No Fun(ding): GAO, Courts, and Boards Describe Operations During Government Shutdown
Client Alert | 1 min read | 10.01.13
On October 1, the federal government officially "shut down" operations (discussed here), and for contractors appearing before various forums, the impacts will vary: the GAO is closed during the shutdown and any deadline for a private party that falls on a day it is closed will be extended to the first day that GAO resumes operations (although filings can still be made electronically); the ASBCA and the CBCA will remain open for the purpose of accepting filings from parties and the CBCA has explicitly stated that it will not waive or toll any statutory time limits; the Court of Federal Claims "will continue to hear and decide cases without interruption"; and the Federal Circuit will remain open for normal business through at least October 11.
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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
