Retail & E-Commerce

  • November 01, 2024

    Suit Calls School Lunch Pay Processors Junk Fee 'Bullies'

    Three parents filed a proposed class action in New Jersey federal court alleging consumer fraud against a major school lunch payment processor, saying it has misrepresented the purpose of the "junk fees" it charges for electronic transactions that are imposed on families mostly just for profit.

  • November 01, 2024

    Kroger Blasts 'Food Desert' Fears From Wash. Nonprofits

    Kroger and Albertsons said the trial judge in Washington's bid to block a $24.6 billion merger should reject amicus briefs from two cities, a food bank and a poverty nonprofit, saying their assertions that the deal would inflate grocery prices and create food deserts in some communities rehash claims by activists and the media.

  • November 01, 2024

    Egg Producer Milo's Sued Over Salmonella Contamination

    An egg producer was hit Thursday with a proposed class action in Wisconsin federal court over a recent recall that came after U.S. Food and Drug Administration tested and found samples that tested positive for salmonella bacteria.

  • November 01, 2024

    Gallery Owner Ends Virus Coverage Fight After Calif. Ruling

    A California gallery owner has ended its COVID-19 property insurance dispute with a Hartford unit in the wake of a California Supreme Court ruling in August finding that a virus exclusion in a restaurant's policy, issued by the same unit, did not render coverage illusory.

  • November 01, 2024

    Amazon Denies Alexa Spying Claims, Seeking Class Suit Win

    Amazon is trying to stamp out a proposed class action in Washington federal court brought by Alexa users who claim the device surreptitiously recorded their personal conversations, saying years of discovery has shown audio from their accidental device activations was never exploited by the company or even subject to human review.

  • November 01, 2024

    Retail Center Says AIG Unit Must Cover Foundation Damage

    A real estate management company owned by Rick Caruso, a 2022 candidate for mayor of Los Angeles, accused an AIG unit of failing to cover property damage at one of its shopping complexes, telling a California federal court the insurer delayed notice for nearly 10 years.

  • November 01, 2024

    Big Lots Says $760M Bid Wins In Ch. 11 Auction

    Discount retailer Big Lots got approval from a Delaware bankruptcy judge to sell off nearly three-dozen store leases the day after it said it had received no offers to beat a $760 million bid for the business as a whole.

  • November 01, 2024

    Taco Bell Franchisee Insurers Want Out Of BIPA Suit Coverage

    Two Nationwide units told an Illinois federal court they owe no coverage to two Taco Bell franchisees facing a proposed class action alleging that they violated the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, invoking three separate exclusions in the franchisees' commercial general liability and umbrella policies.

  • November 01, 2024

    Rent The Runway Wants Redo On Investor Suit Exit Bid

    Rent the Runway, actress Gwenyth Paltrow and the company's underwriters have urged a New York federal judge to rethink her September order that kept alive certain claims in a proposed investors class action alleging the clothing rental company failed to inform investors about major challenges it was facing in the run-up to its 2021 initial public offering.

  • November 01, 2024

    'Shark Tank' Sweatshirt Biz Wants Rival Sanctioned

    The startup company behind The Comfy, a large and heavy sweatshirt featured in an episode of "Shark Tank," asked an Arizona federal judge to sanction the founder of a company it won an $18 million verdict against for infringing multiple design patents and trademarks for allegedly continuing to sell his enjoined products.

  • November 01, 2024

    CMA Raises Concerns Over GXO's £762M Logistics Deal

    Britain's competition enforcer said Friday the completed £762 million ($950 million) takeover of supply-chain group Wincanton PLC by GXO Logistics Inc. could raise prices for businesses that rely on contract logistics providers to move goods around the country.

  • November 01, 2024

    Up Next At High Court: Fed Funds And Securities Risks

    The U.S. Supreme Court will return to the bench Monday for its November arguments session, which will start off with a debate over whether the Federal Communications Commission telecom subsidy program involves federal funds subject to the False Claims Act, and on Tuesday how Medicare funding should be calculated for hospitals that serve large numbers of low-income patients.

  • November 01, 2024

    NY Judge Tosses AG Suit Over Pepsi, Frito-Lay Plastic Waste

    A New York state judge tossed Attorney General Letitia James' plastic pollution suit against PepsiCo Inc. with a scathing order saying its attempt to pin "phantom assertions of liability" on the company rather than litterbugs who carelessly discard bottles and wrappers "seems contrary to every norm of established jurisprudence."

  • November 01, 2024

    Off The Bench: Horse Racing Ruling Halted, Fla. Betting Deal

    In this week's Off The Bench, supporters of the organization overseeing federal horse-racing laws got a helping hand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the feud between a Florida tribe and state casino interests ends in a truce, and the NBA wants the details of its disputed media rights deal kept out of the public eye.

  • November 01, 2024

    Michigan's Supreme Court Tosses Pandemic Powers Ruling

    The Michigan Supreme Court on Friday cast aside a ruling that invalidated a public health law used during the COVID-19 pandemic to curb gatherings and close restaurants, saying the issue is moot because orders issued under the law expired years ago.

  • November 01, 2024

    4 States To Vote On Expanding Cannabis Or Psychedelics

    On Tuesday, voters in Florida, North Dakota and South Dakota will decide whether to legalize cannabis for adult recreational use, while Massachusetts — where marijuana is already fully legal — will decide whether to decriminalize and regulate certain psychedelics.

  • October 31, 2024

    Instacart Says Investors Based Pre-IPO Suit On Anecdotes

    Grocery delivery company Instacart has urged a California federal judge to toss a proposed class action suit claiming it misrepresented its growth potential in the lead-up to its initial public offering, saying investors are "attempting to conjure a securities fraud lawsuit out of thin air."

