Retail & E-Commerce

  • August 08, 2024

    Pitney Bowes Spins Off E-Commerce Biz Into Ch. 11

    A former unit of shipping company Pitney Bowes Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection Thursday in Texas bankruptcy court with more than $100 million in debt and plans to liquidate its assets.

  • August 08, 2024

    New Car Seat Isn't Yesterday's Model, Judge Says In IP Suit

    An Ohio infant car seat company convinced a Delaware federal court that its newly designed car seats are not the same as the patent-infringing ones that were the subject of a sales ban and a $3.2 million court judgment won by a Taiwanese rival.

  • August 08, 2024

    Insurer Utica Off Hook In High-End Leather Goods Dispute

    Utica National Insurance Group is not obligated to defend or indemnify a maker of high-end leather goods against claims it fraudulently induced a former partner into a deal in order to steal his designs and then attempt to drive him out of business, a Massachusetts intermediate appellate court has concluded.

  • August 08, 2024

    FTC Tells 9th Circ. Booksellers Don't Belong In Amazon Case

    The Federal Trade Commission and Amazon both urged the Ninth Circuit not to allow a trade association for independent bookstores to intervene in the government's antitrust case against the e-commerce giant, saying the group's claims are too different.

  • August 08, 2024

    Deals Rumor Mill: Roche, Thoma Bravo, Klarna

    Roche is considering divesting cancer data specialist Flatiron Health, Thoma Bravo is exploring a sale of compliance software maker Cority, and fintech startup Klarna is preparing a secondary-share sale ahead of a planned IPO. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • August 08, 2024

    Exec Admits Price-Fixing $100M Of Rebar For Storm Rebuild

    The U.S. Department of Justice announced the guilty plea Wednesday of a former Puerto Rico steel distributor executive who admitted to fixing prices on rebar used for post-hurricane reconstruction, in a conspiracy that impacted more than $100 million in his company's sales.

  • August 08, 2024

    Texas Co. Says Timex Infringed Wearable Device Data Patent

    A Texas company took Timex Group USA Inc. to Connecticut federal court alleging that the watch company infringed its patent for "systems, methods and apparatuses for enabling wearable device users access to secured electronic systems" by putting out a line of smartwatches for families to keep track of their children.

  • August 08, 2024

    UK Launches Formal Probe Into Amazon's $4B AI Investment

    Britain's antitrust authority launched a formal probe on Thursday into Amazon's $4 billion investment in Anthropic, a U.S. artificial intelligence startup, as it seeks to establish whether it could harm competition in U.K. markets.

  • August 07, 2024

    Hemp Cos. Owner Says Cousin Ripped Off Formula, Trademarks

    The owner of Florida-based CBD and hemp companies White Lab LLC and GS Distribution LLC is suing a company owned by his cousin, saying the cousin has failed to pay up on a distribution agreement and is now trying to steal the trademarks to one of White Lab's product lines. 

  • August 07, 2024

    Kleenex Maker Wants Conn. PFAS Suit Tossed

    Kimberly-Clark Corp. is urging a Connecticut federal judge to throw out a proposed class action, saying the suit relies on "speculation and conjecture" to claim its New Milford manufacturing facility and shuttered landfill polluted properties and exposed residents to toxic forever chemicals.

  • August 07, 2024

    Robot Vacuum Cleaner Patent Ruling Remains Undisturbed

    Federal Circuit judges proved unpersuaded on Wednesday to do anything to touch an administrative board ruling that wiped out most, but not all, of the claims in a patent that allegedly covered a new feature in the Roomba brand of robotic vacuum cleaners.

  • August 07, 2024

    Split Fed. Circ. OK's Penalty Rates For Taiwanese Nail Cos.

    A divided Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed the U.S. Department of Commerce's decision to base Taiwanese nail companies' antidumping duties on penalty rates assigned to businesses that refused to cooperate with investigators, saying the practice was the default method.

  • August 07, 2024

    Google 'May Not Be So Lucky' Next Time Over Chat Deletions

    Google's stunning antitrust loss in D.C. federal court Monday dealt another blow against its policies of letting internal chats delete automatically, and it came with a callout of its practice of training employees to avoid competition law "buzzwords."

  • August 07, 2024

    Judge Sanctions EEOC For Doc Delays In Long-COVID Suit

    A Colorado federal judge doubted Wednesday that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission looked hard enough for a worker's communications with their doctor in a patient portal, awarding an appliance company attorney fees as sanctions for the agency's failure to turn over the documents sooner. 

  • August 07, 2024

    Judge Hints No-Show Amazon, Apple Plaintiff May Testify

    A Washington federal judge suggested Wednesday that the original lead plaintiff in an antitrust suit accusing Amazon and Apple of restricting iPhone and iPad sales may need to testify despite his lawyers wanting to drop him from the case, questioning if it would be fair to let the plaintiff continue to dodge long overdue discovery demands.

  • August 07, 2024

    NC Biz Court Bulletin: The Battles Making Summer Sizzle

    A 1983 championship basketball team's intellectual property rights and a public feud between Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP and its insurer are among the legal battles that have kept North Carolina Business Court judges and Tar Heel state private practice attorneys busy this summer. In case you missed those and others, here are the highlights.

