Proposal To Further Executive Branch Employees' Acceptance Of Gifts From Lobbyists
Client Alert | 1 min read | 09.14.11
On September 13, 2011, the Office of Government Ethics proposed amendments to the regulation governing the acceptance of gifts by executive branch employees for the purpose of (a) implementing the lobbyist gift ban already applicable, by Executive Order of the President, to most political appointees; and (b) imposing limits on the use of gift exceptions by all executive branch employees (not merely political appointees). The proposed rule would render existing exceptions to the gift restrictions inapplicable when the gift giver is both a prohibited source (e.g., a person doing business with the employee’s agency) and a lobbyist or lobbying organization, thus limiting the use of exceptions such as the $20 de minimis exception, the widely attended gathering exception, the social invitation exception, and the exception for meals, refreshments, and entertainment from private entities in a foreign area.
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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