  • October 31, 2024

    IP Forecast: Another Apple Watch Trial Kicks Off In California

    Apple and Masimo will face off next week in their long-running feud over whether the tech giant misappropriated Masimo's trade secrets for some of the health-monitoring features used in newer versions of the Apple Watch. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • October 31, 2024

    CVS Unit Exec's Ex-Partner Charged With Insider Trading

    The former domestic partner of a top executive at Oak Street Health Inc., a primary care provider network owned by CVS Health Corp., was charged in Philadelphia federal court Thursday with insider trading on advance information about CVS' $10.6 billion deal to buy Oak Street in 2023.

  • October 31, 2024

    Seyfarth Argues Against DQ From Amazon COVID Pay Case

    Seyfarth Shaw urged a Colorado federal judge on Wednesday to reject a bid to disqualify the law firm from representing Amazon in a putative class action after representing former managers who are allegedly presumed class members, arguing there was no real harm since its attorneys quickly dropped the former employees after discovering potential conflicts.

  • October 31, 2024

    'Extraordinary' Fed. Circ. Ruling Revives Seirus Invalidity Row

    Seirus Innovative Accessories Inc. will be able to pursue its defense that a Columbia Sportswear clothing design patent is invalid as obvious "under the new, less-rigid approach" established by the Federal Circuit in an "extraordinary" decision earlier this year, a California federal judge ruled.

  • October 31, 2024

    FDA Warns Cos. Over E-Cigs That Look Like Tech Devices

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued warnings to nine online retailers and one manufacturer for selling unauthorized disposable e-cigarettes with features that look like smart technology that may appeal to young people, such as the capacity to play games or play music.

  • October 31, 2024

    LA Hits Pepsi, Coca-Cola With Plastic Waste, Deception Suit

    Los Angeles County hit PepsiCo Inc. and The Coca-Cola Co. with a California state suit claiming the longtime soft drink rivals are spouting falsehoods about recycling's ability to address their single-use plastic waste and flooding the environment with growing amounts of harmful plastic despite pledges to reduce it.

  • October 31, 2024

    Textbook Cos. Fight To Keep Google Pirated Books Suit Alive

    Several textbook publishers have urged a Manhattan federal judge to keep their copyright and trademark infringement suit against Google intact, alleging the tech giant has profited from the sale of pirated textbooks it advertises in searches, contrary to the company's assertions.

  • October 31, 2024

    Fridge Owners Seek OK On Whirlpool Defect Suit Settlement

    A proposed class of refrigerator owners is asking a California federal court to give the go-ahead to a settlement to resolve claims that Whirlpool Corp. sold refrigerators with a defect that caused food to spoil or go moldy.

Expert Analysis

  • Del. Dispatch: Chancery's Evolving Approach To Caremark

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    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.

  • Why Employers Shouldn't Overreact To Protest Activities

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    Recent decisions from the First Circuit in Kinzer v. Whole Foods and the National Labor Relations Board in Home Depot hold eye-opening takeaways about which employee conduct is protected as "protest activity" and make a case for fighting knee-jerk reactions that could result in costly legal proceedings, says Frank Shuster at Constangy.

  • ITC Ruling Has Serious IP Implications For Foreign Imports

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    While a recent U.S. International Trade Commission decision is a win for trade secret owners who can show injury to a U.S. domestic industry, the decision also means that companies operating in foreign jurisdictions will be subject to the requirements of U.S. trade secret law, say Paul Ainsworth and Cristen Corry at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • TTAB Ruling Raises Foreign-Language Mark Questions

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    The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board's recent decision to cancel the Veuve Olivier registration due to its similarity to Veuve Clicquot brings new focus to the treatment of foreign terms and the doctrine of foreign equivalents, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Best Practices To Accommodate Workplace Service Animals

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Since the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently pledged to enforce accommodations for people with intellectual, developmental and mental health-related disabilities, companies should use an interactive process to properly respond when employees ask about bringing service animals into the workplace, say Samuel Lillard and Jantzen Mace at Ogletree.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    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.

  • Opinion

    State-Regulated Cannabis Can Thrive Without Section 280E

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    Marijauna's reclassification as a Schedule III-controlled substance comes at a critical juncture, as removing marijuana from being subjected to Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code is the only path forward for the state-regulated cannabis industry to survive and thrive, say Andrew Kline at Perkins Coie and Sammy Markland at FTI Consulting.

  • 4 Sectors Will Likely Bear Initial Brunt Of FTC 'Junk Fees' Rule

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    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.

  • 8 Legal Issues Influencing Investors In The Creator Economy

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    The rapidly expanding digital creator economy — funding for which more than doubled in the U.S. in the first quarter — comes with its own set of unique legal issues investors must carefully consider before diving in, say Louis Lehot and Alan Pate at Foley & Lardner.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    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.

  • CFPB Reality Check: Video Game Cash Is Still Money

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent report examining payments within online video games indicates that financial services offered within the game marketplace are quickly evolving to the point where they are indistinguishable from traditional financial services subject to regulation, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Is The Digital Accessibility Storm Almost Over?

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    Though private businesses have faced a decadelong deluge of digital accessibility complaints in the absence of clear regulations or uniformity among the courts, attorneys at Epstein Becker address how recent federal courts’ pushback against serial Americans with Disabilities Act plaintiffs and the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed government accessibility standards may presage a break in the downpour.

  • PE In The Crosshairs Of Public And Private Antitrust Enforcers

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    A series of decisions from a California federal court in the recently settled Packaged Seafood Products Antitrust Litigation, as well as heightened scrutiny from federal agencies, serve as a reminder that private equity firms may be exposed to liability for alleged anti-competitive conduct by their portfolio companies, say attorneys at Axinn.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

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