Analysis

FTC Must 'Scale A Slick Wall' To Revive Meta Suit

By Bryan Koenig

The Federal Trade Commission set itself up for a tough fight to overturn a D.C. federal judge's rejection of its lawsuit accusing Meta of monopolizing personal social media through its purchases of WhatsApp and Instagram.

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Google Likely Stuck With $425M Loss, But Bid For $3B Flops

By Bonnie Eslinger

A California federal judge overseeing a class action accusing Google of illegally collecting information from 98 million cellphone users said Wednesday that he probably will not let Google decertify the class, but he is also unlikely to add $2.36 billion in alleged wrongful profits on top of a jury's $425 million verdict.

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Licensing Deal Saves Cisco From Lionra Suit, Fed. Circ. Says

By Theresa Schliep

The Federal Circuit rebuffed Lionra Technologies Ltd.'s efforts to save its patent infringement case against Cisco Systems Inc., with a panel finding Wednesday that a licensing agreement foreclosed the lawsuit and calling Lionra's characterization of the agreement "skewed."

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Apple Shakes Mobile Users' Suit Over App Data Collection

By Allison Grande

A California federal judge released Apple from a putative class action accusing it of improperly collecting mobile device users' data when they interacted with Apple's App Store, Music and other proprietary apps, finding "perplexing" contradictory allegations and other deficiencies doomed plaintiffs' claims, including those under California and Pennsylvania's wiretap laws. 

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Comcast's $117.5M Data Breach Deal Gets Preliminary OK

By Bonnie Eslinger

A Pennsylvania federal judge has granted initial approval to Comcast's deal to pay $117.5 million to resolve class claims alleging the internet, TV, phone, and mobile services provider didn't take adequate cybersecurity measures to protect more than 31 million customers' sensitive information from an October 2023 cybersecurity attack.

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Holmes Seeks Trump Clemency For Theranos Fraud Sentence

By Rae Ann Varona

Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes has asked President Donald Trump to commute an 11-year prison sentence she's been serving for defrauding investors with bogus blood-testing technology, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney.

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Apple Workers In Wash. Sue Over Limits On Moonlighting

By Ben Adlin

Apple Inc. has broken a Washington state moonlighting law by prohibiting dozens of lower-wage workers from taking second jobs to supplement their incomes, according to a former employee's proposed class action against the company.

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Senate Panel To Examine Upcoming FirstNet Renewal

By Christopher Cole

A U.S. Senate subcommittee will take a close look next week at legislative plans to renew the First Responder Network Authority, which currently has a long-standing public-private partnership with AT&T.

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Bill Would Require Stays On Patent Claims Against End Users

By Elliot Weld

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives aims to mandate that a stay be implemented on claims against retailers or end users in patent infringement cases when a manufacturer steps in to defend those claims.

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FCC Warns Shows To Follow Political 'Equal Opportunity' Reg

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission cautioned TV broadcasters Wednesday that no exemption has been found that would let talk shows get around the agency's political equal opportunity rules.

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Fed. Circ. Gives Apple New Shot At Axing Smart Mobile Patent

By Adam Lidgett

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday undid the Patent Trial and Appeal Board's finding that Apple failed to show a Smart Mobile wireless patent was invalid, saying the first claim was unpatentable and that the board needs to rethink the other challenged portions.

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EcoFactor Can't Restore Thermostat IP Claims At Fed. Circ.

By Adam Lidgett

Smart home energy company EcoFactor on Wednesday failed to persuade the Federal Circuit to revive claims in one of its smart thermostat patents following a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision that invalidated the claims.

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Fed. Circ. Won't Reinstate Text-Tracking Patent Case

By Elliot Weld

The Federal Circuit on Wednesday affirmed a lower court's decision declining a cellular data-tracking company's request for a new trial, rejecting the company's arguments that the district judge's claim construction had been erroneous.

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Health Tech SPAC Execs Ink $10M Investor Settlement

By Emilie Ruscoe

Former executives of a health technology company that went public via merger with a blank check company have reached a $10 million deal to settle claims they wiped out investors with a bankruptcy filing after the company's product development projections derailed.

