McCarter’s Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Companies practice empowers clients throughout the development cycle—from ideation to creation, capitalization, implementation, commercialization and monetization. Our representation is defined by a paradigm-shifting business model that Continue Reading
Supreme Court Removes a Final (?) Roadblock for Employment Arbitration Agreements
Class action lawsuits against employers have steadily increased both in number and in dollar value over the past two decades. These lawsuits cost employers millions, often for technical or minor violations spread over many class members and several years. The United States Supreme Court, however, Continue Reading
New York City Adopts #MeToo Era Anti-Sexual Harassment Legislation
As mentioned in our prior Alert concerning recent amendments to the state of New York’s laws prohibiting workplace sexual harassment, Mayor de Blasio has similarly followed suit by signing into law multiple bills collectively titled the Stop Sexual Harassment in NYC Act (“Act”) that impose Continue Reading
New USPTO Proposal for Claim Interpretation in PTAB Proceedings Would Strengthen Patent Rights
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) recently proposed to apply a different claim construction standard in post-grant review proceedings (i.e., IPRs, PGRs, and CBMs) before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. The USPTO now upholds patents in post-grant review proceedings only if the patent Continue Reading
Limits of Stockholder Ratification Defense When Directors Make Equity Awards to Themselves
In a stockholder litigation involving a bank defendant in December 2017, the Delaware Supreme Court considered the limits of the stockholder ratification defense when directors make equity awards to themselves under the general parameters of an equity incentive plan. When stockholders approve the Continue Reading
Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Companies Activities—May 2018
McCarter’s Venture Capital & Emerging Growth Companies practice empowers clients throughout the development cycle—from ideation to creation, capitalization, implementation, commercialization and monetization. Our representation is defined by a paradigm-shifting business model that Continue Reading
New Laws in the #MeToo Era: New York Requires More of Employers to Combat Workplace Sexual Harassment
New York State employers must adopt more stringent anti-sexual harassment policies and procedures under amendments to existing state laws embedded in the state budget signed into law by Governor Andrew Cuomo on April 12, 2018. These amendments become effective over the next year and include Continue Reading
Buy American, Pack American: The New Conventional Arms Transfer Policy
On April 19, 2018, President Trump issued National Security Presidential Memorandum No. NSPM-10 (the “Memorandum”), which outlined a new Conventional Arms Transfer (“CAT”) Policy. Based on announcements from administration officials, the new CAT Policy will be a catalyst for the economy and operate Continue Reading
USPTO Issues Guidance on PTAB Proceedings in Light of SAS Institute Case
In SAS Institute Inc., v. Iancu et al. (584 U.S. (2018)), the U.S. Supreme Court addressed whether the Patent Trial and Appeals Board (PTAB) is required to decide the patentability of every claim challenged by a petitioner when it issues a final decision in an Inter Partes Review (IPR) under the Continue Reading
That’s the Way the Cookie Crumbles: When Neither Party Prevails in the “Predominance of the Litigation,” Each Side Must Bear Its Own Attorneys’ Fees
While the Delaware Court of Chancery will generally uphold contractual prevailing-party fee-shifting provisions, a party must actually “prevail” in the litigation in order to recover attorneys’ fees and expenses. In The Mrs. Fields Brands, Inc. v. Interbake Foods LLC, C.A. No. 12201-CB Continue Reading