Retail & E-Commerce

  • December 15, 2025

    Smartwatch Giants Sued Over Fall Detection Patents

    A company that makes medical alert watches for the elderly has sued Apple, Samsung, Google and Garmin in federal court and the U.S. International Trade Commission, alleging that the fall detection features in their smartwatches infringe two patents.

  • December 15, 2025

    Starbucks Investors Get Claims Against Ex-CFO Revived

    A federal judge in Seattle has reinstated claims against Starbucks' former chief financial officer in a suit accusing the coffee giant's leaders of misleading shareholders about its struggling plan to reinvent itself, saying the investors plausibly allege the ex-executive was a controlling person under the securities laws.

  • December 15, 2025

    Walmart Adds To Visa, Mastercard Swipe-Fee Deal Objections

    Walmart has become the latest retailer to object to a proposed new settlement between Visa, Mastercard and a class of potentially millions of merchants to resolve two decades of antitrust litigation, claiming the class plaintiffs and counsel have "sold out their fellow class members."

  • December 15, 2025

    Del. Justices Put ITG On Hook For $250M Reynolds Settlement

    Delaware's Supreme Court stubbed out an eight-year ITG Brands LLC legal battle to avoid paying R.J. Reynolds more than $250 million to cover health-related settlement payments to Florida after ITG's acquisition of four of the cigarette company's brands, according to a ruling issued Monday.

  • December 15, 2025

    Rust-Oleum Settles Misleading Paint Coverage Claims

    Paint manufacturer Rust-Oleum Corp. has agreed to resolve proposed class claims in Illinois federal court that were brought by customers who accused the paint manufacturer of misleading them by advertising its "2x" spray paint line as providing twice the coverage of other general-purpose paints.

  • December 15, 2025

    FTC Joined By 21 States In Accusing Uber Of Deception

    Twenty-one states joined the Federal Trade Commission on Monday in a California federal lawsuit accusing Uber of enrolling consumers into its paid subscription service without consent and keeping them in a "loop" of obstacles that deter or prevent cancellations.

  • December 15, 2025

    Fast-Track Sale Timeline Denied In Furniture Co. Ch. 11

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge rejected an expedited timeline for the sale of the assets of home furnishing retailer American Signature Furniture, finding that the proposed 34-day process would not give enough time for an investigation of insider claims and the appointment of a consumer privacy ombudsman.

  • December 15, 2025

    E-Cig Makers Want Court To Block ITC Patent Probe

    The proper avenue for patent owners to hold would-be infringers accountable is in the federal courts, not before the U.S. International Trade Commission, Altria Group and its NJOY vaping subsidiary said in a bid to stop an infringement action against them at the ITC.

  • December 15, 2025

    Groups Say Texas Food Labeling Law Must Be Blocked

    A group of food industry associations are urging a Texas federal judge to block a section of the state's new Make Texas Healthy Again Act, saying the section is preempted by federal law because it requires them to put false and misleading information on the labels.

  • December 15, 2025

    Lady Gaga Can Keep Using 'Mayhem' Mark For Now, Judge Says

    A California federal judge on Monday refused to grant a surfing brand a preliminary injunction against Lady Gaga from using the "Mayhem" mark on the clothing she sells, saying the brand had not shown that it was likely to succeed on its trademark infringement claims.

  • December 15, 2025

    Connecticut 'Likely' To Settle Generic Drug Price Cap Dispute

    A pharmaceutical industry trade group and the state of Connecticut have signaled their intent to settle a feud over the interpretation of the state's generic drug price cap law, and a federal judge gave them until Monday to say more about their plan.

  • December 15, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Backs Denial Of 'Basin' Beverage Mark

    The Federal Circuit held Monday that a man's attempt to secure a trademark for his company "Basin Beverage Co." should be denied due to the likelihood of causing confusion with at least three registered marks with "Basin" in their name.

  • December 15, 2025

    The Top Patent Decisions Of 2025

    The Federal Circuit decided its first en banc utility patent case in years and expanded who can use the U.S. International Trade Commission, while both the appeals court and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office took on the eligibility of AI patents. Here's a look at the top patent decisions of 2025.

