1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |Animus Unnecessary for Improper Termination

Animus Unnecessary for Improper Termination

Client Alert | 1 min read | 04.09.13

In a decision that catalogued and continued the confusion in the Federal Circuit's case law concerning when a termination for convenience may be challenged as improper and, thus, give rise to breach damages, the CFC in Tigerswan, Inc. v. U.S. (Apr. 2, 2013) rebuffed the government's position that, to prevail, the contractor must always show a specific intent to harm the contractor. It then ruled that the contractor could not show a breach of good faith duties because the contract contained a termination clause, but then also ruled that actionable bad faith is shown if the government has engaged in improper self-dealing (which tracks the Restatement's definition of breach of good faith duties).


Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 04.23.24

From the Highchair to the Courtroom: Federal Circuit Serves Up Helpful Guidance on Equitable Defenses in Childproof Placemat Patent Dispute

The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Luv n’ Care v. Laurain provides a cautionary tale for patentees. Disclosing prior art to the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) is not enough to insulate against a finding of inequitable conduct, particularly where a patentee mischaracterizes that prior art and the PTO’s patentability determination may have differed had the patentee accurately described the prior art. Misconduct by the patentee during litigation can also lead to a finding of unclean hands that bars the patentee from relief for alleged infringement against the opposing party in that litigation....