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Pa. Justices Reverse Clickwrap Arbitration Limits, For Now

By P.J. D'Annunzio

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has determined that a lower appellate court was too quick to declare that "clickwrap" arbitration agreements buried in apps' and websites' terms of service erode the constitutional right to trial by jury, reversing a decision that invalidated such an agreement in an injury suit against Uber.

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Medtronic 'Blocked' Surgical Device Competition, Jury Told

By Craig Clough

An executive at Applied Medical Resources Corp. on Tuesday told a California federal jury considering antitrust claims against Medtronic Inc. that a surgical device his company introduced a decade ago had great success in Europe but was "blocked" in the U.S. by Medtronic's practice of "bundling" products.

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Robinhood Warns Of Gambling Suit 'Threat' After Kalshi Loss

By Jessica Corso

Trading platform Robinhood is once again calling for a federal judge to block Massachusetts from taking enforcement action against it for allegedly offering access to sports betting, saying it faces a "a real and imminent threat" of prosecution given the state's victory against another prediction markets firm Tuesday.

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Mining Supplier Not Covered In Bogus Parts Suit, Insurer Says

By Hope Patti

An insurer said it has no duty to defend or indemnify a mining equipment parts supplier against claims that it sold counterfeit parts to a reseller, telling a Montana federal court that the underlying suit does not allege bodily injury or property damage caused by an occurrence.

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AI Recruiting Co. Eightfold Sued Over Job Applicant 'Dossiers'

By Dorothy Atkins

Job applicants have hit Eightfold AI with a proposed class action in California court, alleging the artificial intelligence company's business model violates longstanding consumer protection statutes by using "opaque" closely guarded AI algorithms to scrape personal data and generate "dossiers" on job applicants for major employers without applicants' knowledge or consent.

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Realtor Alleges Zillow 'Monopoly' Forces Loan Referrals

By Isaac Monterose

A proposed class of real estate agents accused property listing company Zillow Group Inc. and several of its subsidiaries in Washington federal court of running a monopoly that forces real estate agents to, among other things, use a Zillow client referral program that pushes program participants to refer clients to Zillow's loan services.

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Stellantis North America Didn't Thwart Ransomware, Suit Says

By Rae Ann Varona

An Illinois couple sued Stellantis North America in Michigan federal court on Wednesday, alleging in a proposed class action that the carmaker's lax data security practices led to a cyberattack around Christmas Day on Chrysler's database that put their Social Security numbers and other personal information in the hands of a ransomware group.

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Maxim Says Playboy Ripped Off Its Modeling Contest

By Elliot Weld

Maxim has sued Playboy in Manhattan federal court for trade secret misappropriation and copyright infringement, accusing Playboy of copying Maxim's online modeling competition by using the same mechanics and architecture when launching a contest of its own.

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Fla. Dispensary Exposed Patient Data Via Google, Suit Says

By Mike Curley

A Florida man is suing a dispensary website in federal court, alleging it has violated federal health confidentiality laws by using Google Analytics Pixel on its website, which he said intercepts and collects private information for use in advertising.

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Cloover Raises $1.22B Via Series A, Debt Facility

By Grace Dixon

Cloover announced Wednesday that the green fintech company raised $22 million via a Series A equity financing as well as a $1.2 billion debt facility from a leading European bank, guided by Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. 

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Brief

Blueprint Closes Oversubscribed $333M Tech-Focused Fund

By Al Barbarino

San Diego-based growth equity firm Blueprint Equity said Wednesday it has raised $333 million for its third fund, pushing the firm to more than $600 million of assets under management.

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CFIUS Review Could Delay IRobot Ch. 11 Deal, DOJ Warns

By Vince Sullivan

The Department of Justice has notified the Delaware bankruptcy court that an evaluation of Roomba maker iRobot's proposed Chapter 11 plan transactions by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. could postpone those deals on the eve of a plan confirmation hearing.

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Anthology Lender Says It Should Get Indemnity In Ch. 11 Plan

By Rick Archer

A creditor of Anthology Inc. has asked a Texas bankruptcy judge to reject the educational technology company's Chapter 11 plan, saying it doesn't provide for money Anthology owes for the creditor's defense against a suit launched by an Anthology affiliate.

