Analysis

Top Trade Secrets Decisions Of 2025

By Ivan Moreno

The Ninth Circuit clarified the rules of engagement in trade secrets disputes with guidance on when confidential information must be precisely detailed during litigation, and jurors delivered a $200 million verdict against Walmart over product freshness technology. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trade secrets decisions of 2025.

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Fed. Circ. Axes Appeal Of $8M Bond Under Idaho 'Troll' Law

By Ryan Davis

The Federal Circuit on Thursday dismissed an appeal by patent assertion entities challenging an $8 million bond imposed on them in an infringement case against Micron Technology, ruling that the order under an Idaho state law discouraging "bad faith" patent litigation is not an appealable final decision.

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2nd Circ. Bars Email Service In Chinese 'Baby Shark' Case

By Adam Lidgett

The Second Circuit on Thursday backed a finding that the owner of "Baby Shark" trademarks, which won a default judgment against dozens of Chinese companies, didn't properly serve two of those businesses, saying an email didn't pass muster under the rules of the Hague Service Convention.

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DC Circ. Told Transferred Ethics Suit Bolsters Newman's Case

By Adam Lidgett

Suspended Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman is contending that a decision in which an ethics complaint against a Fourth Circuit judge was transferred out of his home court bolsters her argument that her fellow circuit judges shouldn't have investigated her fitness to remain on the bench.

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Ramey Must Seek Permission For Future WDTX Patent Suits

By Elliot Weld

A Texas federal judge has laid out several frustrations he has with the conduct of intellectual property attorney William Ramey, ordering Ramey to seek permission from the court before filing patent suits in the future and ordering him to pay $72,000 in attorney fees to Cisco for pursuing "nuisance settlements" and failing to conduct presuit investigations.

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Amazon Loses Bid To Upend AlmondNet's $136M Patent Win

By Rae Ann Varona

A Texas federal judge has denied Amazon's attempt to overturn a $136 million judgment against it, saying online advertising company AlmondNet had produced enough evidence to back a jury's verdict that Amazon infringed AlmondNet patents covering online ad space auctions.

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Fake Quotes In Pa. Patent Case Lead To Judicial Rebuke

By James Boyle

Two Barley Snyder attorneys have been directed to explain to a Pennsylvania federal judge how nonexistent quotes from cited cases appeared in a July filing, according to a recently published order that also denied a holiday light clip manufacturer's request for a temporary restraining order preventing a rival company from selling a similar product.

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SF, Oakland Near Settlement In Airport Name Trademark Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

The Port of Oakland has cut a tentative deal with the city and county of San Francisco to resolve a trademark infringement suit over Oakland renaming its international airport to include "San Francisco Bay," according to a joint stipulation filed in California federal court Wednesday.

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ITC Clears Toy Gun Imports, Will Review Smart Rings, Vapes

By Dani Kass

The U.S. International Trade Commission has had a busy week in intellectual property, determining a series of toy gun imports don't infringe Spin Master patents licensed to Hasbro, instituting reviews requested by companies including Ouraring, AbbVie and Juul, and receiving several new complaints.

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No Enhanced Damages In $57M Coal Emissions IP Case

By Elliot Weld

A Delaware federal judge has denied enhanced damages, but granted pre- and postjudgment interest, to a mercury emissions control company that secured a $57 million patent infringement verdict against several coal-refining companies affiliated with CERT Operations.

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Biz Wants Samsung's $445M In Damages 'At Least' Doubled

By Elliot Weld

Collision Communications has asked a Texas federal judge to "at least" double the $445.5 million in damages it was awarded against Samsung by a jury in October, saying Samsung's copying was blatant and brazen enough to warrant a boost.

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Eminem's Publisher, Spotify Sort Out Copyright Dispute

By Rae Ann Varona

Spotify and Eminem's music publisher, which accused the digital music platform of streaming the rapper's hit "Lose Yourself" without a license, have ended the copyright infringement lawsuit, informing both a Tennessee federal court and the Sixth Circuit that they are dropping their dispute.

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Colo. Judge Won't Dismiss Bong Maker's Trademark Case

By Zach Dupont

A Colorado federal judge Wednesday declined to toss a suit from a California-based bong maker alleging trademark infringement after each party accused the other of being responsible for missing pretrial filing deadlines.

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Nonclass Attys' $75M Fee Request Too High, Anthropic Says

By Adam Lidgett

Anthropic says the $75 million in fees that nonclass counsel requested as part of the artificial intelligence company's $1.5 billion copyright settlement with authors is far too high, arguing there is "scant justification" for the request.

