Worldwide: Court Procedure

The Eleventh Circuit has reversed a district court's ruling that struck down the False Claims Act's qui tam provision as unconstitutional, holding that private whistleblowers are not federal officers subject to the Appointments Clause. With the Supreme Court's interest in this issue and unresolved constitutional challenges remaining, the future of qui tam enforcement hangs in the balance as this case heads toward likely further appeal.

California's Court of Appeal has issued a tentative ruling in Variety Media v. Superior Court addressing whether CIPA's pen register statute applies to website tracking technologies, while the state legislature simultaneously passed SB 690 that would restrict who can bring such claims. The ruling provides crucial technical distinctions about what qualifies as a pen register under CIPA, potentially reshaping how website tracking litigation proceeds in California.

A Delaware federal court dismissed a wellness retailer's indemnification counterclaim against a TCPA class plaintiff, ruling that merely displaying terms and conditions on a website does not establish...

A U.S. District Court ruled that a commercial general liability insurer had no duty to defend its insureds against an abuse of process claim when the policy explicitly enumerated covered offenses including malicious prosecution but did not list abuse of process. The court determined that reasonable insureds would not expect coverage for unlisted offenses simply because they share legal similarities with enumerated ones.

The Texas Supreme Court concluded its 2025-26 term with 143 opinions resolving 110 cases, marking a notable increase in separate writings compared to prior terms. This comprehensive statistical analysis examines case distribution across courts of appeals, timing metrics, subject matter trends, and reversal rates, revealing shifts in the Court's docket management and opinion-writing patterns.

The Federal Circuit's decision in Dental Monitoring SAS v. Align Technology, Inc. establishes that a published patent application can only claim its provisional's filing date as prior art if the provisional provides written description support under § 112(a) for at least one claim. This ruling overturns the PTAB's more lenient "ministerial" standard and creates significant implications for both patent prosecution and inter partes review proceedings.

Controlling the meaning of claim terms is essential to drafting strong patents, while pre-empting common claim construction issues is crucial to the scope of patents when it comes to infringement. In Socket Solutions, LLC v. Import Global, LLC, No. 2025-1121 (Fed. Cir. Aug. 4, 2026), the Federal Circuit vacated the district court’s grant of a preliminary injunction due to multiple errors in claim construction.

A federal court dismissed a TCPA class action lawsuit filed by PLG Damage Attorneys after the plaintiff's counsel failed to serve the complaint and summons on the defendant within the required timeframe...

Florida's Second District Court of Appeal has clarified the procedural requirements for challenging mechanic's liens in condominium disputes, establishing that individual unit owners possess standing to contest liens even when the underlying contract was between a contractor and the condominium association. The decision emphasizes the strict compliance demanded by Florida's lien statutes and the consequences contractors face when they fail to meet statutory deadlines during show cause proceedings.