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In Vanda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. United States, No. 23-629C (Fed. Cl. 2024), 2024 WL 201890, the Court of Federal Claims (COFC) addressed whether government disclosure of a company’s trade secrets and commercial information could create a viable claim for a taking under the Fifth Amendment or for breach of an implied-in-fact contract.  The company, Vanda Pharmaceuticals (Vanda), claimed that the government’s disclosure of its confidential trade secrets—including its trademarked drugs’ dissolution rates—to competitors seeking U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of generic drug alternatives was an unlawful regulatory taking that diminished the value of Vanda’s brand name drugs and infringed upon Vanda’s right to exclude generics from the market.  The government moved to dismiss Vanda’s claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim.  The COFC denied the government’s motion in part, holding as a matter of first impression that Vanda adequately stated a takings claim based on the government’s disclosures but failed to state a claim for breach of an implied-in-fact contract.  The COFC also held that Vanda’s claims involving one generic drug manufacturer were outside the Tucker Act’s six-year statute of limitations and were time barred. Continue Reading Does Government Disclosure of a Company’s Trade Secrets Amount to an Unlawful Taking Under the Fifth Amendment?  

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On December 1, 2022, Department of Defense (DoD) Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III announced the establishment of the DoD Office of Strategic Capital (OSC).  The mission statement of the OSC is to build an “enduring technical advantage” for the United States by helping partner contractors with private investment to develop national security critical technologies, including those related to advanced materials, next-generation biotechnology, and quantum science.  OSC will coordinate with existing organizations such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), which promotes acceleration of the military use of commercial technologies.

The OSC intends to offer what it characterizes as “patient” extended-term capital to help contractors obtain financing between the early laboratory-testing and prototyping phases and the full-scale development of products that can be used by the DoD warfighter.  In addition to traditional vehicles like contracts and grants, this investment will likely take the form of loans and loan guarantees. Continue Reading Department of Defense Establishes Office of Strategic Capital to Enhance Investment in National Security Critical Technology

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On October 22, 2021, the Court of Federal Claims (Court) unsealed a decision awarding contractor SecurityPoint Holdings, Inc. (SecurityPoint) over $100 million in damages for TSA’s infringement of SecurityPoint’s patent No. 6,888,460 (“the ‘460 patent”). The ‘460 patent concerns a system of trays that recycle through security screening checkpoints by use of movable carts, and

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On December 11, 2020, Congress presented to President Trump H.R. 6395, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021. On December 23, 2020, President Trump vetoed the bill. Subsequently, the House voted on December 28, 2020 and the Senate voted on January 1, 2021 to override the veto.

This Act contains numerous provisions that

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On Thursday, December 11 at 1 PM Eastern, join our Crowell & Moring attorneys for a webinar entitled: “Intellectual Property Rules in Government Contracts Legal Update: Know Your Technical Data and Patent Rights.” During this 90-minute webinar, we will provide an overview of the key principles governing the rules and regulations relating to rights in

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On Wednesday, April 23rd at 1 PM Eastern, join our government contracts attorneys for a webinar entitled: “Intellectual Property Rules in Government Contracts Legal Update: Know Your Technical Data and Patent Rights.” During this 90-minute webinar, we will provide an overview of the key principles governing the rules and regulations relating to rights in technical

U.S. Government contractors continue to face increasing challenges when it comes to protecting their intellectual property rights. While there remains uncertainty about how the Department of Defense will implement Section 815 of the fiscal year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act (FY 2012 NDAA), the law itself contains language that could significantly impact contractor rights in

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At 1:00 p.m. (Eastern) on September 13, 2012, Crowell & Moring attorneys John McCarthy and Jon Baker will conduct a webinar on behalf of L2 Federal Resources entitled “Intellectual Property Rules in Government Contracts: Know Your Technical Data and Patent Rights.” This 90-minute webinar will provide an overview of the key principles governing the allocation

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At 1:00 p.m. EDT on March 29, 2012, Crowell & Moring partner John McCarthy and Jon Baker will conduct a webinar on behalf of L2 Federal Resources entitled “Intellectual Property Rights in Government Contracts: Overview and Recent Changes.” This 90-minute webinar will provide an overview of the key principles governing the allocation of rights in

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On September 28, 2011, I will be participating in an American Bar Association webinar to discuss the impact of the Supreme Court’s June, 2011, decision in Stanford v. Roche. In Stanford v. Roche, the Supreme Court upheld a Federal Circuit decision finding that under the Bayh-Dole Act, a university does not automatically receive