Expert Analysis

• Calif. Recycle Label Order Imperils Product Responsibility Law

  

  A California federal court's injunction blocking enforcement of the state's truth-in-recycling law gives companies racing to remove chasing arrows and other recyclability labels from their packaging a reprieve — and the court's action may also hobble implementation of the state's extended producer responsibility law, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

• FTC Focus: Enforcing Vertically Integrated Operating Systems

  

  As digital platforms increasingly pair operating systems with commerce, advertising, content and data, antitrust scrutiny will turn on whether those integrations create private bottlenecks that foreclose rivals through access, ranking, interoperability or defaults, pushing courts and enforcement agencies to adapt traditional utility and merger frameworks more aggressively, say attorneys at Proskauer.

• Challenging Detention After 5th Circ. Ends Bond Clocks

  

  After the vacatur of the Fifth Circuit’s holding that the U.S. Constitution requires bond hearings for detained noncriminal noncitizens, practitioners should go back to filing habeas petitions, pending the court's en banc rehearing, says Kemal Hepsen at Mandamus Lawyers.

• Patent Eligibility Bulletin: New USPTO Guidance And AI Risks

  

  In the second quarter of 2026, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office updated its subject matter eligibility declarations in line with its increasingly permissive patent eligibility stance, while the Federal Circuit rigorously applied the Alice framework in a decision that highlighted risks facing patent claims that utilize artificial intelligence and machine learning, say attorneys at Banner Witcoff.

• A Shift In How Policymakers Are Approaching PBM Regulation

  

  Recent federal and state legislative and regulatory activity involving pharmacy benefit managers represent a change in focus from transparency to PBM compensation structures, vertical integration and competitive effects, say attorneys at Barclay Damon.

• Workplace Menopause Laws Demand New HR Playbooks

  

  A recent wave of state and local legislation that makes menopause an expressly protected condition in the workplace creates new compliance obligations amid an already ambiguous federal framework, and demands a workplace culture where employees feel safe asking for support, says Elliot Griffin at Ballard Spahr.

• How State Actions Are Reshaping Surveillance Pricing Risk

  

  Amid heightened state enforcement activity and expanding legislative action to curb surveillance pricing concerns related to transparency, fairness and discrimination, businesses should closely examine how consumer data is used in pricing decisions, say attorneys at Steptoe.

• State Of Insurance: Q2 Notes From Illinois

  

  The second quarter of 2026 featured a trio of auto insurance opinions from Illinois' appellate courts, addressing a notice requirement, narrowing insurers' exposure for delayed payment of underinsured motorist claims, and creating a district split on coverage for employee-drivers under employers' policies, says Matthew Fortin at BatesCarey.

• Tips For Issuers Left In Lurch Without Genius Act Final Rules

  

  The compliance runway envisioned by the Genius Act is steadily shrinking after regulators failed to finalize all the required implementing regulations by July 18, so stablecoin issuers should begin implementing "no-regrets" compliance measures and securing outside vendors before the law takes full effect in January, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

• Why Courts Are Pushing Back On Greenwashing Laws

  

  Recent Fourth Circuit and California federal court decisions blocking state greenwashing statutes on First Amendment grounds reveal a tension at the heart of environmental marketing regulation — while states want clarity, courts aren't prepared to let legislatures flatly ban categories of truthful commercial speech, say attorneys at DLA Piper.

• What NYC Bridge Crash Signals About Micromobility Liability

  

  A recent fatal crash between a cyclist and a man riding a high-powered electric scooter on New York City's Queensboro Bridge highlights how litigation over accidents involving micromobility devices may increasingly shift away from ordinary negligence and toward product liability, says Jeff Korek at Gersowitz Libo.

• 3 Ways Tokenization Is Moving To Traditional Finance

  

  Recent initiatives reflect efforts to integrate distributed ledger technology into existing regulatory frameworks for securities, banking and payments settlements while preserving the underlying rights and obligations of market participants, say attorneys at Hughes Hubbard.

• At The Intersection Of Right-To-Repair Laws And IP Rights

  

  Right-to-repair legislation passing through Congress highlights a broad tension between manufacturers' security measures and consumer autonomy, with important repercussions for the automotive industry's intellectual property rights, says Keith Noe at Lando & Anastasi. 

• Opinion

  States Should Reconsider Forced PBM Divestiture Laws

  

  State legislatures are attempting to enact policies intended to force pharmacy benefit managers to divest from pharmacies, but these laws would have the practical effect of reducing patient access and competition, potentially violating the U.S. Constitution in the process, says former Utah Attorney General John Swallow.

• HSR Deals Proceed More Steadily Than Narratives Suggest

  

  The most recent Hart-Scott-Rodino Act data show that transaction volume remained relatively stable, transaction values continued to increase and enforcement activity remained low, suggesting that enforcement rates have been relatively consistent across presidential administrations despite widely differing public rhetoric regarding merger enforcement, says Amanda Wait at Michael Best.