DoD Relaxes Cost Rules For Katrina Donated Leave
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 10.14.05
Under a DoD policy memo issued October 11, 2005 (http://www.acq.osd.mil/dpap/policy/policyvault/2005-1399-DPAP.pdf), the costs of vacation and personal leave – but not sick leave – donated by contractor employees to charitable organizations providing assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina will be treated as allowable compensation costs rather than unallowable donations. Consistent with parallel guidance from the IRS, the DoD policy applies to payments made to charitable organizations before January 1, 2007.
Insights
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
