First Republic Executives Fail in Attempt to Recover Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan Assets
It seems to be fairly well settled that you can’t use trespass-to-try-title to recover a nonpossessory royalty interest in Texas. What if you call the interest a “mineral interest stripped of every attribute except the right...more
In Thomas v. Doolittle, an independent executor of the estate of an alleged husband appealed the sufficiency of the evidence to support the trial court’s order granting appellee’s petition for declaratory judgment, holding...more
Addressing the intersection of a trust beneficiary’s rights to royalties and an heir’s copyright termination rights under 17 U.S.C. § 203, the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court’s order...more
Addressing whether a federal district court had jurisdiction over an action for declaratory relief that certain trade secrets and trademarks were invalid and not infringed, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit...more
Last week, the Court of Appeals of Virginia issued a significant 24-page opinion in David Tidwell, et al. v. Kenneth. M Goldsmith, et al., Record No. 0629-24-1 and Record No. 0666-24-1, in consolidated cases concerning the...more
[MITEK SYSTEMS, INC., v. UNITED SERVICES AUTOMOBILE ASSOCIATION [OPINION]] - Before Taranto, Schall, and Chen. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. The plaintiff could not seek...more
Discussions of the tax-exempt status of universities, nonprofit advocacy groups and other Section 501(c)(3) organizations frequently have been in the news lately. The IRS revocation of a Section 501(c)(3) organization's...more
As a part of Vinson & Elkins’ Texas Business Court Quarterly Update, the following update summarizes the Texas Business Court opinions—categorized by primary issue—that have been released since September 1, 2024 through the...more
A worker was injured when he fell from a ladder while working for a subcontractor at a construction project. The injured worker sued the owner of the project, seeking damages for his injuries. The owner was defended by its...more
In Columbia Casualty Co. v. State Auto Mutual Insurance Co., the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals concluded, under Ohio law, that a demand letter to a general liability insurance carrier’s insured containing allegations of bad...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a declaratory judgment action, explaining that declaratory judgment jurisdiction does not “arise merely on the basis that a party learns...more
This case addresses declaratory judgments of non-infringement in relation to subject-matter jurisdiction and the district court’s refusal to exercise discretionary jurisdiction. Background - In June 2020, Mitek Systems,...more
Biosimilar Litigations include litigations relating to biosimilar/follow-on products of CDER-listed reference products. Litigations between biosimilar applicants/manufacturers and reference product sponsors as well as...more
Mitek Systems Inc. v. United Services Automobile Association, Appeal No. 2023-1687 (Fed. Cir. June 12, 2025) In our Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit examined the limits of declaratory judgment jurisdiction for a...more
The Court of Appeals’ opinion in N.C. Farm Bureau Mut. Ins. Co. v. Young, (No. COA24-594) addresses how a court is likely to assess the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify under an insurance contract, and the interplay...more
Honeywell International Inc. has taken a proactive stance against what it describes as "unwarranted and unfounded" patent litigation by filing a declaratory judgment action in the Western District of North Carolina against...more
A bipartisan coalition of 28 AGs have filed a lawsuit against 23andMe Holding Co. and 23andMe, Inc. (collectively “23andMe”) to protect human genetic data collected by the company from being sold without consumers’ consent as...more
Federal contractors understandably associate litigation at the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) with recovering monetary damages. Appealing denied claims to the COFC (along with the Boards of Contract Appeals) is the exclusive...more
Ninth Circuit holds that custom Ford Mustang called “Eleanor,” which appeared in four films from 1974 to 2000, is not entitled to character copyright protection under Towle test and that licensor of custom car design did not...more
In a significant federal jurisdiction ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit clarified the jurisdictional standards applicable to “mixed actions”—lawsuits that combine requests for both coercive relief (like...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s denial of copyright protection for a car that had a name but no anthropomorphic or protectable characteristics. Carroll Shelby Licensing, Inc. v....more
On May 12, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued a pivotal decision addressing the timing of contribution claims under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA),...more
On March 3, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted a lender’s motion for declaratory judgment to order a borrower to recognize the effect of a non‑judicial UCC foreclosure sale. The court...more
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has held that a malpractice claim was “deemed made” against an insured law firm when it received from its former client’s new counsel a letter directing the law firm to preserve records related...more
On May 2, 2025, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in AdHealth Limited v. PorterCare Adventist Health Systems affirming the lower court’s summary judgment ruling that a hospital’s excess liability insurance...more