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Musicians Say AI Music Platform Copies Copyrighted Works

By Hailey Konnath

A group of independent musicians has filed a proposed class action claiming the artificial intelligence music platform Mureka illegally and systematically copies and stores their copyrighted works as part of a product that directly competes with their livelihoods.

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Opinion

Justices Should Clarify Loper Bright Doctrine Via Patent Case

The U.S. Supreme Court should use the Lynk Labs v. Samsung patent case to provide urgently needed guidance on how last year’s Loper Bright decision should be applied to real-world questions of agency authority in the post-Chevron world, says Timothy Hsieh at Oklahoma City University School of Law.

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7 Strategies To Optimize Impact Of Direct Examination

Direct examination is a make-or-break opportunity to build a witness’s credibility, so attorneys should adopt a few tactics — from asking so-called trust-fall questions to preemptively addressing weaknesses — to drive impact and retention with the fact-finder, says Allison Rocker at Baker McKenzie.

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Series

Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.

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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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Health, Legal Employers Face Unique Online Speech Hurdles

Employers in the legal and healthcare industries must consider distinctive ethical obligations and professional requirements when disciplining employees for social media posts, while anticipating an area of the law in flux as courts seek to balance speech rights and the workplace function, say attorneys at FordHarrison.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

This past week in London has seen the designer of an 88-facet diamond bring a copyright claim against a luxury watch retailer, collapsed firm Axiom Ince bring legal action against the solicitors' watchdog, and the Post Office hit with compensation claims from two former branch managers over their wrongful convictions during the Horizon information technology scandal.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Five firms lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the D.C. Circuit reinstated an order that blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from freezing grants for climate change projects.

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Florida Supreme Court Approves Limits For Non-Lawyer Roles

By Madison Arnold

The Florida Supreme Court has signed off on a rule change to spell out that nonlawyers at a law firm cannot supervise the work of attorneys or perform policymaking duties that affect the practice of law.

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Sidley Adds Williams & Connolly Mass Torts Trial Atty In DC

By Alison Knezevich

A trial attorney who spent more than two decades at Williams & Connolly LLP has moved to Sidley Austin LLP to help lead its product liability and mass torts practice.

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Yale Law School Appoints Deputy Dean To Top Spot

By Brian Steele

The deputy dean of Yale Law School, a career academic and public servant who clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, will take over the top deanship position next year, the school announced Friday.

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Federal Courts Not Subject To FOIA, DC Judge Rules

By Jake Maher

The conservative litigation group America First Legal Foundation cannot demand documents from the federal Judicial Conference of the U.S. and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts under the Freedom of Information Act because they are not executive agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled Thursday.

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Analysis

More Pardon Seekers Going 'Straight To The White House'

By Phillip Bantz

A nonprofit's unusual plan to make a mass pardon request directly to the Trump administration highlights burgeoning optimism among white collar defendants about their chances of securing relief, and a recognition that the clearest path to clemency no longer runs through the traditional channels.

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Hogan Lovells, Cadwalader's Divergent Paths Led To Deal

By Aebra Coe

The blockbuster combination between Hogan Lovells and Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP announced this past week involves two law firms that have charted very different paths in recent years. Here, a look at what events led up to the firms joining together at the deal table.

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DC Firm Hiring From Government Skyrocketed In 2025

By Alison Knezevich

As federal lawyers left in droves this year amid President Donald Trump's return to the White House, the number of attorneys who moved from government jobs to BigLaw firms in Washington, D.C., doubled in 2025 compared to the last post-presidential election year.

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Keesal Young Drops Part Of Stradley Ronon Poaching Suit

By Madison Arnold

Keesal Young & Logan wants to drop part of its California state court lawsuit alleging Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP unlawfully recruited 10 of its attorneys.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

In one of the stories in corporate legal news from the past week, almost half of the in-house legal professionals in a recent survey said they were either actively or passively seeking new jobs, citing stress, a struggle to build multidisciplinary teams and anxiety around artificial intelligence.

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Gambling Tech Co. Loses Sanction Bid In NJ Defamation Case

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state judge rejected a gambling technology company's bid for sanctions in its defamation suit against investigative firm Black Cube and law firm Calcagni & Kanefsky LLP on Thursday, ruling that Black Cube did not willfully disobey a court discovery order.

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Colo. Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart Retires

By Zach Dupont

After an extended leave of absence this year, Colorado Supreme Court Justice Melissa Hart announced her retirement from the state's high court Friday.

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Justices Let Immigration Judges' Free Speech Suit Continue

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Trump administration has failed to show it will be irreparably harmed by a Fourth Circuit decision that revived immigration judges' lawsuit challenging restrictions on their ability to speak publicly.

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