Judiciary Acts, Part 1: Hang Like a Bat to Every Particle
May 21, 2019
Harry Sandick
The First Congress picks up where Article III left off. Oliver Ellsworth gets possessive. The justices are told to make like post-boys and get on their horses. Congress tries to avoid amendments, and omits federal question jurisdiction and appeals from criminal trials or pro-federal decisions. The Rules of Decision Act is added at the last moment, leading to countless litigation over a provision that may not have applied in the first place.
Firm Highlights
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Employment Law Compliance for Start-Ups
Before you press "go" to launch your next business idea, as a founder and entrepreneur of a start-up company you should address an important (if uninspiring) step: employment law compliance. Complacency now can turn into an expensive distraction later, with the potential to create surprise liabilities and maybe even scuttle future deals. This alert flags core employment law issues every start-up should tackle now so they don't snowball later.
Onboarding Compliance Checklist
Before work can begin, employers must check an ever-growing number of compliance boxes:
Register to Do Business: Register your company in each state where you have employees (e.g., the local departments of tax, labor, state, etc.).
Workers' Compensation and Unemployment Insurance: Obtain both in each state where you have employees.
New Hire Reporting:...
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It’s All Relative: Judge Komitee Holds That an Infringing Sale Can Take Place at Multiple Times Both Before and After a Patent Issues
Judge Eric Komitee recently denied a motion to dismiss patent infringement claims accusing flood prevention products sold pursuant to a contract that was entered into before the patent issued but delivered and installed after issuance.
In 2013, plaintiff FloodBreak, LLC filed its patent application for a device that prevents flooding in subway systems. In 2016, while that application was pending, defendants T. Moriarty & Son, Inc. and James P. Moriarty, Jr. (collectively, “TMS”) contracted with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”) to supply flood-mitigation devices for the New York City subway. After the patent issued in 2017, FloodBreak sued TMS’s supplier and obtained a stipulated judgment that its devices infringe. FloodBreak then filed suit against TMS alleging infringement by TMS’s offer...
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Firm Achieves Significant Lanham Act Win for Johnson & Johnson
On April 17, 2026, Patterson Belknap secured a significant victory for our clients, Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Biotech, Inc. (“J&J”), when the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a preliminary injunction in a Lanham Act suit filed by Bayer HealthCare LLC (“Bayer”).
The dispute concerned a retrospective scientific study sponsored by J&J that compared the real-world efficacy of both companies’ prostate cancer medications, concluding that J&J’s ERLEADA was associated with a reduction in overall risk of death approximately 50% greater than Bayer’s NUBEQA. Bayer alleged that the study was methodologically flawed, and that J&J’s publication of the study results therefore constituted “false advertising.” The statements at issue included a presentation given by the study authors at a medical...
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SEC Enforcement Results for FY 2025: “Unique Period of Transition”
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a press release on April 7, 2026, announcing the agency’s enforcement results for transitional period under the new presidential administration.[1]
Describing FY 2025 as “a unique period of transition,” the statement pointed to a pulse of enforcement actions initiated between October and December 2024 [2] under outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler, critiquing the activity as “unprecedented rush” and the focus as an “aggressive pursuit of novel legal theories.”[3]. Current SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins described the shift as having “redirected resources toward the types of misconduct that inflict the greatest harm—particularly fraud, market manipulation, and abuses of trust.”[4]
During FY 2025, the SEC brought 303 standalone enforcement actions, a combination of civil suits and administrative procedures that...
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Insider Trading Safeguards Can Mitigate Sports Betting Risk
From sports betting to prediction markets, the phenomenon some call "the casino-ification of America" has captured the American zeitgeist. Sports betting in particular has become ubiquitous since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 decision in Murphy v. NCAA, which opened the door for states to legalize sports gambling.
Fans can now regularly bet on games and player performances directly from their smartphones. And, as several recent criminal indictments have alleged, some bettors are capitalizing on their access to inside information to obtain an unfair advantage on their wagers.
This article will discuss how, because sports-related inside information continues to become more valuable, organizations including professional sports leagues, governing bodies, college athletic conferences, athletic departments and teams are playing an increasingly prominent role in...
