(United States Supreme Court) - Held that an inventor's sale of an invention to a third party who is obligated to keep the invention confidential can qualify as prior art for purposes of determining the patentability of the invention. The dispute here involved two pharmaceutical companies that disagreed about whether a certain drug was under patent; one of the companies wanted to market a generic version of it. Justice Thomas delivered the unanimous opinion.

(United States Supreme Court) - Held that the Copyright Act authorizes federal district courts to award a prevailing party only the six categories of costs specified in the general costs statute. A software manufacturer that obtained an infringement judgment against another company argued that the Act's reference to "full costs" meant that a court could award it costs beyond the six categories. The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously rejected this argument for additional costs in an opinion delivered by Justice Kavanaugh.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Addressed a damages issue in a case where a jury found that a musical instrument retailer infringed another retailer's trademark. Affirmed the denial of the plaintiff's motion amend the judgment.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that the manufacturer of a coffeemaker infringed the unregistered trade dress of a competitor's widely lauded product by mimicking the overall appearance. Affirmed a jury verdict.

NICK Bertus and Will ­Affleck fell just three runs short of a century-old record to lead Parramatta to a two-day win over Western Suburbs.

FROM being unwanted by Australia due to visa issues, Ali Rizwan is now a much wanted member for the Sydney Thunder Nation Cup All-Stars and is even invited to bowl to international teams at net practices.

“THAT was a crazy night and I don’t think we are ever going to see anything like that again,” said Sea Eagles prop Darcy Lussick.

(United States First Circuit) - Convictions of several police officers on charges of conspiring to injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidate persons in the free exercise or enjoyment of their constitutional rights and for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, are affirmed, as the facts in this case amply support the determination that a rational trier of fact could have found, beyond a reasonable doubt, that defendants, acting under color of state law, conspired to violate various residents' rights and the evidence supporting the convictions for conspiracy to possess controlled substances with intent to distribute is substantially the same and is sufficient to permit the jury to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt the facts in the case.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Judgment dismissing plaintiff's Fifth Amendment takings claim against government when his license to practice law was revoked by the Tenth Circuit and reciprocally by the State of Colorado, is affirmed, where: 1) the Court of Federal Claims had no jurisdiction over plaintiff's alleged violations of his rights in the absence of a money-mandating statute providing for compensation for such government action as required for a claim under the Tucker Act; and 2) because the revocation actions became final no later than 1999, the suit was barred by the six year statute of limitations of the Tucker Act.

(United States Second Circuit) - The Court's Committee on Admissions and Grievances' findings of fact and recommendations are adopted, with certain exceptions and attorney Tustaniwsky is publicly reprimanded and suspended from practice before this Court for one year.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In this action alleging false arrest and malicious prosecution, plaintiff was arrested by defendant police officers for an alleged assault on his father-in-law. After plaintiff's arrest, his wife met with one of the police officers and gave him drugs which she purported to have found in plaintiff's car. Soon thereafter, the police officer and plaintiff's wife began a sexual relationship, and plaintiff was charged with assault, elder abuse, and two counts of drug possession. The drug charges were eventually dismissed for lack of probable cause, and a jury acquitted plaintiff the remaining charges, and after conducting an internal investigation, the City of Glendale terminate the police officer for conduct unbecoming of an officer. Summary judgment in favor of defendants is affirmed, where: 1) notwithstanding plaintiff's self-defense claim, there was probable cause to arrest and prosecute plaintiff for assault and elder abuse; 2) because the police officer's relationship with plaintiff's wife began after all of the evidence related to the altercation had been collected and documented, the officer's later misconduct did not undermine the existence of probable cause; and 3) plaintiff failed to demonstrate a Fourth Amendment seizure with respect to the drug possession charges.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Convictions against defendant, an attorney convicted of money laundering while representing a client charged with receiving stolen property, are affirmed where: 1) the prosecutor's failure to correct a grand jury witnesses' false testimony as to his motives for cooperating and failure to disclose impeachment evidence to the grand jury do not constitute structural error requiring automatic reversal; and 2) the prosecution's ex parte request that the district court decide in camera whether the government witness's informant activity needed to be disclosed at trial was not improper.

(California Court of Appeal) - Held that the California Board of Registered Nursing could restrict a registered nurse's license (by making it probationary) based on her past misdemeanor petty theft convictions that were later dismissed. Reversed the issuance of a writ of administrative mandate.

