The 5th Circuit and Texas courts are not in complete accord on whether the owner impliedly warrants plans and specifications.  In Interstate Contracting Corp. v. City of Dallas, 407 F.3d 708 (5th Cir. 2005), the 5th Circuit, interpreting Texas law, rejected the contractor’s breach of contract claim based on defective plans and specifications where the [...]

Congratulations, Texas A&M Quarterback, Johnny Manziel! You just became the first freshman to win the prestigious Heisman Trophy this past Saturday night! What’s next? What’s that? You’re going to…the US Patent and Trademark Office?! If you have been paying even a modicum of attention to college football this past season, you have no doubt heard [...]

Judge Rodney Gilstrap recently issued an opinion explaining the pleading standards for direct and indirect patent infringement.  The opinion was issued in Lone Star Document Management, LLC v. Atalasoft, Inc., 2012 WL 4033322 (E.D. Tex.).  Atalasoft is one of many related cases in which Lone Star has alleged infringement by e-discovery companies of U.S. Patent [...]

When it comes to pleading the citizenship of an LLC, Fifth Circuit law regarding diversity jurisdiction is both well settled and rarely followed. In theory, it seems simple: for diversity purposes the citizenship of a LLC is determined by the citizenship of all of its members. In practice, however, many attorneys treat LLCs like corporations [...]

In a decision filed on April 10, 2012, the Ninth Circuit in United States of America v. Nosal, No. 10-10038 (9th Cir. 2012), put itself squarely in conflict with the Fifth, Eleventh and Seventh Circuits by holding that the district court properly dismissed a portion of the government’s indictment against David Nosal charging him with [...]

Under the majority “American Rule,” parties are generally required to bear their own attorney’s fees in civil cases.  For over 100 years, however, Texas has been in the minority that allows courts to award attorney’s fees to prevailing parties for certain claims, such as for breach of oral or written contracts.  In 1986, the Legislature [...]

Recently, McDole, Kennedy & Williams has received multiple requests to evaluate official-looking trademark registration notices received by clients.  These official-looking notices claim to be from governmental trademark offices, alleging that the client must pay fees in order to maintain his/her trademark and rights.  Most of the time, these notices are actually sophisticated scams or, at [...]

Recent decisions by the Texas Supreme Court have resulted in a “pro-enforcement” trend for covenants not to compete, and have eroded the holding in Light v. Centel Cellular Co. of Tex., 883 S.W.2d 642, 647 (Tex. 1994) requiring contemporaneous consideration to enforce a covenant not to compete against an at-will employee.  Beginning with Alex Sheshunoff [...]