Federal Circuit: AI Researcher’s Latest Government Takings Claim Rightly Tossed
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held June 8 that a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge was right to find that the court had no jurisdiction under the Tucker Act to consider a pro se computer scientist’s Fifth Amendment takings claim against the U.S. government because copyright claims against the government can be brought only under the statute the plaintiff used to pursue relief in a series of earlier suits.
N.J. Panel Affirms Arbitration Awards In Coverage Dispute With Guaranty Association
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appellate court affirmed arbitration awards of $45,000 in damages to a pedestrian struck by a car and $12,639.57 in favor of the New Jersey Property-Liability Insurance Guaranty Association (NJPLIGA), which paid medical expenses for the pedestrian, in a suit against the owner of the car, rejecting the owner’s argument that there were extraordinary circumstances preventing him from filing a demand for a de novo trial after the completion of the arbitration hearing.
J&J Prevails In 2nd California Talc-Cancer Bellwether
LOS ANGELES — A jury hearing the second bellwether trial in consolidated ovarian-cancer cases in a California court found for Johnson & Johnson on June 5, finding no negligence on the company’s part for ovarian cancer alleged to have been caused by consumer talc use.
Panel Affirms Judgment For Leasing Company In Fraud Coverage Row Involving Crash
LOS ANGELES — A California appellate court on June 5 affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in a suit brought under the California Insurance Frauds Prevention Act (IFPA) alleging that an auto leasing company, a law firm and a driver of a sports car involved in a collision committed insurance fraud regarding an underlying auto collision suit, finding that evidence was lacking to show that the alleged misrepresentations were material.
Assault Or Battery Exclusion Bars Coverage For Negligence Suit, 5th Circuit Says
NEW ORLEANS — The Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 5 affirmed a lower federal court’s ruling that a commercial general liability insurance policy’s assault or battery exclusion barred coverage for an underlying negligence lawsuit arising from the sexual assault of a minor by a security guard, rejecting the appellants’ argument that the term “all locations” in the policy exclusion is ambiguous.
Judge Won’t Decertify Class, Reopen Discovery In ERISA Lawsuit Over Severance
OAKLAND, Calif. — Rejecting the defendants’ arguments regarding the impact of a nine-factor test the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals instituted concerning releases in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases, a California federal judge on June 4 issued separate orders denying motions to decertify the class and reopen discovery and then on June 5 amended the latter order to clarify that a bench trial in the long-running case over severance benefits is scheduled to start July 9.
Infringement Finding Affirmed By Federal Circuit In Antibiotic Injection Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 5 affirmed an Illinois federal judge’s finding that an appellant biopharmaceutical company’s generic version of an injectable antibiotic treatment method infringes another company’s patents. The panel also rejected the appellant company’s argument that the patents were invalid for lack of adequate written description (Melinta Therapeutics, LLC, et al. v. Nexus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Nos. 25-1281, 25-1282, Fed. Cir., 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 16259).
4th Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of FCA Suit Alleging Unlawful Physician Referrals
RICHMOND, Va. — The Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court ruling dismissing a relator’s qui tam suit against hospitals and related entities alleging violations of the False Claims Act (FCA) by participating in unlawful payments to physicians for referrals to the hospitals in violation of the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS), finding that when the alleged schemes in the amended complaint are “stripped of inflammatory rhetoric and conclusory labels,” the practices of the hospitals “are consistent with running a lawful healthcare business.”
Federal Circuit: Errors In Instructions, Verdict Form Doom $11.5M Patent Judgment
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on June 4 found that a Texas federal judge improperly combined four patents related to a heating and ventilation system into a single infringement question on the verdict form and wrongly gave the jury incomplete instructions on patent eligibility; the panel vacated the jury’s infringement findings and damages award of more than $11.5 million and ordered a new trial on both issues.
Family: Judge Missed Step In Asbestos Verdict Remittitur Analysis
NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge skipped the third and mandatory step of increasing a remittitur calculation by 50% and should add $1.95 million to a proposed $3.9 million judgment in an asbestos case, a family tells a federal judge in Louisiana in a June 4 motion for reconsideration.
4th Circuit Lets ERISA Class Cert Vacatur Stand; Amici Supported Rehearing
RICHMOND, Va. — Denying en banc rehearing in a case where it reversed and vacated certification of a mandatory class, the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on June 4 let its ruling stand in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act case challenging the employer’s decision to include passively managed BlackRock LifePath Index target date funds (TDFs) in its defined-contribution retirement plan.