(United States Third Circuit) - In plaintiff's suit for preliminary injunctive relief against its former vice president of operations, following defendant's acceptance of a senior executive position with plaintiff's competitor, Hostess Brands, seeking to protect its trade secrets involving plaintiff's popular line of Thomas' English Muffins, of which defendant was one of only seven people who possessed all of the knowledge necessary to replicate the muffins, district court's grant of plaintiff's motion for preliminary injunction is affirmed where: 1) the district court had discretion to enjoin defendant from working at Hostess to the extent this proposed employment threatened to lead to the misappropriation of trade secrets; 2) district court did not abuse its discretion by determining that plaintiff demonstrated a likelihood of success on its misappropriation of trade secrets claim; 3) district court did not abuse its discretion when, faced with evidence of defendant's suspicious conduct during his final weeks at plaintiff, it determined that a stronger remedy was needed in the interim to protect plaintiff from imminent irreparable harm; 4) district court was correct in concluding that the harm of plaintiff's trade secrets being disclosed to Hostess outweighed the harm to defendant of not being able to commence employment at Hostess until the court made a final determination of the merits following a trial; and 5) district court was correct in concluding that the public interest in preventing the misappropriation of plaintiff's trade secrets outweighs the temporary restriction of defendant's choice of employment.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In a Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. section 552, dispute arising from requests for Notices of Seizure of Infringing Merchandise pursuant to 19 C.F.R. section 133.21(c), judgment of the district court is affirmed in part and vacated in part where court properly held that plaintiff's requests fall within Exemption 4 but erred in finding that 19 C.F.R. section 103 fees had been invalidated.

(United States Third Circuit) - Conviction and sentencing of defendant for principally violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 18 U.S.C. section 371, for marketing a software program to Iranian actors and forming agreements with Iranian entities to provide technology to facilitate the construction of multiple chemical plants, are upheld where: 1) district court properly held that IEEPA does not violate the nondelegation doctrine; and 2) defendant's actions that occurred more than five years prior to the indictment were part of a continuing course of conduct that extended into the limitations period and contributed to the charged conspiracy, such that they were not barred by the statute of limitations.

(United States Federal Circuit) - In an action alleging that the government misappropriated plaintiff's trade secrets, the Fifth Circuit's decision vacating the district court’s judgment for plaintiff and remanding the case for transfer of the case to the Claims Court under 28 U.S.C. section 1631, is affirmed, where: 1) the Fifth Circuit ruling that the case must be transferred to the Claims Court is law of the case; and 2) the Claims Court has jurisdiction over plaintiff's suit because although plaintiff brought the action under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which now must give way, plaintiff is within the class of those authorized to recover upon proof of breach of contract, injury, and amount of damages, as well as a Fifth Amendment taking.

(United States Second Circuit) - Defendant's convictions under the Economic Espionage Act (EEA) and the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA) are affirmed, where: 1) on the EEA conviction, defendant fails to show that purported error in the pleading of the law's jurisdictional element affected his substantial rights or the fairness, integrity, or public reputation of judicial proceedings; 2) on the NSPA conviction, defendant fails to show that the theft of his employer's computer code did not satisfy the law's "goods, wares, or merchandise" requirement because, although the code itself was intangible intellectual property, defendant stole it in the tangible form of thousands of sheets of paper; 3) defendant fails to establish any instructional error; and 4) defendant's claims of constructive amendment and prejudicial variance fail on the merits.

(United States Federal Circuit) - In this case, plaintiffs allege that defendants violated state-law torts of misappropriation of trade secrets and engaged in conspiracy to misappropriate trade secrets. Dismissal of the complaint for failure to state a claim on which relief can be granted is reversed and remanded for further proceedings, where: 1) the district court relied on judgments about the merits that go beyond what is authorized at the complaint stage; and 2) plaintiffs' specific factual allegations of protective measures taken against trade secret misappropriation are enough to survive a motion to dismiss.

(California Court of Appeal) - In a trademark secrets and employment case arising out of the formation of defendant uPI Semiconductors by employees of plaintiff Richtek, the sustaining of defendants' demurrer is reversed where the trial court improperly took judicial notice of the substantive allegations contained in two 2007 court complaints filed in Taiwan to resolve factual disputes in the case.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Held that a company did not violate a nondisclosure agreement by including particular information in a patent application for a 3D printing process. Affirmed summary judgment against a breach-of-contract claim brought by the other party to the nondisclosure agreement, a distributor of specialty polymers.

