CaliforniaRSS

  • April 20, 2009

    Gibson, Activision End 'Guitar Hero' Dispute

    Two months after a judge ruled that Activision Publishing Inc.'s “Guitar Hero” series of video games does not infringe a patent held by Gibson Guitar Corp. for a virtual reality music system, the companies have settled the remaining nonpatent claims in the suit.

  • June 1, 2009

    Climate Bill Backers Compromise On Preemption

    When the U.S. Senate began debating a climate bill around this time last year, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and others were adamant that states should have the right to impose their own, more stringent standards for greenhouse gas emissions. But now, with compromises needed to make cap-and-trade a reality, they seem poised to accept some form of federal preemption without much of a fight, experts say.

  • April 21, 2009

    Bankrupt Lender Fremont Settles With Mass., Calif.

    Bankrupt subprime lender Fremont General Corp. has struck deals with the Massachusetts attorney general over allegations of deceptive lending practices and the California insurance commissioner over claims of improper insurance transactions.

  • April 20, 2009

    High Court Snubs Gilead's Loss Causation Appeal

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear Gilead Sciences Inc.'s appeal of a finding that shareholders in a securities fraud class action against the drugmaker sufficiently alleged a causal relationship between the increase in sales from Gilead’s forbidden off-label marketing of its HIV drug Viread — artificially inflating the drug’s value for a time — and a later drop in the company's stock price.

  • April 17, 2009

    Conoco Workers Renew Class Cert. Bid In OT Suit

    The individual plaintiffs in a proposed class action against ConocoPhillips Co. for allegedly failing to provide meal periods to workers at several California refineries have filed a renewed motion for class certification after their initial motion was denied because of a conflict of interest with class counsel.

  • April 17, 2009

    'Cut-And-Paste' Suit Over Bumbo Seats Tossed

    A federal judge has dismissed a proposed class action against Bumbo Ltd. and Target Corp. claiming that Bumbo's baby seats are unsafe, saying it lacks factual allegations.

  • April 17, 2009

    Overtime Class Action V. Wachovia Nixed

    A presumptive class action alleging that Wachovia Corp. failed to pay employees overtime will not proceed after a California state appeals court upheld summary judgment against one representative plaintiff and rejected the other plaintiff's appeal of a lower court's denial of class certification.

  • April 20, 2009

    Buffets Holdings Gets Green Light For Ch. 11 Plan

    After a nearly three-month delay, a bankruptcy court has signed off on Buffets Holdings Inc.'s Chapter 11 reorganization plan following the restaurant chain's securing of exit financing.

  • April 17, 2009

    Court OKs Deal Valued At $61M Over Faulty GM Parts

    A federal judge has granted final approval to a settlement conservatively valued at $61 million that resolves litigation over allegedly defective transmission systems in certain Saturn VUE or ION models made by General Motors Corp. between 2002 and 2005.

  • April 17, 2009

    LifeLock Loses Bid To Sue Heller For Malpractice

    A judge has rejected identity theft protection company LifeLock Inc.'s bid to sue bankrupt Heller Ehrman LLP for malpractice in district court in a spat over a $4 million defense bill and advice on a Federal Trade Commission inquiry.

  • May 22, 2009

    Coverage May Be Tricky For Food Recalls: Lawyers

    Food companies have been hit hard with lawsuits and recalls from recent contamination scares, leading many to turn to insurance policies to recoup losses. But businesses are finding that their policies may exclude such claims, potentially sparking disputes, insurance lawyers say.

  • April 16, 2009

    Calif. Slams Barclays' Disclosure For LandSource

    The state of California has objected to the disclosure statement filed by Barclays Bank PLC for bankrupt real estate developer LandSource Communities Development LLC, saying that the statement omits LandSource's $18 million obligation to clean up a toxic site.

  • April 28, 2009

    Stress Tests Could Provide New Headaches For Banks

    The administration will announce the results of its contingency testing on the 19 U.S. financial institutions with assets of $100 billion or more on or around May 4, despite an initial reluctance to do so. In anticipation, a number of questions have arisen on the legal end, ranging from whether banks that fare poorly will face the wrath of shareholders in court to how to prevent potential runs on the banks.

  • April 16, 2009

    PEMG Deal With Ex-Boss Included Media Gag: Atty

    Attorneys for both sides in a dispute between Private Equity Management Group Inc. and its former president tried to predicate the payment of a $500,000 settlement to the former executive on his noncooperation with Wall Street Journal reporters, according to a letter from Fulbright & Jaworski LLP.

  • April 16, 2009

    Md. Requires Insurers To Report Slavery Dealings

    Insurers who want to do business in Maryland are now required to disclose information about their slavery-era policies, according to a new law that passed through the state Legislature without significant opposition.

  • April 16, 2009

    Hynix Moves To Toss Foreign Commerce DRAM Claims

    Hynix Semiconductor Inc. has asked a judge to dismiss Sun Microsystems Inc.'s state law claims of price manipulation in the market for dynamic random access memory arising from sales overseas, saying that the claims are preempted by the federal Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act.

  • April 16, 2009

    Pacific Energy Creditors Pick Pepper Hamilton

    Creditors of bankrupt oil and gas exploration firm Pacific Energy Resources Ltd. have asked the bankruptcy court overseeing the case to approve the hire of Pepper Hamilton LLP as their Delaware and conflicts counsel.

  • April 16, 2009

    IBM Hits Back At Macy's In Patent Liability Suit

    IBM Corp. has accused Macy's of disingenuous legal conduct in a third-party patent liability suit brought by the retailer, claiming Macy's waited until just a few days before the technology giant moved for summary judgment to reverse its stance that a service agreement's language was ambiguous.

  • April 16, 2009

    LA Ports’ Clean Trucks Program Allowed To Roll On

    Favoring the public benefits of reduced air pollution at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, a federal judge has rejected the Federal Maritime Commission’s attempt to block aspects of the ports’ clean truck programs it claimed were anti-competitive.

  • April 16, 2009

    Unisys Trades Crowell For Lindquist In DRAM Fight

    Unisys Corp. has swapped Crowell & Moring LLP — disqualified by a judge over a conflict of interest — with Lindquist & Vennum PLLP and Sellar Hazard Manning Ficenec & Lai in its antitrust dispute with Hynix Semiconductor Inc. and Infineon Technologies AG over the market for dynamic random access memory products.