequently misapplied during prosecution, and consistency of the standard in the USPTO should match that in the federal courts, says Irving Feit at Lucas & Mercanti.
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5 Takeaways From SAP's Foreign Bribery Resolutions
German software company SAP’s recent settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, resolving allegations of foreign bribery, provide insights into government enforcement priorities, and how corporations should structure their compliance programs to reduce liability, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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Series
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
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Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown
While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.
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Parsing Chinese Governance On AI-Generated Content
As essential risk-mitigation, companies with a China reach should be aware of recent developments in Chinese oversight of AI-generated content, including the latest rulings and regulations as well as the updated ambit for supervisory bodies, say Jet Deng and Ken Dai at Dacheng.
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Perspectives
Context Is Everything In Justices' Sentencing Relief Decision
In the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Pulsifer v. U.S. decision, limiting the number of drug offenders eligible for sentencing relief, the majority and dissent adopted very different contextual frames for interpreting the meaning of “and” — with the practical impact being that thousands more defendants will be subject to severe mandatory minimums, says Douglas Berman at Moritz College of Law.
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Opinion
The SEC Is Engaging In Regulation By Destruction
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent use of regulation by enforcement against digital assets indicates it's more interested in causing harm to crypto companies than providing guidance to the markets or protecting investors, says J.W. Verret at George Mason University.