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Transportation
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May 21, 2024
BREAKING: Full Fed. Circ. Throws Out 'Rigid' Tests For Design Patents
The full Federal Circuit on Tuesday overruled long-standing tests for proving that design patents are invalid as obvious, finding that the rules are "improperly rigid" and holding that the obviousness test for utility patents should be used instead.
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May 21, 2024
3rd Circ. Revives American Airline Pilots' Military Leave Suit
The Third Circuit reopened a class action Tuesday accusing American Airlines of unlawfully denying pilots pay for short military assignments while compensating employees for jury duty and bereavement leave, ruling a trial is needed to determine whether time off for military service is fungible with paid absences.
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May 20, 2024
Startup Admits Sharing IP With Boeing After Supposed Swipe
The co-founder of a startup accusing the Boeing Co. of plotting to steal its intellectual property to build a copycat electric jet acknowledged during cross-examination Monday that his company kept willingly sharing trade secrets with the aviation giant after discovering the alleged misappropriations.
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May 20, 2024
GM Cleared Of 'Inequitable Conduct' Accusations In Patent Row
A federal judge in Chicago has ruled that General Motors's longtime legal rival there has failed to convince him that engineers working for the automaker showed "deceptive intent" when filing a design patent at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office using the wrong name.
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May 20, 2024
SEC Says Firm Broke Short-Selling Rules During Pandemic
An Austin, Texas-based trading firm has agreed to pay $1.5 million as part of a deal to end U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims it unlawfully bought follow-on offering shares of companies it had just shorted, including those of cruise ship companies bruised by 2020 COVID-19 outbreaks.
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May 20, 2024
Fed. Circ. Says Co. Wrongly DQ'd From USPS Screening Deal
The Federal Circuit has revived a company's potential eligibility for U.S. Postal Service canine mail screening contracts, ruling the USPS reasonably found the company had mitigated conflicts of interest related to its prior work for the service.
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May 20, 2024
Tesla Pushes Charging Station Patent Suit Out Of Texas
Despite Elon Musk's decision to move the headquarters of his company to the Western District of Texas, Tesla was able to persuade a federal judge in Austin to send an infringement suit targeting its charging stations to California, where the company was previously based.
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May 20, 2024
Lyft Has No Duty To Screen Passengers For Criminal History
A California appeals court has thrown out a former Lyft Inc. driver's suit against the company alleging he was stabbed by a passenger because the company failed to perform background checks on passengers, saying the company has no such duty.
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May 20, 2024
Tesla Must Face Sweeping Race Bias Class Action
Tesla must face a class action by scores of Black workers accusing it of a widespread culture of racial discrimination at its factory in Fremont, California, a state trial court judge has ruled.
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May 20, 2024
Alaska Airlines Rips Antitrust Suit Over $1.9B Hawaiian Merger
Alaska Airlines has told a federal judge that its proposed merger with Hawaiian Airlines would enhance consumer choice and lower fares, rejecting allegations in an antitrust lawsuit that it would diminish service, cut jobs and erase a legacy brand in the Aloha State.
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May 20, 2024
Biofuel Groups Urge High Court To Undo 5th Circ. Ruling
Two biofuel trade associations called on the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to review a Fifth Circuit decision vacating the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's denial of small refiners' requests for exemptions from their renewable-fuel program obligations, highlighting a split with five other circuit courts.
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May 20, 2024
Mich. Town Can't Block $2B Battery Plant, Judge Rules
A Michigan federal judge has ordered that Green Charter Township can't prevent Gotion Inc.'s upcoming battery components plant, in which the company plans on investing more than $2 billion, from moving forward.
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May 20, 2024
Senate Report Ties Automakers To Uyghur Forced Labor
BMW, Jaguar Land Rover and Volkswagen imported cars and their parts that were manufactured by a Chinese company sanctioned for using forced labor, according to a congressional report released Monday raising concerns about compliance with recent measures to crack down on labor violations.
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May 20, 2024
Oil & Gas Groups Press DC Circ. To Block EPA Methane Rule
Oil and gas industry groups have urged the D.C. Circuit to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's expanded methane emissions control requirements while they're being challenged in court, saying the agency failed to reckon with the requirements' outsized impacts on owners of low-producing oil and gas wells.
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May 20, 2024
Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court
Delaware was full of drama last week, as proposed changes to the state's corporate law statutes raised eyebrows and a professor's friend-of-the-court brief sparked a very unfriendly public exchange. Delaware's court of equity banged the gavel on pipeline and social media disputes, and shareholders filed new suits alleging insider trading, vote bungling, unfair stock buybacks and merger shenanigans. In case you missed any of it, here's the recap of all the top news last week from Delaware's Chancery Court.
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May 20, 2024
Fried Frank, K&L Gates Lead $950M Sale Of Transportation Biz
Transportation and distribution services provider Saltchuk Resources Inc., advised by K&L Gates LLP, on Monday announced plans to acquire energy transportation services provider Overseas Shipholding Group Inc., led by Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP, in a take-private transaction valued at $950 million.
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May 20, 2024
Justices Stay Out Of Pipeline Land Fight With FERC
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to review the D.C. Circuit decision dismissing a suit challenging the constitutionality of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's eminent domain authority brought by Virginia landowners along the route of the Mountain Valley pipeline.
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May 17, 2024
$440M Cruise Line Ruling Over Cuba Dock May Be In Jeopardy
An Eleventh Circuit panel appeared reluctant Friday to affirm a nearly half-billion-dollar judgment against four major cruise lines for "trafficking" in property seized by the communist Cuban government, as the underlying concession for a port facility in Havana expired in 2004.
