Retail & E-Commerce

  • March 26, 2025

    Worker Says Koch Foods Fails To Pay For Off-Clock Tasks

    Koch Foods refused to pay workers for the time they spent putting on and taking off protective gear, and it deducted money from their paychecks if they needed items replaced during a workweek, a proposed class action filed in Illinois federal court said.

  • March 26, 2025

    2nd Circ. Finds Pieces Missing From Lego IP Ruling

    The Second Circuit instructed a Connecticut federal judge Wednesday to rethink his decision that an injunction blocking the sale of a Lego competitor's figurines also applies to a later design, saying the lower court's failure to explain its decision suggests it "may have simply imported its prior reasoning."

  • March 26, 2025

    Medical Pot Center Not Exempt From 2017 Michigan Sales Tax

    A Michigan appeals panel has rejected a medical cannabis provisioning center's argument that it was exempt from sales tax in 2017, saying it is not entitled to the same exemption as primary caregivers and could not rely on a 2011 nonbinding letter in its argument.

  • March 26, 2025

    UK Antitrust Arm Probing Food Services Merger

    Britain's antitrust watchdog has launched an initial enforcement order into global catering giant Aramark Group's acquisition of Entier, a Scottish rival, over concerns the transaction could result in a "substantial lessening of competition" in the food services sector.

  • March 26, 2025

    Dollar Tree Selling Family Dollar For $1B To PE Firms

    Dollar Tree said Wednesday it has agreed to sell its Family Dollar business for just over $1 billion to two private equity firms, after the Davis Polk-guided discount retailer revealed strategic review plans to sell the cash-strapped unit in June.

  • March 25, 2025

    Coupang Must Face Ex-In-House Atty's Whistleblower Suit

    A Washington federal judge on Tuesday said e-commerce retailer Coupang can't escape a whistleblower complaint brought by a former in-house attorney who alleges he was fired after bringing attention to alleged unlawful transactions with Iran in 2021.

  • March 25, 2025

    Amazon Slams 'Alternative Reading' Of ERISA In Worker Suit

    Amazon on Monday urged a Washington federal court to throw out a worker's proposed class action alleging that Amazon used abandoned retirement plan funds to offset its own contributions, arguing that the suit's "alternative reading" of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act "flies in the face of" the well-established practice.

  • March 25, 2025

    PTAB Leader Explains Denial Policy After Withdrawn Memo

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board's chief judge has provided guidance to the board's other members on how to decide whether to use discretion to deny review of patents based on related litigation, after a previous memo on the issue was withdrawn last month.

  • March 25, 2025

    Mondelez, Ghost Beat Suit Over Candy-Flavored Energy Drink

    An Illinois federal judge has tossed out parents' claims that Mondelez and energy drink maker Ghost illegally deceive consumers into thinking Ghost's "Sour Patch Kids"-flavored beverages are suitable for children, saying no reasonable adult consumer would interpret the labels that way.

  • March 25, 2025

    Philly Beats Curfew Suit By Minority-Owned Liquor Stores

    A Pennsylvania federal judge dismissed, for now, a constitutional challenge by Asian American and Arab American business owners who alleged Philadelphia city officials unfairly targeted their shops with arbitrary late-night curfews and nuisance ordinances, ruling Monday they lacked standing since none of them received fines or were ordered to shut down.

  • March 25, 2025

    7-Eleven Defends Cautious Antitrust Approach To Deal Talks

    The parent company of 7-Eleven on Tuesday defended its wary approach to a proposed acquisition by Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. saying it has legitimate concerns about the deal clearing U.S. antitrust enforcers.

  • March 25, 2025

    Privacy Statements OK By Pa. Wiretapping Law, Judge Says

    Websites that disclose third-party data collection in privacy statements that a "reasonably prudent person" could see do not violate Pennsylvania's laws against wiretapping, a federal judge has ruled, throwing out a long-running lawsuit that defendants claimed could have rendered many websites illegal.

