Judge Rules Google Monopolized Ad Tech In 2nd Win For DOJ

By Bryan Koenig and Matthew Perlman

A Virginia federal judge on Thursday handed the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division its second seminal win against Google, ruling that the search giant has illegally monopolized markets for display advertising placement technology.

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Sandberg Says FTC Market View Makes No Sense In Meta Case

By Bryan Koenig

Meta Platforms' former longtime board member and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg pushed back Thursday on crucial Federal Trade Commission arguments trying to shape the market the social media giant is accused of monopolizing, criticizing a friends and family definition the FTC is using to exclude TikTok as a competitor.

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Another Xerox Patent Bites The Dust At Fed. Circ.

By Andrew Karpan

Federal Circuit judges on Thursday affirmed yet another patent board ruling that scratched out claims in a patent issued to a Xerox unit that was asserted against a trio of major social media companies.

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Musk Blames Twitter Investors For 'Languish' In Case

By Sarah Jarvis

Elon Musk on Thursday pushed back against a trial schedule proposed by a class of former Twitter investors in litigation accusing the right-wing billionaire of intentionally tanking the social media platform's stock price, saying the investors have caused the case to "languish."

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NJ Says Discord Misled Public About Messaging App's Safety

By George Woolston

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin alleged in a complaint Thursday that popular messaging app Discord has misled kids and parents for years about the app's safety, leaving children vulnerable to harassment, abuse and sexual exploitation.

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Global Payments To Acquire Worldpay In $24.3B Deal

By Al Barbarino

Global Payments Inc. unveiled plans Thursday to acquire payments giant Worldpay from GTCR and FIS for $24.25 billion, while divesting its issuer solutions business to FIS for $13.5 billion, in transactions that could reshape the global payments landscape.

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Analysis

FCC Getting An Earful On Creating GPS Backstop

By Christopher Cole

Industries ranging from broadcast to broadband are giving the Federal Communications Commission their two cents on how to build an Earth-based network to reinforce the Global Positioning System, offering regulators a full menu of options to move ahead.

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Globalstar Pushes For Feds' OK On Mobile Satellite Plan

By Christopher Cole

Globalstar is pressing its bid for the Federal Communications Commission to approve its plan for a U.S. mobile satellite service using licensed spectrum in what's known as the "Big LEO" band.

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Patent Office Plans Rulemaking For New PTAB Denial Process

By Theresa Schliep

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office intends to go through the notice-and-comment rulemaking process for its new procedures allowing its director to decide whether petitions challenging patents at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board should be denied for discretionary reasons, a panel of judges and agency personnel said at a webinar on Thursday.

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Analysis

FTC To Narrow Data Privacy Scope As Uncertainties Loom

By Allison Grande

The Republican-led Federal Trade Commission is poised to pursue a data privacy agenda focused on established harms and statutory authorities rather than ambitious rulemaking, although the recent firing of two commissioners casts doubt on the long-term viability of these actions and the future of a crucial transatlantic data transfer pact.

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Fed. Circ. Won't Revive Network Tech Patent Suit

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Thursday upheld a lower court's finding that Seattle-based technology company F5 did not infringe a patent owned by WSOU Investments LLC covering a network traffic distribution technology.

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Prudential Financial Beats Certified Privacy Class Action

By Rae Ann Varona

A California federal judge on Thursday entered a summary judgment favoring Prudential Financial and a software vendor in a certified class action accusing them of illegally recording consumer information in violation of the state's invasion of privacy law, finding that no evidence showed the vendor read or tried to read customers' communications.

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Apple Slams Claim Amber Alert On AirPod Hurt Boy's Hearing

By Bonnie Eslinger

Apple urged a California federal judge Thursday to toss claims that a set of AirPod Pro earbuds was defective, causing an Amber alert to damage a 12-year-old boy's hearing, saying there's no evidence the notification could have caused the injury and the family's expert didn't rule out COVID-19 as the cause.

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Hyundai Can Seek Atty Fees On Withdrawn Ad Patents

By Craig Clough

A California federal judge on Thursday declared Hyundai the prevailing party in litigation brought against it by StratosAudio Inc. after the Federal Circuit declared StratosAudio's advertising patents invalid, and said the automaker could file a motion seeking attorney fees on two other patents voluntarily withdrawn from the case.

