Food & Beverage

  • September 10, 2024

    Amazon Must Trim 'Halo' TM For EU Market

    Amazon Technologies could not convince the EU's intellectual property office to let it register trademarks for "halo" unscathed, with the office backing a Californian health technology company's bid to trim key protections for medical monitoring devices and health assessment services.

  • September 10, 2024

    Britain's Renold Buys Canadian Conveyor Biz For $31.4M

    British power transmission products maker Renold PLC said Tuesday that it has acquired the North American conveyor chain maker MAC Chain Co. Ltd. for $31.4 million, giving it a foothold in the Western U.S. and Canadian forestry markets.

  • September 10, 2024

    Cult Gaia Importer Beats Champagne Bid To Bar Dress Sales

    A Dutch importer of Cult Gaia dresses has seen off a bid from a body representing the Champagne region's interests to bar it from selling "champagne" colored dresses after a court ruled it was clear it had no connection to the sparkling wine.

  • September 10, 2024

    Cypriot Cheesemakers Lose Challenge To 'Grilloumi' TM

    A group of Cypriot halloumi producers has lost its attempt to overturn a decision that allowed a Swedish cheesemaker to register its "Grilloumi" and "Grilloumaki" trademarks in the U.K., as a London court ruled the marks are sufficiently different.

  • September 10, 2024

    UK Watchdog Probes Carlsberg's £3.3B Britvic Takeover

    The Competition and Markets Authority said on Tuesday that it is investigating whether the planned £3.3 billion ($4.3 billion) takeover by Danish brewer Carlsberg AS of Britvic PLC, a British soft drinks producer, could damage competition in U.K. markets.

  • September 09, 2024

    Pa. Supreme Court Snapshot: Benefits, Cannabis, Taxes

    The Pennsylvania Supreme Court's September schedule will have the justices pondering when to cancel tax exemptions for hospitals, if stormwater fees are taxes in disguise, and the potential resurrection of requiring medical marijuana products to be tested and approved by two separate laboratories.

  • September 09, 2024

    Lindt Can't Escape Suit Over Heavy Metals In Dark Chocolate

    Candymaker Lindt & Sprüngli can't escape claims that its dark chocolate contained dangerous levels of lead and cadmium, a Brooklyn federal judge has ruled, saying the consumers' claims that they paid a premium for allegedly defective products counts as an injury.

  • September 09, 2024

    6th Circ. Affirms Ax Of '100% Raw' Honey-Labeling Fight

    The Sixth Circuit has affirmed a decision tossing consumers' proposed class action over Strange Honey Farm LLC's "100% raw Tennessee honey" labels, finding that while the appellate court has jurisdiction to hear the consumers' appeal, the lower court rightly dismissed the "conclusory" allegations without leave to amend.

  • September 09, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs PTAB Ruling In Food Wrapping Feud

    The Federal Circuit has refused to revive claims in a trio of Converter Manufacturing LLC food wrapping patents, handing a win to patent challenger Tekni-Plex Inc. in the legal dispute.

  • September 09, 2024

    7-Eleven Says No To Talks With Couche-Tard After $40B Denial

    After rejecting a nearly $40 billion buyout offer from Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. last week, the parent company of 7-Eleven told the Canadian retailer Monday that it hasn't yet brought forth an offer that warrants "substantial discussions." 

  • September 09, 2024

    Ex-NYC School Official Gets 2 Years For Bribery Scheme

    A former official in New York City's education system was sentenced in federal court Monday to two years in prison, while three others accused of conspiring with him also got prison time, after being convicted of taking bribes to help the co-defendants sell substandard foods to city schools.

  • September 09, 2024

    Owner Of Mass., NH Eateries Cops To $2M Tax Fraud

    The owner of three restaurants in Massachusetts and New Hampshire has pled guilty to failing to pay approximately $2 million in employment and state and local meals taxes over a six-year period, the U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts announced Monday.

  • September 09, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Delaware's Court of Chancery made some expensive decisions last week, ranging from a $130 million stockholder award and a freeze on $450 million in equity financing to a whopping $1 billion bill for fraud and breach of contract damages. New cases aimed at Virgin Galactic, settlements pulled in Hemisphere Media Group Inc. and court hearings involving Apollo Global Management heated up. In case you missed it, here's the roundup of news from Delaware's Court of Chancery.

  • September 09, 2024

    Hostmore Nixes £177M TGI Fridays Takeover

    British restaurant group Hostmore on Monday nixed its £177 million ($231.4 million per Monday's currency conversion) deal to buy the American-themed casual dining business TGI Fridays after the company lost control of many of its assets and revenue streams, which "potentially impairs the future revenue of the business."

  • September 06, 2024

    Employment Authority: A Look At Min. Wage Ballot Measures

    Law360 Employment Authority covers the biggest employment cases and trends. Catch up this week with coverage on how courts could later consider laws passed through ballot measures about boosting the minimum wage and collective bargaining and four argument sessions that bias attorneys should watch in September, including the Eighth Circuit's review of a challenge to the abortion-related workplace accommodations within the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Pregnant Workers Fairness Act final rule.

  • September 06, 2024

    Health-Ade Settles Suit Over 'Forever Chemicals' In Kombucha

    A consumer who filed a proposed class action against popular kombucha-maker Health-Ade LLC claiming the beverages contained "forever chemicals" has apparently settled her claims against the company, according to an order issued by a New York federal judge.

  • September 06, 2024

    Starbucks Finds Interest For Appeal In Shareholder Suit

    A Washington Court of Appeals commissioner suggested to two Starbucks shareholders on Friday that their lawsuit must "do more than what it does" as of now if they want to accuse corporate leadership of responding illegally to barista unionization, hinting the court will likely take up the coffee giant's appeal.

