Unanimous Supreme Court Says Veteran-Owned Small Business Preferences Reign
Client Alert | 1 min read | 06.20.16
On June 16, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court in Kingdomware Techs., Inc. v. U.S. ruled that 38 U.S.C. § 8127 requires the Department of Veterans Affairs to apply the “Rule of Two” and, if met, give preference to veteran-owned small businesses (VOSBs) when awarding any contract over the dollar thresholds in subsections (b) and (c). The Court soundly rejected both the Federal Circuit’s and the VA’s position that subsection (d)’s prefatory clause somehow relaxed the plain, mandatory language of the clause providing that the preferences “shall” apply, and the VA’s newly (and untimely) raised argument that subsection (d) does not apply to orders under Federal Supply Schedule contracts, setting the stage for a notable increase in awards of VA FSS orders to VOSBs and incentivizing more VOSBs to pursue opportunities with the VA.
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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
