9th Circ. Upholds Apple App Store Injunction In Epic Fight

By Dorothy Atkins

The Ninth Circuit mostly affirmed an injunction blocking Apple Inc. from charging developers "prohibitive" commissions on iPhone app purchases made outside its systems on Thursday, handing Epic Games Inc. a partial win in their hotly contested compliance fight while agreeing with Apple that the injunction's commissions ban and certain restrictions are punitive and overbroad.

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Trump Executive Order Targets 'Excessive' State AI Laws

By Hailey Konnath

President Donald Trump on Thursday signed a controversial executive order establishing a "minimally burdensome national standard" for regulating artificial intelligence, deeming the order necessary for the United States to remain a leader in AI amid "excessive" state regulation.

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Disney Cuts $1B OpenAI Licensing Deal Amid Google IP Clash

By Dorothy Atkins

The Walt Disney Co. has cut a $1 billion investment deal with OpenAI to become OpenAI's first major content licensing partner on its generative AI video-platform Sora, the companies announced Thursday, a day after Disney sent Google a cease-and-desist letter accusing Google's AI tools of "massive infringement."

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EDTX Jury Finds TV Ad Tech Patent Invalid In Win For Taiv

By Adam Lidgett

A Texas federal jury on Thursday cleared Canadian smart TV box company Taiv Inc. of infringement allegations by MyChoice LLC over a television advertising technology patent, and also found the patent was invalid.

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FTC, Amazon Want To Delay Antitrust Trial By 7 Weeks

By Bryan Koenig

As they try to get back on track after the government shutdown, the Federal Trade Commission and Amazon asked a Washington federal judge Wednesday to push back the start of the antitrust trial accusing the online retail giant of creating an artificial pricing floor.

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OpenAI, Microsoft Sued Over Mother's Murder By Son

By Y. Peter Kang

A wrongful death suit accusing OpenAI's artificial intelligence tool ChatGPT of causing the murder-suicide of a mother and son was filed Thursday in California state court, with additional allegations that equity stakeholder Microsoft approved an unsafe, updated version of the chatbot.

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State AGs Call For AI Chatbot Safeguards

By Emily Field

More than 40 attorneys general have pushed Big Tech companies like Meta and Microsoft to adopt safety measures on AI chatbots, writing a letter that pointed to recent news of children and vulnerable people whose chatbot conversations ended in violence.

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House Panel Advances Nearly 20 Bills To Protect Kids Online

By Allison Grande

A package of 18 bills that propose using methods such age verification mandates, government-run studies and educational campaigns to enhance online safeguards for children passed through a House subcommittee Thursday, despite concerns from Democrats that the measures wouldn't be enough to counter recent moves to reduce the roles of states and the Federal Trade Commission in this space. 

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Tracking Challenges To USPTO's Discretion Policy

By Dani Kass

Leaders at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office have significantly altered the Patent Trial and Appeal Board playing field since March, making changes to institution reviews that have led to unprecedented levels of petition denials. A steady stream of companies has challenged those changes through mandamus petitions to the Federal Circuit, and here Law360 tracks where those petitions stand.

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NY Gov. Signs Landmark AI Bill On 'Synthetic' Ad Performers

By Hailey Konnath

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday signed into law landmark legislation requiring disclosure of the use of any artificial intelligence-generated "synthetic" performers in advertisements and also requiring the consent of heirs or executors to use the name, image or likeness of a person who has died.

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Localities Worried Over FCC Preemption On Rights Of Way

By Christopher Cole

Cities are protesting a legal effort underway at the Federal Communications Commission to potentially override local decision-making when it comes to the use of publicly owned rights of way for high-speed internet deployment projects.

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NextNav Gears Up Geolocation System Test In Bay Area

By Christopher Cole

Navigation technology developer NextNav said Thursday it would conduct a test run in San Jose, California, of its proposed network to backstop the Global Positioning System.

