The Fair Labor Standards Act authorizes "collective actions" into which workers seeking overtime or other compensation may opt. But prospective opt-ins usually won’t know about their right to join a collective action unless they get notice of it. And without notice they may lose their claims to expiry of the statute of limitations.
Today, the
Blawgletter doesn’t often see elegance in judicial opinions, but we do admire the Federal Circuit’s eight-page gem today in Boston Scientific Scimed, Inc. v. Medtronic Vascular, Inc., No. 06-1434 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 8, 2007).
The court considered which among three patent applications had priority. One patent owner alleged that a foreign application established its
The False Claims Act pays people to report fraud and other misdeeds against the federal government. They do it by filing a lawsuit under seal in federal court and sending a copy to the Department of Justice.
But the law excludes claims "based upon" information already in the public domain. Courts lack jurisdiction to hear
A federal jury in San Francisco found the former chief executive officer of Brocade Communications guilty on 10 counts relating to backdating of stock options. The verdict against Gregory Reyes represents the first conviction of a CEO for the practice. Bloomberg reports:
Reyes was charged a year ago with securities fraud and conspiracy for
Lucent-Alcatel won a $1.53B verdict against Microsoft for infringing MP3 player patents. But it lost it all on Microsoft’s motions for judgment as matter of law and new trial. Lucent Technologies Inc. v. Gateway Inc., No. 02CV2060 (S.D. Cal. Aug. 6, 2007). LA Times story here.
The order, available on the court’s PACER site
The Fifth Circuit today tossed two kinds of insurance coverage cases arising from hurricanes in 2005. One involved damage to refrigerators and freezers from post-storm putrefaction of their contents. Arias-Benn v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Ins. Co., No. 06-30771 (5th Cir. Aug. 6, 2007). The other dealt with exclusion of "flood" damage
The Fourth Circuit held last Friday that a participant in an insolvent pension plan doesn’t lose standing to sue when the government takes it over. Wilmington Shipping Co. v. New England Life Ins. Co., No. 06-2052 (4th Cir Aug. 3, 2007).
Peter Brown Ruffin, Jr., alleged that he lost benefits from his employer’s plan
Blawgletter once had a pyramid scheme case. A high-level schemer loved to tell marks how many millionaires belonged to the group. Dozens, right? But under oath she admitted that anyone who made $1 million over a lifetime qualified. So, $40k per year x 25 years and — bingo — welcome to the millionaire club.
We
Never say no when a client asks for something, even if it is the moon. You can always try, and anyhow there is plenty of time afterwards to explain that it was not possible.
Barry Barnett
The Federal Circuit today reiterated the peril of pre-suit peace talks with people you suspect of infringing your patent. They can sue you, where they want and when they want, even in the midst of happy settlement discussions. Sony Electronics, Inc. v. Guardian Media Technologies, Ltd., 06-1363 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 3, 2007) (following MedImmune
