The Tecfidera case and provisional pharma reform agreement put regulatory exclusivity and patent protection in focus At a glance The EU General Court annulled a Commission decision granting Biogen extra market protection for Tecfidera, confirming that regulatory deadlines allow for no discretion. The decision echoes the "Pharma Package" reform reshaping the regulatory exclusivity framework and broadening the Bolar exemptions. Three years on, the UPC leads on life science preliminary injunction disputes, with evolving case law on "imminent infringement". The European lifecycle...

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days – and not just in equity markets. The fiscal consequences of AI are a completely neglected dimension so far. Artificial intelligence (AI) is everywhere these days – and not just in equity markets. Most recently, an OpenAI application caused a stir by hacking its way into another company’s system on its own. The lack of control raises uncomfortable questions and inevitably calls to mind HAL 9000, the computer in Stanley Kubrick’s film “2001: A...

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After approximately one day of deliberations, a federal jury in Oregon found Nike liable for more than $15 million in damages for violating federal and state anti-discrimination laws, finding Nike paid former employee, Heather Hender, less than similarly situated male colleagues and promoted her more slowly because of her gender. The jury ruled in favor of the plaintiff on all of her claims, including violations of the Federal Equal Pay Act (“EPA”), 29 U.S.C. § 206(d), the Oregon Equal Pay...

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Local governments often lead on workplace issues like paid sick leave, discrimination, and pay equity. But, how and whether cities and counties can – or even should – legislate the workplace varies across the country, with recent developments highlighting the struggle for supremacy between state and local officials. In Nebraska, after the state revised minimum wage standards established by voters, in May 2026 the city of Lincoln enacted a minimum wage ordinance that uses the standard voters had approved – annual...

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If you’re an Amazon or Shopify seller, an importer, or run a small manufacturing business, here’s the honest answer: usually, no, not right when you buy it. Even with the friendlier rules small businesses get in 2026, you generally still deduct inventory costs when you sell the item, not when you pay for it. There is a real exception that makes life easier for small businesses, but it doesn’t work the way most people assume. That gap between what...

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The Federal Reserve’s reluctance to take action despite pledges to respect the inflation target, which has not been met in over five years, put the dollar under pressure. Then yesterday, it appears that Japanese officials may have intervened in the foreign exchange market, and as was the case earlier this year, the Federal Reserve reported checked on prices and indicated they were doing so at the request of the US Treasury.  If true, it illustrates a notable difference between Japan,...

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Highlights On July 24, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit denied the federal government’s motion to stay a lower court order that vacated the $100,000 supplemental fee on certain H-1B visa petitions. The court found the government failed to make a strong showing of likely success on the merits, concluding that the Immigration and Nationality Act does not clearly authorize the executive branch to impose a $100,000 H-1B fee. With the stay denied, the district court’s...

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