  • December 15, 2025

    Roomba Maker IRobot Hits Ch. 11 To Hand Control To Lenders

    IRobot Corp., the maker of the Roomba robot vacuums, has filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware bankruptcy court with over $250 million in debt and a plan to hand control of its business to its secured creditor.

  • December 15, 2025

    Inventor's Bid To Dodge $214K Sanction Fails At High Court

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take on an inventor's request to escape an order from an Ohio federal court that sanctioned him $214,000 for bad faith litigation, which was approved by the Federal Circuit.

  • December 12, 2025

    Google To Face Publishers' Class Claims Over AdX Exchange

    A New York federal judge Friday granted class certification in a multidistrict antitrust litigation over Google's advertising technology to publishers who sold ad space through the search giant's AdX ad space marketplace, but denied certification to publishers who used Google's AdSense platform and to a proposed class of advertisers.

  • December 12, 2025

    Live Nation Consumers Get Class Certified In Antitrust Case

    A California federal judge Friday certified a class of consumers accusing Live Nation of monopolizing the live entertainment industry, rejecting the company's argument that there aren't common issues that predominate over individual ones and adopting a tentative ruling he issued earlier this month.

  • December 12, 2025

    Fla. Judge Allows Deceptive Trade Claim In Zyn Suit

    A Florida federal judge on Friday rejected Philip Morris International Inc.'s attempt to toss a deceptive business practices count in a lawsuit accusing the company of mislabeling Zyn nicotine pouches as "tobacco-free," disagreeing that the allegation is a relabeled fraud claim. 

  • December 12, 2025

    UPPAbaby Moves To Toss Suit Claiming Car Seat Defects

    The maker of UPPAbaby infant products urged a New Jersey federal judge on Thursday to toss a grandmother's proposed class action alleging that three of its infant car seat models are defective, saying the suit "piggybacks" on some parents' grievances about their children's discomfort.

  • December 12, 2025

    J&J Hit With $40M Verdict In Bellwether Talc Trial In LA

    A Los Angeles jury on Friday hit Johnson & Johnson with a $40 million verdict after a month-long bellwether trial, finding its talc products were a substantial factor in causing two women's ovarian cancer but declining to award punitive damages against J&J, which is facing thousands of talc claims nationwide.

  • December 12, 2025

    Starbucks Defends Ex-CFO In Investors' 'Triple Shot' Suit

    Starbucks Corp. is fighting shareholders' effort to reinstate claims against its former chief financial officer in a lawsuit they brought over the company's "Triple Shot" reinvention plan, arguing that a judge in Seattle correctly dismissed claims against the onetime executive. 

  • December 12, 2025

    NC Supreme Court Clarifies Tax On Prepaid Wireless

    A North Carolina cellphone retailer for Boost Mobile products is responsible for tax on prepaid wireless calling services, the state's highest court ruled Friday, though finding that when those services changed to take the form of cards with stored value, tax liability shifted to Boost.

  • December 12, 2025

    Dropped FTC Complaint: Pepsi Gave Walmart A 'Price Gap'

    The Federal Trade Commission's newly unsealed New York federal court complaint confirms that the agency had accused Pepsi of favoring Walmart, until the newly Republican-controlled FTC abandoned the lawsuit alleging the soda giant both gave Walmart discounts denied others and actively sought to raise Walmart's rivals' own prices.

  • December 12, 2025

    Merchant Orgs. Fight Latest Visa, Mastercard Swipe-Fee Deal

    The National Association of College Stores, Energy Markets of America and other industry groups objected Friday to a proposed new settlement between Visa, Mastercard and a class of potentially millions of merchants to resolve two decades of antitrust litigation, claiming the deal "does not come close to fixing the swipe fee challenges" faced by merchants.

  • December 12, 2025

    Zappos Hit With Wiretapping Suit Over Meta Info Disclosure

    A customer of online shoe and apparel retailer Zappos.com sued the company claiming it allowed Meta to eavesdrop on customer activity despite representing that their information was being safeguarded.

