Sony Sues Tencent To Block China Co.'s Video Game 'Rip-Off'

By Bonnie Eslinger

Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC has sued Tencent Holdings Ltd. and subsidiaries of the Chinese technology giant in California federal court to prevent the release of Tencent's video game Light of Motiram, claiming it's a "clone" of Sony's popular Horizon video game series.

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Cadence To Pay $140M For Illegal Chip Design Exports To China

By Bonnie Eslinger

Semiconductor technology company Cadence Design Systems agreed to pay over $140 million and plead guilty to criminal conspiracy to commit export control violations to resolve charges that it exported semiconductor design tools to a restricted Chinese military university, U.S. Department of Justice officials announced Monday.

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9th Circ. Tosses 'Bike+' Infringement Claims Against Peloton

By Elliot Weld

The Ninth Circuit has declined to revive trademark infringement claims against Peloton brought by a professional cyclist's fitness app company, finding no reasonable factfinder could find a likelihood of consumer confusion between the app and one of Peloton's exercise bikes.

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Perplexity's TM Infringement Confuses Its Own AI, Comet Says

By Lauren Berg

Software company Comet ML asked a California federal judge to tighten up a preliminary injunction in its trademark infringement dispute with Perplexity AI to protect against consumer confusion, saying the artificial intelligence company's own chatbot confuses the two companies' services.

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Firms Rip Ford's 'Retaliatory' RICO Suit Over Lemon Law Bills

By Dorothy Atkins

Knight Law Group LLP and other firms urged a California federal judge Friday to toss The Ford Motor Co.'s allegations they conspired to dupe clients and defraud automakers by inflating billing, arguing that the racketeering claims are "retaliatory," insufficient and time-barred, and the firms are shielded under the Noerr-Pennington doctrine.

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State Justices' Financial Disclosures 'Didn't Get Worse' In '24

By Jack Karp

Several states are making information about their Supreme Court justices' finances and potential financial conflicts somewhat more accessible, according to a new report.

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Coca-Cola Looks To Drain '100% Natural Flavors' False Ad Suit

By Gina Kim

Coca-Cola urged a California federal judge to drain a proposed class action alleging it deceptively labels its Sprite sodas as made with "100% natural flavors" despite containing citric acid, arguing Friday the plaintiff doesn't plausibly allege the citric acid is artificial, and that her claims are preempted by federal law.

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Tesla Defends Autopilot Technology At Trial Over Fatal Crash

By Carolina Bolado

Tesla vehicles with autopilot engaged reported fewer crashes than those without, a Tesla corporate representative told jurors Monday in a trial over a fatal Florida Keys crash.

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Authors Want Court To Reject Anthropic's Bid To Delay Trial

By Hailey Konnath

A group of authors urged a California federal court Monday to reject Anthropic PBC's request to pause their copyright case while Anthropic appeals the court's recent class certification order, arguing that the company has "no basis for a stay" and is trying to deprive them of their day in court.

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CREXi Wants CoStar's Copyright Claims To Wait

By Matthew Perlman

Commercial Real Estate Exchange Inc. is asking to put CoStar's copyright infringement claims against it on hold so they can be tried alongside its recently revived antitrust claims against the property listing rival.

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Calif. Court Overturns HIV Test Order In Sex Assault Case

By Brandon Lowrey

A California appellate court on Monday vacated a trial court judge's order requiring an HIV test for a man convicted of sexually assaulting two teenagers, saying there was insufficient evidence to establish probable cause that the defendant transferred bodily fluids to his victims.

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Judge Again Cites Bias In NIH Fund Freeze As Gov't Appeals

By Julie Manganis

A Massachusetts federal judge on Monday reiterated his conclusion that the Trump administration's freeze of $783 million worth of National Institutes of Health grants was based on "palpable" gender and racial discrimination, as he acknowledged a pending request by the government to the U.S. Supreme Court to stay his order that the money be released.

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9th Circ. Wants More Info On Trump Admin's Arrest Policy

By Dorothy Atkins

A Ninth Circuit panel doubted Monday the government's request to lift a ruling blocking the Trump administration from relying on people's perceived ethnicity or job to stop individuals amid immigration raids, with one judge ordering the government to submit more details on whether it has a 3,000 arrests per day quota.

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Birthright Call Cited In Push To Keep TPS For Venezuelans

By Britain Eakin

The TPS Alliance is arguing to a Ninth Circuit panel that another Ninth Circuit panel's affirmation of a nationwide injunction on President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship weighs in favor of preserving a California federal judge's decision blocking the administration's attempt to end temporary protected status for Venezuelan immigrants.

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DLA Piper Adds Real Estate Deals Pro From Katten In LA

By Emily Johnson

DLA Piper has added a former Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP partner to its Los Angeles office, strengthening its real estate practice with an attorney who guided a client in a $250 million joint venture with a South Korean investment management business, the firm said Monday.

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Cozen O'Connor Lands 4 IP Attys From Eversheds, Buchalter

By Rose Krebs

Cozen O'Connor announced Monday that it has added two intellectual property partners from Eversheds Sutherland and another prominent IP attorney from Buchalter PC in the San Diego area, with another Eversheds Sutherland partner set to join the team later this week.