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Judge Grants Reduced Atty Award in Bowling Alley Chain Suit

By Elaine Briseño

A Virginia federal judge trimmed just over $150,000 in attorney fees requested by a bowling alley chain after winning summary judgment in a suit against its former chief information officer, whom it accused of hacking into its computer system and CEO's email.

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Ibotta Misrepresented Kroger Deal, Shareholder Suit Alleges

By Sydney Price

Digital consumer discount company Ibotta Inc. was hit with a proposed shareholder class action claiming its registration statement for its April 2024 initial public offering omitted information regarding the nature of its relationship with grocery retailer The Kroger Co., prompting stocks to plummet when investors learned the relationship had ended.

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Yale Health System Faces Class Claims Over Data Breach

By Brian Steele

Connecticut's largest healthcare system failed to properly secure patients' personal information ahead of a data breach in March that may have affected millions of people, according to three proposed class actions.

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No Redo In Ex-CEO's $6M Stock Case Against Co., Law Firm

By Aaron Keller

The former CEO of WorldQuant Predictive Technologies LLC cannot reargue failed $6 million stock loss claims against the company from which he was ousted or its law firm Pullman & Comley LLC, a Connecticut trial judge has ruled.

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Mercer University's Data Breach Settlement Gets Final OK

By Chart Riggall

Mercer University and a group of former students and a professor got final approval Thursday for a settlement that will end claims the university failed to safeguard the personal information of some 93,000 people leading up to a 2023 data breach.

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Bill-Pay Co. Customers Can Continue With Most Of Class Action

By Sydney Price

Customers of online bill-pay service Doxo Inc. can proceed with most of their claims in a Consumer Protection Act proposed class action alleging the company deceived them by not disclosing fees upfront, a Washington federal judge ruled Thursday.

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Travel Tech Co. Accused Of Misclassifying Sales Workers

By Emmy Freedman

A travel technology company incorrectly classifies sales employees as exempt from earning overtime wages despite their job duties not falling under any overtime exemption, a proposed class action filed in Colorado state court said.

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QXO Prices $500M Offering Connected To $11B Beacon Buy

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Building products distribution company QXO Inc. announced the pricing of a stock offering, with plans to raise $500 million, which will be used to finance a portion of its pending $11 billion acquisition of Beacon Roofing Supply Inc.

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SolarWinds Sued For Docs On $4.4B Take-Private Deal

By Jeff Montgomery

Citing company controller clout and alleged minority stockholder sidelining, a SolarWinds Corp. stock-owning trust has sued in Delaware's Court of Chancery for documents related to the company's $4.4 billion, $18.50-per-share take-public deal from Turn/River Capital LP.

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Strava To Acquire UK-Based Running Training App Runna

By Elaine Briseño

Privately held exercise app Strava announced Thursday that it will acquire United Kingdom-based Runna, a coaching platform for runners, but no financial details were included with the announcement.

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Deals Rumor Mill

OpenAI Eyes Windsurf, Activist Targets HP, And More Rumors

By Tom Zanki

OpenAI is preparing to bid about $3 billion to acquire coding developer Windsurf, activist fund Elliot Investment Management has purchased a major stake in Hewlett Packard with an eye toward pushing changes at the information technology giant, and private equity giant KKR is considering selling Atlantic Aviation for $10 billion.

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Exela Gets OK For $5M Financing While In DIP Talks

By Rick Archer

A Texas bankruptcy judge gave Excela Technologies the go-ahead for a $5 million transaction as a stopgap while the payment processing company works to resolve objections to the final order for its proposed $185 million in Chapter 11 financing.

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Think Tank Urges FCC To Drop $4.5M Fine Against Telnyx

By Christopher Cole

A think tank claimed Thursday the Federal Communications Commission went too far when floating a nearly $4.5 million fine against a telecom for alleged robocall violations and that due process concerns call for rescinding the penalty.

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How Courts Weigh Section 1782 Discovery For UPC Cases

A look at cases from six different federal district courts reveals a number of discretionary factors that influence how courts consider Section 1782 discovery applications in connection with Unified Patent Court proceedings, say attorneys at Finnegan.