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Brief

Netflix's $83B Warner Bros. Deal Draws DOJ Scrutiny

By Bryan Koenig

Warner Bros. Discovery has disclosed that Netflix's proposed $82.7 billion purchase of the entertainment giant is now under an antitrust microscope, after the U.S. Department of Justice kicked off an in-depth probe that keeps the deal from closing for the time being.

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Greenberg Traurig Builds Up Nat'l Security Group With 3 Hires

By Jack Rodgers

Greenberg Traurig LLP has hired the former cohead of Eversheds Sutherland's national security group in Washington, D.C., as the chair of its newly formed national security group, which is growing in the nation's capital with his addition and the hiring of a former CIA leader and a former deputy general counsel of the U.S. Cyber Command.

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Data Center Power Co. Names GC To Oversee Real Estate

By Nate Beck

Data center infrastructure company Crusoe Inc. said Wednesday that it has added the managing partner of a boutique California business law firm as its general counsel.

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4th Circ. Class Ruling Complicates Data Breaches For Biz

The Fourth Circuit’s recent exclusion of data-breach victims from a putative class because their stolen information had not been made public further complicates how businesses should manage risk and incident response amid a growing circuit split over related questions of standing, says Brandon Hollinder at Epiq.

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Utilizing AI In Agriculture Requires A Strong IP Strategy

As agricultural technology companies race to deploy artificial intelligence solutions at scale, it's important to prioritize the importance of intellectual property strategy early on to avoid losing value in a fast-moving landscape, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

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NJ Ruling Sheds Light On When 'Stub Rent' Must Be Paid

A New Jersey bankruptcy court's recent decision in New Rite Aid affirms that landlords can have "stub rent" treated as an administrative expense and highlights critical considerations for debtors, including the importance of deciding when and where to file for bankruptcy, say attorneys at Cleary.

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How A 1947 Tugboat Ruling May Shape Work Product In AI Era

Rapid advances in generative artificial intelligence test work-product principles first articulated in the U.S. Supreme Court’s nearly 80-year-old Hickman v. Taylor decision, as courts and ethics bodies confront whether disclosure of attorneys’ AI prompts and outputs would reveal their thought processes, say Larry Silver and Sasha Burton at Langsam Stevens.

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Ex-Baker McKenzie Atty Alleges Assault In New DC Lawsuit

By Alison Knezevich

A former Baker McKenzie associate who was sued for defamation over a series of social media posts accusing the firm's Washington, D.C., managing partner of sexual assault has brought her own lawsuit, marking the first time she publicly detailed her allegations in court records.

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Trump Calls For Prosecution Of Jack Smith Post-Hearing

By Courtney Bublé

Shortly after former special counsel Jack Smith gave his first public congressional testimony on the Trump cases, in which he warned the rule of law should not be taken for granted, President Donald Trump said he should be prosecuted.

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ABA Outlines Limited Atty Duty To Give Info To Former Clients

By Lynn LaRowe

The American Bar Association said attorneys have a limited responsibility to convey information to former clients or successor counsel that was not within the client's file, when doing so is necessary to protect a client's interests and reasonably practicable, according to a new ethics opinion.

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Proposed Subpoena Rule Change Raises Victim Privacy Fears

By Brandon Lowrey

A proposal to loosen restrictions on the use of federal criminal subpoenas would endanger and further traumatize victims of crime, most of whom lack legal representation to fight the invasive demands, victims' rights advocates told a federal rules advisory committee on Thursday.

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Pa. Justices Say Judge's Partisan Posts Warrant Suspension

By Hayley Fowler

Pennsylvania's highest court has adopted a balancing test for restricting a sitting judge's free speech outside the context of an election and, in doing so, affirmed the suspension of a state court judge who it said damaged the court's appearance of impartiality by making political posts on social media.

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Brief

Courthouse News Drops Access Suit Against DC Court Clerk

By Emily Sawicki

National litigation news outlet Courthouse News Service has voluntarily and permanently dropped claims against a Washington, D.C., Superior Court clerk and the executive officer of the D.C. courts over filing delays, with both sides agreeing to pay their own costs.

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