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Supreme Court Reviews Definition of Auto-Dialer Under TCPA To Clarify Circuit Split

By Kevin Angle, Fran Faircloth & Shong Yin

January 11, 2021

On December 8, 2020, the Supreme Court heard oral argument to consider the TCPA’s definition of an “automatic telephone dialer system” (ATDS) in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, Noah et al., Dkt. 19-511. The Supreme Court is tasked with interpreting the scope of liability under the TCPA, and its resolution may bring much needed clarity to companies struggling with the meaning of that definition, particularly in light of a current split among circuits on the question…

Patents Post-Grant

Prosecution Bars & The PTAB – An Evolving District Court View

By Scott McKeown

January 11, 2021

Litigators Amending Claims? Patent prosecution bars are prophylactic provisions typically included in district court protective orders when there is a risk that a recipient of confidential technical information may use (inadvertently or otherwise) that information while prosecuting patent applications in related technology. Prosecution bars eliminate this risk by preventing individuals who have access to technical information from directly or indirectly drafting, amending, advising, or otherwise affecting the scope of patent claims in a technical field…

Patents Post-Grant

Top 5 PTAB Developments of 2020 for District Court Litigators

By Scott McKeown

January 8, 2021

New PTAB Roadblocks & Strategies Earlier this week I laid out my Top 5 PTAB cases of 2020 for PTAB Practitioners, focusing on those cases that changed day-to-day practices before the agency. Like the practitioner list, my Top 5 PTAB developments of 2020 for District Court Litigators will focus on those practical PTAB developments that will impact parallel litigation practices outside of the agency. In 2020, there were a number developments of interest to…

Disputing Tax

Tax Controversy Coronavirus Thought Leadership

By Kat Gregor, Isabelle Farrar & COVID-19 Developments Team

January 7, 2021

In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19), the tax controversy group has put together a chart detailing tax controversy-related developments as they arise. Please refer to the following list of tax and tax controversy-related alerts and original articles for additional insight and guidance: Tax Controversy Coronavirus Developments: Court, Federal and State-by-State Updates (Last Updated December 14, 2020) Phase 4 Stimulus Package—Highlight of Certain Key Tax-Related Provisions in the Phase 4 Stimulus Package Massachusetts Extends COVID Guidance Relating …

Disputing Tax

Tax Challenges Arising from Digitalisation — Report on the Pillar One Blueprint

By Kat Gregor & Elizabeth Julia Smith

January 7, 2021

Tax partner and tax controversy group co-founder Kat Gregor and tax controversy group counsel Elizabeth Smith were participants in the International Bar Association (IBA) Working Group that submitted comments to the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration regarding the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS Public Consultation Document entitled Tax Challenges Arising from Digitalisation — Report on the Pillar One Blueprint. The OECD’s Pillar One and Pillar Two proposals seek to change the taxation of…

Patents Post-Grant

PTAB Applies Nautilus 112 Standard to AIA Trials…For Now

By Scott McKeown

January 7, 2021

Director Memo Decides Against Standard of In Re Packard Back in 2018 I noted the current PTO administration had backed away from a dispute on the appropriate 112 standard to apply in AIA trials (after intervention by the previous PTO administration). That is, the initial intervention sought to support the application of the standard enunciated by In re Packard to AIA trial proceedings. After Director Iancu came on board, that Intervenor Brief was withdrawn. Today,…

Patents Post-Grant

Top 5 PTAB Decisions of 2020

By Scott McKeown

January 6, 2021

2020: POP Precedents & Director Driven Changes In 2020, the Board continued to expand 314(a) discretion through numerous Precedential Opinion Panel (POP) decisions. These decisions, among a number of other developments, demonstrated a clear interest on the part of the current Director to rebalance AIA trial proceedings in the direction of patent owners. At the same time, the agency experienced increasing push back from larger innovator organizations — often subject to frivolous patent litigation—…

RopesDataPhiles

21 Privacy and Cybersecurity Issues for 2021

By Ropes DataPhiles

January 5, 2021

Many of the key policy debates that we expected to happen in 2020 seemed to be essentially frozen for the year as we all responded to the horrors of COVID and the seismic political shifts across the globe. So what does this new year hold for us? We hope for a return to normalcy as vaccinations spread across the globe, a new Administration takes the reins in DC, and the UK continues to negotiate the…

Disputing Tax

Busy New Year: Predicted IRS Enforcement Trends in 2021

By Kat Gregor, Elizabeth Julia Smith & Isabelle Farrar

December 31, 2020

In a recent Bloomberg Tax article, tax partner and tax controversy group co-founder Kat Gregor, tax controversy counsel Elizabeth Smith and tax controversy associate Isabelle Farrar examine seven potential areas of focus for IRS enforcement in 2021, including TCJA-related audits and increased partnership tax compliance.…

Disputing Tax

Phase 4 Stimulus Package—Highlight of Certain Key Tax-Related Provisions in the Phase 4 Stimulus Package

By COVID-19 Developments Team

December 23, 2020

On December 21, 2020, a bipartisan agreement was reached on the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2021 (Phase 4 Stimulus), in furtherance of the fourth phase of the federal government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis. (The bill was passed on December 21, 2020 by both the House of Representatives and the Senate.) The key tax provisions of the Phase 4 Stimulus are summarized in this Alert, and include an expansion of the employee retention credit, an additional…

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Supreme Court Reviews Definition of Auto-Dialer Under TCPA To Clarify Circuit Split

Prosecution Bars & The PTAB – An Evolving District Court View

Top 5 PTAB Developments of 2020 for District Court Litigators

Tax Controversy Coronavirus Thought Leadership

Tax Challenges Arising from Digitalisation — Report on the Pillar One Blueprint

PTAB Applies Nautilus 112 Standard to AIA Trials…For Now

Top 5 PTAB Decisions of 2020

21 Privacy and Cybersecurity Issues for 2021

Busy New Year: Predicted IRS Enforcement Trends in 2021

Phase 4 Stimulus Package—Highlight of Certain Key Tax-Related Provisions in the Phase 4 Stimulus Package

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