FEMA to Release New Emergency Management Priorities and Allocation System to Govern FEMA DPA Title I Activities
Client Alert | 1 min read | 05.12.20
On May 13, 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will publish an interim final rule establishing the Emergency Management Priorities and Allocation System (EMPAS) pursuant to Title I of the Defense Production Act (DPA). As drafted, EMPAS will apply beyond the current COVID-19 context and will become part of the Federal Priority and Allocations System (which includes, for example, the Defense Priorities and Allocation System (DPAS) and the Health Resources Priority and Allocations System (HRPAS)). Although largely similar to the DPAS and HRPAS, EMPAS also provides express authorization to issue rated orders to facilitate sales of health and medical resources to third parties while simultaneously rejecting any government financial liability for such orders (44 C.F.R. § 333.12(c) and 333.19). EMPAS is effective immediately upon publication, and comments on the interim final rule will be accepted through June 12, 2020.
Contacts
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
