Technology

  • November 21, 2024

    IBM Told Execs 'Discriminate Or Lose Your Job,' Worker Says

    IBM rewarded executives for meeting diversity goals and threatened them with punishment for failing to do so, essentially telling them to "discriminate or lose your job," a white male consultant who was terminated alleged in a suit filed in Michigan federal court on Wednesday.

  • November 21, 2024

    New FCC Rules Pave Way For More FM Station Geotargeting

    The Federal Communications Commission adopted rules Thursday meant to make it easier for FM booster stations to broadcast brief segments of hyper-local content every hour.

  • November 21, 2024

    PE Posting Near-Record Megadeal Numbers, Report Shows

    Private equity dealmaking has built significant momentum this year, notching respectable deal volume and posting a record number of megadeals over $5 billion, according to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

  • November 21, 2024

    White & Case Guides Mediaocean On $525M Innovid Buy

    Private equity-backed advertising company Mediaocean said Thursday it has agreed to buy software platform Innovid for roughly $525 million, with White & Case LLP and Latham & Watkins LLP steering the deal as legal counsel. 

  • November 21, 2024

    Accel-KKR Closes Tech-Focused Fund With $2.2B In Tow

    Technology-focused private equity shop Accel-KKR on Thursday announced that it closed its AKKR Strategic Capital LP fund after raking in over $2.2 billion of investor commitments, which will be used to invest in a range of transactions mainly focused on the software industry in the secondary market.

  • November 21, 2024

    Trump Eyes Crypto, SpaceX To Sell Shares, And More Rumors

    Donald Trump's social media company wants to enter the cryptocurrency business, while Elon Musk's SpaceX is planning a tender offer of shares that values the space technology startup at $250 billion. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • November 21, 2024

    Biden's FCC Chair Stepping Down From Agency Jan. 20

    The Democratic head of the Federal Communications Commission said Thursday she will be leaving the agency on Jan. 20.

  • November 21, 2024

    CFPB Wraps Rule To Pull Big Payment Apps Into Supervision

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Thursday that it has finalized a measure to bring providers of major digital payment apps under its supervisory umbrella, expanding the reach of its oversight deeper into the technology sector and drawing fresh calls to reverse course.

  • November 21, 2024

    DOJ Urges Chrome, Android Sales In Google Case

    The U.S. Department of Justice late Wednesday formally asked a Washington, D.C., federal judge to order a range of steps to end Google's monopolization of general search services and the text ads shown alongside search results, most notably by forcing the company to spin off the Chrome browser.

  • November 20, 2024

    Musk, Ramaswamy Say High Court Rulings OK Federal Cuts

    Billionaire Elon Musk and former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, President-elect Donald Trump's picks to lead a newly created "Department of Government Efficiency," on Wednesday said two recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings will give them the authority to cut off power to regulatory agencies and conduct massive federal layoffs.

  • November 20, 2024

    Data Security Co. Shakes Suit Over Auto-Renewal Model

    A North Carolina federal judge has axed a proposed class action accusing a digital security provider of tricking consumers into pricey subscriptions that were difficult to cancel, finding that while the dispute raises "legitimate societal concerns," the plaintiff failed to show that he was injured by this alleged conduct.

  • November 20, 2024

    Prison Phone Cos. Say FCC Reg Fight Belongs In 5th Circ.

    There should have been no lottery to decide where to place an appeal challenging the Federal Communications Commission's new caps on rates charged for prison phone calls — the matter belongs in the Fifth Circuit, a pair of prison phone service providers told the First Circuit.

  • November 20, 2024

    5 Charged For 'Scattered Spider' Phishing Hacks, Crypto Theft

    California federal prosecutors unveiled a criminal case Wednesday accusing five alleged members of the "Scattered Spider" cybercrime group of using a phishing scheme to access the confidential data of media and technology companies and steal $11 million worth of cryptocurrency from digital wallets.

  • November 20, 2024

    2nd Circ. Doubts Error In Tenant Screener's FHA Suit Win

    A Second Circuit panel appeared skeptical Wednesday that a Connecticut federal judge used the wrong analysis to find that a tenant screener's criminal history reporting practices do not violate the Fair Housing Act, grilling counsel for the federal government about the lower court's process.

  • November 20, 2024

    Wash. Judge Questions Startup's Amazon Antitrust Claims

    A Washington federal judge on Wednesday suggested that antitrust claims might not survive in a startup's complaint against Amazon Web Services involving a dispute over higher-speed internet connections in the Middle East that allowed the startup to cater to its customer Epic Games.

  • November 20, 2024

    USPTO Unveils Patent Fee Hikes Set To Take Effect In January

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Wednesday released a final rule that will increase many patent-related fees on Jan. 19, recalibrating some proposed hikes that had drawn criticism from attorneys and industry groups while leaving others intact.

  • November 20, 2024

    Apple Tapped With Patent Suit Over IMessage 'Tapbacks'

    A lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Southern District of New York accuses Apple of infringing two patents through some of the newer features of its iMessage app that allow people to react and respond to particular texts.

  • November 20, 2024

    Microsoft Defeats Eye Contact Feature Patent At PTAB

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has invalidated claims in a RealD Spark patent it alleged were infringed by Microsoft's eye-contact feature, the latest decision in a broader legal battle.

  • November 20, 2024

    'Ambush' At Patent Trial Led To $22M Loss, ASUS Says

    Taiwanese computer company ASUSTeK and the California owner of patents it infringed lambasted each other in post-trial motions filed in Texas federal court, with ASUS seeking to vacate a $22 million verdict due to the patentee's "ambush" tactics, and the patentee wanting its award doubled for ASUS' "pirate-like behavior."

