Commercial Contracts

  • September 25, 2024

    Consultant Wants NC Packaging Patent Fight Tossed

    A consultant and owner of a cold-packaging company accused of lying about his patent rights is doubling down on his bid to ditch a rival business's federal lawsuit under North Carolina's abusive patent law, saying he has no intention of accusing the business of infringement.

  • September 25, 2024

    Walgreens' TM Suit Can Proceed Against Founder's Relative

    Walgreen Co. can move forward with its trademark infringement suit against the great-grandson of the company's founder for operating Walgreen Health Solutions after an Illinois federal judge denied his motion to dismiss, finding the drugstore chain has shown a likelihood of confusion between the two brands.

  • September 25, 2024

    Navajo Nation Inks $31M Deal With Bitco For Veteran Housing

    The Navajo Nation said it has signed a $31 million contract with tribally owned Bitco Corp. to build 95 homes for Navajo veterans, using funds provided by President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan Act.

  • September 25, 2024

    Developer Says Minn. City Made Rule To Block Mosque

    A developer and its Muslim founders claimed in federal court that Islamophobia motivated Lino Lakes, Minnesota, and several of its lawmakers to approve a moratorium that blocked the construction of a mixed-use development project that featured a mosque.

  • September 25, 2024

    Rapper Says Mike Jones, Houston Texans Stole Song

    The owner of the unofficial Houston anthem "Still Tippin'" told a Harris County court this week that rapper Mike Jones and others have ripped off his 2002 song for use by the Houston Texans football team without his permission.

  • September 25, 2024

    Owner Tanked NC Captive Insurer, Directors Say

    Minority shareholders of a now-defunct North Carolina captive insurer providing liability coverage to nursing homes accused the captive's majority shareholder of refusing to pay over $5 million in premiums and stealing funds to pay off his personal legal debts, seeking damages in North Carolina's business court.

  • September 25, 2024

    Doctor Says Accusers In $2M Fraud Case Hiding In Pakistan

    Counsel for a doctor accused of a $2.5 million fraud says that opposing counsel wants to hide his accuser in Pakistan until trial, telling a Dallas County judge during a Wednesday sanctions hearing that he's entitled to an in-person deposition from the man making the allegations.

  • September 25, 2024

    Google Files EC Complaint Against Microsoft Cloud Business

    Google has lodged an antitrust complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission Wednesday, claiming that Microsoft's dominant software products illegally lock customers into its cloud computing platform Azure, allowing it to drive up costs and stifle innovation.

  • September 25, 2024

    NC State '83 Basketball Champs Drop TV Networks In NIL Suit

    Members of the 1983 North Carolina State University men's basketball team, known as the Cardiac Kids, dropped CBS and TNT from their suit in North Carolina state court accusing the NCAA of exploiting their names, images and likenesses from their national championship run during the annual promotion of March Madness.

  • September 25, 2024

    Wash. Hospital System Misclassifies Workers, Nurse Says

    A Washington-based hospital operator misclassified its workers as independent contractors and underpaid them for their overtime as a result, a registered nurse said in a proposed class and collective action in Washington federal court.

  • September 25, 2024

    Cannabis Co., Investor Must Take Contract Suit Back To Court

    A Washington appeals panel has reversed a summary judgment in favor of an investor who alleged that a cannabis grower and seller breached an agreement to buy out his stock following a dispute, saying that while the contract is enforceable, there remain questions about whether that contract was breached.

  • September 25, 2024

    NC Judge Limits $5.6M Hurricane Claims In Part Over Deadline

    A North Carolina federal court found that a property owner awarded $5.6 million following hurricane damages could continue its breach of contract case against an insurer for alleged underpayment for 2016 Hurricane Matthew damages, though its claims for 2018 Hurricane Florence damages were time-barred.

  • September 25, 2024

    Insurer Needn't Cover Las Vegas Sands In Payment Dispute

    An AIG unit secured an early win in its coverage dispute with a Las Vegas casino over an underlying state court lawsuit brought by an agent alleging the casino failed to pay him for his work, after a Nevada federal court ruled the underlying action was not covered.

  • September 25, 2024

    Vape Co. Sues Buchalter Alleging Malpractice After IP Action

    A Los Angeles-based cannabis company called Smoke Tokes LLC has filed a legal malpractice suit accusing Buchalter PC and two of its attorneys of causing a federal trademark action to drag on unnecessarily even after Smoke Tokes took all necessary steps to satisfy a judgment and injunction.

  • September 25, 2024

    Production Co. Drops Lil Uzi Vert Manager From Fees Suit

    A California-based company suing rapper Lil Uzi Vert for failing to pay more than half a million dollars in concert design and production costs told a Georgia federal judge it is dismissing a breach of contract claim against the rapper's manager, Amina Diop.

  • September 25, 2024

    Full Fed. Circ. To Tackle Patent Damages In $20M Google Case

    The full Federal Circuit said Wednesday it will review a panel's holding that Google must pay EcoFactor $20 million for infringing a smart thermostat patent, after the tech giant said the court has allowed patent owners to "manufacture a royalty rate."

  • September 24, 2024

    Google Can't Ditch Privacy Suit Over Period App Data Sharing

    A California federal judge has refused to release Google from a proposed class action alleging the company used a data analytics tool to wrongfully retrieve data from menstruation tracking app Flo, rejecting the tech giant's arguments that the plaintiffs lacked standing and had consented to the disclosures. 

  • September 24, 2024

    Athlete Investment Co. Gets Claims Nipped In $1M Fraud Suit

    A New York federal judge has trimmed a suit alleging that an athlete investment company that aimed to "tokenize" and sell shares of professional athletes was involved in a $1 million fraud and lied about its business plan, saying the plaintiff is conflicted from bringing certain derivative claims.

