Retail & E-Commerce

April 28, 2025
Nivea Maker Hit With False Ad Greenwashing Suit

The Nivea brand of products such as lotions, body creams, deodorants and cleansing wipes are falsely advertised as made predominantly of ingredients derived from natural products, like aloe or avocado oil, even though nearly all the ingredients are synthetic, according to a proposed class action filed in California federal court.
April 28, 2025
Century Surety Seeks Exit From Vape Battery Lawsuit

Insurance provider Century Surety Co. says it shouldn't be on the hook for the legal defense of a smoke shop being sued by a customer who was burned when a vape pen battery caught fire in his pocket, arguing that one defendant isn't actually covered under the larger policy and the incident did not take place at one of the insured's retail locations.
April 28, 2025
Levi's Biased Against Pregnant Exec, Jury Told At Trial's Start

Counsel for a former Levi Strauss executive suing for sex discrimination told a California federal jury Monday that her manager told the then-pregnant woman she lacked "work capacity" for a promotion, while Levi's lawyer said she merely "grew impatient" climbing the corporate ladder at a company where many mothers are leaders.
April 28, 2025
Exec 'Can't Believe' X Offers Itself As Place For Friends

The Federal Trade Commission pressed executives and former leaders from X Corp., Strava, Pinterest and Reddit on Monday for all the things that distinguish their services from Meta Platforms Inc., painting Facebook and Instagram in D.C. federal court as effectively the only place to really connect with friends and family to show the social media giant's alleged monopoly.
April 28, 2025
DOJ Wants Live Nation Case Split Between Liability, Damages

The U.S. Department of Justice asked a New York federal court on Monday to split the case accusing Live Nation of quashing competition in the live entertainment industry by having a jury decide if the company violated antitrust law and the judge decide what remedies to impose.
April 28, 2025
Google Claims Row Delays Dormify's Ch. 11 IP Asset Sale

A dispute over a $600,000 claim from Google led bankrupt dorm room furnishing retailer Dormify Inc. to delay approval of a sale of its intellectual property assets to Williams-Sonoma Inc. Monday to give the debtor time to resolve the conflict.
April 28, 2025
9th Circ. Nixes COVID-19 App Suit Appeal Against Apple

The Ninth Circuit has once again shut the door on a doctor's suit accusing Apple of illegally refusing to distribute his COVID-19 tracking app through its app store, affirming a lower court ruling from October 2024 that denied his motion to reopen.
April 28, 2025
NC Judge Says 'Natural Dog' TM Confusion Fight Needs A Trial

A North Carolina federal judge denied a Tar Heel State pet store chain's bid for a pretrial win in a trademark infringement suit brought against it by Natural Dog Acquisitions LLC, ruling Monday that the case needs a jury trial to resolve certain questions of fact.
April 28, 2025
Walgreens Opposes Merging 'Non-Drowsy' Labeling Suits

Walgreens is pushing back on a bid to consolidate two Illinois federal lawsuits alleging the "non-drowsy" label on some of the retailer's cough suppressant medications is misleading, saying the two cases involve different allegations and are at different stages, and arguing that consolidation would cause a delay in the litigation.
April 28, 2025
Casper Sleep Gets PTAB To Squash Cooling Pillow Patent

The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has ruled that the claims in a patent for a cooling pillow were invalid, handing a win to e-commerce sleep product company Casper Sleep in its challenge.
April 25, 2025
Baby Food Maker Keeps Win In Suit Saying It Concealed Toxins

The Ninth Circuit on Friday affirmed a summary judgment win for California-based Plum Organics, saying in an unpublished opinion that parents who accused the baby food maker of failing to disclose potential toxins in its baby food products didn't sufficiently prove that Plum's products pose an unreasonable safety hazard.
April 25, 2025
Nike Investors Say 'Brazen' NFT Rug Pull 'Decimated' Them

Nike was hit with a proposed securities class action on Friday accusing the athletic apparel giant of touting its nonfungible tokens before abruptly abandoning that business, in a "brazen rug pull" that left purchasers of Nike's NFTs "decimated."
April 25, 2025
Google Exec Warns Of 'Shadow' Of Chrome If DOJ Wins Sale

Chrome's top executive told a D.C. federal judge Friday that the Justice Department's bid to force the sale of Google's prized web browser would cause a dramatic degradation in quality for a product that is used by over one billion people and is heavily integrated into the rest of Google.
April 25, 2025
Judge Urges Creativity For Nonparties In Sprint Merger Row

T-Mobile, a group of Verizon and AT&T subscribers and a host of nonparty mobile carriers and network operators must try again to hash out a creative yet reasonable way to shield confidential information from the nonparties' anticipated discovery in litigation challenging T-Mobile's merger with Sprint, an Illinois magistrate judge has said.
April 25, 2025
Up Next At High Court: Class Cert., Religious Charter Schools

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in five cases this coming week, including in disputes over whether courts can certify classes of plaintiffs when some members haven't suffered an injury and whether students alleging disability discrimination in public schools must meet a higher standard of proof to bring claims under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
April 25, 2025
Google Ad Tech Judge Wants To Get Moving On Remedies

The Virginia federal judge overseeing the government's ad tech monopolization case against Google issued an order on Friday calling for a hearing over her concerns about the length of time the sides are requesting to prepare for a trial to determine potential remedies.
April 25, 2025
7th Circ. Upholds Mixed Verdict Over Rolling Paper Ads

The Seventh Circuit upheld all aspects of a mixed verdict in a dispute between two rolling paper companies, saying that manufacturer HBI International had not violated the Lanham Act but also leaving in place a nationwide injunction against some of the company's advertising practices.
April 25, 2025
Mondelez Says Ghost Can't Use Sour Patch, Other Snack TMs