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Addressing Antitrust Scrutiny Over AI-Powered Pricing Tools

Amid multiple recent civil complaints alleging antitrust violations by providers and users of algorithmic pricing tools, such as RealPage and Yardi, digital-era measures should feature prominently in corporate compliance programs, including documentation of pro-competitive benefits and when to use disclosures, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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How Calif., NY Could Fill Consumer Finance Regulatory Void

California and New York have historically taken the lead in consumer financial protection, and both show signs of becoming even more active in this area during the second Trump administration amid an enforcement pullback at the federal level, say attorneys at Sidley.

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Tracking The Evolution In Litigation Finance

Despite continued innovation, litigation finance remains an immature market with borrowers recieving significantly different terms as lenders learn to value cases, which firms need a strong handle on to ensure lending terms do not overwhelm collateral value, says Robert Wilkins at Lightfoot Franklin.

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Series

Volunteer Firefighting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While practicing corporate law and firefighting may appear incongruous, the latter benefits my legal career by reminding me of the importance of humility, perspective and education, says Nicholas Passaro at Ford.

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PTAB Judge Heads To Boutique, Citing Return-To-Office Order

By Andrew Karpan

An outgoing Patent Trial and Appeal Board judge based in Austin, Texas, tells Law360 that President Donald Trump's return-to-office order was a "significant factor" in her decision to return to private practice, joining boutique patent firm Smith Baluch LLP as a partner.

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Ex-DOJ Atty Convicted In 1MDB Case Ordered Disbarred In NY

By Craig Clough

A New York appellate court ordered Wednesday that a former U.S. Department of Justice attorney be disbarred due to his felony conviction as part of a sprawling, billion-dollar fraud scandal connected to 1Malaysia Development Berhad and Fugees founder Pras Michél.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Sunoco Accused Of Age Bias By Ex-Chief Counsel

By Gina Kim

A former chief counsel for Sunoco LP sued her ex-employer in Texas state court Wednesday, alleging she was denied promotional opportunities and later terminated due to her age, while also accusing the company of replacing attorneys older than 50 with significantly younger attorneys with less experience.

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PI Firm Sues Its Own Expert For Being 'Out Of Touch' At Depo

By Rae Ann Varona

A New Jersey personal injury law firm filed suit in state court against an expert witness it alleges had threatened to withdraw if he didn't receive an advance payment for preparing and attending his deposition, and then turned up to the deposition "confused, disoriented and out of touch."

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Google and its chief legal officer have now lost two major antitrust cases to DOJ prosecutors after a federal judge ruled Thursday the search engine monopolized markets and servers related to display advertising. Meanwhile, a new study shows companies are disclosing their business risks, and how they are trying to mitigate those risks, amid changing tariffs and the uncertainty of the U.S.-China trade war. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Schlichter Bogard LLC and the University of Virginia School of Law Supreme Court Litigation Clinic lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court revived a class action from Cornell University workers who said their retirement plans were saddled with excessive fees.

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Judiciary Faces Security Risks Amid Spending Freeze

By Courtney Bublé

The federal judiciary is warning congressional appropriators that funding shortfalls could threaten courthouse security.

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Judge Nixes Feds' DQ Bid In Migrant Kids Legal Funding Case

By Ryan Boysen

A California federal judge has denied the Trump administration's bid to remove her from a lawsuit challenging funding cuts that prevent attorneys from representing child migrants, ruling her employment at one of the plaintiffs nearly seven years ago doesn't undermine her impartiality.

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Joel Katz, Music Law's Longtime Power Broker, Dies At 80

By Chart Riggall

Joel Katz, the powerful music industry lawyer who co-founded Greenberg Traurig LLP's media and entertainment practice and helped bring the firm to the Atlanta market, has died at the age of 80, Law360 confirmed Friday.

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WilmerHale, Feds Dispute Reach Of Trump Order Against Firm

By Jack Karp

WilmerHale and the U.S. Department of Justice traded salvos in the BigLaw firm's challenge to President Donald Trump's executive order targeting it, with the firm and the government offering "starkly different" versions of what's at stake in the dispute.

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Wis. Sens. Renew Bipartisan Judicial Nomination Commission

By Courtney Bublé

The Republican and Democratic senators from Wisconsin announced Friday they are renewing their bipartisan commission to recommend U.S. attorney and judicial nominees to the president.

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