Whistleblower Protections for Prime and Sub Employees Expanded
Client Alert | 1 min read | 09.30.13
On September 30, 2013, the government amended the FAR and DFARS to enhance whistleblower protections for employees of government contractors and extend such protections to subcontractor employees. As discussed in a prior Crowell & Moring webinar, these enhanced protections, which also apply to non-defense contracts through a four-year "pilot program," broaden the scope of protected disclosures to include reporting an "abuse of authority," add new protections for internal disclosures to certain managerial employees, lower the burden of proof for demonstrating a "reprisal" against the whistleblower, and afford greater remedies such as compensatory damages and legal fees.
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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
