In a recent decision, EDVA Judge Rossie Alston invalidated the arbitration clause in the terms and conditions for online sales through the Lowe’s Home Centers website on the grounds that the terms and conditions were illusory and unconscionable. , Civil Action No. 1:23-cv-574 (RDA-LRV), 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 141570 (E.D. Va. Aug. 8, 2024).

A recent decision by EDVA District Judge Henry Hudson granting a preliminary injunction to a wealth management firm against four of its former employees who left to open a competing firm is a good example of the speed of the EDVA on requests for preliminary injunctions. Salomon & Ludwin, LLC v. Winters, Civil Action No. 3:24-cv-389 (HEH), 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13038 (July 23, 2024). Judge Hudson’s ruling also illustrates how employment agreements with confidentiality and nonsolicitation provisions can be used to prevent former employees from using a company’s confidential customer information to solicit the company’s clients.

Under the patent laws, the term of a patent may be increased for delays by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) during the application process. See 35 U.S.C. § 154(b)(1). Conversely, the USPTO can reduce a patent term adjustment to account for delays caused by the patent applicant. See 35 U.S.C. § 154(b)(2)(C). In particular, the length of a patent term adjustment can be reduced if the applicant fails to provide an application in “condition for examination” within eight months from the commencement of examination. See 37 C.F.R. § 1.704(c)(13).