Retail & E-Commerce

  • March 12, 2025

    'I Was Wrong': FTC Atty Flips On Cuts Delaying Amazon Trial

    The Federal Trade Commission abruptly backtracked on an in-house attorney's comments about "severe" resource constraints amid the government spending crackdown while urging a Washington federal judge to delay a consumer protection trial against Amazon, with the same attorney telling the court he was wrong in a letter filed hours after a Wednesday status conference.

  • March 12, 2025

    Mercedes-Benz Urges Judge To Rethink Class In Airbag MDL

    Mercedes-Benz USA LLC on Tuesday asked a Florida federal judge to reconsider a decision allowing a group of drivers to form a class as part of a multidistrict litigation lawsuit over faulty airbags installed in its cars.

  • March 12, 2025

    Bitcoin ATM Co. Wants TRO Over Unplugged Machines

    A bitcoin ATM operator has asked the Delaware Chancery Court to issue a temporary restraining order against a Midwest grocery store chain for allegedly unplugging and covering up ATMs at more than 60 locations, in violation of operating agreements between the parties.

  • March 12, 2025

    Adult Website Accused Of Giving Google Shoppers' Sexual Info

    An adult website and an e-commerce solutions company illegally share the private sexual information such as the sexual orientation, fetishes and product preferences of the website's customers with third parties like Google to boost the companies' bottom lines, a proposed class action filed in California federal court has alleged.

  • March 12, 2025

    Live Nation Calls DOJ 'Delay Tactics' Claim 'Groundless'

    Live Nation Entertainment assailed the U.S. Department of Justice for claiming "out of the blue" that the company is slow-walking its discovery obligations in the government's New York federal court monopolization suit centered on the 2010 purchase of Ticketmaster.

  • March 12, 2025

    Liverpool Football Club Targets Counterfeiters In Chicago Suit

    The Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Ltd. targeted counterfeiters in a federal suit filed in Chicago on Tuesday, looking to shut down e-commerce shops allegedly taking advantage of its "enormous" popularity to sell fake merchandise nationwide.  

  • March 12, 2025

    Texas Urges Court Not To Let DuPont Out Of PFAS Lawsuit

    Chemical companies DuPont and Corteva are leaning on a "fraudulent transfer scheme" in order to exit a lawsuit accusing them of making and selling forever chemicals despite knowing about their toxic nature, the state of Texas said Tuesday, urging a federal court not to give them the out.

  • March 12, 2025

    Cal State Can Bar Caste Bias, 9th Circ. Affirms

    A Ninth Circuit panel on Wednesday affirmed a lower court's ruling that two California State University professors lacked standing to challenge the university's inclusion of caste as a protected class in its antidiscrimination policy, saying the policy never specifically mentions Hinduism and therefore does not stigmatize the religion or force self-censorship.

  • March 12, 2025

    Final Google Fixes Keep Apple Payments, DOJ Tells DC Circ.

    The U.S. Department of Justice doubled down on its arguments against permitting Apple to intervene in the upcoming remedies phase of its Google search monopoly lawsuit, arguing that the newly submitted final version of its sought fixes show Apple would keep getting payments it wants protected.

  • March 12, 2025

    Chipwich Maker Blames Broker For $4.5M Recall Loss

    The maker of Chipwich ice cream sandwiches told a Connecticut state court that its broker negligently failed to secure product recall insurance, causing a preventable loss of $4.5 million to the company, after desserts were destroyed because of potential listeria contamination.

  • March 12, 2025

    Kroger Waited Too Long To Seek Sanctions, Judge Says

    An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday denied Kroger's bid to sanction prolific consumer advocate lawyer Spencer Sheehan for filing a meritless suit over the effectiveness of its lidocaine patches, saying the amount of time it took to file the motion "is not reasonable by any stretch of the imagination."

  • March 12, 2025

    Cannabis Co. Trulieve Improperly Kept Tax Refund, Suit Says

    California cannabis retailer Catalyst alleged in a new lawsuit that Florida-based multistate operator Trulieve improperly pocketed a $305,000 federal tax refund that was rightfully Catalyst's following its acquisition of a dispensary.

  • March 12, 2025

    UK Enforcers Double Down On Apple Mobile Browser Worries

    A new report from British competition enforcers claims that Apple and Google's dominance in mobile operating systems and browsers limits competition and innovation in the United Kingdom, while encouraging regulators to consider imposing pro-competition requirements on the tech giants.

