April Barnard

More than three years after the Ford-Versata dispute highlighted the risks that broad license restrictions can create for companies seeking to move away from third-party technology, the Federal Circuit has issued a new decision that offers an important additional lesson for parties structuring patent licenses. In A.L.M. Holding Co. v.

In a significant—and potentially disruptive—development in transatlantic trade relations, the United States has initiated a Section 301 investigation into Germany’s pharmaceutical pricing system. What may appear at first glance to be a sector-specific dispute is, in reality, a signal of a broader shift in U.S. trade policy: the willingness to use trade enforcement tools to challenge foreign domestic regulatory regimes. This move carries implications far beyond the life sciences sector.

On Nov. 28, 2025, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issued new examination guidance clarifying inventorship standards for artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted inventions. This update rescinds the prior 2024 guidance and reaffirms the principle that only natural persons can be inventors under U.S. patent law, even when AI plays a significant role in the inventive process.