THE FEDERAL CIRCUIT erased a patent owner’s $166.3 million verdict against AT&T Mobility and Nokia of America today, saying a jury’s infringement finding relied on “contradictory” expert testimony, Michael Shapiro reports.

• Finesse Wireless’s infringement expert, Jonathan Wells, testified about how Nokia cell phone towers allegedly copied Finesse’s patented intermodulation technology, but US Circuit Judge Kimberly A. Moore took issue with his statements to an East Texas jury about Finesse’s patent. “There is nothing clear about Dr. Wells’ testimony,” Moore wrote in a precedential opinion. Read More
  

THREE RED STATES are trying to expand a conservative challenge to the abortion pill as a Trump administration safety review of the drug threatens to restrict its availability, Ian Lopez reports. The efforts signal renewed focus on a drug that’s long been in use but remains controversial.

• Texas, Florida, and Louisiana are urging a federal judge in Texas to let them join Missouri v. FDA, a lawsuit seeking to force the FDA to drop telehealth access to mifepristone, among other restrictions. Idaho, Kansas, and Missouri took up the litigation after the US Supreme Court ruled that doctors who initially sued over expanded access to the medication lacked standing.
• The ramped-up state effort comes as the FDA reviews the drug’s safety — 25 years after approving it. The administration justified the review by citing a non-peer-review study from a conservative think tank claiming 1 in 10 users of the drug had an adverse event.
• If the FDA comes out with new mifepristone restrictions, that would impact the litigation. For now, Texas and Florida await word on whether they can intervene. They argue that the drug complicates their ability to enforce their own abortion restrictions, but “the real threat is to states where abortion remains lawful,” said Katie Keith, who was deputy director of the Biden White House’s Gender Policy Council. “This is about to come to a head.” Read More

A BOOM in data center projects has created a lucrative space in Big Law. In the latest episode of our podcast, On The Merits, Bloomberg Law’s Roy Strom and Jessie Kokrda Kamens spoke to three lawyers in different practice areas who have found a niche working in the white-hot market. Listen Here

SCANT GUIDANCE came with President Donald Trump’s newly announced $100,000 fee on H-1B petitions, leaving attorneys to decipher how the change will affect hospitals, educational employers, and recent graduates — and prompting a warning from California’s attorney general, Andrew Kreighbaum reports.

• The White House framed Sunday’s surprise proclamation as addressing abuses in the H-1B program that undermined American workers. After setting off a spate of initial worker panic, the White House offered reassurance that the new costs wouldn’t apply to current visa holders or petitions already submitted. Yet significant questions remain.
• Attorneys say the proclamation appears to apply immediately to employers in the education and nonprofit sectors exempted from the annual cap. But the Trump administration hasn’t confirmed that interpretation, and it’s unclear how those employers could seek a “national interest” exemption or where they would even submit a payment if a waiver isn’t approved. “Why on earth I’m having to figure something out through a fricking Tweet is beyond me,” said Kathleen Campbell Walker, chair of the immigration practice at Dickinson Wright.
• The fee announcement came days ahead of another proposal to overhaul the annual lottery for the 85,000 special occupation visas under a statutory cap. Although the latter proposal must go through a public comment period before release of final regulations, the new fee has immediate impact even as details are being spelled out. Read More
• California AG Rob Bonta said Tuesday that he is examining whether the proposed fee change to the H-1B program violates the federal Administrative Procedure Act, which prohibits sudden regulatory changes without a period of public notice, Erik Larson reports. Read More

THE STEEP NEW fee has rattled US businesses, but most big companies are staying quiet as they wait to see how the policy plays out, Georgia Hall and Max Rivera report.

• One advantage of that approach is to avoid drawing the ire of the Trump administration, said Kathryn Wylde, CEO of the Partnership for New York City. “The president has the business community spooked with regard to any public criticism of his policies,” she said.
• Behind the scenes, companies including Microsoft, Amazon.com, and Google parent Alphabet have advised current H-1B holders and employees with pending petitions to return to the US immediately and avoid foreign travel. Read More
  

BIG LAW attorneys and staff moved further to the left in their political contributions in 2023 and 2024, at contrast with the popular vote that moved right in the last presidential election, David Lat writes in his latest Exclusive Jurisdiction column.

• The 12-to-1 ratio in law firm employee donations to Democrats versus Republicans—an increase from a 6-to-1 ratio in 2020—"represents a pretty significant shift to the left,” Notre Dame law professor Derek Muller told David of his new research. Read More

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