The New Zealand government introduced the Local Government (Electoral Legislation and Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Bill on Monday. Notably, this legislation will reinstate local electorate polls on Māori wards and constituencies in spite of the Waitangi Tribunal’s finding that it contravenes the Treaty of Waitangi, one of New Zealand’s foundational constitutional documents finalized…
In an unexpected turn of events, acclaimed actor Scarlett Johansson has publicly voiced her indignation at OpenAI, a research facility renowned for its work in artificial intelligence, due to an uncanny imitation of her voice by ChatGPT, the facility’s language prediction model. In a statement released on Monday, Johansson disclosed her refusal of a proposal…
On Monday, veteran video game studio Bungie initiated a copyright trial in Seattle, putting a spotlight on the issue of cheat code selling. Bungie’s representatives told the federal jury that a specific group of cheat code sellers didn’t just operate outside of the law, but also took it several steps further. These cheatsellers allegedly deleted…
On Monday, the Supreme Court dismissed an appeal by Omar Khadr, a Canadian-born former Guantanamo detainee, who sought to erase his war crimes convictions, including the killing of a US soldier in Afghanistan. Khadr had waived this very right to appeal in 2010 when he pleaded guilty to the charges of murder. This move came…
In a week marked by increased activity and innovative dealmaking techniques, several noteworthy deals have come to fruition. Among the key players in this renewed buzz within the business sector, Cooley, a major law firm known for its work in mergers and acquisitions, reports a significant spike in inbound communications. This uptick, as narrated by…
In a recent bid to handle matters regarding Artificial Intelligence (AI) and courts, Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero requested the state lawmakers to “stand down” and permit the judiciary to formulate its own guidelines. Guerrero made statements during a San Francisco Judicial Council meeting, post her decision to entrust the task to a task force led…
In a significant move, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan KC, has announced he is seeking arrest warrants for prominent figures in both Hamas and the Israeli government, relating to charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This followed the attack led by Hamas on October 7 in Israel, and…
Moving from a major pharmaceutical company to an e-discovery start-up, Josh Kreamer, former head of legal services at AstraZeneca, has embarked on a new professional adventure. During his tenure at AstraZeneca, Kreamer was responsible for creating an internal e-discovery program from ground zero. His latest role finds him as GC and chief strategy officer at…
In a significant career trajectory, Josh Kreamer, the former head of legal services at AstraZeneca, has made a notable transition from his in-house position to a startup. At AstraZeneca, he was instrumental in establishing an internal e-discovery program completely from its inception. Today, Kreamer is leveraging his experience for his new role as GC and…
Idaho state and Micron Technology Inc. have recently argued before the Federal Circuit that a law of Idaho, which prohibits the “bad faith” accusations of patent infringement, aligns with constitutional standards. This defense is in support of a prior court decision instructing Longhorn IP to submit an $8 million bond in compliance with the law….
The frequency of oral arguments varies significantly across different circuits in the Federal Appeals Court, with the D.C. Circuit holding the highest rate, a consequence of the complex administrative legal issues the court often grapples with. This data dives into a notable aspect of appellate practice shrouded in significant obscurity – the granting of oral…
Recently, a group of Democratic Attorneys General backed the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) power plant rule, standing in opposition to a Republican-led lawsuit against the regulation. Their support manifests in a proactive move to limit greenhouse gas emissions from some of the largest sources across the nation. These Democratic attorneys general have articulated the necessity…
A recent proposed class-action lawsuit captures the voice actors’ protest against using their voices in AI-generated voice services without consent, observing the essential tension between rapidly developing AI technology and legal safeguards. The litigation, involving Berkeley, California-based Lovo, accuses the AI company of controlling their careers and misappropriating their voice rights. The complainants allege ignorance…
A bill designed to institute a “good faith exception” for some fines levied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office has made a significant step forward, earning unanimous support among members of the House’s Judiciary Committee. The legislation, should it become law, will set a significant precedent in terms of how the U.S. Patent…
On Monday, in an unexpected twist to a courtroom drama, the co-founder of a tech startup accusing Boeing Co. of alleged IP theft admitted that his company willingly shared their trade secrets with the aerospace juggernaut post identifying the supposed misappropriations. The startup has accused Boeing of leveraging its intellectual property for building an electric…
The AmLaw 200 top-tier law firms have been facing a challenging time in Asia, grappling with firm closures, layoffs, and endless geopolitical uncertainties. However, the dismissal of an international presence, especially within the vitally significant Asian market, seems to be a hard pill to swallow for these giant conglomerates. Drawing attention to the poignant case,…
A federal judge in Chicago has absolved General Motors from accusations of “inequitable conduct” pertaining to a contentious issue of patent filing. A longstanding legal opponent of GM failed to convince the judge that engineers, affiliated to the automaker, exhibited “deceptive intent” during the submission of a design patent to the U.S. Patent and Trademark…
Renowned legal practitioner Robert Costello, a partner at Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, received a firm reprimand from presiding Judge Juan Merchan during the Manhattan criminal trial against Donald Trump. This first flare-up happened when Costello, acting as a defense witness, was not more than a brief 10-minutes into his time on the stand. According to…
On Monday, the Senate gave its confirmation to the appointment of federal prosecutor Seth Aframe to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, a significant development that renders the court the sole federal appeals court with all its active judges appointed by a single party’s presidents. Aframe, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in New…
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) Appeals Review Panel has offered crucial guidance on the utilization of means-plus-function claims in relation to antibody patents. This development comes as the panel affirmed the rejection of claims concerning a Xencor Inc. patent application, which is said to pertain to treating autoimmune diseases. The means-plus-function claiming technique…
As the global energy transition takes shape, Texas has become ground zero for major business law firms’ interest, including those from the United Kingdom. Historically, the Lone Star State, a well-known hub for private funds and energy projects, has seen considerable activity from leading US firms like Kirkland & Ellis. The question that emerges, however,…
The multinational law firm, Baker McKenzie, has dropped its lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The firm, via Washington, D.C-based partner George Clarke, had previously sought to obtain a document outlining the IRS’s requests to partnerships, with a particular interest in obtaining more information about the IRS’s audit plans on these entities. This legal…
In a recent development, a New Jersey federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by Acuitas, the producer of a component used in a COVID-19 vaccine. The case pertained to allegations of patent infringement made by Acuitas against Pfizer and BioNTech, two globally recognized pharmaceutical companies. However, the explicit details about the nature of the alleged…
As large-scale M&A transactions gain momentum in 2024, top law firms are making strategic moves to keep pace. High-profile law firms, such as Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison; Sullivan & Cromwell; Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld; K&L Gates; and Seyfarth Shaw have recently expanded their M&A practices by bringing in lateral partners. These…
Healthcare Futures Co, a corporation operating with the ambitious goal of creating the inaugural healthcare futures exchange, has lodged a lawsuit against two of its ex-employees. The complaint, filed in Delaware’s Court of Chancery, alleges that the defendants absconded with key intellectual property and other essential resources from the company. More concerning, according to the…