  • March 12, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Finds No Confusion Between Firebull, Fireball TMs

    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board correctly found there is no likelihood of confusion between a distillery's pending bid to register Bullshine Firebull and Sazerac Brands' Fireball marks, the Federal Circuit said in a precedential opinion Wednesday that also affirmed the board's conclusion that Fireball is not generic.

  • March 12, 2025

    Luxottica Drops Appeal On ERISA Suit's Arbitrability

    Luxottica shuttered its appeal of a New York federal judge's order that the company could not compel arbitration of a worker's representative claims that it violated federal benefits law by using outdated mortality data to calculate pensions benefits.

  • March 12, 2025

    Awning Maker, Feds Settling Safety Defect Claim

    A Massachusetts awning manufacturer and the government told a federal judge Tuesday they are finalizing a settlement of civil claims that the company intentionally hid a safety defect that led to injuries and one death.

  • March 11, 2025

    Telescope Buyers Get Class Certification In Antitrust Dispute

    A California federal judge on Monday certified a class of telescope buyers in an antitrust lawsuit saying a syndicate of manufacturers were price-fixing and scheming to monopolize the telescope market, accepting an expert opinion's methods for calculating classwide antitrust damages.

  • March 11, 2025

    Medical Device Co. Seeks Fed. Circ. Redo Over Patent Trial

    A medical device manufacturer is asking the full Federal Circuit to reconsider a panel decision reviving a patent infringement case against it, arguing a lower court judge was fine to allow tardy testimony from a witness who took its side.

  • March 11, 2025

    Kenvue Unit Can't Nix BIPA Suit Over Neutrogena Skin360 App

    A Kenvue unit can't escape a proposed class action alleging it unlawfully stores facial scans of people who use its Neutrogena Skin360 tool in violation of Illinois' biometric privacy statute, after a New Jersey federal judge said those users are not "patient[s] in a healthcare setting" under the statute's healthcare exemption.

  • March 11, 2025

    Digimarc Faces Investor Suit Over Subscription Plunge

    Digital watermarking technology company Digimarc Corp. and two of its executives face a proposed investor class action alleging that the company failed to warn investors that its recurring revenue would take a significant hit after one of its major customers had its contract expire in June.

  • March 11, 2025

    Ex-USPTO Head Can't Be Expert In Walmart IP Fight, Co. Says

    A startup suing Walmart over trade secrets connected to shelf-freshness technology wants an Arkansas federal court to block the retailer from retaining former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal as an expert when the $115 million case moves forward to a retrial.

  • March 11, 2025

    More ITC Patent Cases Expected After Fed. Circ. 'Sea Change'

    A recent Federal Circuit decision discarding the U.S. International Trade Commission's limits on what types of domestic expenses qualify a company to bring a patent suit at the agency marks a pronounced shift that will likely spur considerably more ITC cases, attorneys say.

  • March 11, 2025

    Wendy's, Target Accused Of Infringing Online Ordering Patent

    Target and a group of chain restaurants including Wendy's, Applebee's and the Cheesecake Factory were hit with patent infringement lawsuits in Texas federal courts on Monday by Smart Order LLC, which accused them of infringing a patent covering a customer internet ordering system.

  • March 11, 2025

    Wash. Pharmacy Strikes $600k Class Deal In Data Breach Suit

    An Evergreen State pharmacy has agreed to a $600,000 class deal to end a lawsuit over a 2023 cyberattack that allegedly exposed the personal information of thousands of current and former customers and employees, according to recent filings in Washington federal court.

  • March 11, 2025

    Panini Trading Card Antitrust Suit Largely Beats Dismissal

    A New York federal judge largely refused to dismiss Panini's antitrust suit accusing Fanatics of locking up the sports trading card market by entering decadeslong exclusive agreements with the NFL, NBA and MLB, while also culling large chunks of Fanatics' unfair competition and bad-faith negotiations countersuit.

Expert Analysis

  • What's Next For State Regulation Of Hemp Cannabinoids

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    Based on two recent federal court cases that indisputably fortify broad state authority to regulate intoxicating hemp cannabinoid products, 2025 will feature continued aggressive state regulation of such products as industry stakeholders wait for Congress to release its plans for the next five-year Farm Bill, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.