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9th Circ. Won't Rethink Vegas Hotels' Win In Price-Fixing Suit

By Ben Adlin

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday rejected Las Vegas hotel guests' request for the full appeals court to reconsider a panel's August ruling that threw out their proposed class action accusing the casino-hotel operators of using software to illegally inflate room rates.

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Duolingo, CoStar Prevail In Font Patent Fight At Fed. Circ.

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Thursday refused to revive a pair of computer font patents challenged by Duolingo Inc. and CoStar Realty Information Inc., backing the Patent Trial and Appeal Board findings that the patents were invalid.

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Zillow Cases Over Agent Steering, Kickbacks Merge In Wash.

By Nate Beck

A Washington federal judge on Thursday appointed Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and DiCello Levitt LLP as interim co-lead counsel over consolidated claims that Zillow paid kickbacks to brokers for referrals to its own mortgage services, among other anticompetitive conduct using company agents.

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Samsung Gets PTAB To Ax Patent Claim From $12.5M Verdict

By Adam Lidgett

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found that Samsung was able to prove the invalidity of one claim in an Empire Technology Development LLC cellphone signal patent tied to a $12.5 million verdict against the South Korean electronics giant.

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Natural Gas Tax Nixed For Wash. Silicon Maker On Appeal

By Sanjay Talwani

A Washington state maker of silicon materials used in solar semiconductors qualified for a tax exemption for natural gas purchased for use in its manufacturing process, an appeals court said Thursday, reversing a state board.

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Attys Seek $9.8M For Opendoor Investor Suit Deal

By Sydney Price

Attorneys from Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP asked an Arizona federal court for nearly $10 million for their work negotiating a $39 million settlement between real estate firm Opendoor Technologies Inc. and its investors to resolve claims the company overhyped its pricing algorithm software.

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Del. Court Mulls Mootness Fee Options In Bolt Suit Settlement

By Jeff Montgomery

A Delaware vice chancellor indicated Thursday that he was leaning toward awarding 10% to 15% of the benefit secured by attorneys who battled for cancellation of $37.5 million in Bolt Financial Group stock used by company controller Ryan Breslow to secure a later defaulted-upon personal loan.

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DC Firm Faces Proposed Class Action Over Data Breach

By Andrea Keckley

A Washington, D.C., law firm failed to notify clients of a data breach that compromised their personal information for six months, a proposed class action alleged in federal court on Wednesday.

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Smartsheet Investor Sues Over Blackstone, Vista Buyout

By Ben Adlin

A stockholder in a proposed class action against enterprise software maker Smartsheet Inc. accused the company and its former CEO of underselling the company's performance in the lead-up to its $8.4 billion acquisition this year by Blackstone and Vista Equity Partners, allowing the sale to move forward at an unfairly low share price.

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4 Firms Guide As Arcline Exits Medical Tech Co. In $685M Deal

By Al Barbarino

Perimeter Solutions Inc. has agreed to acquire Medical Manufacturing Technologies LLC from Arcline Investment Management for approximately $685 million in cash, including certain tax benefits.

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4 Firms Guide PE-Backed Avocet's $500M Launch, First Deal

By Al Barbarino

A new insurance-focused investment firm called Avocet Partners has been launched with the backing of a $500 million investment from Oaktree Capital Management LP and Lane42 Investment Partners LLC, Avocet announced Thursday. 

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Sidley Guides Diagnostic Imaging Firm Lumexa's $463M IPO

By Abigail Harrison

Private equity-backed diagnostic imaging provider Lumexa Imaging Holdings Inc., led by Sidley Austin LLP, began trading Thursday on the Nasdaq Global Select Market after pricing a $463 million initial public offering.

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3 Firms Guide Enova's $369M Grasshopper Bank Acquisition

By Aislinn Keely

Fintech lender Enova International said Thursday it plans to buy digital bank Grasshopper in a $369 million deal guided by Covington & Burling LLP, Squire Patton Boggs LLP and Hogan Lovells LLP.

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Calling The AI Witness In 2026's Merger Reviews

Organizations that anticipate facing a second request or merger clearance review in 2026 should collect artificial intelligence artifacts as part of discovery, and distinguish between human-generated and machine-generated materials, says Sean McDermott at FTI Consulting.

