Technology Replacement Clause Requires Actual Replacement
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 09.28.10
Some technology contracts have included "replacement" clauses which put limits on the agency's use of its termination for convenience power to flip to another vendor simply to get a better price. The Federal Circuit in McHugh v. DLT Solutions, Inc. (Sept. 23, 2010), held that, when the agency in such a clause had only agreed not to "replace" the leased software with "functionally similar equipment and/or software" for one year after termination or expiration of the lease, it did not breach when it did not install the leased software and continued to use its prior software.
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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
