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Cyber Barbarians & Federal Data Breaches In 2006

Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.25.06

In 2006, the lost Veterans Affairs laptop compromising the personal information of 26.5 million veterans represented just one of the hordes of information security breaches that flooded federal agencies, triggering Congressional hearings, GAO and IG investigations, and new OMB information security standards for federal agencies and contractors alike. In his article "When Cyber Barbarians Storm the Security Walls: The Mounting Risks of Security Breaches to Federal Agencies & Contractors" published in the Federal Contracts Report on October 3, 2006 (http://www.crowell.com/pdf/Security-Breach_Bodenheimer.pdf), David Z. Bodenheimer identifies the evolving rules governing federal information security and explains how the escalating federal outsourcing trends mean greater opportunities for contractors in the IT and cybersecurity business, but also that such opportunities come with mounting risks of tougher Congressional scrutiny, federal enforcement actions, and third-party litigation.

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Client Alert | 6 min read | 11.26.25

From ‘Second’ to ‘First:’ Federal Circuit Tackles Obvious Claim Errors

Patent claims must be clear and definite, as they set the boundaries of the patentee’s rights. Occasionally, however, claim language contains errors, such as typographical mistakes or incorrect numbering. Courts possess very limited authority to correct such errors. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has emphasized that judicial correction is appropriate only in rare circumstances, where (1) the error is evident from the face of the patent, and (2) the proposed correction is the sole reasonable interpretation in view of the claim language, specification, and prosecution history. See Group One, Ltd. v. Hallmark Cards, Inc., 407 F.3d 1297, 1303 (Fed. Cir. 2005) and Novo Indus., L.P. v. Micro Molds Corp., 350 F.3d 1348, 1357 (Fed. Cir. 2003)....