CFC Blasts AF and DOJ for Vexatious Litigation
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.31.16
In the latest decision in SUFI Network Servs., Inc. v. U.S. (Oct. 19, 2016), the CFC found SUFI (represented by C&M) to be entitled to litigation attorney’s fees and expenses under the Equal Access to Justice Act, under both the “bad faith, vexatious litigation” exception to the American Rule and the “small business” provisions, for the entire duration of the proceedings at the ASBCA, the CFC, and the Federal Circuit, which have lasted at this point over a dozen years. The CFC awarded fees at counsel’s full, current rates to account for vexatious conduct and delay and also found that the “special factors” of exceptional results and uniquely experienced counsel supported that same award.
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Client Alert | 2 min read | 11.14.25
Claim construction is a key stage of most patent litigations, where the court must decide the meaning of any disputed terms in the patent claims. Generally, claim terms are given their plain and ordinary meaning except under two circumstances: (1) when the patentee acts as its own lexicographer and sets out a definition for the term; and (2) when the patentee disavows the full scope of the term either in the specification or during prosecution. Thorner v. Sony Comput. Ent. Am. LLC, 669 F.3d 1362, 1365 (Fed. Cir. 2012). The Federal Circuit’s recent decision in Aortic Innovations LLC v. Edwards Lifesciences Corp. highlights that patentees can act as their own lexicographers through consistent, interchangeable usage of terms across the specification, effectively defining terms by implication.
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.14.25
Microplastics Update: Regulatory and Litigation Developments in 2025
Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.13.25
