Overall
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Intellectual Property
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Southeast
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May 17, 2012
REIT Sues Real Estate Firm Over $2M Hotel Deposit
A Connecticut-based real estate investment trust sued a Virginia-based real estate advisory firm last week, demanding that the firm return nearly $2 million it received as an escrow deposit for an uncompleted purchase of a loan for a San Francisco hotel.
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May 14, 2012
RSUI Looks To Sink BankUnited Execs' D&O Policy Claims
RSUI Indemnity Co. told a Florida bankruptcy judge Thursday it is not liable for the defense costs of directors and officers of now-reorganized BankUnited Financial Corp. related to an investor class action and several investigations, saying their alleged misdeeds predated the $10 million policy’s coverage period.
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May 14, 2012
ObjectVideo Sues Pelco Over Video Analysis Patents
Video analytics software developer ObjectVideo Inc. on Friday filed suit in Virginia accusing Pelco Inc. of infringing on three patents covering methods for capturing and processing video data.
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May 14, 2012
Blue Cross Hit With Market Allocation Suit In Tenn.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee was hit Thursday with an antitrust class action by a customer claiming the health insurance giant conspired with other BCBS plans nationwide to divide geographic markets, creating a monopoly that illegally inflated premiums for thousands of policyholders.
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May 11, 2012
Ikea Faces $1M Faulty Candle Suit In Fed. Court
A $1 million product liability lawsuit filed by an Atlanta restaurant against Ikea U.S. East LLC and its affiliates was moved to federal court Wednesday, alleging a candle purchased from the home goods giant reignited while the eatery was closed, causing a fire.
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May 11, 2012
Medtronic Accused Of Off-Label Marketing Kickbacks Scheme
A whistleblower lawsuit unsealed in Mississippi federal court Friday alleges Medtronic Inc. and affiliated doctors violated the False Claims Act through a kickback scheme promoting off-label use of Medtronic's Infuse bone graft product and Pyramid spine plate system.
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May 11, 2012
Convicted $3.7M NASA Fraudsters Face False Claims Suit
A nuclear science professor and his wife, the president of New Era Technology Inc., were hit in Florida on Friday with a False Claims Act suit accusing them of using bogus small-business contracts to bilk NASA out of $3.7 million, conduct for which they've already been convicted.
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May 10, 2012
Medical Device Co. Accused of Artificially Inflating Stock
A shareholder on Thursday hit medical device company MAKO Surgical Corp. and executives with a proposed class action in Florida federal court, alleging the company lied about its finances to inflate the firm’s stock price, which crashed Monday when the truth was revealed.
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May 9, 2012
Enviros Go After Massey Units Over W.Va. Selenium Pollution
Environmental groups including the Sierra Club sued two Massey Energy Co. units Wednesday, claiming the companies' West Virginia mines were discharging the toxic mineral selenium into nearby waters in violation of the Clean Water Act.
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May 8, 2012
Kids Email Provider Accused Of Profiting Off Bogus Spam Suits
Internet marketing company Clickbooth.com LLC filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Florida federal court accusing kids email service provider ZooBuh Inc. of using the CAN-SPAM Act to file frivolous lawsuits and build a "litigation factory" for personal financial benefits.
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May 7, 2012
Insurer Says It Shouldn't Pay In Sandra Bullock Ad Suit
Markel International Insurance Co. Ltd. asked a Florida federal court Monday to release it from any liability stemming from a lawsuit filed in California by actress Sandra Bullock, who claims jewelers illicitly used her image in advertising a line of watches.
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May 7, 2012
PSS World Medical Sues Rival For Stealing Secrets
Medical supplier PSS World Medical Inc.'s rival Owens & Minor Inc. used stolen trade secrets and the help of two former PSS employees to break a nondisclosure pact and establish a competing supply sourcing business, a lawsuit moved to Florida federal court Thursday alleges.
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May 7, 2012
Bogart's Estate, Furniture Co. Swap Suits Over Sofa Line
A furniture maker and the estate of movie star Humphrey Bogart traded trademark claims and a declaratory judgment bid in Mississippi and California federal courts on Friday over a furniture line that incorporates the "Casablanca" star's name.
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May 4, 2012
Wells Fargo Broke Deal To Sell Checking Accounts, Suit Says
Wells Fargo Bank NA breached a deal to sell overdrafted bank accounts to collection agency United Credit Recovery LLC by shopping for other offers after an agreement was signed, according to a lawsuit removed to Florida federal court Thursday.
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May 2, 2012
Solar Co. Says Partner Flaked On $129M Puerto Rico Project
California renewable energy developer Commercial Solar Power Inc. on Wednesday sued a Florida company over control of a $129 million solar project in Puerto Rico, alleging ESA Renewables LLC has backed out of a purchase agreement.
