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Only You Can Prevent Forum Shopping
Recently, the Supreme Court unanimously held that the best time for forum shopping is before a dispute. The Supreme Court frowns on parties seeking to shop for a forum once a dispute develops but recognizes parties' right to agree to...
Re-Calculating Patent Term Adjustments Once Again
The Federal Circuit has adjusted the way we calculate Patent Term Adjustments (PTA) once again with its holdings in Novartis and Exelixis . 1 The Federal Circuit held that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has been incorrectly...
New HSR Thresholds for 2014
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced the annual revisions to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act (HSR Act) thresholds, which will become effective on February 24, 2014. The revised thresholds will apply to any transaction closing on or after the...
Supreme Court Delivers a Jolt to Patentees in Medtronic
Yesterday, in Medtronic, Inc. v. Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC , 571 U.S. ___ (2014), the United States Supreme Court unanimously held that a patentee has the burden of proving infringement in a declaratory judgment suit brought by a licensee. As...
EPA Issues NPDES Permit that Includes Limited Chemical Disclosure Requirements for Oil and Gas Operations Offshore California
Region 9 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency yesterday made available the finalized National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) general permit applicable to discharges from oil and gas exploration facilities offshore Southern California. NPDES General Permit No. CAG280000 (2014 NPDES...
Barclays Motion to Dismiss Raises Significant Issues About FERC Jurisdiction
After an investigation of actions in the western electricity markets by Barclays Bank PLC (“Barclays”), Daniel Brin, Scott Connelly, Karen Levine, and Ryan Smith (collectively, the “Traders” and together with Barclays, “Defendants”), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued an...
Barclays Motion to Dismiss Raises Significant Issues About FERC Jurisdiction
After an investigation of actions in the western electricity markets by Barclays Bank PLC ("Barclays"), Daniel Brin, Scott Connelly, Karen Levine, and Ryan Smith (collectively, the "Traders" and together with Barclays, "Defendants"), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ("FERC") issued an...
EPA adopts new standard for conducting All Appropriate Inquiries
In a rule published on December 30, 2013 and effective immediately upon publication, EPA formally adopts a new standard for conducting All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) at potentially contaminated sites. 78 Fed. Reg. 79319. The AAI rule outlines steps for potential...
Unlocking the Potential of Shale Gas in the UK Energy Mix
The UK is continuing to edge closer to realising the potential of its domestic shale gas resources. In mid-December 2013, the UK government published a report, known as the Strategic Environmental Assessment for Further Onshore Oil and Gas Licensing (the...
Mexican Federal Congress Approves Important Constitutional Energy Reform Bill
As we previously reported , on August 12, 2013, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto submitted a highly anticipated constitutional reform proposal to the Mexican Congress for purposes of restructuring the Mexican energy sector, including oil, gas, petrochemical, and power, by...
Are you on South African Santa's naughty or nice list?
A flood of bids reportedly delayed the announcement on the South African Government's announcement on its final list of preferred bidders in the Round 3 of the Renewable Energy Independent Power Producers Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) from the originally scheduled date...
Fifth Circuit Upholds Arbitration Agreement Prohibiting Employee Collective or Class Action Claims
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit joined the Second, Eighth and Ninth Circuits in upholding a class action waiver in an employment arbitration agreement. This is an important victory for employers in managing risks associated...
Vestas Completes Factory Testing of World's Most Powerful Wind Turbine
Interesting developments for the offshore wind market are on the horizon with Vestas today having completed its extensive testing of what will be the world's most powerful wind turbine "“ the Vestas V164 "“ 8 MW with the nacelle weighing...
Texas Greenhouse Gas Rules: Upcoming Hearing and End of Comment Period
As we discussed in an October post , the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has proposed rules to create a greenhouse gas (GHG) permitting program for the state of Texas and take over permitting authority from the U.S. Environmental...
Copyright Owners: Keep Your Eye on the Road
Copyright owners need to stay alert! If you have an infringement, ownership interest, or other claim to assert in a copyrighted work and fail to do so within the three year statute of limitations you risk being barred from asserting...