INSIGHTS
Client Alerts & Publications
Unpacking the EEOC’s 2026 Rescission: Navigating Workplace Harassment Without the 2024 Guidance
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently rescinded its 2024 Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace (“Guidance”), which included guidance related to gender identity discrimination and harassment against LGBTQ+ workers. This rescission, while expected, signals an ongoing shift in priorities at the federal level, which creates confusion and uncertainty and raises compliance issues for employers. Based on this change, employers should stay up-to-date on the evolving guidance and best practices for creating and maintaining a compliant and inclusive workplace.
Plot Twist: Splicing Together DNA From Two Species Is NOT The Same As Mixing Yogurt Cultures
On February 20, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed a Delaware district court’s summary judgment of ineligibility, holding that REGENXBIO's gene therapy patent claims are not directed to a natural phenomenon. In doing so, Judge Stoll—joined by Judges Dyk and Hughes—provided a masterclass in how to properly apply the “markedly different characteristics” test from Diamond v. Chakrabarty to modern biotechnology. And the biopharma world is collectively exhaling.
Post-Quantum Defenses
The intersection of emerging technologies and intellectual property law has never been more critical. As quantum computing advances from theoretical research to practical application, it presents both unprecedented challenges and opportunities for IP practitioners and their clients. This article examines how post-quantum cryptographic developments implicate core IP concerns, including patent strategy, trade secret protection, and the safeguarding of confidential information, and outlines practical considerations for organizations navigating this rapidly evolving landscape.
May The Odds Be in Your Favor: The New H-1B Lottery
The federal government has made considerable changes to H-1B Lottery by replacing the purely random selection model with a wage-weighted registration selection model. We are answering the most important questions that employers are asking themselves as a result of this significant shift.
SEC Proposal Would Give Registered Funds Relief From Biden-Era Reporting Requirements
On February 18, 2026, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed additional amendments to the reporting requirements on Form N-PORT for certain registered investment companies that will, if adopted, provide those funds with relief from existing requirements, as well as adding certain new reporting requirements. The SEC is seeking public comments on the proposal, which will be due 60 days after publication in the Federal Register.
CBP To Stop IEEPA Collections at Midnight and Start Section 122 Ten Percent Collections at 12:01am ET February 24th
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will stop collecting IEEPA tariffs at 12:00am ET February 24th, and start imposing a new additional global 10 percent Section 122 tariff (Trade Act of 1974) at 12:01am ET on February 24th.
Supreme Court Strikes Down IEEEPA Tariffs, No Ruling on How to Get Refunds
The Supreme Court in a 6-3 decision ruled today that President Trump's imposition of tariffs under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) - which constitute about half of the tariffs imposed by the Trump Administration - was not lawful. The Supreme Court did not explain how refunds would be processed.
So You Want to Compound a Patented Drug? A Legal Survival Guide for the Brave, the Bold, and the Bewildered
On February 8, 2025, I was watching Super Bowl LIX. On came a commercial by Him & Hers offering to deliver weight loss medications to your door. And they looked a lot like Ozempic® and Wegovy®. Being a pharma patent geek watching with another pharma patent geek, we stopped talking about using MALDI-TOF in infringement analyses and started asking a question that Novo Nordisk single-handedly made vogue last week. Why don’t compounders run afoul of patent law all the time? Or do they?
EMG Case Shines a Light on Sponsor Conflicts in Continuation Fund Transactions
Abu Dhabi Investment Council has filed a complaint against Energy & Minerals Group over a GP-led sale of a 30% stake in Ascent Resources, arguing it would harm limited partners and disproportionately benefit EMG insiders while allowing the fund manager to unjustly reset profit-sharing terms.
ERISA Fiduciary Implications of Investing in Alternative Assets Taken up by Supreme Court
The Supreme Court will hear Anderson v. Intel, a case that could reshape how ERISA fiduciaries evaluate and select alternative investments like private equity and hedge funds for retirement plans. The case arrives amid significant regulatory activity, including President Trump's August 2025 Executive Order directing the DOL and SEC to reduce barriers to alternative investments in 401(k) plans and pending DOL rulemaking on fiduciary duties in investment selection.