  • March 25, 2025

    Court Tosses Suit Alleging NY Pot Regulations Are Biased

    A New York federal judge on Tuesday dismissed an action alleging that the Empire State's cannabis social equity licensure program discriminated against white men.

  • March 25, 2025

    No More C-Suite 'Deference' At FTC, Ferguson Says

    Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson took aim Tuesday at previous antitrust enforcers' "hands off" approach, which he said worried too much about stifling Big Tech's momentum and innovation and not enough about the power that online platforms "wielded over our daily lives."

  • March 25, 2025

    Franchise Group Senior Lenders Sue Junior Creditors

    First-lien lenders of debtor Franchise Group Ltd. that are owed $1 billion have filed an adversary complaint in the retail chain operator's Chapter 11 case in Delaware, saying junior lenders owed more than $100 million are seeking to cash out secured collateral in violation of an intercreditor agreement.

  • March 25, 2025

    Va. Gov. Youngkin Blocks Recreational Cannabis Sales Again

    Glenn Youngkin, the Republican governor of Virginia, on Monday once again vetoed lawmaker-approved legislation that would have taxed and regulated the sale of adult-use cannabis.

  • March 25, 2025

    Baker Botts Atty Says Patent Exec Can't Prove Defamation

    A Baker Botts LLP lawyer is contending that a Florida federal court cannot side with a patent-licensing company executive on his defamation claim against the attorney over her comments in a news article about a patent suit against Starbucks, saying she didn't say anything false.

  • March 25, 2025

    No Easy Out In $5M Mich. Dispensary Flip-Flop Suit

    A Michigan federal court has refused to hand a win to either party in developer American 5 LLC's suit alleging a Michigan township improperly revoked its permit for a marijuana dispensary, finding that the parties hadn't resolved whether the permit was the developer's to begin with.

  • March 25, 2025

    DEA Seeks Exit From Hemp Group's Suit Over Raid

    Federal drug enforcers have asked a Texas federal judge to release them from a hemp industry trade group and retailer's lawsuit challenging the legality of a raid on a smoke shop, saying that the enforcement actions at issue were conducted by local authorities.

  • March 25, 2025

    Ariz. AG Warns Cops, Retailers About Illegal THC Sales

    Arizona's attorney general has sent letters to both retailers and law enforcement over the sale of THC products by unlicensed shops, clarifying that such sales are illegal and giving them a month to prepare for enforcement by the attorney general's office.

  • March 24, 2025

    Beyond Meat Sued On Allegations Broker Accessed User Data

    Plant-based meat substitute producer Beyond Meat Inc. has covertly teamed up with data broker Experian to track website visitors and sell their personal data "to the highest bidders" without their permission, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court. 

  • March 24, 2025

    T-Mobile, Customers Push Dish For Docs In Sprint Merger Suit

    T-Mobile and the customers suing over its 2020 merger with Sprint are both asking an Illinois federal judge to force Dish to turn over discovery documents, with the plaintiffs claiming the documents are key to showing why Dish never became an effective competitor in the wireless market.

  • March 24, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Affirms Invalidity Finding In Tape Patent Fight

    The Federal Circuit on Monday backed a lower court's finding that a patent covering a type of marking tape was invalid as anticipated, while also mostly upholding a sanctions award that tape manufacturer ShieldMark secured in the case accusing it of infringement.

  • March 24, 2025

    Chancery Won't Restart Disputed Bitcoin ATMs For Now

    Delaware's Court of Chancery refused on Monday to order reactivation of dozens of bitcoin cryptocurrency ATM kiosks shut down by an Iowa grocery chain after that state's attorney general sued Bitcoin Depot and a similar operation for alleged scamming of users.

  • March 24, 2025

    Skechers Says Insurer Shirked Defense Of Nonslip Shoe Suit

    Skechers' insurer wrongfully refused to defend the shoe giant in a putative class action over slip-resistance problems with some of its shoes, Skechers told a California state court in seeking at least $750,000.