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New Executive Order Regarding IRA Enhancements
Introduction
On April 30, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order (the “Order”) designed to expand access to retirement savings for the tens of millions of American workers who currently lack employer-sponsored retirement plans, including many small-business employees, part-time workers, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals facing barriers to saving for retirement. The Order is designed to complement the Federal Saver's Match enacted under the SECURE 2.0 Act, which provides eligible workers with a federal matching contribution of up to $1,000 for retirement savings, and to promote high-quality, low-cost individual retirement account (“IRA”) access.
Key Provisions and Implications
The Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury (the “Secretary”) to establish, by January 1, 2027, an informational website (TrumpIRA.gov) that will serve as a...
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Bankruptcy Court Denies Motions to Convert Case and to Appoint an Examiner
A bankruptcy judge has ruled that a debtor can satisfy the Bankruptcy Code’s rehabilitation standard by selling its assets as a going concern and thereby avoid conversion from chapter 11 to chapter 7. In the same decision, the court denied a motion seeking the appointment of what the movants called an “examiner with expanded powers.” In re Deqser, LLC, Case No. 25-10687, 2026 Bankr. LEXIS 1004 (Bankr. D. Del. Apr. 22, 2026).
The debtors operated a laundry business that serviced hotels located in New York City. The business suffered a downturn following an electrical fire at its facility as well as problems with its software. The debtors filed chapter 11 in early 2025.
During their case, the debtors lost about $200,000 a...
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Firm Obtains Dismissal of False Claims Act Suit on Behalf of McGraw Hill
On May 15, 2026, Patterson Belknap successfully secured the dismissal of a False Claims Act lawsuit brought by the Florida Attorney General's Office (the "Florida AG Office") against the firm’s client, education solutions provider McGraw Hill, LLC ("McGraw Hill"), in Florida's Second Judicial Circuit Court.
The lawsuit was brought in August 2025 following an investigation and subpoena process in which the Florida AG's Office alleged that McGraw Hill violated Florida’s “most favored nation” pricing statute. The Court ruled that Florida’s most favored nation statute did not regulate the sale of materials within Florida, requiring dismissal of the entirety of the Florida AG Office’s complaint with prejudice. The case was brought by the State of Florida against McGraw Hill and Savvas, another provider...
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Firm Partners to Speak at American Conference Institute's 2026 Biosimilars & Innovator Biologics Conference
On Tuesday, June 2 and Wednesday, June 3, 2026, Partners Jay Cho and Aron Fischer will speak at the American Conference Institute's 2026 Biosimilars & Innovator Biologics Conference, the premier forum for biosimilars strategy, innovation, and litigation trends.
On June 2 at 12:00pm, Mr. Cho will speak on a panel titled "The Evolving Parameters of the Safe Harbor Defense to Patent Infringement: Excluded Activities and the 'Reasonably Related' Standard." He will join Eric W. Dittmann (Partner, Paul Hastings), James T. Evans, Ph.D. (Senior Director, Assistant General Counsel, Global IP Litigation, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.), and Henry Gu (SVP, Head of Intellectual Property, Zentalis Pharmaceuticals) for a discussion on critical elements of the Safe Harbor defense and recent case law.
On June 3 at 2:00pm, Mr....
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Stephanie Glaser to Speak at American Conference Institute's 6th Annual Summit for Women Leaders in IP Law
On Wednesday, June 3, Counsel Stephanie Bunting Glaser will speak on a program at the American Conference Institute's 6th Annual Summit for Women Leaders in IP Law titled "Copyrights in Synthetic Media: Protecting Creativity in the AI Era." Ms. Glaser will join Emily Lanza (Senior Counsel, U.S. Copyright Office, Office of Policy & International Affairs) to explore new challenges created by artificial intelligence in copyright law and offer strategies for safeguarding creative assets.
To learn more, please click here.
Publication
Employment Law Compliance for Start-Ups
Before you press "go" to launch your next business idea, as a founder and entrepreneur of a start-up company you should address an important (if uninspiring) step: employment law compliance. Complacency now can turn into an expensive distraction later, with the potential to create surprise liabilities and maybe even scuttle future deals. This alert flags core employment law issues every start-up should tackle now so they don't snowball later.
