Technology

  • October 25, 2024

    Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Skadden, Kirkland

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp. absorbs Sandy Spring Bancorp, Sophos and Secureworks merge, Wendel Group takes a stake in Monroe Capital LLC, and Acuity Brands Inc. buys QSC LLC.

  • October 24, 2024

    Meta, TikTok Can't Ditch Schools' Social Media Addiction Suit

    Meta Platforms and other social media giants must face most of the claims brought by school districts and local government entities alleging the companies designed their platforms to addict children, a California federal judge ruled Thursday.

  • October 24, 2024

    FTC Official Doubts Election Will Deter Antitrust 'New Era'

    The Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Competition director defended the agency's new guidelines and its track record during a wide-ranging discussion at the 34th annual Golden State Institute on Thursday, and he expressed confidence that whichever presidential candidate wins, a new administration won't deter this "new era" of FTC antitrust enforcement actions.

  • October 24, 2024

    Split Fed. Circ. Rejects Expert's 'Because I Said So' Testimony

    A Delaware federal jury was wrong to find Comcast infringed a NexStep "digital butler" patent, and the trial judge properly overruled it, a split Federal Circuit panel said Thursday.

  • October 24, 2024

    LinkedIn Hit With €310M Irish Fine For Targeted Ad Practices

    Ireland's data protection commission has handed down a €310 million ($335 million) penalty against LinkedIn for allegedly failing to have an adequate legal basis for processing European Union users' personal data for targeted advertising purposes, the regulator announced Thursday.

  • October 24, 2024

    USPTO Is Using AI — And More IP Takeaways From Vidal

    U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal fielded tough questions before a crowd of attorneys Thursday to start the American Intellectual Property Law Association annual meeting, covering topics from her agency's cybersecurity challenges to the backlog of patent and trademark applications.

  • October 24, 2024

    FINRA Says Its Regs Apply To Metaverse, Seeks Comments

    Broker-dealers and other firms that are weighing incorporating the metaverse into their business operations should be mindful of how Financial Industry Regulatory Authority rules apply to such activities and reach out with any concerns about regulatory ambiguities, the regulator said Thursday.

  • October 24, 2024

    PTAB Largely Ends 2 Telecom Patents After Cisco Challenge

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has fully thrown out an Orckit Corp. link aggregation patent and mostly invalidated another telecommunications patent following challenges from Cisco, finding their claims were too obvious to warrant patent protection.

  • October 24, 2024

    Calif. Judge Urged To Uphold $262M Hard Drive IP Verdict

    MR Technologies has asked a California federal judge to deny Western Digital's bid to toss a $262 million patent infringement verdict in a dispute over disk drive storage technology, saying the hard drive behemoth's desire for a redo is outweighed by its failure to present any legal errors or abuse of discretion by the court.

  • October 24, 2024

    Bumble App Wants To Dump Straight Women's Bias Suit

    Bumble asked a California federal judge Wednesday to throw out a lawsuit alleging the dating app discriminates against straight women by requiring them to make the first move, saying the complaint "betrays a troubling irony" in perpetuating gender-based stereotypes that antidiscrimination laws were designed to prevent.

  • October 24, 2024

    4th Circ. Affirms Dismissal Of Crypto Theft Coverage

    The Fourth Circuit upheld a lower court's ruling that an individual's homeowners policy didn't cover his loss of $170,000 in cryptocurrency to an alleged scam, agreeing with a Virginia federal court that the loss didn't constitute a "direct physical loss."

  • October 24, 2024

    FCC's Data Cap Study Tees Up Unjustified Ban, Think Tank Says

    As the Federal Communications Commission launches an inquiry into how data cap practices affect the public, a free market think tank is stepping into the fray to say it's worried any regulation limiting data caps would be "misguided."

  • October 24, 2024

    FCC Won't Hold Off Prison Phone Rate Caps During Suits

    The Federal Communications Commission has turned down three bids for the agency to shelve new prison phone service rate caps during legal appeals of the FCC's rule, saying such lawsuits are unlikely to prevail.