Expert Analysis

  • Marketing Messages Matter In State AG Consumer Protection

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    Attorneys general interpret marketing claims far more broadly than many companies may realize, so to mitigate potential risk, businesses should be vigilant about all consumer messaging, including communications that may not traditionally be considered advertising in the colloquial sense, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Opinion

    6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School

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    Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.

  • Firms Still Have The Edge In Lateral Hiring, But Buyer Beware

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    Partner mobility data suggests that the third quarter of this year continued to be a buyer’s market, with the average candidate demanding less compensation for a larger book of business — but moving into the fourth quarter, firms should slow down their hiring process to minimize risks, say officers at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Reviewing 2024's State Consumer Privacy Law Enforcement

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    While we are still in the infancy of state consumer privacy laws, a review of enforcement activity this year suggests substantial overlaps in regulatory priorities across the most active states and gives insight into the likely paths of future enforcement, says Thomas Nolan at Quinn Emanuel.

  • Preparing For The New Restrictions On Investment Into China

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    In light of a new regulatory program governing U.S. investments in China-related technology companies of national security concern, investors should keep several considerations in mind, including the rules' effect on existing and new investments, compliance hurdles, and penalties for noncompliance ahead of the rules' January implementation, say attorneys at Gunderson Dettmer.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: 1 Type Of Case Complexity Stands Out

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    In contrast to some cases that appear complex due to voluminous evidence or esoteric subject matter, a different kind of complexity involves tangled legal and factual questions, each with a range of possible outcomes, which require a “sliding scale” approach instead of syllogistic reasoning, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Netflix Dispute May Alter 'Source' In TM Fair-Use Analysis

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    ​The Ninth Circuit’s upcoming decision in Hara v. Netflix​, about what it means to be source-identifying​, could change how the Rogers defense protects expressive works that utilize trademarks in a creative fashion, says Sara Gold at Gold IP.

  • What Bisphenol S Prop 65 Listing Will Mean For Industry

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    The imminent addition of bisphenol S — a chemical used in millions of products — to California's Proposition 65 list will have sweeping compliance and litigation implications for companies in the retail, food and beverage, paper, manufacturing and personal care product industries, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Note 3 Simple Types Of Legal Complexity

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    Cases can appear complex for several reasons — due to the number of issues, the volume of factual and evidentiary sources, and the sophistication of those sources — but the same basic technique can help lawyers tame their arguments into a simple and persuasive message, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Tracking The Uncertainty Of The FTC's Negative Option Rule

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    The fate of the Federal Trade Commission's final rule requiring businesses that utilize negative options to provide consumers with a simple cancellation method remains in limbo as it faces multiple legal challenges and the threat of possible congressional action looms, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • Antitrust in Retail: Handbag Ruling Won't Go Out Of Fashion

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    Although a New York federal court’s recent decision to enjoin a proposed $8.5 billion merger between the owners of Michael Kors and Coach applied noncontroversial antitrust interpretations, several notable aspects of the opinion stand out as likely candidates for further discussion in future merger litigation, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Gardening Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond its practical and therapeutic benefits, gardening has bolstered important attributes that also apply to my litigation practice, including persistence, patience, grit and authenticity, says Christopher Viceconte at Gibbons.

  • What New Calif. Law Means For Cannabis Lounges

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    With a recently enacted California law authorizing licensed cannabis retailers and microbusinesses to prepare and sell noncannabis food and beverages, the door opens for a more sustainable business model — but challenges related to costs and liability remain, says Tracy Gallegos at Duane Morris.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Reframing Document Review

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    For attorneys — new ones especially — there is much fulfillment to find in document review by reflecting on how important, interesting and pleasant it can be, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • A Legal Perspective On NYC's Retail Real Estate Evolution

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    As New York City's retail market begins to show signs of resilience after the challenges of recent years, landlords must be cognizant of legal implications from shifting trends toward shorter-term leases and pop-up stores, says Andrea Gendel at Pryor Cashman.

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