The Federal Circuit's holding on Monday that a patent license between Texas A&M University and a failed startup remained active after the company became a patent assertion entity will require universities to determine early on how they want their patents used, attorneys say.
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TOP NEWS

Analysis

Universities May Want To Put NPE Clauses In IP Licenses

By Dani Kass

The Federal Circuit's holding on Monday that a patent license between Texas A&M University and a failed startup remained active after the company became a patent assertion entity will require universities to determine early on how they want their patents used, attorneys say.

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Auto Lender OKs $709.5M Multistate Deal Over Subprime Loans

By Brian Steele

The subprime auto lender Credit Acceptance Corp. has agreed to provide $709.5 million in cash and debt relief as part of a 40-state settlement to resolve allegations that it originated loans to borrowers who could not afford them, attorneys general announced Thursday.

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Amway To Pay $225M To End Deceptive Marketing Claims

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Trade Commission and the State of Washington have reached a $225 million settlement with health and beauty company Amway and two of its affiliates to resolve allegations that they engaged in unfair and deceptive multilevel marketing tactics in which independent business owners and their recruits purchased products for "reasons other than genuine demand for them in a near-futile effort to make money while faking their customer sales."

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9th Circ. Revives Laos' $5M Enforcement Bid In Casino Case

By Caroline Simson

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived the government of Laos' bid to enforce some $5 million in arbitral awards against an entrepreneur who was not party to an underlying arbitration stemming from an ill-fated casino venture, saying a lower court should have taken a closer look at the government's arguments.

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Ex-YPF Investors Take Argentina To ICSID Over 2012 Seizure

By Joyce Hanson

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes has picked up a bid for arbitration by investors in Argentine oil and gas exploration company YPF SA, making good on their statement to a New York federal judge that they will arbitrate their claims over Argentina's nationalization of YPF.

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LEGAL ETHICS & MALPRACTICE

CORRECTION: DC Judge Cuts Proud Boys Atty's Bill To Researcher

By Jared Foretek

A D.C. federal judge reduced the amount an attorney who represented Proud Boys members in their Jan. 6 criminal trial owes to a researcher who sued him over unpaid work, dropping a jury's award of $77,000 to just $30,000. Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the jury's finding.  

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ENERGY & ENVIRONMENTAL

Brief

GE Vernova, Vineyard Wind Drop Dispute Over Payment

By Julie Manganis

Vineyard Wind I LLC and a GE Vernova subsidiary have dropped their legal dispute over a $300,000 bill for work on turbines off the Massachusetts coast, according to Wednesday court filings.

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CONSUMER PROTECTION

Trader Joe's Faces Lawsuits Over Sugar Labeling

By Celeste Bott

Two proposed class actions filed in Illinois federal court Wednesday accuse Trader Joe's of misleading consumers by labeling its Sweet & Sour Gummy Worms and dark chocolate chips as containing zero sugar and no added sugar, respectively, when both products contain an ingredient classified as a sugar under federal labeling rules.

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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Joe Gibbs Racing Demands Sanctions For Deleted Texts

By Hayley Fowler

Joe Gibbs Racing LLC wants its former competition director sanctioned for allegedly failing to preserve key evidence after he deleted text messages with the owner of a rival NASCAR team where he is now employed as chief motorsports officer.

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Fla. Tech Co. Says Ex-Execs Stole Web Browser Code

By David Minsky

A technology company has brought a Florida federal lawsuit accusing its former executives of quitting and running off with its trade secrets, alleging they went on to form a business that builds a competing web browser with stolen computer code. 

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Justices Told Fed. Circ. Erred In Veterinary Software Feud

By Adam Lidgett

A healthcare consulting services company wants the U.S. Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit's refusal to revive its copyright and contract claims in a fight over rights to healthcare software for a U.S. Army veterinary records system.

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SPORTS & BETTING

NC Sports Agency Aims To Sink Rival's Poaching Suit

By Alex Lawson

A North Carolina sports agency has urged a Michigan federal judge to throw out a lawsuit from a rival company over the alleged poaching of a sought-after college athlete, saying the claims are too thin to proceed.

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NFL Agent Blocked From Defending Poaching Suit, 3rd Circ. Told

By P.J. D'Annunzio

Counsel for NFL agent Todd France told a Third Circuit panel Thursday that his client was deprived of the opportunity to fight allegations that he poached another agent's client, asking the court to vacate an $810,846 arbitration award against him.

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EMPLOYMENT

Sonic Wins Appeal Bid To Arbitrate Suit Over Worker's Death

By Gina Kim

The mother of a Sonic employee who was fatally shot in 2023 must arbitrate her wrongful death suit against the restaurant, Texas appellate justices said Thursday, finding that she didn't meet her burden showing Sonic substantially invoked the court process in a way that conflicted with its right to compel arbitration. 

