J. Chris Bernard

WHAT I LEARNED IN TEXAS HR LAW THIS WEEK! PAUSE IF YOU HAVE TEXAS EMPLOYEES! Starting September 1, 2025, contracts like settlement/severance agreements and employment agreements may face challenges if they require Texas employees to not disclose sexual abuse. These challenges could lead courts to render these agreements unenforceable. For example, your present a severance agreement to a departing Texas employee, which requires her to keep just about everything about the company confidential, including her sexual abuse claims, others' sexual abuse claims, and the facts leading up to those claims. You offer to pay the departing Texas employee $10k in exchange for her confidentiality and her release of all claims against your company. She signs it, receives the $10k, and spends it the next day on a lawyer to sue your company for sex abuse/assault/harassment. You tell the court that she can't do that because she released the company of all claims in the severance agreement. A court may decide, however, that the severance agreement is unenforceable because it violated this new Texas law on confidentiality. The court may rule that she can keep the money and still sue your company. So it is essential to promptly review and adjust the confidentiality clauses in these agreements accordingly. Also,consider incorporating "savings clauses" into your agreements, if they are not already in them. #HRUpdate #TexasEmployers

61

3 Comments

I had the privilege of being keynote speaker at the Houston Intellectual Property Law Association (HIPLA)/University of Houston Law Center event this past weekend on "Intellectual Property Under President Trump (2025)." I stepped in as a substitute for Shira Perlmutter, the Register of Copyrights, who was unable to attend due to ongoing disputes with the current administration. Although there were many issues to cover, one focus of my talk: the USPTO has become an increasingly political institution. While the patent system enjoys constitutional underpinnings that provide stability, several key developments over the past 15 years have fundamentally altered the political nature of patent administration: * The AIA Transformation (2011): IPR proceedings turned the USPTO into an adjudicator of high-stakes disputes, often involving tens to hundreds of millions of dollars in underlying infringement claims—a far cry from traditional examination. * Arthrex (2021): The Supreme Court directly tied USPTO actions to presidential authority, requiring that major agency decisions carry the "direct imprimatur" of the politically-appointed Director as the President's representative. * The Discretionary Denial Revolution: While previous Directors largely avoided using discretionary denial authority at the institution stage, Acting Director Coke Morgan Stewart transformed the IPR system through aggressive use of these powers. And new Director John Squires appears fully aligned with this approach. The patent system's constitutional foundations provide important stability, but we should have no illusions: the USPTO is no longer a technocrat backwater. Rather, patent administration in 2025 operates in a deeply political environment.

135

6 Comments

In this fireside chat at D CEO’s Women’s Leadership Symposium, Judge Barbara M. G. Lynn, the first woman to serve as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, reflects on her groundbreaking legal career and the progress she’s witnessed for women over the last five decades. Joined by moderator Sara Hollan Chelette, partner at Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, the two explore the challenges and triumphs of women breaking into the industry in the late 20th century, the evolution of leadership across industries, and what it takes to lead with impact today. Lynn highlights how mentorship and giving back has played a vital role in her success. What does it take to lead with impact? Watch this clip to hear Judge Lynn’s insights on resilience and paving the way for future generations.

40

2 Comments

Water Security = National Security. JPMorganChase has just unveiled its Security and Resiliency Initiative. Closer to home for us Texans, Bloomberg has a recent piece by Kevin Crowley Faith (Isbell) DiBiagio and David Wethe describing water-driven risks in and near City of Corpus Christi. #water is core to the #supplychain and societal resilience conversation. Accordingly, I'm sharing a piece I wrote for Texas 2036 and the Baker Institute Center for Energy Studies (CES) last year on the consequences of water shortages in #Texas. We can fix these problems but work must accelerate. Jeremy B. Mazur Robert E. Mace Todd H. Votteler Arjun Murti

34

5 Comments