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Finally Heard – Cyber Help for Small Businesses is on Its Way

Client Alert | 1 min read | 08.22.18

New cybersecurity legislation was recently passed that aims to help smaller government contractors in their efforts to safeguard sensitive customer data. The NIST Small Business Cybersecurity Act requires the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to issue guidance and resources, within the next year, to help small- and medium-sized businesses identify, assess, and reduce cybersecurity risks. Partly in response to the rising number of cyberattacks targeting small businesses, the legislation is the latest in a series of efforts more broadly focused on supply chain security throughout the procurement process. Under the Act, NIST must also:

  • Ensure future resources can vary with the nature and size of the small business, as well as the nature and sensitivity of the data handled.
  • Encourage the use of technology neutral, commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) solutions.
  • Promote awareness of basic controls, a workplace cybersecurity culture, and third-party stakeholder relationships.

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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....

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