Union Obtains Protest Relief In District Court
Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 03.08.06
In Nat'l Treasury Employees Union v. IRS (D.D.C., Feb. 22, 2006), the union successfully challenged the decision of IRS to contract out mailroom functions without holding a public-private competition as required by the 2004 IRS appropriations act. Of most interest was the finding of the district court that the provisions of 28 U.S.C. 1491(b) giving the Court of Federal Claims exclusive jurisdiction over protests did not apply because the union was not an "interested party" under that provision, i.e., an actual or prospective bidder.
Insights
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