Onboarding Compliance Checklist
Before work can begin, employers must check an ever-growing number of compliance boxes:
Register to Do Business: Register your company in each state where you have employees (e.g., the local departments of tax, labor, state, etc.).
Workers' Compensation and Unemployment Insurance: Obtain both in each state where you have employees.
New Hire Reporting:...
Blog Post
It’s All Relative: Judge Komitee Holds That an Infringing Sale Can Take Place at Multiple Times Both Before and After a Patent Issues
Judge Eric Komitee recently denied a motion to dismiss patent infringement claims accusing flood prevention products sold pursuant to a contract that was entered into before the patent issued but delivered and installed after issuance.
In 2013, plaintiff FloodBreak, LLC filed its patent application for a device that prevents flooding in subway systems. In 2016, while that application was pending, defendants T. Moriarty & Son, Inc. and James P. Moriarty, Jr. (collectively, “TMS”) contracted with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (“MTA”) to supply flood-mitigation devices for the New York City subway. After the patent issued in 2017, FloodBreak sued TMS’s supplier and obtained a stipulated judgment that its devices infringe. FloodBreak then filed suit against TMS alleging infringement by TMS’s offer...
Firm News
Firm Achieves Significant Lanham Act Win for Johnson & Johnson
On April 17, 2026, Patterson Belknap secured a significant victory for our clients, Johnson & Johnson and Janssen Biotech, Inc. (“J&J”), when the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a preliminary injunction in a Lanham Act suit filed by Bayer HealthCare LLC (“Bayer”).
The dispute concerned a retrospective scientific study sponsored by J&J that compared the real-world efficacy of both companies’ prostate cancer medications, concluding that J&J’s ERLEADA was associated with a reduction in overall risk of death approximately 50% greater than Bayer’s NUBEQA. Bayer alleged that the study was methodologically flawed, and that J&J’s publication of the study results therefore constituted “false advertising.” The statements at issue included a presentation given by the study authors at a medical...
Blog Post
SEC Enforcement Results for FY 2025: “Unique Period of Transition”
The Securities and Exchange Commission issued a press release on April 7, 2026, announcing the agency’s enforcement results for transitional period under the new presidential administration.[1]
Describing FY 2025 as “a unique period of transition,” the statement pointed to a pulse of enforcement actions initiated between October and December 2024 [2] under outgoing SEC Chair Gary Gensler, critiquing the activity as “unprecedented rush” and the focus as an “aggressive pursuit of novel legal theories.”[3]. Current SEC Chair Paul S. Atkins described the shift as having “redirected resources toward the types of misconduct that inflict the greatest harm—particularly fraud, market manipulation, and abuses of trust.”[4]
During FY 2025, the SEC brought 303 standalone enforcement actions, a combination of civil suits and administrative procedures that...
Publication
Insider Trading Safeguards Can Mitigate Sports Betting Risk
From sports betting to prediction markets, the phenomenon some call "the casino-ification of America" has captured the American zeitgeist. Sports betting in particular has become ubiquitous since the U.S. Supreme Court's 2018 decision in Murphy v. NCAA, which opened the door for states to legalize sports gambling.
Fans can now regularly bet on games and player performances directly from their smartphones. And, as several recent criminal indictments have alleged, some bettors are capitalizing on their access to inside information to obtain an unfair advantage on their wagers.
This article will discuss how, because sports-related inside information continues to become more valuable, organizations including professional sports leagues, governing bodies, college athletic conferences, athletic departments and teams are playing an increasingly prominent role in...
Publication
New Executive Order Regarding IRA Enhancements
Introduction
On April 30, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order (the “Order”) designed to expand access to retirement savings for the tens of millions of American workers who currently lack employer-sponsored retirement plans, including many small-business employees, part-time workers, independent contractors, and self-employed individuals facing barriers to saving for retirement. The Order is designed to complement the Federal Saver's Match enacted under the SECURE 2.0 Act, which provides eligible workers with a federal matching contribution of up to $1,000 for retirement savings, and to promote high-quality, low-cost individual retirement account (“IRA”) access.
Key Provisions and Implications
The Order directs the Secretary of the Treasury (the “Secretary”) to establish, by January 1, 2027, an informational website (TrumpIRA.gov) that will serve as a...