Alert to Research Institutions with PHS-approved Animal Welfare Assurances: OLAW Issues Clarification on Prompt Reporting Guidance
OLAW recently published a notice that it has updated its guidance to the regulated community about their reporting requirements to the agency. “Guidance on Prompt Reporting to OLAW Under the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals,” NOT-OD-05-034, issued on February 24, 2005, now rescinded, has been replaced with the new Guidance, “Notice on Update to Guidance on Prompt Reporting to OLAW Under the PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals,” NOT-OD-25-148, “to refine and update examples of reportable situations, examples of situations where reporting is not normally required, the time frame for reporting, and the information to be reported.”
“Made in USA” Claims Back in FTC’s Crosshairs: What Companies Should Do Now
On January 13, 2026, President Trump nominated WeatherTech founder David MacNeil to the Federal Trade Commission. This nomination follows from the FTC tightening oversight of Made-in-USA claims in 2025, with the FTC declaring July “Made in the USA Month” and sending warning letters to companies with allegedly misleading marketing.
A Renewed Focus on Anti-American Discrimination in the Workplace
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently issued a Technical Assistance Document - Discrimination Against American Workers is Against the Law – and signaled its intention to focus on discrimination against American employees in the workplace. In light of the agency’s action, employers should know what their obligations under the law are and proactively should ensure that their policies, programs, and procedures comply with the law to avoid charges of discrimination.
The Supreme Court Takes Up “Skinny Labels” and the Fantasy World Where Generics Don’t Compete
The Federal Circuit’s recent decisions have shifted the standards for induced infringement, now considering not just a generic drug's label, but also its marketing practices. This has led to a Supreme Court inquiry on whether a fully carved-out generic label can still encourage infringement.
USPTO Director Encourages Use of Declarations to Overcome Eligibility Rejections
Rejections of patent applications as being directed to patent-ineligible subject matter can be difficult to overcome, particularly for artificial intelligence or software-related applications. While arguments that a patent claim incorporates any ineligible abstract idea into a practical application or provides a technological advance over the prior art are supposed to be sufficient to overcome a rejection, they ultimately rely on the Examiner’s discretion to withdraw their own rejection – and getting someone to say they were wrong can be challenging at the best of times. Providing credible extrinsic evidence, however, can significantly strengthen those arguments.
Section 112 Is the New OTDP — Has Biotech’s Least Favorite Thorn Been Upstaged?
Section 112 has decisively replaced obviousness-type double patenting (OTDP) as the primary litigation and PTAB vulnerability for ambitious biotech claims, with courts now demanding concrete possession and true enablement of claimed inventions rather than broad, suggestive genus disclosures. Claiming strategy in biotech must focus on disclosure-first breadth, ensuring that specifications clearly exemplify subgenera and teach across the scope of claims to meet strict enablement and written description requirements.
After-Arising Technology Takes Center Stage at the Supreme Court (With Another Cameo by Thomas Edison)
We’ve been talking about In re Entresto and MSN Pharmaceuticals’ petition for certiorari. The crux of the case remains the same: if you wonder whether a patent can be undone by technology that didn’t exist when it was filed, MSN’s reply brief—and its spirited ode to Edison’s bamboo filament lightbulb—just made your day.
Novartis Opposes Supreme Court Petition Targeting “After-Developed” Technology in Patent Validity Analyses, Arguing No Split at the Federal Circuit
Recently, we posted about MSN Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s petition for certiorari and the several amicus briefs in support of that petition. On November 7, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. filed its brief in opposition. The case squarely presents the long-simmering doctrinal tension over how patent law treats “after-developed” or “after‑arising” technology—innovations not known at a patent’s filing but later alleged to fall within a claim’s scope.
Do you have “Good Moral Character?” – USCIS wants to know
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) has issued new policy guidance regarding its evaluation of applicants for naturalization, the process through which foreign nationals become U.S. citizens. In August, USCIS issued a new policy memorandum entitled “Restoring a Rigorous, Holistic, and Comprehensive Good Moral Character Evaluation Standard for Aliens Applying for Naturalization.”
H-1B Nonimmigrant Visa Drama
Over the past several weeks, the White House has put the H-1B nonimmigrant visa program under the microscope and has launched a volley of attacks against the program. The current administration has sought to revise the program and to amend existing regulations, and the result has caused confusion and anxiety.