Expert Analysis

  • 2nd Circ. Peloton Ruling Emphasizes Disclosure Context

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    The Second Circuit’s recent decision to revive shareholders’ suit alleging that Peloton made materially misleading statements makes clear that public companies must continually review risk disclosures to determine if previous hypotheticals have materialized, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Series

    Mindfulness Meditation Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Mindful meditation enables me to drop the ego, and in helping me to keep sight of what’s important, permits me to learn from the other side and become a reliable counselor, says Roy Wyman at Bass Berry.

  • AI Litigation Tools Can Enhance Case Assessment, Strategy

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    Civil litigators can use artificial intelligence tools to strengthen case assessment and aid in early strategy development, as long as they address the risks and ethical considerations that accompany these uses, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • Attys Beware: Generative AI Can Also Hallucinate Metadata

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    In addition to the well-known problem of AI-generated hallucinations in legal documents, AI tools can also hallucinate metadata — threatening the integrity of discovery, the reliability of evidence and the ability to definitively identify the provenance of electronic documents, say attorneys at Law & Forensics.

  • When Atty Ethics Violations Give Rise To Causes Of Action

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    Though the Model Rules of Professional Conduct make clear that a violation of the rules does not automatically create a cause of action, attorneys should beware of a few scenarios in which they could face lawsuits for ethical lapses, says Brian Faughnan at Faughnan Law.

  • Privacy Lessons From FTC Settlement With Chinese Toymaker

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    In U.S. v. Apitor Technology, the Federal Trade Commission recently settled with a Chinese toy manufacturer that shared children's physical location with a third-party app provider, but the privacy lessons from the settlement extend beyond companies focusing on children's products, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • TikTok Divestiture Deal Revolves Around IP Considerations

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    The divestiture deal between the U.S. and China to resolve a security dispute over TikTok's U.S. operations is seen as a diplomatic breakthrough, but its success hinges on the treatment of intellectual property and may set a precedent in the global contest over digital sovereignty and IP control, say attorneys at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Series

    Practicing Stoicism Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Practicing Stoicism, by applying reason to ignore my emotions and govern my decisions, has enabled me to approach challenging situations in a structured way, ultimately providing advice singularly devoted to a client's interest, says John Baranello at Moses & Singer.

  • Series

    The Biz Court Digest: Texas, One Year In

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    A year after the Texas Business Court's first decision, it's clear that Texas didn't just copy Delaware and instead built something uniquely its own, combining specialization with constitutional accountability and creating a model that looks forward without losing touch with the state's democratic and statutory roots, says Chris Bankler at Jackson Walker.

  • AG Watch: Illinois A Key Player In State-Level Enforcement

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    Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul has systematically strengthened his office to fill federal enforcement gaps, oppose Trump administration mandates and advance state policy objectives, particularly by aggressively pursuing labor-related issues, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Educating Your Community

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    Nearly two decades prosecuting scammers and elder fraud taught me that proactively educating the public about the risks they face and the rights they possess is essential to building trust within our communities, empowering otherwise vulnerable citizens and preventing wrongdoers from gaining a foothold, says Roger Handberg at GrayRobinson.

  • How A 9th Circ. False Ad Ruling Could Shift Class Certification

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    The Ninth Circuit's July decision in Noohi v. Johnson & Johnson, holding that unexecuted damages models may suffice for purposes of class certification, has the potential to create judicial inefficiencies and crippling uncertainties for class action defendants, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

  • Strategies For Merchants As Payment Processing Costs Rise

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    As current economic pressures and rising card processing costs threaten to decrease margins for businesses, retail merchants should consider restructuring how payments are made and who processes them within the evolving legal framework, says Tom Witherspoon at Stinson.

  • What To Know About Interim Licenses In Global FRAND Cases

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    Recent U.K. court decisions have shaped a framework for interim licenses in global standard-essential patent disputes, under which parties can benefit from operating on temporary terms while a court determines the final fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms — but the future of this developing remedy is in doubt, say attorneys at Fish & Richardson.

  • 5 Crisis Lawyering Skills For An Age Of Uncertainty

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    As attorneys increasingly face unprecedented and pervasive situations — from prosecutions of law enforcement officials to executive orders targeting law firms — they must develop several essential competencies of effective crisis lawyering, says Ray Brescia at Albany Law School.

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