(United States Second Circuit) - Held that the doctrine of laches barred a woman from seeking to recover a painting by Pablo Picasso hanging in New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The painting once belonged to her ancestors, German Jews who fled the Nazi regime. Affirmed a dismissal based on undue delay in bringing the lawsuit.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Reversed summary judgment in favor of the Defendant. Plaintiff brought suit against Defendant under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Plaintiff, who is deaf, requested an American Sign Language interpreter at Defendants' continuing educations courses. Held that while a public accommodation must furnish appropriate assistance to individuals with disabilities, specific aid is not required, but there was an issue of material fact as to whether effective communication was offered to Plaintiff even if different than that requested.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. In order for a tort claim to be brought against the US the plaintiff must first exhaust her administrative remedies by presenting her claim to the appropriate federal agencies and demand a sum certain in their claim. The plaintiff in this action failed to make such a demand and the district court properly dismissed the case.

(United States Fifth Circuit) - Affirmed. An injury suit under general maritime law failed because causation evidence was scant and the injured party couldn't prove that grease on a ship deck caused him to slip and fall.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Vacated a criminal conviction and the sentence of a U.S. citizen who allegedly drugged and raped several children while he was residing in Cambodia. In reversing, the Ninth Circuit held that the defendant was improperly convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. section 2423(c) because the version of that statute in effect during the relevant time period was inapplicable to U.S. citizens living abroad unless they were traveling (as opposed to residing) in the foreign country when they committed the sexual acts that the statute prohibits.

(United States Fourth Circuit) - Affirmed the convictions and sentences for providing support to a foreign terrorist organization following a bench trial where the district court found that the two defendants had collected money to assist a foreign terrorist organization's activities. On appeal, the Fourth Circuit rejected the defendants' argument that the district court, among other things, should have suppressed evidence obtained pursuant to warrants issued under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Affirmed an art museum's title to two oil paintings that the Nazis had stolen from the plaintiff's father-in-law during World War II. The plaintiff sued the museum to recover the two Renaissance masterpieces, but the museum insisted it had good title because the Dutch government validly conveyed the paintings after the war to the person who sold them to the museum. Concluding that the act-of-state doctrine applied here, the Ninth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the museum.

(United States Fourth Circuit) - Affirmed a judgment ordering forfeiture to the United States of seven ancient Cypriot coins and eight ancient Chinese coins. A numismatist organization that opposed import restrictions on ancient coins argued that the forfeiture order imposed in connection with international rules on ownership of cultural property was improper. However, the Fourth Circuit rejected each of the organization's contentions of error.

(United States Federal Circuit) - Affirmed a judgment of the US Court of International Trade (ITC) which had found that the certain merchandise involving compression hosiery was not duty free. On appeal, the Federal Circuit held that the analysis of the ITC was incorrect, but the correct result was ultimately reached.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed a man's conviction under the International Parental Kidnapping Crime Act for conspiring with a woman to remove her child to Nicaragua in order to prevent her civil-union partner from exercising parental rights. Appealing his conviction, the man argued that the district court should have suppressed location information garnered from his cellphone records because the government obtained them through a subpoena issued pursuant to the Stored Communications Act rather than a court‐approved warrant. Finding no merit in this contention or in his objection to the jury instructions, the Second Circuit affirmed his conviction.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed in part and reversed in part. The Second Circuit agreed with the district court that the government cannot use theories of conspiracy or complicity to charge a defendant with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act if he is not in the category of persons covered by the statute. However, they reasoned that the defendant could conspire with foreign nationals even though he was never in the United States.

(United States DC Circuit) - Held that a Switzerland-based financial firm could proceed with a tax refund claim. The firm sought a $38 million refund under a U.S.-Swiss treaty that deals with the tax on dividends paid by U.S. corporations and received by foreign shareholders. Reversed the district court's ruling that the refund claim raised a nonjusticiable political question.

(California Court of Appeal) - Refused to quash service of a summons on a company in Hong Kong. The company contended that the service did not adhere to proper Hong Kong procedures and was invalid under international law. Disagreeing, the California Court of Appeal denied writ relief.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - Rejected a U.S. citizen's challenge to an order certifying him as extraditable to the Czech Republic, where he had been convicted of attempted extortion many years ago. Affirmed the denial of his habeas corpus petition.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - District judge’s denial of stay in an extradition treaty request affirmed, where the political offense exception in the Lithuania-US extradition treaty did not apply, the magistrate judge did not abuse discretion in finding probable cause that petitioner committed crimes, petitioner did not provide detailed evidence of "atrocious punishment" in Lithuanian prison, and the Secretary of State’s decision to grant extradition did not violate petitioner’s constitutional right to due process. Petitioner was charged with family/domestic offenses related to the police capture of her niece, where Petitioner alleged niece was subjected to molestation by niece's mother and Lithuanian government officials.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. Defendant appeals his bribery conviction, arguing improper jury instructions and insufficient evidence. The court finds the “official act” standard from McDonnell does not apply to Guinea’s Penal Code, and any potential evidentiary errors were harmless. Judgement is affirmed.

