Expert Analysis

• Fed. Circ. In June: Transitional Phrases In Patent Claims

  

  The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Eye Therapies v. Slayback Pharma takes on the rarely addressed topic of transitional phrases in patent claims, providing some useful lessons regarding restating claim language and broadly distinguishing prior art, say attorneys at Knobbe Martens.

• Series

  Playing Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Soccer has become a key contributor to how I approach my work, and the lessons I’ve learned on the pitch about leadership, adaptability, resilience and communication make me better at what I do every day in my legal career, says Whitney O’Byrne at MoFo.

• Strategies For Cos. Navigating US-Indian Pharma Partnerships

  

  Recent policy adjustments implemented by the U.S. government present both new opportunities and heightened regulatory scrutiny for the Indian life sciences industry, amplifying the importance of collaboration between the Indian and U.S. pharmaceutical sectors, say Bryant Godfrey at Foley Hoag and Jashaswi Ghosh at Holon Law Partners.

• DOJ-HHS Collab Crystallizes Focus On Health Enforcement

  

  The recently announced partnership between the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to combat False Claims Act violations, following a multiyear trend of high-dollar DOJ recoveries, signals a long-term enforcement horizon with major implications for healthcare entities and whistleblowers, say attorneys at RJO.

• Series

  Law School's Missed Lessons: Learning From Failure

  

  While law school often focuses on the importance of precision, correctness and perfection, mistakes are inevitable in real-world practice — but failure is not the opposite of progress, and real talent comes from the ability to recover, rethink and reshape, says Brooke Pauley at Tucker Ellis.

• 23andMe Fine Signals ICO's New GDPR Enforcement Focus

  

  Many of the cybersecurity failures identified by the Information Commissioner’s Office in its investigation of 23andMe, recently resulting in a £2.3 million fine, were basic lapses, but the ICO's focus on several new U.K. General Data Protection Regulation considerations will likely carry into the future, say lawyers at Womble Bond.

• Eye Drop Ruling Clarifies Importance Of Patent Phrasing

  

  The Federal Circuit's recent ruling in Eye Therapies v. Slayback, rejecting the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's interpretation of "consisting essentially of," highlights the importance of using clear and consistent terms throughout a patent's filing history to shield it against future challenges, says Liliana Di Nola-Baron at Panitch Schwarze.

• How The Healthline Privacy Settlement Redefines Ad Tech Use

  

  The Healthline settlement is the first time California has drawn a clear line in the sand around how website tracking must function in practice, so if your site uses tracking technologies, especially around sensitive content like health or finance, regulators are inspecting your website's back end, not just its banner, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

• How Sweeping Budget Bill Shakes Up Health Industry

  

  With the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act marking one of the most significant overhauls of federal health policy since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, providers, managed care organizations and life sciences companies must now shift focus from policy review to implementation planning, say advisers at Holland & Knight.

• Series

  Adapting To Private Practice: From ATF Director To BigLaw

  

  As a two-time boomerang partner, returning to BigLaw after stints as a U.S. attorney and the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, people ask me how I know when to move on, but there’s no single answer — just clearly set your priorities, says Steven Dettelbach at BakerHostetler.

• A Look At Key 5th Circ. White Collar Rulings So Far This Year

  

  In the first half of 2025, the Fifth Circuit has decided numerous cases of particular import to white collar practitioners, which collectively underscore the critical importance of meticulous recordbuilding, procedural compliance and strategic litigation choices at every stage of a case, says Joe Magliolo at Jackson Walker.

• High Court Cert Spotlights Varying Tests For Federal Removal

  

  A recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to review Chevron v. Plaquemines Parish, a case involving the federal officer removal statute, highlights three other recent circuit court decisions raising federal removal questions, and serves as a reminder that defendants are the masters of removal actions, says Varun Aery at Hollingsworth.

• How To Increase 3rd-Party Preissuance Patent Submissions

  

  Attorneys Marian Underweiser and Marc Ehrlich, who helped draft the America Invents Act, discuss changes that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office could potentially implement to facilitate its hopes for increased participation in front-end patent challenges.

• Trump Air Emissions Carveouts Cloud The Regulatory Picture

  

  President Donald Trump's new proclamations temporarily exempting key U.S. industries from air toxics standards, issued under a narrow, rarely-used provision of the Clean Air Act, will likely lead to legal challenges and tighter standards in some states, contributing to further regulatory uncertainty, say attorneys at GableGotwals.

• Series

  Playing Baseball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

  

  Playing baseball in college, and now Wiffle ball in a local league, has taught me that teamwork, mental endurance and emotional intelligence are not only important to success in the sport, but also to success as a trial attorney, says Kevan Dorsey at Swift Currie.