Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 504: Listen and Learn -- Motions for Judgment as a Matter of Law and Motions for New Trial (Civ Pro)
Janick v. Zoological Society of Philadelphia, 2025 PA Super 90 (Pa. Super. Apr. 22, 2025) - On appeal, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania affirmed a trial court’s granting of a new trial after recognizing it erred in failing...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit determined that an accused infringer was entitled to a new trial relating to validity issues but still faced sanctions for its continuous disregard of its discovery obligations....more
Trial courts tend to get more than the benefit of the doubt when their decisions are viewed under the "abuse of discretion" standard, and juries similarly are affirmed unless there isn't substantial evidence supporting their...more
Expert witness testimony is a frequent (almost ubiquitous) feature of patent litigation, if only because questions of the state of the art or the understanding of one having ordinary skill in the art are almost always at...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit concluded that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying defendants’ motion for a new trial on damages, finding that the jury verdict on damages was based on...more
Finding that the district court improperly restricted a defendant’s ability to present the jury with relevant evidence of invalidity after a prior remand, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit vacated a district...more
Among the many benefits of utilizing appellate counsel at trial is that appellate counsel can assist in timely raising possible errors, and if error is not asserted when it occurs, then appellate counsel may be able to raise...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed denial of a licensee’s motion for a new trial, finding that there was no error in awarding damages to the plaintiff/licensor for the licensee’s failure to pay royalties...more
A recent Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision demonstrates how easy it can be not to preserve, or even waive, error in a trial court’s jury instructions....more
PATENT CASE OF THE WEEK - Power Integrations, Inc. v. Fairchild Semiconductor Int’l, Inc., Appeal Nos. 2016-2691, 2017-1875 (Fed. Cir. July 3, 2018) - The Court affirmed a jury verdict of patent infringement and vacated a...more
Federal Circuit Summaries - Before Newman, Mayer, and Stoll. Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Summary: While there is not a “practicing the prior art” defense to literal...more
Improperly Drafted Employment Agreement Leads to Dismissal of Patent Case Due to Lack of Standing - In Advanced Video Technologies LLC v. HTC Corporation et al., Appeal Nos. 2016-2309, 2016-2310, 2016-2311, the Federal...more
This month’s key California employment law cases both involve jury trials of discrimination claims, and the extent to which the plaintiffs were able to recover attorney’s fees and damages....more
Federal Circuit Summaries - Before Wallach, Chen, and Stoll. Appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska. Summary: Reexaminations of patents confirming validity are not dispositive of...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated a $663 million judgment, concluding that the Supreme Court’s opinion in Escobar doomed the plaintiff’s FCA claims on the issue of materiality....more