In a split decision issued on July 29, 2011, the U.S. Federal Circuit reaffirmed that isolated DNA molecules are patent-eligible subject matter because such isolated molecules do not exist in nature.

On May 11,2004, CMS issued a proposed rule providing for payment increases to acute care hospitals for inpatient services in FY 2005. Total Medicare payment to hospitals is projected to increase to $105 billion from approximately $100 billion in FY 2004.

Antitrust News & Notes is a bi-monthly report concerning recent developments, issues, and matters of interest in antitrust law and competition policy.

On December 21, 2011, the Department of Justice (DOJ) approved the merger between Exelon Corporation (Exelon) and Constellation Energy Group, Inc. (Constellation), subject to divestitures of certain assets.

A U.S. District Court has ruled that the use of private arbitration before a Delaware Chancery Court judge is unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds.

A party to a transaction, whether it be an asset or a stock deal, cannot simply ignore potential multiemployer pension withdrawal liability in the hopes that it will go away.

The U.S. Supreme Court reopened what had appeared to be a largely settled issue on "hours worked" under the FLSA: the meaning of "changing clothes."

The Mine Safety and Health Administration has released a new final rule for the Pattern of Violations status designation which will go into effect March 25, 2013.

Over the last four months, carbon prices have tumbled nearly 70 percent amid fears that oversupply and lagging economic growth in Europe will drive down demand.

On February 9, 2012, a three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit) confirmed that the filing of an Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) directed to an FDA-approved unpatented use of a pharmaceutical composition does not constitute infringement of method patents covering other FDA-approved uses of the same composition.

In Medtronic Inc. v. Boston Scientific Corp., Guidant Corp, and Mirowski Family Ventures, LLC (MFV), 2011-1313, -1372 (Fed. Cir. Sept. 18, 2012), Medtronic, a licensee to MFV’s patents, brought a declaratory judgment action that MFV’s patents were not infringed and not valid

On May 31, 2011, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Global-Tech Appliances, Inc., v. SEB S.A., rejecting the Federal Circuit’s standard of "deliberate indifference to a known risk" as applied in the context of inducement to infringe under 35 U.S.C. §271(b).

On March 26, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court remanded the closely watched Assn. for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics case to the Federal Circuit for further consideration in light of its decision in Mayo Collaborative Servs. v. Prometheus Labs., Inc, No. 10-1150 (March 20, 2011).

On December 11, 2012, the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC) released for informal public comment a revised version of its proposed amendments (the Revised Amendments) to 16 TAC § 3.13.

Over the past several years, enforcement authorities have brought enforcement actions netting hundreds of millions of dollars in fines and penalties for violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).