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SECURITIES & WHITE COLLAR

Skycom Engineer Says Huawei Was His Real Boss In Iran

By Stewart Bishop

A Tehran-born engineer who has since become a U.S. citizen on Thursday testified that he worked for Huawei on projects for the Iranian government, despite technically being employed by what prosecutors say was a thinly veiled subsidiary that the Chinese telecommunications company used to evade U.S. sanctions.

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Texas Judge Won't Block Voting Rule For Rick Perry's AI Co.

By Katryna Perera

A Texas business court judge has denied billionaire businessman Toby Neugebauer's bid to block a corporate governance measure at the artificial intelligence infrastructure company co-founded by former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, finding, among other things, Neugebauer has not shown he would suffer an injury absent relief.

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COMPETITION

SpaceXAI, Apple Must Show Texas Judge Antitrust Deal Terms

By Dorothy Atkins

A Texas federal judge has ordered Elon Musk's companies and Apple Inc. to provide him with a copy of their recent settlement for in-camera review after OpenAI Inc. demanded to look over the agreement and argued its terms may undermine the antitrust allegations SpaceXAI LLC is still pursuing against OpenAI.

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Rail Giants Point To Shipper Support For $85B Merger

By David Aaro

Droves of companies that rely on freight in their daily business have recently thrown their support behind Union Pacific Corp.'s planned $85 billion merger with Atlanta-based Norfolk Southern Corp. in filings with a federal board being asked to approve the tie-up.

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2nd Circ. Pauses Nielsen Order In Cumulus Tying Case

By Nadia Dreid

The Second Circuit has put on hold a preliminary injunction ordering the Nielsen Co. to offer its national ratings data separate from its local offerings after the company argued that the lower court changed the terms of the injunction after the Second Circuit approved it the first time.

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DEALS LITIGATION

Appeals Court Skeptical Biz Court Is Wrong Place For Perot Suit

By Spencer Brewer

Texas appellate judges seemed skeptical Thursday of a Dallas businessman's claim that the Texas Business Court doesn't have jurisdiction over his multimillion-dollar suit against Ross Perot Jr., saying the money at stake seems to make the case a fit for the Business Court.

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Cannabis Co. Owners Ask To Toss $2M Investment Suit

By Jonathan Capriel

The entrepreneurs behind a Chicago dispensary urged a federal judge to end a lawsuit accusing them of defrauding investors out of nearly $2 million, arguing the claims have no business being heard in Ohio, belong in arbitration and are legally insufficient.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

How FTC's $20B Amazon Suit May Shake Up Ad Enforcement

Gonzalo Mon at Kelley Drye discusses the significance of the Federal Trade Commission's recent suit against Amazon for allegedly overcharging advertising customers more than $20 billion, the company's potential defenses, and the context of rapidly evolving digital advertising technology.

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How Boards, Lenders Can View ABC Bankruptcy Alternative

The broader adoption of the Uniform Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors Act, including Delaware's recent statute, gives boards and lenders a clearer framework for a familiar middle-market problem: companies too small to justify Chapter 11 economics but too complex for an unmanaged shutdown, says Jon Labovitz at Sherwood.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Senior Lawyers Survey: Tell Us About Your Career

How are senior lawyers adapting to evolving career paths and emerging technologies? Share your perspective in this five-minute survey.

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Analysis

Attys 'Itching' To Join Congressional Probes Of Trump Admin

By Phillip Bantz

Efforts to recruit high-powered lawyers to Capitol Hill to potentially lead congressional committee probes into the various dealings of President Donald Trump's administration are gaining momentum as Democrats push to retake control of Congress in the quickly approaching midterm elections.

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Ex-DOJ Chief Lambastes 'Abuses Of Power' In Goldstein Case

By Jeff Overley

The U.S. Department of Justice constantly made false statements in its criminal case against famed appellate advocate Tom Goldstein, and his convictions must be erased because "prosecutorial misconduct pervaded every stage of the proceedings," a former DOJ prosecutor told the Fourth Circuit.

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Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Latham, Sullivan

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, a group backed by Michael Dell's family office and Sequence Holdings acquires a majority interest in The Baldwin Group, May Mobility merges with a blank check company, and Infineon Technologies sells its memory chip business to Winbond Electronics.

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Ex-Wis. Judge Keeps License Amid ICE Conviction Appeal

By Ryan Boysen

The ex-Wisconsin judge convicted of obstructing an ICE arrest will remain an attorney in good standing while she appeals, after the Supreme Court of Wisconsin declined to suspend her law license.

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Richards Layton Litigator Selected For Chancery Seat In Del.

By Rose Krebs

A Richards Layton & Finger PA attorney has been nominated by Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer to serve on the bench of the nationally important Chancery Court, a venue that adjudicates some of the biggest corporate law cases.