  • September 06, 2024

    Abbott Hit With False Ad Suit Over Toddler Nutrition Drink

    A proposed class of consumers is suing Abbott Laboratories in California federal court, alleging that it misleads buyers by claiming its toddler drinks provide a number of health benefits when in fact they are harmful and contain added sugars.

  • September 06, 2024

    Calif. Gov. Targets Hemp Intoxicants With Emergency Ban

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday announced emergency regulations banning products derived from industrial hemp that contain any intoxicating cannabinoids, and setting an age minimum of 21 years to purchase hemp products.

  • September 06, 2024

    Fast Food Co., EEOC End Suit Over Late Demographic Data

    A California-based fast food franchisee has agreed to resolve a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit alleging it spurned its legal duty to share demographic information about its employees, the latest company to settle the agency's claims over tardy filings.

  • September 06, 2024

    7-Eleven Parent Rejects Nearly $40B Buyout Offer

    The Tokyo-based parent company of convenience store chain 7-Eleven has turned down a nearly $40 billion nonbinding buyout offer from Couche-Tard, nudging the Canadian convenience store owner in a Friday letter to offer something better, and stating that the bid undervalues the business and fails to acknowledge regulatory concerns. 

  • September 05, 2024

    Labor, Industry Agree: Mich. Wage Ruling Should Stand

    Hospitality groups and workers' rights campaigners have both slammed Michigan regulators' request that the state supreme court clarify its recent minimum wage ruling, the groups coming to opposite conclusions about the state's intent but agreeing that the justices should deny the request and let the ruling speak for itself. 

  • September 05, 2024

    Unconstitutionality Of Transparency Act Clear, 11th Circ. Told

    A small business group and one of its members have told the Eleventh Circuit that an Alabama federal judge correctly ruled that the Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional, so there was no need for them to demonstrate that the law fails to pass constitutional muster.

  • September 05, 2024

    Split 3rd Circ. Won't Rule Out Pa. As Wiretapping Suit Forum

    The Third Circuit ruled in a precedential opinion Thursday that a lower court must reconsider if Pennsylvania consumers can sue for privacy violations caused by session replay software, reviving a portion of consolidated wiretapping class claims over activity tracking on websites for companies including Papa John's and Mattress Firm.

  • September 05, 2024

    Red Lobster Gets Confirmation For Ch. 11 Exit Plan

    A Florida bankruptcy judge signed off Thursday on a plan for seafood restaurant chain Red Lobster to exit bankruptcy just under four months after filing for Chapter 11 protection.

Expert Analysis

  • Classwide Calculations May Get Price Premium Damages Wrong

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    In many consumer class actions, plaintiffs assert that they overpaid for a product because of a misrepresented or defective product feature, and that a single price premium estimate can be applied classwide — but failure to account for differences in price premiums across a putative class may lead to improper damage awards, say economists at Ankura Consulting.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • Insurance Lessons From 11th Circ. Ruling On Policy Grammar

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in ECB v. Chubb Insurance, holding that missing punctuation didn't change the clear meaning of a professional services policy, offers policyholder takeaways about the uncertainty that can arise when courts interpret insurance policy language based on obscure grammatical canons, say Hugh Lumpkin and Garrett Nemeroff at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Mercon Coffee Ch. 11 Ruling Shows Insider Releases' Limits

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    A New York bankruptcy court’s recent ruling in Mercon Coffee’s Chapter 11 case highlights the stringent requirements for retention-related transfers to insiders, even in cases where no creditor has objected, say Robert Klyman and Scott Shelley at DLA Piper.

  • Illinois BIPA Reform Offers Welcome Relief To Businesses

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    Illinois' recent amendment to its Biometric Information Privacy Act limits the number of violations and damages a plaintiff can claim — a crucial step in shielding businesses from unintended legal consequences, including litigation risk and compliance costs, say attorneys at Taft.

  • Gilead Drug Ruling Creates Corporate Governance Dilemma

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    If upheld, a California state appellate court's decision — finding that Gilead is liable for delaying commercialization of a safer HIV drug to maximize profits on another drug — threatens to undermine long-standing rules of corporate law and exposes companies to liability for decisions based on sound business judgment, says Shireen Barday at Pallas.

  • Rebuttal

    Cancer Research Org. Is Right To Avoid Corporate Influence

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    While a previous Law360 guest article criticizes the International Agency for Research on Cancer's processes, its reliance on peer-reviewed literature is proper and its refusal to allow corporate influence is sound science, say Lance Oliver and Ridge Mazingo at Motley Rice.

  • How Courts' Differing Views On Standing Affect PFAS Claims

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    Two recent opinions from New York federal courts — in Lurenz v. Coca-Cola, and Winans v. Ornua Foods North America — illustrate how pivotal the differing views on standing held by different courts will be for product liability litigation involving per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, particularly consumer claims, say attorneys at Hollingsworth.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

  • Defamation Suit Tests Lanham Act's Reach With Influencers

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    Recently filed in the Northern District of Texas, Prime Hydration v. Garcia, alleging defamation and Lanham Act violations based on the defendant's social media statements about the beverage brand, allows Texas courts and the Fifth Circuit to take the lead in interpreting the act as it applies to influencers, says attorney Susan Jorgensen.

  • Addressing The Growing Hazards Of Mass Arbitration

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    Though retail companies typically include arbitration provisions in their terms of service, the recent trend of costly mass arbitrations filed by plaintiffs may cause businesses to rethink this conventional wisdom, say attorneys at BCLP.

  • Series

    Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.

  • Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act

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    As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.

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