Features
Supreme Court Forecloses Reimbursement for Certain Internal Investigations Under Mandatory Victims Restitution Act
In Lagos v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporate victims of criminal offenses cannot recover expenses incurred from internal investigations that the federal government has neither requested nor required under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act of 1996,
Features
The PTAB's New Claim Construction Standard: Will the Real Impact Please Stand Up
Beginning on Nov. 13, 2018, the USPTO will cease to apply the broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI) standard for newly-filed IPR, PGR, and CBM trials under the America Invents Act (AIA). Instead, the USPTO will begin "using the same claim construction standard that would be used to construe the claim in a civil action …."
Features
Get It in Writing: Deducting False Claims Act Payments
In fiscal year 2017, the DOJ collected more than $3.7 billion dollars from False Claims Act (FCA) cases — part of the $86 billion it has collected from FCA cases since 1986. States and municipalities are aggressively pursuing FCA recoveries as well. Whether or not such payments are deductible as business expenses under the Internal Revenue Code is an important consideration when negotiating a settlement with the government.
Features
Unprepared for a Cyberattack? The DOJ Wants to Change That
<b><i>New U.S. Department of Justice Cybersecurity Guidelines Stress Preparedness Amid Reports That Many Organizations Have Failed to Plan for a Breach</b></i><p>Data protection tips are virtually everywhere these days. So it's hardly surprising that the U.S. Department of Justice has released new guidelines on that very topic. The UK's National Cyber Security Centre is poised to follow suit.
Features
New York State's Latest Ticket Sales Reforms
The majority of these recent amendments become effective on Dec. 28, 2018. Many of these reforms appear to be in direct response to concerns expressed in 2016 by the New York Attorney General (NYAG), yet the changes do not appear to be as sweeping as the NYAG had sought.
Features
Alleging the Existence of a Trade Secret in a Misappropriation Case
<b><i>The Detail Dilemma</b></i><p>How much detail does it take to allege a trade secret under federal pleadings standards? Can the alleged trade secret be described generally in the complaint or must it be described in detail? This article analyzes the various considerations that inform a court's viewpoint on the issue. Lawyers who litigate trade secret cases should be well-aware of these considerations.
Features
Washington's FARA Frenzy Spurs New Legal Business
<b><i>The FARA feeding frenzy had already been building in recent years, but it gained traction in the months since Manafort's indictment last fall.</b></i><p>The U.S. Justice Department's aggressive enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) has drawn blood throughout the consultant class in Washington, with lawyers assessing the casualties and prowling for new business.
Columns & Departments
In the Courts
Former CFO of Bankrate Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for $25 Million Fraud Scheme
Features
The 'New NAFTA' and How It Will Affect Intellectual Property Law
The stage is set for the 24-year-old north American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to end and the U.S. Mexico Canada Agreement (USMCA), which has implications for intellectual property, to take its place.
Features
The Blockchain Will Support GDPR, but Not How Most People Think
It's clear that the onset of GDPR regulations and a quickly changing consumer sentiment about the sensitivity and value of their personal data will reorient a company's interactions with their customers and their information. There will be some pain points in this transition, as Facebook investors recently demonstrated, but it doesn't have to be a unilateral downturn for the tech industry.
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