1. Home
  2. |Insights
  3. |Don't Want a Setoff? Better Say It

Don't Want a Setoff? Better Say It

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 07.13.10

In Global Ship Sys., Inc. v Dept. of Homeland Sec'y (CBCA June 25, 2010), the board held that a settlement payment owed by the government could be offset against a debt owed by the contractor on a separate contract, even though the settlement agreement expressly required the CO to "request" that the payment be made to Global's designated bank account. More explicit language is required to overcome the government's general right of offset.

Insights

Client Alert | 2 min read | 11.14.25

Defining Claim Terms by Implication: Lexicography Lessons from Aortic Innovations LLC v. Edwards Lifesciences Corporation

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....