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Key Crypto Class Action Trends And Rulings In 2025

As the law continued to take shape in the growing area of crypto-assets, this year saw a jump in crypto class action litigation, including noteworthy decisions on motions to compel arbitration and class certification, according to Justin Donoho at Duane Morris.

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Tips For Drafting, Negotiating Quantum Service Agreements

Due to the experimental and volatile nature of quantum computing technology — at least initially — lawyers and legal practitioners should consider a few risks when drafting or negotiating a quantum-as-a-service agreement, including if the underlying hardware design is faulty or not appropriate for maintenance, say attorneys at Covington.

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Tracking The Evolution Of AI Insurance Regulation In 2025

As artificial intelligence continues to transform the insurance industry, including underwriting, pricing, claims processing and customer engagement, state regulators, led by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, are increasing oversight to ensure that innovation does not outpace consumer protections, say attorneys at Fenwick.

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Series

Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.

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Wash. Justices Retroactively Lower Bar Exam's Passing Score

By Ben Adlin

As Washington state is preparing to transition to a new bar exam, its Supreme Court has ordered a retroactive adjustment to the current exam's minimum passing score, making an estimated hundred-plus law school graduates who narrowly failed in recent years newly eligible for admission to practice law.

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Dems Demand Release Of 2nd Jack Smith Report

By Courtney Bublé

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Friday demanding she release the second volume of former special counsel Jack Smith's report on President Donald Trump's retention of classified documents after he left office the first time.

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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 Shell hit with a climate change claim from 100 survivors of a typhoon in the Philippines, London Stock Exchange-listed Oxford Nanopore bring legal action against its co-founder, and the editors of Pink News sue the BBC for defamation following its investigation into alleged sexual misconduct at the news site.

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Higgs Fletcher Forms White Collar, Regs Enforcement Team

By Andrea Keckley

San Diego-based law firm Higgs Fletcher & Mack LLP has launched a white collar crime and regulatory enforcement defense practice group, citing heightened regulatory scrutiny in the financial and healthcare sectors and rising enforcement risks for licensed professionals and institutions.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

President Donald Trump issued an executive order to review the influence that proxy adviser firms have, and law firms saw a 9.8% increase in compensation expenses along with a similar increase in billable rates. ​These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Watchdog Sues White House For Records On Law Firm Deals

By Emily Sawicki

A Washington-based nonprofit watchdog has sued the Trump administration, seeking records related to deals BigLaw firms struck to provide an estimated nearly $1 billion worth of pro bono legal services to further the administration's priorities, following the president's executive orders to withhold security clearances and investigate the firms.

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Ex-NJ Municipal Court Admin Says COVID Got Her Fired

By George Woolston

The former municipal court administrator for West Windsor Township, New Jersey, has alleged that the town failed to accommodate her disability when it fired her instead of giving her a short medical leave of absence after she contracted COVID-19.

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US Atty Nominee For Wyo. Was Outside Capitol On Jan. 6

By Courtney Bublé

One of President Donald Trump's U.S. attorney nominees, who was on the U.S. Capitol grounds on Jan. 6, 2021, and recently told senators he still thinks "there were imperfections" in the 2020 election process, has been advanced toward Senate confirmation.

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Del. US Atty Resigns Citing 'Politics,' Successor Appointed

By Rose Krebs

The acting U.S. Attorney for Delaware said Friday that she is resigning, citing "a highly politicized, flawed blue-slip tradition" for nominees and saying she "fully" supports her first assistant, who has been appointed by a federal judge to succeed her.

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Bonus Spotlight

Axinn Veltrop's Bonuses Reach Up To $240K

By Andrea Keckley

Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP is giving out bonuses of up to $240,000 for its associates, according to an in-house memo seen by Law360 Pulse.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP and Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Ninth Circuit handed Epic Games Inc. a partial win by mostly affirming an injunction blocking Apple Inc. from charging developers "prohibitive" commissions on iPhone app purchases made outside its systems.

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