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Judge Questions Whether 'Lawfare' Fund Fight Is Really Moot

By Jared Foretek

A Virginia federal judge seemed unlikely to toss a challenge to the Trump administration's nixed "Anti-Weaponization Fund" and tax audit immunity for the Trump family Friday, saying she worries the fund could be revived in a different form down the road.

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Chief US District Judge In SC To Take Senior Status Oct. 1

By Courtney Bublé

Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy Cain of the District of South Carolina has informed the president that he will be taking semiretired status on Oct. 1, according to an update posted Friday by the federal judiciary.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Starbucks settled a high-profile discrimination suit with Florida over its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, agreeing not to use race- or sex-based goals in hiring and promoting. And the SEC floated changing how publicly traded companies seek shareholder input, including promising to end one pathway for shareholders to place their proposals on corporate ballots. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Reed Smith Defends Docs Production In Ex-Atty's Bias Suit

By Jake Maher

Reed Smith LLP urged a New Jersey court on Thursday to reject an "impulsive" motion from a former attorney suing it for gender discrimination seeking to strike its answer and affirmative defenses.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Schemery Zicolello leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Third Circuit panel ruled that police cannot conduct warrantless strip searches outside of jails or prisons absent consent or an emergency.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Akin Gump

Axinn

Baker Botts

Bartlit Beck

Bowman & Brooke

Brown Pruitt

Burns Charest

Buzgon Davis

Cantey Hanger

Carey Rodriguez

Carmagnola & Ritardi

Clement & Murphy

Cobos Law Firm

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

Cravath Swaine

DLA Piper

Daspit Law Firm

Davis Polk

Dickinson Wright

Donohue Brown

Dowd Bennett

Duncan Firm

Dunn Isaacson Rhee

Eckert Seamans

Fabyanske Westra

Fenwick & West

Fish & Richardson

Freshfields

Gibson Dunn

Glast Phillips

Greenberg Traurig

Haynes Boone

Hoben Law

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Hull McGuire

Jenner & Block

Kasowitz LLP

Kegler Brown

Kelley Drye

Kellogg Hansen

Kelly Hart

Kilpatrick Townsend

King & Spalding

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Laukaitis Law

Lewis Brisbois

Loretta A. Preska

Lowenstein Sandler

Lynn Pinker

Mac Murray & Shuster

Miller & Chevalier

Morgan Lewis

Morris Nichols

Morrison & Foerster

Neel Hooper

Parker Poe

Polk Kabat

Quinn Emanuel

Reed Smith

Richards Layton

Robinson Bradshaw

Schemery Zicolello

Sidley Austin

Sills Cummis

Skadden Arps

Steptoe LLP

Sterne Kessler

Stinson LLP

Stoel Rives

Sullivan & Cromwell

Tillotson Patton

Tollefson Bradley

Troutman

Venable LLP

Vinson & Elkins

Wachtell Lipton

Weil Gotshal

WilmerHale

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

AMG Cos.

Aires

Amazon.com Inc.

Amway Corp.

Anthropic PBC

Apple Inc.

Association of Corporate Counsel

Bridge Capital Holdings

Broadcom Inc.

Burford Capital LLC

Candela Corp.

Chobani LLC

Corporate Legal Operations Consortium

Credit Acceptance Corp.

Cumulus Media Inc.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Democracy Forward Foundation

EisnerAmper LLP

Eton Park Capital Management LP

Futurewei Technologies Inc.

GE Vernova Inc.

Google LLC

HSBC Holdings PLC

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Infineon Technologies AG

International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes

Investments Ltd.

KnowBe4 Inc.

Lambda Legal Defense & Educational Fund

Lux Research Inc.

Major League Baseball Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

NASCAR Digital Media LLC

National Football League Players Association

National Treasury Employees Union

New York University

Nielsen Holdings PLC

Nike Inc.

Norfolk Southern Corp.

Northern Mariana Islands Retirement Fund

Ohio State University

OpenAI OpCo LLC

Otsuka America Inc.

Philadelphia Consolidated Holding Corp.

Repsol SA

Singapore International Arbitration Centre

Starbucks Corp.

State Bar of California

Target Corp.

Tesla Inc.

The Baldwin Group

The Detroit Lions Inc.

TotalEnergies SE

Toyota Motor Corp.

Trader Joe's Co.

TripAdvisor Inc.

Union Pacific Corp.

Vineyard Wind LLC

Walmart Inc.

X Corp.

YPF SA

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Blue Lake Rancheria

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Connecticut Attorney General's Office

Defense Health Agency

Delaware Court of Chancery

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Executive Office of the President

Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Internal Revenue Service

New Jersey Court

New York Attorney General's Office

Surface Transportation Board

Texas Supreme Court

Texas Tenth Court of Appeals

U.S. Army

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of South Carolina

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland

U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia

U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Uniform Law Commission

United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio

Washington Attorney General's Office

Wisconsin Supreme Court