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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TOP NEWS

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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PRODUCT LIABILITY

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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PERSONAL INJURY & MEDICAL MALPRACTICE

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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INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

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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CRIMINAL PRACTICE

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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GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

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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IMMIGRATION

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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PEOPLE

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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EXPERT ANALYSIS

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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LEGAL INDUSTRY

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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LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Akin Gump

ArentFox Schiff

Arnold & Porter

Axinn Veltrop

Baker & Hostetler

Baker Donelson

Baron & Budd

Beasley Allen

Bowman & Brooke

Buchalter APC

Carstens Allen

Clement & Murphy

Cooley LLP

Covington & Burling

Cowan DeBaets

Cozen O'Connor

DLA Piper

Debevoise & Plimpton

Eaton & Wolk

Eversheds Sutherland

Executive Law Partners PLLC

Faegre Drinker

Fish & Richardson

Foley & Lardner

Hecker Fink

Hedin LLP

Holland & Hart

Jackson Walker LLP

Jones Day

Kasowitz Benson

Katten Muchin

Kazerouni Law Group

Keker Van Nest & Peters

Klinedinst PC

Knight Law Group

Latham & Watkins

Lieff Cabraser

Milbank LLP

Mitchell Silberberg

Morgan Lewis

Morrison & Foerster

Norton Rose

O'Melveny & Myers

Ogletree Deakins

Orrick Herrington

Patterson Belknap

Pillsbury Winthrop

Robbins Geller

Rousso Boumel

Rusty Hardin

Singleton Schreiber

Susman Godfrey

Tarter Krinsky

Troutman

Verso Law Group

Walls Landry

Williams & Connolly

Wirtz Law APC

Zalkind Duncan

COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

ACLU of Northern California Inc.

ANSYS, Inc.

Activision Blizzard Inc.

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc.

Alphabet Inc.

Amazon.com Inc.

Amedisys Inc.

American Civil Liberties Union

American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California

American Express Global Business Travel

American Public Health Association

Anthropic PBC

Apple Inc.

Arista Networks Inc.

Bragg

Brennan Center for Justice

Cadence Design Systems Inc.

CoStar Group Inc.

Collins Aerospace Inc.

Dell Technologies Inc.

Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd.

Delta Electronics Inc.

Eaton Corp. PLC

Equinix Inc.

Flex Ltd.

Ford Motor Co.

Gannett Co. Inc.

Giant Eagle Inc.

Google LLC

Harvard University

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.

Infineon Technologies AG

Intel Corp.

International Business Machines Corp.

Investcorp Bank BSC

Johnson & Johnson

Juniper Networks Inc.

Keysight Technologies Inc.

Lex Machina Inc.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional

LinkedIn Corp.

MetLife Inc.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Micron Technology Inc.

Microsoft Corp.

NVIDIA Corp.

Netlist Inc.

New Civil Liberties Alliance

Nintendo Co. Ltd.

Omnicom Group Inc.

Peloton Interactive Inc.

RELX PLC

Repligen Corporation

Rhapsody International Inc.

Ryan LLC

STMicroelectronics NV

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Schneider Electric

Seadrill Limited

Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.

Spirent Communications PLC

Tempur Sealy International Inc.

Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Tesla Inc.

Texas Instruments Inc.

The Clorox Co.

The Coca-Cola Co.

The Interpublic Group of Cos. Inc.

The New York Times Co.

U.S. Anesthesia Partners

UC Hastings Law

UCLA School of Law

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

University of California Davis

Vertiv Inc.

Welsh Carson Anderson & Stowe

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives

Bureau of Industry and Security

California Attorney General's Office

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Federal Bureau of Prisons

Federal Communications Commission

Federal Trade Commission

Food and Drug Administration

Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination

National Institutes of Health

New York Attorney General's Office

Small Business Administration

Superior Court of Massachusetts

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

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

U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California

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

U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Department of Commerce

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

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

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 Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement

U.S. Navy

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio