Fifth Circuit Breaks New Ground on Vicarious Liability Under the Anti-Kickback Act
Client Alert | 1 min read | 07.25.13
In U.S. ex rel. Vavra v. Kellogg Brown & Root, Inc. (July 19, 2013), the Fifth Circuit addressed, as a matter of first impression, whether the double damages provision of the Anti-Kickback Act (AKA) can be applied to a corporate entity under a vicarious liability theory or whether doing so would render the single damages provision that applies to corporate entities whose "employees" violate the AKA superfluous. The Fifth Circuit held that the AKA does allow for vicarious liability when an employee is acting either within her scope of employment or under "apparent authority," as defined by the common law of agency.
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