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May 2, 2012
Wage Suit Claims Taco Bell Stiffs Workers
A former shift manager hit Taco Bell of America LLC with a proposed class and collective action Tuesday in Florida federal court, accusing the fast food chain of refusing to pay regular and overtime wages by forcing employees to work off the clock.
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May 1, 2012
Mutual Benefits Atty Linked To $1B Scheme Faces SEC Suit
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday sued an imprisoned Mutual Benefits Corp. attorney for his involvement in an offering fraud that bilked more than $1 billion from investors worldwide who bought life insurance policies from the terminally ill and seniors.
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May 1, 2012
US Seeks $30M For Wood Treatment Superfund Site
The federal government on Monday sued the former owner of a Mississippi wood preservation company and the current owner of land on which the company was located for $30 million, alleging they are responsible for cleanup costs of the now Superfund site.
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April 30, 2012
Royal Sun Seeks $8.8M From US Over Cumberland River Flood
U.K.- based general insurance company Royal and Sun Alliance PLC on Monday hit the U.S. government with a suit claiming its negligence caused $8.8 million in damages when a heavy rain hit the Cumberland River Basin in May 2010.
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April 30, 2012
Hotelier Sues US Over $326M Flood, Damage To Grand Ole Opry
Gaylord Entertainment Co. and A.O. Smith Corp. sued the U.S. government Monday over a 2010 flood in Tennessee, claiming its negligence caused more than $326 million in economic and property damage, affecting buildings like country music landmark the Grand Ole Opry House.
Expert Analysis
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The Costs Of A Potential Blue Cross Conspiracy
Two recent lawsuits allege that Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association entities in North Carolina and Alabama have violated federal and state antitrust laws by engaging in concerted action with other BCBS plans nationwide. If the plaintiffs’ allegations of market allocation are true, the cases may have significant implications for providers, say attorneys with King & Spalding LLP.
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Predictive Coding — Putting The Cart Before The Horse
Many providers and pundits may focus on the Kleen Products LLC v. Packaging Corporation of America case currently pending in Illinois as proof of either judicial acceptance or rejection of predictive coding. But the need for parties to act reasonably in litigation and e-discovery trumps any debate over the use of new technologies, says Christina Zachariason of Navigant Consulting Inc.
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The Uncertain Fate Of Learned Intermediary Doctrine
No consensus exists between and among the states as to the source, the scope or, in a few jurisdictions, even the availability of the learned intermediary doctrine as a defense. A review of case law in five states shows just how disparately the learned intermediary doctrine is treated, says Carol Smith of Frost Brown Todd LLC.
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9th Circ. Firsts: Equitable Mootness And Arbitration
2012 is shaping up as a year of bankruptcy first impressions for the Ninth Circuit. The court has sailed into uncharted bankruptcy waters twice already this year in the same Chapter 11 case — In re Thorpe Insulation Co., say attorneys with Jones Day.
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A Lesson For Insurance Cos.: Be (Due) Diligent
In PHL Variable Life Insurance Co. v. Faye Keith Jolly Irrevocable Life Insurance Trust, the Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the clear proposition that a life insurance company cannot blithely ignore "red flags" of insurance application fraud or misrepresentations during the underwriting/application process and then later attempt to keep the premiums paid on a rescinded policy, say Brian Casey and Thomas Sherman of Locke Lord LLP.
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Statutory Noncompliance Doesn't Always Violate The FCA
The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Drakeford v. Tuomey Healthcare System Inc. highlights the fact that proving a False Claims Act violation requires not only the submission of a claim that is false, but also that the false claim was submitted “knowingly," says Daniel Donohue of Husch Blackwell LLP.
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Filling In The Gaps For Excess Insurance Coverage
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia has issued a significant ruling in Maximus Inc. v. Twin City Fire Ins. Co. The decision underscores the policyholder’s right to settle claims with one party without jeopardizing its contractual rights as to others, say Michael Levine and Christine Terrell of Hunton & Williams LLP.
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Harnessing Wind And Sun To Reduce Taxes
As with other Louisiana industries targeted by tax credits, the solar and wind energy sectors are starting to see increased economic development activity. Unlike many of the state’s other tax incentives, however, a positive byproduct of this credit is the preservation of the state’s natural resources, says Robert Wollfarth of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC.
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Takeaways From Rosetta Stone V. Google
The Fourth Circuit's recent Rosetta Stone Ltd. v. Google decision revives Rosetta Stone’s claim of trademark infringement and dilution against Google based on the use of trademarked keywords that generate online advertisements. Brand owners and Internet advertisers — take note, says William Schultz of Merchant & Gould.
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A Failure Of Logic In Va. Supreme Court GHG Case
The Virginia Supreme Court has issued its opinion on rehearing in the greenhouse-gas case of AES Corp. v. Steadfast Ins. Co., noting that “occurrence" and "accident" are terms that "... refer to an incident that was unexpected from the viewpoint of the insured” — but the court went awry by adopting the converse of this premise as being the logical equivalent, says Marc Mayerson of Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.