(United States Second Circuit) - Affirmed. The district court granted Defendants’ motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim. Plaintiffs failed to plausibly allege that the defendants knowingly aided or abetted November, 2005 attacks in Jordan.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - Affirmed. Defendant was charged with executing a scheme to defraud local governments by falsely representing that his industrial fans were assembled in the United States. Appeals court found no error in the judgment or the sentence.

(United States Supreme Court) - The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal's affirmation of the district court's holding that defendants' partnerships were properly disregarded as shams but that the valuation-misstatement penalty did not apply, is reversed, where: 1) the district court had jurisdiction to determine whether the partnerships' lack of economic substance could justify imposing a valuation-misstatement penalty on the partners; and 2) the penalty is applicable to tax underpayments resulting from the defendant-partners' participation in the COBRA tax shelter.

(California Court of Appeal) - Dismissal of an action brought by plaintiff-minority shareholders for "rescissionary damages" based on breach of fiduciary duty by defendants with respect to a proposed buyout of defendant-company, is: 1) affirmed in part, where under Corporations Code section 1312(b), in common control situations, dissenting minority shareholders have the remedy of appraisal unless they elect the remedy of stopping or rescinding the reorganization but they do not have any right to sue for damages for breach of fiduciary duty; but 2) reversed in part and remanded, where plaintiffs have never withdrawn their alternative request to set aside the merger.

(California Court of Appeal) - The trial court's order granting plaintiff's motion for attorney fees incurred in a prior appeal is affirmed, where: 1) the order granting plaintiff's motion for attorney fees is directly appealable under the collateral order doctrine; and 2) the trial court did not err by awarding attorney fees against defendant because substantial evidence supported a finding that defendant stepped into the shoes of its predecessors the parties to the credit applications that included the attorney fees provision on which the award of attorney fees was based.

(United States First Circuit) - The decision of the United States Tax Court holding petitioner liable, as the recipient of a fraudulent transfer from his former company, for the company's back taxes of over $4.9 million, plus interest of at least $8.7 million, is: 1) reversed in part and remanded, where the tax court calculated prejudgment interest under the wrong statute, which should have been determined in accord with Massachusetts law, and under Massachusetts law, no interest would have begun to accrue until the date of the Notice of Liability; but 2) affirmed in part, where petitioner's loans to his former company to pay petitioner's litigation expenses did not reduce the net amount transferred to him.

(United States Third Circuit) - Co-defendants' convictions related to a scheme to fraudulently bid for Pennsylvania transportation projects as a disadvantaged business enterprise is affirmed where a shareholder lacks a reasonable expectation of privacy to challenge the search of corporate property unless he has shown a personal connection to the places searched and materials seized. Sentences are vacated and remanded for resentencing where the amount of loss defendants are responsible for is the face value of the contracts minus the fair market value of their services rendered instead of the face value of the fraudulently procured contracts.

(United States First Circuit) - In an appeal by corporate officers found to be personally responsible for causing their corporation to shirk its payroll tax obligations, the district court grant of summary judgment to the government is affirmed where: 1) there is no genuine issue as to any material fact; and 2) both plaintiffs were responsible persons during the relevant quarters, and each of them acted wilfully in failing to see to the payment of the corporation's overdue and current trust fund taxes.

(United States Second Circuit) - Conviction of various fraud and conspiracy charges arising out of defendant's involvement in a conspiracy to defraud insurance companies in connection with claims under New York's No Fault Comprehensive Motor Vehicle Insurance Reparation Act, N.Y. Ins. Law section 5102 et seq., which requires that a medical services professional corporation providing treatment under the Act be owned by a licensed physician, is affirmed over defendant's claims that she was the owner of the professional corporation, where New York law is clear that ownership for purposes of the No Fault statute means more than mere paper ownership and that factors beyond formal indicia of ownership may be considered by a fact-finder in determining ownership under New York's no-fault insurance laws.

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In an enforcement action filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alleging that the defendants participated in a scheme to defraud investors by reporting millions of dollars in revenue that were never realized, the District Court's judgment in favor of defendant-corporate officers is vacated where: 1) Rule 13a-14 of the Securities Exchange Act provided the SEC with a cause of action not only against Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officers who did not file the required certifications, but also against CEOs and CFOs who certified false or misleading statements; and 2) the disgorgement remedy authorized under Section 304 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act applied regardless of whether a restatement was caused by the personal misconduct of an issuer's CEO and CFO or by other issuer misconduct.