  • National Bank Act Rulings Facilitate More Preemption Analysis

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    Two recent National Bank Act preemption decisions from an Illinois federal court and the Ninth Circuit provide the first applications of the U.S. Supreme Court’s May ruling in Cantero v. Bank of America, opening the potential for several circuit courts to address the issue this year, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Series

    Collecting Rare Books Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My collection of rare books includes several written or owned by prominent lawyers from early U.S. history, and immersing myself in their stories helps me feel a deeper connection to my legal practice and its purpose, says Douglas Brown at Manatt Health.

  • Emphasize Social Spaces During RE Project Public Review

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    As Boston continues to work through revisions to its public review process for real estate projects, developers attempting to balance impact mitigation and community improvements may benefit from emphasizing the ways in which development plans can facilitate open social exchange, says David Linhart at Goulston & Storrs.

  • Preparing For Stricter Anti-Boycott Enforcement Under Trump

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    Given the complexity of U.S. anti-boycott regulations and the likelihood of stepped-up enforcement under the new administration, companies should consider adopting risk-based anti-boycott compliance programs that include training employees to recognize and assess potential boycott requests, and to report them expeditiously when necessary, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Complying With Calif. Price-Gouging Law After LA Fires

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    The recent tragic Los Angeles fires have brought attention to the state's sometimes controversial price-gouging protections, and every California business should keep the law's requirements in mind, despite the debate over whether these statutes help consumers, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • Opinion

    Judge Should Not Have Been Reprimanded For Alito Essay

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    Senior U.S. District Judge Michael Ponsor's New York Times essay critiquing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito for potential ethical violations absolutely cannot be construed as conduct prejudicial to the administration of the business of the courts, says Ashley London at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University.

  • Lights, Camera, Ethics? TV Lawyers Tend To Set Bad Example

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    Though fictional movies and television shows portraying lawyers are fun to watch, Hollywood’s inaccurate depictions of legal ethics can desensitize attorneys to ethics violations and lead real-life clients to believe that good lawyers take a scorched-earth approach, says Nancy Rapoport at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

  • A Compliance Update For Credit Card Reward Partnerships

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    While the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's interest in credit card rewards programs could fade under the new administration, a recent circular focusing on both issuers and their merchant partners means that co-brand credit card partnerships with banks could be subject to increased scrutiny ahead, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Will 4th Time Be A Charm For NY's 21st Century Antitrust Act?

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    New York's recently introduced 21st Century Antitrust Act would change the landscape of antitrust enforcement in the state and probably result in a sharp increase in claims — but first, the bill needs to gain traction after three aborted attempts, says Tyler Ross at Shinder Cantor.

  • Perspectives

    Accountant-Owned Law Firms Could Blur Ethical Lines

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    KPMG’s recent application to open a legal practice in Arizona represents the first overture by an accounting firm to take advantage of the state’s relaxed law firm ownership rules, but enforcing and supervising the practice of law by nonattorneys could prove particularly challenging, says Seth Laver at Goldberg Segalla.

  • Foreign Trade Zones Can Help Cos. With Tariff Exposure

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    Companies navigating shifts in global trade — like the Trump administration’s newly levied tariffs on Chinese goods — should consider whether the U.S. Department of Commerce's poorly understood foreign trade zone program could help reduce their import costs, says James Grogan at FTI Consulting.

  • Critical Steps For Navigating Intensified OFAC Enforcement

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    The largely overlooked SkyGeek settlement from the end of 2024 heralds the arrival of the Office of Foreign Assets Control's long anticipated enhanced enforcement posture and clearly demonstrates the sanctions-compliance benefits of immediately responding to blocked payments, says Jeremy Paner at Hughes Hubbard.

  • AI Will Soon Transform The E-Discovery Industrial Complex

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    Todd Itami at Covington discusses how generative artificial intelligence will reshape the current e-discovery paradigm, replacing the blunt instrument of data handling with a laser scalpel of fully integrated enterprise solutions — after first making e-discovery processes technically and legally harder.

  • Managing Transatlantic Antitrust Investigations And Litigation

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    As transatlantic competition regulators cooperate more closely and European antitrust investigations increasingly spark follow-up civil suits in the U.S., companies must understand how to simultaneously juggle high-stakes multigovernment investigations and manage the risks of expensive new claims across jurisdictions, say lawyers at Paul Weiss.

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