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Galactic Foresight Required: NASA's Proposed Rule Limits Advance Waivers to Yet-to-Be-Conceived Inventions

Client Alert | less than 1 min read | 10.23.14

Earlier this month, NASA proposed to amend its patent regulations to require contractors requesting an advance waiver of the government's domestic rights in inventions made under a NASA contract to identify with specificity any inventions or classes of inventions that the contractor "believes will be made under the contract." Thus, in order to obtain an effective waiver, the contractor must predict what "inventions or classes of inventions" the contractor might make under aNASA contract, which, given the unpredictable nature of R&D efforts, may not cover the inventions that the contractor actually develops.


Insights

Client Alert | 3 min read | 04.30.24

Appliance Standards: Steep Increase in Department of Energy Enforcement Cases Puts Appliance Manufacturers and Importers at Financial Risk

The DOE in 2023 significantly increased its enforcement activity against manufactures and importers alleged to have violated EPCA’s energy and water conservation standards and related certification requirements, based on available public information. As we previously flagged, the substantial rise in enforcement activity comes as the Biden Administration increasingly focuses on EPCA as a means of achieving environmental policy objectives, including reducing carbon emissions. The Department has continued its enforcement efforts in 2024 and early data from this year sheds light on the Department’s enforcement priorities....