CaliforniaRSS

  • February 24, 2009

    AIG Off Hook For Live Nation Antitrust Suits: 9th Circ.

    A federal appeals court has upheld the dismissal of a suit Live Nation Inc. filed against American International Group Inc. subsidiary Illinois National Insurance Co. seeking a declaration that the insurer had a duty to defend in 22 consumer class actions now in an antitrust multidistrict litigation over concert promotion.

  • February 23, 2009

    Nomadix Wins Injunction In Wi-Fi Patent Fight

    Nomadix Inc. has won a preliminary injunction barring wireless technology developer Second Rule LLC from producing NetAccess wireless gateways, as part of an ongoing patent infringement lawsuit related to zero configuration wireless access.

  • February 23, 2009

    ERII Liable For $22M Arbitration Award: Calif. Court

    A California appeals court has overturned a trial court’s ruling that Executive Risk Indemnity Inc. is not obligated to cover a $22 million arbitration award against an investment firm policyholder because it was not party to the proceedings.

  • February 23, 2009

    Vizio Petitions FCC In Dispute Over Funai DTV Patent

    Vizio Inc. has asked the Federal Communications Commission to stop Japanese rival Funai Electronics Co. Ltd. from continuing to impose what Vizio claims are unfair licensing terms for a patent related to digital television receivers.

  • February 23, 2009

    AT&T Loses Bid For JMOL In USF Litigation

    A federal judge has rejected AT&T Corp.'s bid for either judgment as a matter of law or a new trial in a legal battle over Universal Service Fund fees that saw the company cleared of class action price-fixing accusations but ordered to pay $16.9 million for allegedly breaching its contracts with a subclass of customers.

  • February 23, 2009

    Fraud Suit V. Indianapolis Life Down But Not Out

    A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Indianapolis Life Insurance Co. knowingly sold life insurance policies that turned out to be illegal tax shelters, although the judge did give the plaintiffs 20 days to refile their claims.

  • February 23, 2009

    Browne's IP Suit Against McCain, RNC Survives

    Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and the Republican National Committee have lost their bids to toss musician Jackson Browne’s suit accusing them of failing to get authorization to use his song “Running on Empty” in one of McCain’s presidential campaign commercials.

  • February 23, 2009

    Calif. Court Kills $31M Malpractice Award V. Seyfarth

    A California appeals court has overturned a jury verdict and trial court ruling awarding Tae Bo creator Billy Blanks more than $31 million in damages and fees from Seyfarth Shaw LLP and one of its attorneys on legal malpractice claims, remanding the case after finding that the trial court committed two prejudicial errors.

  • February 23, 2009

    Judge Pares Claims In Grape IP, Antitrust Suit

    In a case alleging the California Table Grape Commission flouted antitrust laws by accepting royalties from growers for invalid patents covering grape varieties, a judge has tossed antitrust and patent misuse claims. The CTGC still must grapple with unfair competition and unjust enrichment claims.

  • April 8, 2009

    Energy Cos. Step Up Climate Risk Disclosures

    Though companies have no specific disclosure requirements regarding the financial risks of climate change, they have been increasingly under pressure to conduct more extensive due diligence in transactions and to give more information to their shareholders.

  • February 20, 2009

    Court Asks Schwab Fund Plaintiff To Revise Complaint

    In a class action launched by an investment advisory firm against Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. over the investment strategy of one of its bond funds, a judge has granted Schwab’s motion to dismiss for lack of standing, but has granted Northstar Financial Advisors Inc. leave to amend its complaint.

  • February 20, 2009

    Cardinal Reaches Deal With FDA Over Drug Pumps

    Cardinal Health Inc. has reached a consent decree with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding inspections and recall procedures for its drug infusion pumps.

  • April 6, 2009

    Plaintiffs Eye GHGs As Next 'Big' Mass Tort

    In the absence of federal climate change legislation, conservation groups, states and private citizens have turned to the courts, seeking to force the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions through mass tort and other claims.

  • February 20, 2009

    3M, Others Oppose Microsoft In $511M Spat

    Thirteen companies, including Procter & Gamble Co. and 3M Co., have filed an amicus brief in support of Alcatel-Lucent in a long-running patent dispute that Microsoft Corp. appealed after a judge ordered it to pay $511.6 million.

  • February 20, 2009

    Ex-Stryker Sales Rep Pleads Guilty To Misbranding

    A former sales representative for Stryker Corp. has pled guilty to felony misbranding charges for promoting bone growth products for purposes not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

  • February 20, 2009

    Class Seeks Final OK For $1.7M Deal In GPU MDL

    A class of direct purchasers in multidistrict antitrust litigation against Nvidia Corp. and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. over graphics processing units has asked the federal court overseeing the case for final approval of a $1.7 million settlement deal.

  • February 19, 2009

    Judge OKs Class In FLSA Action Against Citigroup

    A federal judge has certified a nationwide collective action against Citigroup Inc. that accuses the company of misclassifying its business banking officers as exempt and failing to pay them for hours worked off the clock.

  • February 19, 2009

    Judge Tentatively Nixes Carl Zeiss Lens Patent Suit

    Finding that Carl Zeiss Vision Inc. could not establish standing in an infringement suit it filed against rival optical lens company Signet Armorlite Inc., a federal judge has tentatively granted Signet's motion to dismiss the complaint.

  • February 19, 2009

    Amphastar Antitrust Claims Nixed In Lovenox Suit

    In a setback for Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc., a federal judge has dismissed its cross-claims that two Sanofi-Aventis subsidiaries engaged in anti-competitive conduct and unfair competition by obtaining and enforcing through fraud patents related to Aventis’ anti-clotting drug Lovenox.

  • February 18, 2009

    Rehearing Denied In 5th Amendment Case Against US

    A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider its decision on the appropriate legal standard to be used in a case accusing the federal government of taking water from a California water district in violation of the Fifth Amendment.