  • September 24, 2024

    11th Circ. Weighs 'Good Cause' In Franchise Termination Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday considered whether Hyundai Motor Corp. acted with "good cause" when it terminated a franchise owner's dealership contracts over sexual assault charges against the franchise owner's son, with arguments largely focused on whether the carmaker acted with "good cause."

  • September 24, 2024

    Helicopter Maker Skirted FAA Requirements, Jury Hears

    Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. used a former vendor's trade secrets to skirt the need for regulatory approval, a jury heard in Texas state court Tuesday, allegedly avoiding requirements set by the Federal Aviation Administration as the company pulled the rug out from under its old vendor.

  • September 24, 2024

    Fired United Rentals Worker Denies Competing In New Job

    United Rentals Inc. cannot show that it suffered irreparable harm when an ex-employee started working for a new company after he was fired, and even if it could, his noncompete agreement is unenforceable, the worker said in a filing in Connecticut state court that seeks to stave off a preliminary injunction.

  • September 24, 2024

    Wash. Justices Dubious Of Moonlighting Ban Loophole

    Washington state Supreme Court justices expressed doubt Tuesday that the state's moonlighting protections included an exception allowing companies to ban employees from other businesses in the same industry, saying that would contradict the noncompete statute's aim of supporting mobility for low-wage earners.

  • September 24, 2024

    Appeals Court Finds LNG Project Claims Barred By Arbitration

    An arbitration between a Kinder Morgan affiliate and a U.S. energy company concerning an abandoned gas project foreclosed a later breach of contract case from the U.S. company's Italian parent, a New York appeals court ruled Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Pac-12 Suit Says Mountain West 'Poaching' Fee Goes Too Far

    The Pac-12 Conference, which has spent much of September luring away five Mountain West Conference universities to rebuild its depleted membership, sued the rival conference Tuesday for imposing a "poaching penalty" of tens of millions of dollars in exit fees that it called "one-sided" and anticompetitive.

  • September 24, 2024

    Chancery Told SwervePay Deserves Sanctions In Earnout Suit

    A court-appointed special magistrate has recommended sanctioning e-payment venture SwervePay and related parties over up to 22 months of missing or deleted text messages sought by SPOSC Investment Holdings and others in a post-merger battle over an alleged multibillion-dollar overstatement of "monetizable" payment traffic.

Expert Analysis

  • Trending At The PTAB: Real Party In Interest And IPR

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    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s recent Luminex v. Signify decision, finding a complaint seeking indemnification may be treated as a public demand sufficient to establish a real party-in-interest, shows that the board continues to apply a broad and expansive definition to that term, say Yicong (Eve) Du and Yieyie Yang at Finnegan.

  • How Employers, Attorneys Can Respond To Noncompete Ban

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    As the Federal Trade Commission's recently issued noncompete ban faces ongoing legal challenges, now is a good time for employers to consider whether they want to take a wait-and-see approach before halting use of noncompetes and for practitioners to gain insight into other tools available to protect their clients' business interests, says Jennifer Platzkere Snyder at Dilworth Paxson.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • CFPB's Expanding Scope Evident In Coding Bootcamp Fine

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent penalty against a for-profit coding bootcamp that misrepresented its tuition financing plans is a sign that the bureau is seeking to wield its supervisory and enforcement powers in more industries that offer consumer financing, say Jason McElroy and Brandon Sherman at Saul Ewing.

  • 4 Arbitration Takeaways From High Court Coinbase Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's May 23 decision in Coinbase v. Suski, which provides clarity to parties faced with successive contracts containing conflicting dispute resolution provisions, has four practical impacts for contracting parties to consider, say Charles Schoenwetter and Eric Olson at Bowman and Brooke.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • The Effects Of New 10-Year Limitation On Key Sanctions Laws

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    Recently enacted emergency appropriations legislation, doubling the statute of limitations for civil and criminal economic sanctions violations, has significant implications for internal records retention, corporate transaction due diligence and government investigations, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Supply Chain Considerations For Companies Deploying AI

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    Many businesses will risk failure by embracing artificial intelligence without fully understanding the risks, and the value of a five-step AI supply chain analysis cannot be overstated, say Brooke Berg and Nathan Staffel at Nardello & Co.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • Key Lessons From Recent Insurance Policy Reform Litigation

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    A review of recent case law reveals the wide range of misunderstandings that may arise between insurers and policyholders in the purchase and renewal of insurance policies, as well as the utility — and the limits — of reformation and related remedies for these misunderstandings, say Jad Khazem and Seth Tucker at Covington.

  • Compliance Considerations For New Data Protection Law

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    Sam Castic at Hintze Law discusses how to determine if your organization is covered by the newly enacted Protecting Americans' Data from Foreign Adversaries Act, the scope of the law's restrictions, and how to go about compliance as its June 23 effective date approaches.

  • 2nd Circ. Ruling Affirms NY Law's Creditor-Friendly Approach

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    The Second Circuit’s recent ruling in 245 Park Member v. HNA International provides creditors with some reason for optimism that debtors in New York may face rejection in court for aiming to keep creditors at arm’s length by transferring personal assets into an LLC, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

  • Diving Deep Into Sweeping NY Financing Bill — And Its Pitfalls

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    A New York bill seeking to impose state usury limits onto a broader variety of financing arrangements and apply lender licensing requirements to more diverse entities would present near-insurmountable compliance challenges for lenders and retailers, say Kate Fisher and Tom Quinn at Hudson Cook.

  • When Oral Settlements Reached In Mediation Are Enforceable

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    A recent decision by the New Jersey Appellate Division illustrates the difficulties that may arise in trying to enforce an oral settlement agreement reached in mediation, but adherence to certain practices can improve the likelihood that such an agreement will be binding, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.

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