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May 17, 2024
Trucking Co. Dodges Misclassification Suit, For Now
A trucking company can temporarily escape claims that it misclassified drivers as independent contractors because the driver lodging the suit failed to show jurisdictional diversity, an Illinois federal judge ruled.
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May 17, 2024
Manufacturer Slapped With Sanctions In Seaplane Crash Case
A Washington state judge sanctioned an aircraft manufacturer for "willful" discovery violations on Friday in a lawsuit over a 2022 seaplane accident that killed 10 people, then ruled during a hearing that maritime law covers the accident, which a plaintiffs attorney says will expand the relief victims' families can seek.
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May 17, 2024
Boeing Jury Urged To Award Startup At Least $163M At IP Trial
An electric-jet company told a Seattle jury Friday that Boeing misappropriated its trade secrets to build a copycat plane under the guise of investing in the startup, entitling it to an award of more than $163 million.
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May 17, 2024
DC Circ. Probes Carbon Capture In LNG Approval Challenge
The D.C. Circuit on Friday questioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's decision to reapprove a Texas liquefied natural gas terminal without considering the terminal developer's proposal to add environmentally friendly modifications, amid renewed challenges to the agency's authorization of LNG facilities in the Lone Star State.
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May 17, 2024
3rd Circ. Won't Rethink Cancellation Of $10M Win In TM Battle
Texans can continue to be subjected to the earworm that is the "Kars 4 Kids" jingle, as the Third Circuit declined this week to reconsider its ruling against a local charity that had temporarily won a $10 million judgment in a trademark dispute over the name.
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May 17, 2024
UAW, Fiat Chrysler Say Ohio Workers' Bribery Suit Untimely
The United Auto Workers and Fiat Chrysler told an Ohio federal judge Friday that a recent Sixth Circuit decision nullifies a racketeering lawsuit from plant workers trying to tie their claims of lost wages and benefits to an illicit bribery scheme involving former union and company officials.
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May 17, 2024
Chicago Wants Climate Deception Claims Back In State Court
The city of Chicago says it should be in state court hashing out climate change deception claims against several of the nation's largest oil producers because the companies lodged "objectively baseless" arguments to remove its case to federal court.
Expert Analysis
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Car Apps, Abuse Survivor Safety And The FCC: Key Questions
A recent request for comment from the Federal Communications Commission, concerning how to protect the privacy of domestic violence survivors who use connected car services, raises key questions, including whether the FCC has the legal authority to limit access to a vehicle's connected features to survivors only, say attorneys at Davis Wright.
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Insurer Quota-Sharing Lessons From $112M Bad Faith Verdict
In Indiana GRQ v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance, an Indiana federal jury recently issued a landmark $112 million bad faith verdict, illustrating why insurers must understand the interplay between bad faith law and quota-sharing before entering into these relatively new arrangements, say Jason Reichlyn and Christopher Sakauye at Dykema.
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Insurance Types That May Help Cos. After Key Bridge Collapse
Following the collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, businesses that depend on the bridge, the Port of Baltimore and related infrastructure for shipment and distribution of cargo should understand which common types of first-party insurance coverage may provide recoveries for financial losses, say Bert Wells and Richard Lewis at Reed Smith.
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Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance
A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.
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Del. Dispatch: Chancery's Evolving Approach To Caremark
Though Caremark claims are historically the least likely corporate claims to lead to liability, such cases have been met in recent years with increased judicial receptivity — but the Delaware Court of Chancery still expressly discourages the reflexive filing of Caremark claims following corporate mishaps, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Unwitting Disclosure, Agency Deference
Roke Iko at MoFo examines two U.S. Court of Federal Claims decisions highlighting factors to consider before filing a protest alleging Procurement Integrity Act violations, and a decision from the U.S. Government Accountability Office about the capacity of an agency to interpret its own solicitation terms.
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Global Bribery Probes Are Complicating FCPA Compliance
The recent rise in collaboration between the U.S. Department of Justice and foreign authorities in bribery enforcement can not only affect companies' legal exposure as resolution approaches vary by country, but also the decision of when and whether to disclose Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations to the DOJ, say Samantha Badlam and Catherine Conroy at Ropes & Gray.
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Airlines Must Prepare For State AG Investigations
A recent agreement between the U.S. Department of Transportation and 18 states and territories will allow attorneys general to investigate consumer complaints against commercial passenger airlines — so carriers must be ready for heightened scrutiny and possibly inconsistent enforcement, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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Series
Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.
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A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System
As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.
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What A Louisiana Ruling Means For Pipeline Crossings
After a Louisiana appeals court's recent ruling on a conflict between two pipeline projects, operators and developers should review pipeline crossings to ensure that they occur at safe distances — and keep in mind the value of crossing agreements for protecting both sides in case of a dispute, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.
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4 Sectors Will Likely Bear Initial Brunt Of FTC 'Junk Fees' Rule
If the Federal Trade Commission adopts its comprehensive proposed rule to ban unfair or deceptive fees across the U.S. economy, many businesses — including those in the lodging, event ticketing, dining and transportation sectors — will need to reexamine the way they market and price their products and services, say attorneys at Skadden.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data
Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.
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What CRA Deadline Means For Biden Admin. Rulemaking
With the 2024 election rapidly approaching, the Biden administration must race to finalize proposed agency actions within the next few weeks, or be exposed to the chance that the following Congress will overturn the rules under the Congressional Review Act, say attorneys at Covington.
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Rebuttal
Time For Congress To Let Qualified Older Pilots Keep Flying
While a previous Law360 guest article affirmed the current law requiring airline pilots to retire at age 65, the facts suggest that the pilots, their unions, the airlines and the flying public will all benefit if Congress allows experienced, medically qualified aviators to stay in the cockpit, say Allen Baker and Bo Ellis at Let Experienced Pilots Fly.