  • August 07, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Rethink Amazon Patent Program Suit Revival

    The Federal Circuit issued an order Wednesday declining to hold a panel rehearing or a full court rehearing on its May decision to revive an electric outlet cover maker's declaratory judgment action over alleged infringement through Amazon's patent evaluation program.

  • August 07, 2024

    Lender Says Mogul's Privacy Concerns Stymying Trial Prep

    Attorneys for a lending agent pursuing a $127 million judgment from an auto parts mogul asked a Michigan federal judge Tuesday to deny the mogul and his bankrupt company's attempts to keep key documents private, saying the inability to share relevant information with their clients is hindering their ability to prepare for trial.

  • August 07, 2024

    6 Swipe Fee Plaintiffs 'Arbitrarily' Picked For 2025 Trial

    Six retailers including department store giant Target will go to trial in 2025 on claims that Visa and Mastercard overcharged them, a Manhattan federal judge said Wednesday, explaining that he arbitrarily chose from among 60 plaintiffs in a long-running, multibillion-dollar antitrust battle.

  • August 07, 2024

    Gun Cos. Exit Mexico's Suit As Judge Cites 'Thin' Mass. Ties

    A Massachusetts federal judge on Wednesday dismissed six U.S. gun companies from a suit over Mexican cartel violence after finding the alleged conduct has virtually no ties to the Bay State.

  • August 07, 2024

    FTC Asks Courts To Pause $8.5B Handbag Merger

    The Federal Trade Commission has asked a New York federal court to pause the planned $8.5 billion merger between the owners of Coach and Michael Kors while the agency conducts an in-house merger challenge.

  • August 07, 2024

    Hong Kong Co. Scores Default Win In $10M Face Mask Suit

    A New Jersey federal judge granted a Hong Kong firm a default win in its suit alleging a U.S. health company misappropriated a $10 million investment by overselling its ability to manufacture and sell face masks in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, ruling that the company has plausibly alleged its claims.

  • August 07, 2024

    Ohio AG Cites Search Ruling In Google Common Carrier Suit

    Ohio's attorney general pointed a state court judge Wednesday to a recent D.C. federal court decision declaring Google an illegal search monopolist, arguing the U.S. Department of Justice's win underscores why the internet giant should be banned from self-preferential treatment as a "common carrier."

  • August 07, 2024

    7th Circ. Keeps 3M PFAS Pollution Suit In State Court

    The Seventh Circuit on Wednesday rejected 3M's bid to send back to federal court a lawsuit brought by the state of Illinois alleging that the company polluted local waters with toxic "forever chemicals," saying a federal government contractor defense would be "wholly irrelevant" to the state's case.

  • August 07, 2024

    Davis Polk, Cooley Lead $1.5B Sale Of PetIQ

    Pet medication company PetIQ Inc., advised by Cooley LLP, on Wednesday announced plans to go private following its acquisition by private investment firm Bansk Group, led by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, in an all-cash deal valued at roughly $1.5 billion.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • Dapper Settlement Offers Rules Of The Road For NFT Issuers

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    The terms of a $4 million settlement in a class action alleging that Dapper Labs sold its NBA Top Shot Moments as unregistered securities may be a model for third parties that wish to avoid securities liability in connection with offering digital asset non-fungible token collectibles, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Opinion

    'Trump Too Small' Ruling Overlooks TM Registration Issues

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision last month in Vidal v. Elster, which concluded that “Trump Too Small” cannot be a registered trademark as it violates a federal prohibition, fails to consider modern-day, real-world implications for trademark owners who are denied access to federal registration, say Tiffany Gehrke and Alexa Spitz at Marshall Gerstein.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Why High Court Social Media Ruling Will Be Hotly Debated

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    In deciding the NetChoice cases that challenged Florida and Texas content moderation laws, what the U.S. Supreme Court justices said about social media platforms — and the First Amendment — will have implications and raise questions for nearly all online operators, say Jacob Canter and Joanna Rosen Forster at Crowell & Moring.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • How High Court Approached Time Limit On Reg Challenges

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Corner Post v. Federal Reserve Board effectively gives new entities their own personal statute of limitations to challenge rules and regulations, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh's concurrence may portend the court's view that those entities do not need to be directly regulated, say attorneys at Snell & Wilmer.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • Constitutional Protections For Cannabis Companies Are Hazy

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    Cannabis businesses are subject to federal enforcement and tax, but often without the benefit of constitutional protections — and the entanglement of state and federal law and conflicting judicial opinions are creating confusion in the space, says Amber Lengacher at Purple Circle.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Anticipating Disputes In Small Biz Partnerships And LLCs

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    In light of persistently high failures of small business partnerships and limited liability companies, mediator Frank Burke discusses proactive strategies for protecting and defining business rights and responsibilities, as well as reactive measures for owners.

  • The Often Overlooked NY Foreclosure Notice Requirements

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    As multifamily real estate defaults mount, New York foreclosing parties should be aware of pitfalls and perils that can await the litigant who is not prepared to ensure adherence with tenant notice requirements under the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Rosenberg & Estis.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

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