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Construction Group Secures Favorable Settlement for PCL Civil Constructors

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 01.01.06

Crowell & Moring secured a favorable settlement for our client in a construction defect case involving a sewer pipe in San Diego. In 2003, the City of San Diego brought suit against general contractor PCL Civil Constructors Inc. for alleged defective installation of joint welds in the interior lining of the sewer pipe. Representing PCL Civil Constructors, Stuart Einbinder was the partner in charge and was assisted by former counsel Rosemary Carson and counsel Theresa Lopez. The opposing counsel was the City Attorney-Civil Division of the City of San Diego. The case was settled in the spring of 2005

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Client Alert | 2 min read | 05.27.25

Federal Circuit Resolves Circuit Split on Scope of IPR Estoppel

As part of the 2012 America Invents Act, statutory estoppel was included to balance the interests of patent owners and patent challengers following an inter partes review (“IPR”).  Estoppel prevents an IPR petitioner from later asserting in court that a claim “is invalid on any ground that the petitioner raised or reasonably could have raised” during the IPR.  35 U.S.C. § 315(e)(2).  As applied, estoppel prevents petitioners from later relying in district court or in ITC proceedings on most patents or printed publications – the limited bases upon which petitioner can rely in an IPR.  But a question remained, and contradictory district court decisions arose, as to whether petitioners would be estopped from relying on a prior art commercial product (known as “device art,” which could not itself have been raised in the IPR) even if a printed publication describing the product (i.e. a patent or technical manual) was available and presumably could have been raised. ...

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