  • October 24, 2024

    Broadcasters Doubt Legality Of FCC Blackout Reporting Regs

    TV broadcasters questioned a Federal Communications Commission plan to require cable and satellite companies to report programming "blackouts" caused by carriage disputes to a central database, saying the agency appears to lack legal authority to impose such a requirement.

  • October 24, 2024

    FINRA Fines Broker Over Securities Lending Algorithm Issues

    Interactive Brokers LLC has agreed to a $475,000 fine from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to resolve alleged issues with its securities lending algorithm that resulted in the firm returning borrowed shares to customers when it should not have and for allegedly allowing an unregistered person to work on the algorithm's software development.

  • October 24, 2024

    LinkedIn Intercepts Health Info On CityMD's Site, User Says

    LinkedIn was hit with a proposed invasion-of-privacy class action on Wednesday in California federal court that accused the social network platform of illegally intercepting users' sensitive health information when they book medical appointments through CityMD's website, then selling the data for targeted advertising.

  • October 24, 2024

    TikTok Won't Get 3rd Circ. Rehearing Of Section 230 Ruling

    The Third Circuit on Wednesday turned down TikTok's request for an en banc rehearing of a panel decision that the social media company's "For You Page" algorithm isn't entitled to immunity under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act in a case over a 10-year-old's death.

  • October 24, 2024

    Willkie-Led Ingram Micro Rejoins Markets After $409M IPO

    Private equity-backed technology products distributor Ingram Micro Holding Corp. rallied in debut trading on Thursday, marking the company's return to public markets following a $409 million initial public offering, represented by Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and underwriters' counsel Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP.

  • October 24, 2024

    IBM Pans Fired White Worker's Diversity Quota Claims

    IBM disputed a white former consultant's claim that the company fired him to fulfill diversity targets in a court filing Wednesday, saying the worker's allegations that the company has racial and gender-based hiring quotas are unsupported. 

  • October 24, 2024

    Elon Musk Escapes Vote-Buying Claims In RICO Suit

    Elon Musk has dodged claims in a Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act lawsuit that his attempts to drive up voter registration in swing states by holding a million-dollar giveaway are unlawful, with a California federal judge ruling the allegations had nothing to do with the rest of the case.

  • October 24, 2024

    Conn. Bar Committee Wants Software Crash Suit Tossed

    The Connecticut Bar Examining Committee says a test-taker's federal lawsuit linking her failing grade to computer malfunctions or software crashes must be dismissed, because two different statistical analyses showed her tech woes "likely had no impact on her ultimate score."

  • October 24, 2024

    ConvergeOne Can't Ax Snubbed Creditors' Ch. 11 Plan Appeal

    A Texas federal judge said he wouldn't toss an appeal by a group of secured creditors who say they were improperly iced out of a new equity offering pool for ConvergeOne, writing that the group's challenge wouldn't unravel the reorganized information technology services company's confirmed Chapter 11 plan or harm third parties.

  • October 24, 2024

    Biden Issues Guidelines For National Security Uses Of AI

    President Joe Biden issued a memo Thursday on the development and use of artificial intelligence for national security, directing actions such as shoring up the security of computer chip supply chains and ensuring AI is not used to commit human rights violations.

  • October 24, 2024

    Norton Rose Adds Experienced Cybersecurity & Privacy Duo

    Norton Rose Fulbright announced that a pair of attorneys with more than 50 years of combined experience have joined it New York and St. Louis offices as senior counsel, in what it said will help clients navigate the increasingly complex cybersecurity and privacy areas of law.

  • October 24, 2024

    FCC Finds Fraught Turf In Planning The Future Of 4.9 GHz

    The Federal Communications Commission wants to dedicate unused portions of the 4.9 gigahertz band to both public safety and 5G, but has discovered just how hard it is to please everyone in an era of dwindling spectrum resources.

Expert Analysis

  • Law Firms Should Move From Reactive To Proactive Marketing

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    Most law firm marketing and business development teams operate in silos, leading to an ad hoc, reactive approach, but shifting to a culture of proactive planning — beginning with comprehensive campaigns — can help firms effectively execute their broader business strategy, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.

