Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP

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Latest from Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP

From the Ground Up

Environmental Groups Push for New Rules Restricting Emissions From Indirect Sources

By Suzanne Lacampagne

January 23, 2020

Environmental activist groups recently petitioned the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission (the “EQC”) to enact far-reaching rules that would regulate air emissions from so-called indirect sources in cities and metropolitan districts with populations of 50,000 or more. The petition identifies an indirect source as any facility, building, structure, or installation that attracts mobile sources (vehicles), and includes construction sites, hospitals, development projects, office buildings, ports, warehouses, retail facilities, and schools. Construction and operating permits would be…

From the Ground Up

Oregon Court: Common Commercial Property Insurance Suit-Limitation Clause is Ambiguous

By Seth Row

January 8, 2020

Oregon federal Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman gave policyholders an early Christmas present on December 20, 2019, holding that the most commonly-used suit limitation clause in commercial property insurance is ambiguous, and that therefore the policyholder had two years from the discovery of hidden water damage to file suit against the insurer. This ruling provides additional clarity to the interpretation of a widely-used coverage form, in the context of one of the most common property-loss scenarios…

The Northwest Policyholder

Oregon Court: Common Commercial Property Insurance Suit-Limitation Clause is Ambiguous

By Seth Row

January 2, 2020

Law Trends

The Supreme Court Speaks Unanimously: The USPTO Cannot Recover Legal Fees for Losing

By Leila Javanshir

December 16, 2019

On December 11, 2019, the Supreme Court unanimously decided that the term “expense” under §145 of the Patent Act does not include the salaries of the USPTO’s legal personnel, and put an end to the USPTO’s attempts to recover attorneys’ fees in court challenges to its decisions. The Peter v. NantKwest, Inc. dispute arose after the USPTO denied NantKwest’s patent application for a method to treat cancer in 2013. NantKwest unsuccessfully appealed the USPTO’s decision…

From the Ground Up

Oregon Signs Statement of Intent to Accelerate Transition to Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

By Jeff Miller

December 16, 2019

Along with seven other states and the District of Columbia, Oregon signed a Statement of Intent to develop a multi-state memorandum of understanding to support and accelerate the deployment of medium- and heavy-duty ZEVs (zero-emission vehicles) for consideration by the states’ governors and the mayor of the District of Columbia in summer 2020. The primary purpose is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but these vehicles are also major sources of diesel particulates, which is a…

Bank Law Monitor

Hemp-Banking Guidance Leaves a Lot of Questions

By Kalin Bornemann, Danielle Hunt & Steve Miller

December 5, 2019

The financial services industry has been waiting with bated breath for guidance from its regulators on banking hemp and hemp-derivatives like CBD. On Tuesday, December 3, federal regulators issued a joint statement attempting to “provide clarity” on the issue. Unfortunately, that guidance had landed with a distinct thud. Rather than providing practical guidance to the industry or a roadmap to banking hemp businesses, the regulators simply directed banks to confirm that their customers are operating…

The Northwest Policyholder

Washington Supreme Court: Consumer Protection Act Applies Broadly, Federal Courts Wrong

By Brian Esler

December 3, 2019

In Peoples v. USAA, decided on November 27, 2019, the Washington Supreme Court held that insurance companies can be liable under Washington’s Consumer Protection Act (RCW Ch. 19.86) if they violate Washington claims-handling regulations and wrongfully deny benefits, even if the underlying claim is for personal injuries. In this case the plaintiffs alleged that USAA’s computer algorithms wrongfully denied coverage for medical provider costs, which are generally covered under auto policies as “personal injury…

From the Ground Up

Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t: Supreme Court Expands Jobsite Liability for General Contractors

By Tina Scott

December 2, 2019

On November 21, the Washington State Supreme Court held that general contractors may be on the hook for the injuries of the workers on their jobsites (Vargas v. Inland Washington, LLC). And not just on the hook to provide a safe jobsite for all, but for the injuries of its subcontractor’s workers. And not on the hook in one way, but potentially four ways. The plaintiff, Mr. Vargas, was an employee of a…

Law Trends

When Can a Domain Name Be a Trademark? Supreme Court Will Decide

By Leila Javanshir

November 14, 2019

On Friday, November 8, 2019, the Supreme Court granted certiorari in United States Patent and Trademark Office et al. v. Booking.com BV, to decide whether “the addition by an online business of a generic top-level domain (“.com”) to an otherwise generic term can create a protectable trademark.” The case involves the travel website Booking.com, which attempted to register its website name, BOOKING.COM, as a trademark. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) refused registration,…

From the Ground Up

Event Recap: October Construction Breakfast Roundtable on Delegated Design

By Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP

November 1, 2019

The Construction Team hosted back-to-back Breakfast Roundtables in Portland and Seattle earlier this month. Attendees included contractors, suppliers, design professionals, in-house counsel, and others from across the construction industry. The topic: delegated design. We kicked off the discussion by defining the topic as delegating to the contractor a portion of the design of the work. For example, a contractor may have delegated design responsibility for portions of the exterior system, and then delegate that design out to various…

Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP

Miller Nash Graham & Dunn LLP Blogs

Blog Authors

Environmental Groups Push for New Rules Restricting Emissions From Indirect Sources

Oregon Court: Common Commercial Property Insurance Suit-Limitation Clause is Ambiguous

Oregon Court: Common Commercial Property Insurance Suit-Limitation Clause is Ambiguous

The Supreme Court Speaks Unanimously: The USPTO Cannot Recover Legal Fees for Losing

Oregon Signs Statement of Intent to Accelerate Transition to Zero-Emission Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles

Hemp-Banking Guidance Leaves a Lot of Questions

Washington Supreme Court: Consumer Protection Act Applies Broadly, Federal Courts Wrong

Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t: Supreme Court Expands Jobsite Liability for General Contractors

When Can a Domain Name Be a Trademark? Supreme Court Will Decide

Event Recap: October Construction Breakfast Roundtable on Delegated Design

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