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Divided Federal Circuit Disallows Recovery Of Interest As Damages

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 10.14.04

Under the "a rose is a rose by any other name" theory, Judge Dyk for the majority in England v. Contel Advanced Systems, Inc. (Oct. 6, 2004) found the ASBCA had improperly granted interest as damages to the contractor when the Navy breached its obligation to reduce the contract price and so the contractor had had to borrow an inflated amount in order to perform. Judge Newman in dissent pointed out that the "no interest" rule dictated by sovereign immunity applies only when interest is requested on other damages, not when the basic damage itself is payment of interest.

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Client Alert | 3 min read | 11.20.25

Design Patent Application Drawings & Prosecution History Must Be Clear (Merely Translucent Won’t Suffice!)

Design patents offer protection for the ornamental appearance of a product, focusing on aspects like its shape and surface decoration, as opposed to the functional aspects protected by utility patents. The scope of a design patent is defined by the drawings and any descriptive language within the patent itself. Recent decisions by the Federal Circuit emphasize the need for clarity in the prosecution history of a design patent in order to preserve desired scope to preserve intentional narrowing (and to avoid unintentional sacrifice of desired claim scope)....