  • Remedy May Be Google's Biggest Hurdle Yet In Antitrust Case

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    There are difficulties ahead in the remedies phase of the antitrust case against Google in District of Columbia federal court, including the search engine giant's scale advantage and the fast-moving nature of the tech industry, setting the stage for the most challenging of the proceedings so far, says Jonathan Rubin at MoginRubin.

  • 3 Ways To Limit Risks Of Black-Box AI In Financial Services

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    As regulators increasingly highlight the potential for artificial intelligence to make unfair consumer credit decisions, and require financial institutions to explain how these so-called black-box algorithms arrive at conclusions, companies should consider three key questions to reduce their regulatory risks from these tools, say Jeffrey Naimon and Caroline Stapleton at Orrick.

  • Takeaways From EU's 'Pay Or Consent' Advertising Probe

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    Anne-Gabrielle Haie and Charles Whiddington at Steptoe examine key points from the European Commission's recent investigation into Big Tech's use of "pay or consent" advertising models, as well as the European Data Protection Board’s opinion on how such models can comply with EU competition and data protection laws.

  • Energy And AI: Key Issues And Future Challenges

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    Artificial intelligence promises new technical advantages for the energy industry, but it is also responsible for vast, and growing, energy consumption — so the future of AI and energy will require balancing technological advancement with regulatory oversight, environmental responsibility and infrastructure development, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Tips For Revamping Patent Portfolio Strategy In AI Deal Era

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    Recent data suggests patents are significantly enhancing exit valuations, particularly with cutting-edge technologies like those powered by artificial intelligence, but it is necessary to do more than simply align patent strategy with business goals, says Keegan Caldwell at Caldwell Law.

  • Opinion

    The Big Issues A BigLaw Associates' Union Could Address

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    A BigLaw associates’ union could address a number of issues that have the potential to meaningfully improve working conditions, diversity and attorney well-being — from restructured billable hour requirements to origination credit allocation, return-to-office mandates and more, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Opting In To CIPA Risk Mitigation After New Precedent

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    A recent California federal court decision, adopting a new, broad interpretation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act, will likely increase the volume of CIPA claims and should prompt businesses to undertake certain preventative measures, including adopting an opt-in approach to using third-party website advertising technologies, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • How Calif. Justices' Prop 22 Ruling Affects The Gig Industry

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    The California Supreme Court's recent upholding of Proposition 22 clarifies that Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other companies in the gig industry can legally classify their drivers as independent contractors, but it falls short of concluding some important regulatory battles in the state, says Mark Spring at CDF Labor.

  • What 7th Circ. Samsung Decision Means For Mass Arbitration

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    The Seventh Circuit's recent decision in Wallrich v. Samsung highlights the dilemma faced by mass arbitration filers in the face of nonpayment of arbitration fees by the defending party — but also suggests that there are risks for defendants in pursuing such a strategy, says Daniel Campbell at McDermott.

  • Takeaways From Virginia's $2B Trade Secrets Verdict Reversal

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    The Virginia Court of Appeals' recent reversal of the $2 billion damages award in Pegasystems v. Appian underscores the claimant's burden to show damages causation and highlights how an evidentiary ruling could lead to reversible error, say John Lanham and Kamran Jamil at Morrison Foerster.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • FTC Drives Crackdown On Connected Cars' Data Privacy Risk

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    After the Federal Trade Commission's warning to automakers about data privacy, which continues to emerge as a national concern, automakers must carefully examine their data collection, use and retention practices, say Catherine Castaldo and Michael Rubayo at Reed Smith.

  • How Gov't AI Protections May Affect Contractors' Data Rights

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    The U.S. Senate’s proposed National Defense Authorization Act for 2025, which includes provisions to maintain the government's data rights when contracting for artificial intelligence, should prompt contractors to examine how to protect their own rights when the current data rights framework is applied to AI, say Tyler Evans and Caitlin Conroy at Steptoe.

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