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How The Healthline Privacy Settlement Redefines Ad Tech Use

The Healthline settlement is the first time California has drawn a clear line in the sand around how website tracking must function in practice, so if your site uses tracking technologies, especially around sensitive content like health or finance, regulators are inspecting your website's back end, not just its banner, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.

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New DOJ Penalty Policy Could Spell Trouble For Cos.

In light of the U.S. Department of Justice’s recently published guidance making victim relief a core condition of coordinated resolution crediting, companies facing parallel investigations must carefully calibrate their negotiation strategies to minimize the risk of duplicative penalties, say attorneys at Debevoise.

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4 In-Flux Employment Law Issues Banks Should Note

Attorneys at Ogletree provide a midyear update on employment law changes that could significantly affect banks and other financial service institutions — including federal diversity equity and inclusion updates, and new and developing state and local artificial intelligence laws.

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Reverse Bias Rulings Offer Warning About DEI Quotas

Several recent holdings confirm that targeted or quota-based diversity programs can substantiate reverse discrimination claims, especially when coupled with an adverse action, so employers should exercise caution before implementing such policies in order to mitigate litigation risk, says Noah Bunzl at Tarter Krinsky.

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AI Infrastructure Growth Brings Unique IP Considerations

The explosive rise of artificial intelligence has triggered an equally dramatic transformation in the supporting infrastructure required to meet growing AI demand, and the technology used in these data centers has its own intellectual property considerations to navigate, says Vincent Allen at Carstens Allen.

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Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From ATF Director To BigLaw

As a two-time boomerang partner, returning to BigLaw after stints as a U.S. attorney and the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, people ask me how I know when to move on, but there’s no single answer — just clearly set your priorities, says Steven Dettelbach at BakerHostetler.

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Jackson Walker Settles Judge Romance Claims For $485K

By Emma Cueto

Jackson Walker LLP has reached a $485,000 settlement with two former bankruptcy clients to resolve a dispute related to the concealed romance of a former partner and former Texas bankruptcy judge David R. Jones, according to a motion filed Friday.

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Fed. Circ. Panel Calls For Extending Newman's Suspension

By Ryan Davis

A three-judge Federal Circuit panel recommended Monday that U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman remain suspended, saying her refusal to undergo medical tests by doctors chosen by the court is a "serious form of continuing misconduct" that is hindering an investigation into her health.

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New Jersey US Atty Faces Authority Challenge In Drug Case

By Carla Baranauckas

A New Jersey man facing federal drug and firearms charges is mounting what appears to be the first formal legal challenge to Alina Habba's continued role as acting U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey, arguing that her appointment is unlawful and undermines the legitimacy of his prosecution.

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Patent Damages Explode As Practice Areas See Wild Swings

By Cara Salvatore

Damages in plaintiff-won federal patent cases have soared in the past decade while those in environmental cases and some other types of civil litigation have plummeted, a new report from Lex Machina shows.

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Qui Tam Relator's Atty Admits Fake Citations In DC FCA Suit

By Emily Sawicki

An attorney representing the estate of a Washington, D.C.-based construction company's former director in a False Claims Act suit launched against the contractor has withdrawn from the suit due to "recent failure to provide adequate representation" after his co-counsel alleged that the attorney used AI to file a brief "riddled with citation errors."

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Analysis

Merger Settlements Return As Enforcers Keep Busy

By Matthew Perlman

The first half of 2025 saw a string of settlements by the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice allowing mergers to move forward, a marked shift from the prior administration.

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Texas Judge 'Perplexed' By 5th Circ. Sanction Reversal

By Spencer Brewer

A Texas federal judge said he was "perplexed" by a Fifth Circuit panel's decision to reverse his sanction order against an attorney, saying in a Monday opinion that the attorney seemingly flouted the case governing litigation conduct by opposing a bid for an extension to reply.

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Retired Judges Say DOJ Suit 'Threatens' Core Of Judicial Role

By Hailey Konnath

A group of retired federal judges on Monday threw their support behind Maryland federal judges targeted in a Trump administration lawsuit over their habeas petitions standing order, arguing that the suit "threatens the judicial role to its core" and is trying to block judges from employing "a commonplace docket-management technique."

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J&J Loses Bid To Probe Beasley Allen Talc Litigation Funding

By Jake Maher

A special master found Monday there is no reason to believe third-party funders are influencing Beasley Allen Law Firm's decisions in a massive talc litigation in New Jersey, defeating a subpoena from Johnson & Johnson digging into alleged third-party litigation funding.

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Biotech GC Says She Was Ousted Amid 'Systemic' Bias

By Chris Villani

A former general counsel at Massachusetts life sciences firm Repligen has filed a lawsuit in state court claiming that a pervasive culture of gender bias led to her and other women being treated differently and paid less.

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Analysis

Trump Wants Ex-Death Row Inmates In 'Supermax' ADX

By Rachel Rippetoe

Advocates argue that President Donald Trump's effort to send the inmates whom President Joe Biden saved from federal death row to the country's most restrictive federal "supermax" prison is testing the limits of the justice system.

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