Two Mondelez International subsidiaries have filed suit in Illinois to halt Ghost LLC's marketing of energy products that feature Sour Patch Kids, Oreo and certain other iconic snack brand trademarks, claiming Ghost's license to do so ended when Keurig Dr. Pepper began controlling the company.
April 25, 2025
Feds Say Tariff Fight Belongs In International Trade Court

The Trump administration wants to litigate a challenge to its tariffs in a federal trade court, not the D.C. district court, arguing that the U.S. Court of International Trade is the only venue with jurisdiction to hear the case.
April 25, 2025
Hemp Co. Says Seller Can't Pass Buck On Pot Arrest

A hemp company and its affiliates are urging a Wisconsin federal court to throw out a seller's claim that his shop was raided and he was convicted of drug possession because their products were falsely labeled as legal hemp, saying that the complaint fails to show the products had anything to do with the arrest.
April 25, 2025
Calif. AG Asks Court To Sink Exxon Recycling Defamation Suit

California's attorney general is asking a Texas federal court to dismiss Exxon Mobil Corp.'s lawsuit alleging he and several conservation groups have disparaged the company's reputation by declaring that it misled people about the effectiveness of plastic recycling.
April 25, 2025
Ozempic Maker Settles Infringement Claims With Atlanta Clinic

Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical manufacturer behind Ozempic and other weight loss drugs, said Friday it has reached a settlement to end a series of claims that a Georgia anti-aging clinic was using the company's name and reputation to sell off-brand versions of its treatments.
April 25, 2025
Houston Texans Accused Of Infringing Ticketing Patent

The Houston Texans are accused of infringing patented technology for a ticketing service that allows users to buy tickets for sporting events based on individual players' probability of appearing in a match.
April 25, 2025
Bertucci's Says Uncertain Economy Sparked Latest Ch. 11

Italian food chain Bertucci's filed for bankruptcy protection for the third time since 2018, telling a Florida bankruptcy court it is over $32 million in debt and dealing with industry headwinds and the "unanticipated deterioration" of the U.S. economy.
April 24, 2025
Circuit-By-Circuit Guide As Justices Confront Class Cert. Split

The U.S. Supreme Court is set for climactic arguments over class certification standards that have cleaved circuits from coast to coast for much of the past two decades, teeing up a make-or-break ruling for many class actions and a transformative event for legal practice in the swelling litigation realm.

Expert Analysis

Reviewing 2024's Crucial Patent Law Developments

As 2024 draws to a close, significant rulings and policies aimed at modernizing long-standing legal practices or addressing emerging challenges have reached patent law, says Michael Ellenberger at Rothwell Figg.
Series

Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.
2024's Most Notable FTC Actions Against Dark Patterns And AI

In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission ramped up enforcement actions related to dark patterns, loudly signaling its concern that advertisers will use AI to manipulate consumer habits and its intention to curb businesses' use and marketing of AI to prevent alleged consumer deception, say attorneys at Goodwin.
Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.
Data Privacy Landscape After Mass. Justices' Wiretap Ruling

In Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital, Massachusetts’ highest court recently ruled that the state’s wiretap law doesn’t prohibit all tracking of website user activity, but major financial and reputational risks remain for businesses that aren't transparent about customer’s web data, says Seth Berman at Nutter.
Del. Dispatch: The 2024 Corporate Cases You Need To Know

The Delaware Court of Chancery in 2024 issued several decisions that some viewed as upending long-standing corporate practices, leading to the amendment of the Delaware General Corporation Law and debates at some Delaware corporations about potentially reincorporating to another state, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
Unwrapping Retailer AI Risks Amid Holiday Shopping Season

While generative artificial intelligence tools can catalyze game-changing results for retailers looking to stay ahead of the competition during the holiday season, and year-round, it can also bring certain legal risks, including product liability concerns, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.
Notable 2024 Trademark Cases And What To Watch In 2025

Emerging disputes between established tech giants and smaller trademark holders promise to test the boundaries of trademark protection in 2025, following a 2024 marked with disputes in areas ranging from cybersquatting to geographic marks, says Danner Kline at Bradley Arant.
Examining Vidal's Guidance On PTAB Section 315 Time Bar

Last month's decision by outgoing U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal in Luminex v. Signify addresses the Section 315 statutes that preclude institution of inter partes review proceedings after certain civil actions are filed, and is instructive as PTAB panels are likely to follow this approach going forward, says Amanda Wieker at McGuireWoods.
What 2024 Trends In Marketing, Comms Hiring Mean For 2025

The state of hiring in legal industry marketing, business development and communications over the past 12 months was marked by a number of trends — from changes in the C-suite to lateral move challenges — providing clues for what’s to come in the year ahead, says Ben Curle at Ambition.
How Trump's Tariff Promises May Play Out In 2nd Term

While it is unclear which of President-elect Donald Trump's promised tariffs he intends to actually implement in January, lessons from his first administration, laws governing executive action and U.S. trade agreements together paint a picture of what may be possible, say attorneys at Butzel.
Series

Group Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

The combination of physical fitness and community connection derived from running with a group of business leaders has, among other things, helped me to stay grounded, improve my communication skills, and develop a deeper empathy for clients and colleagues, says Jessica Shpall Rosen at Greenwald Doherty.
Marketing Messages Matter In State AG Consumer Protection

Attorneys general interpret marketing claims far more broadly than many companies may realize, so to mitigate potential risk, businesses should be vigilant about all consumer messaging, including communications that may not traditionally be considered advertising in the colloquial sense, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.
Opinion

6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School

Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.