  • November 20, 2024

    Google Beats EcoFactor Patent Case Over Nest

    Google has persuaded a California federal court to nip in the bud one of the newer patent lawsuits targeting its Nest smart home brand, winning a ruling that found an air conditioner capable of "calculating and comparing thermal efficiency" wasn't enough for a patent.

  • November 20, 2024

    Xerox Faces Investor Suit Over 'Reinvention' Strategy

    Business technology company Xerox Inc. has been hit with a proposed shareholder class action in New York federal court alleging the company's stockholders were harmed by a "reinvention" strategy it introduced in 2023 that yielded lower sales and revenue.

  • November 20, 2024

    Apple Says DOJ Case Has Too Much Speculation To Survive

    Apple's attorneys pressed a New Jersey federal judge Wednesday to toss the U.S. Department of Justice's monopolization lawsuit, asserting in oral arguments that the government is simply trying to force them to work with rivals when attacking controls imposed on iPhone app developers.

  • November 20, 2024

    Citing Fintiv, PTAB Rejects Samsung's Challenge To Patent

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has shot down Samsung's challenge to a Pictiva Displays patent covering technology used in features like smartphone flashlights, citing parallel district court litigation over the same patent.

  • November 20, 2024

    DC Circ. Skeptical Of Texas AG's Bid To Revive X Probe

    A D.C. Circuit panel seemed skeptical Wednesday of the Texas attorney general's claims that Media Matters lacks a valid claim to challenge the state enforcer's investigation into the media watchdog's reporting about the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, but one judge expressed uncertainty about the suit's readiness for judicial review.

  • November 20, 2024

    Uber, Lyft, Chicago Ignored Due Process, Banned Driver Says

    A former Uber and Lyft driver has sued the platforms in Illinois federal court for deactivating her accounts over false claims she spit on a passenger, and she also sued the city of Chicago over its ordinance allowing rideshare platforms to ban drivers without notice or an opportunity to defend themselves.

Expert Analysis

  • An Overview Of New Export Controls On Advanced Tech

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    With a new rule that took effect this month, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security continues to expand export controls on advanced technologies, including semiconductor, additive manufacturing and quantum computing, in coordination with international partners, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • How States Are Approaching AI Workplace Discrimination

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    As legislators across the U.S. have begun addressing algorithmic discrimination in the workplace, attorneys at Reed Smith provide an overview of the status, applicability and provisions of 13 state and local bills.

  • 3 Patent Considerations For America's New Quantum Hub

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    Recent developments signal an incredibly bright future for Chicago as the new home of quantum computing, and it is crucial that these innovators — whose technology has the potential to transform many industries — prioritize intellectual property strategy, says Andrew Velzen at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • SBA Proposal Materially Alters Contractor Recertification

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    The Small Business Administration's new proposed rule on recertification affects eligibility for set-aside contracts, significantly alters the landscape for mergers and acquisitions in the government contracts industry, and could have other unintended downstream consequences, says Sam Finnerty at PilieroMazza.

  • Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls

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    Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • A Preview Of AI Priorities Under The Next President

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    For the first time in a presidential election, both of the leading candidates and their parties have been vocal about artificial intelligence policy, offering clues on the future of regulation as AI continues to advance and congressional action continues to stall, say attorneys at Mintz.

  • DOJ Must Overcome Hurdles In RealPage Antitrust Case

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recent claims that RealPage's pricing software violates the Sherman Act mark a creative, and apparently contradictory, shift in the agency's approach to algorithmic price-fixing that will face several key challenges, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

  • How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies

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    An analysis of insider trading policies recently disclosed by 49 S&P 500 companies under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule reveals that while specific provisions vary from company to company, certain common themes are emerging, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • 11 Patent Cases To Watch At Fed. Circ. And High Court

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    As we head into fall, there are 11 patent cases to monitor, touching on a range of issues that could affect patent strategy, such as biotech innovation, administrative rulemaking and patent eligibility, say Edward Lanquist and Wesley Barbee at Baker Donelson.

  • Why India May Become A Major Patent Litigation Forum

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    India is reinventing itself with the goal of becoming a global hot spot for patent litigation, with recent developments at the Delhi High Court creating incentives for plaintiffs to assert patent rights in India, say Ranganath Sudarshan at Covington and IP litigator Udit Sood.

  • Increased IPOs In '24 Shows Importance Of Strategic Planning

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    Initial public offerings, debt issuances and M&A activity so far in 2024 have shown substantial increases over comparable periods in 2023, highlighting why counsel should educate clients on market trends and financing alternatives to proactively prepare them to be ready to take advantage of opportunities, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Rule Of Two, Post Award, Cost Request

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, Alissandra McCann at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, offering distinct reminders for contractors challenging solicitations while an agency takes corrective action, pursuing post-award bid protests and filing timely cost reimbursement requests.

  • Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions

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    Following recent court rulings interpreting state invasion of privacy and electronic surveillance statutes triggering a surge in the filing of privacy class actions against online retailers, companies should examine their various insurance policies, including E&O and D&O, for defense coverage of these claims, says Alison Gaske at Gilbert LLP.

  • The Fed. Circ. In August: Secret Sales And Public Disclosures

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    Two recent Federal Circuit rulings — Sanho v. Kaijet and Celanese International v. ITC — highlight that inventors should publicly and promptly disclose their inventions, as a secret sale will not suffice as a disclosure, and file their patent applications within a year of public disclosure, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.

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