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Technology
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April 19, 2024
Twitter Can't Sink Age Bias Suit Over Post-Musk Layoffs
A California federal judge has refused to throw out a former Twitter employee's proposed class action alleging that a wave of layoffs following Elon Musk's acquisition of the social media platform now called X disproportionately pushed out older workers, saying the suit had enough detail to stay in court.
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April 19, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen U.K. holiday resort chain Butlins target Aviva and a huddle of insurers, Meta and WhatsApp tackle a patents claim by telecommunications company Semitel, an ongoing construction dispute between Essex County Council and Balfour Beatty, and Formycon AG hit a pharmaceutical company for infringing medical products. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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April 18, 2024
Amazon Ignored Labor, IP Laws In AI 'Panic,' Ex-Worker Says
An artificial intelligence researcher suing Amazon for labor law violations says it disregarded numerous laws in a frantic attempt to catch up to its AI rivals, directing her to ignore copyright laws in developing its large language models and retaliating when her pregnancy leave coincided with a rival's product launch.
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April 18, 2024
USPTO Reveals Scaled-Back Plan For New Patent Board Rules
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office unveiled proposed Patent Trial and Appeal Board rules Thursday that would codify current policies on when multiple challenges to one patent are permitted and set a new briefing process about discretionary denials, which attorneys say should add clarity.
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April 18, 2024
Ex-Autonomy CEO Wanted Whistleblower Fired, Ex-GC Says
Former Autonomy CEO Michael Lynch thought a finance department whistleblower was "trying to destroy the company" and wanted him fired, the software company's former U.S. general counsel testified Thursday in a criminal fraud trial over claims Lynch conned HP into buying the British company at an inflated price of $11.7 billion.
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April 18, 2024
You Can't Get Fees Without Asking First, Judge Tells Dell
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright on Thursday declined to order a patent litigation plaintiff to pay attorney fees after bringing a failed patent suit, finding that Dell failed to file any motion requesting fees despite claiming the case was "frivolous" and "meritless" from the start.
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April 18, 2024
Satellite Broadband Co. Faces Investor Suit Over Project Delay
Satellite manufacturer AST SpaceMobile Inc. was hit with an investor suit accusing it of concealing supply issues that prevented the timely launch of a satellite fleet intended to provide broadband services, leading to a 24% share price decline when the issues were eventually disclosed.
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April 18, 2024
Samsung Gets PTAB To Sink Netlist Patent Claim
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has sided with Samsung's arguments that a claim in a patent owned by chipmaker Netlist wasn't valid, after the board already found that an earlier decade-old suit against Google didn't block Samsung's petition.
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April 18, 2024
Google Judge Notes Broad Reach Of Texas Ad Tech Claims
A Texas federal judge pressed Google during oral arguments Thursday to explain why a coalition of state attorneys general can't sue over its dominance in advertising placement auction technology when they're representing not just companies suing separately, but consumers as well.
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April 18, 2024
DOJ Tries To Quell Lawmakers' Concerns On FISA Bill
The U.S. Department of Justice is looking to allay privacy concerns on Capitol Hill raised over the proposed reauthorization of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, telling Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., and others in recent letters that domestic churches and media companies can't be targeted under a controversial amendment.
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April 18, 2024
School, Library Supporters Call FCC Wi-Fi Plan Cost Effective
A trio of school and library groups defended a Federal Communications Commission plan to fund Wi-Fi hot spots in education, saying the conservative Heritage Foundation mischaracterized the initiative as wasteful.
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April 18, 2024
AT&T, Pittsburgh Settle Dispute Over Cell Site Fees, Delays
The city of Pittsburgh has created a new fee schedule for small wireless communications facilities, which AT&T agreed will resolve the telecom firm's claims that the city effectively prevented its service expansion with its prior fee schedule, according to a joint stipulation filed in Pennsylvania federal court.
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April 18, 2024
AGs, Google Defend $700M Play Store Deal Ripped By Judge
A group of state attorneys general and Google defended the proposed $700 million settlement both sides brokered in the states' antitrust suit against the company in December, telling a San Francisco federal judge that the deal is consistent with Ninth Circuit precedent and releases only a limited set of claims against Google for a seven-year period.
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April 18, 2024
Software Co. Demoted Worker For Getting Pregnant, Suit Says
A former sales director has claimed the software company she worked for ran afoul of federal and state laws when it gave away her job while she was on maternity leave and put her in a more junior role when she returned, according to lawsuit filed in Connecticut federal court.
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April 18, 2024
Cybersecurity Startup Loses 2 Patents At PTAB
A small cybersecurity startup litigating in Virginia federal court against larger tech companies has failed to persuade the Patent Trial and Appeal Board not to invalidate the entirety of two patents covering ways of combating "evolving" online threats, among other things.
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April 18, 2024
Sale Offer Should Doom Jetaire IP Suit, Judge Says
A Florida federal magistrate judge has said aviation company AerSale should get a win on arguments that not only did it not infringe a trio of Jetaire patents, but also that the patents are invalid.
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April 18, 2024
FCC Probing Causes Of 911 Outage Across Four States
The Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it will investigate what caused widespread 911 outages in Nevada, Texas, South Dakota and Nebraska.
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April 18, 2024
GAO Rejects Another Protest Over $1B Medicare IT Deal
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has rejected another protest over an up to $1 billion Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services information technology deal, saying the agency fairly assessed Spatial Front Inc.'s proposal and didn't treat the company unequally.
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April 18, 2024
3rd Circ. Unclear If 'Session Replay' Web Code Directed At Pa.
A Third Circuit panel seemed torn Thursday over whether websites like those of Papa John's or Mattress Firm "directed conduct" at Pennsylvania when they ran "session replay" software to track users' visits and whether that gave courts in the Keystone State jurisdiction over users' claims that such tracking violated laws against wiretapping.
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April 18, 2024
23andMe Taps Dechert To Review CEO Buyout Proposal
A special committee of genetic testing company 23andMe has engaged Dechert LLP as its legal adviser and Wells Fargo as its financial adviser as it looks to review an anticipated buyout offer from its co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki, according to a statement Thursday.
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April 18, 2024
NY Appeals Court Revives AI Firm CLO's Claim For Pay
In a significant ruling for executives and professionals, a New York state appeals court has reversed the dismissal of key claims in a former chief legal officer's lawsuit alleging he wasn't paid all wages owed after his employment ended at artificial intelligence company Amelia US LLC.
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April 18, 2024
Biotech Co. NanoString Lands $393M Bid At Ch. 11 Auction
Scientific instrument maker Bruker Corp. is set to acquire insolvent biotechnology company NanoString for roughly $393 million in cash that would be used to repay creditors under the debtor's recently proposed Chapter 11 plan, a notice filed in Delaware's bankruptcy court shows.
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April 18, 2024
Amazon Strikes Deal, Staves Off Trial In Disability Bias Suit
Amazon reached a deal to end a suit from an ex-employee who accused the e-commerce giant of pushing him out because of a knee injury stemming from his military service, ahead of a trial slated to begin in May, according to a filing in California federal court.
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April 18, 2024
Former NetApp, Xerox Lawyer Joins McGuireWoods In NY
McGuireWoods LLP has hired the former in-house counsel of two Fortune 500 tech companies as a corporate technology and outsourcing team partner in New York, the firm said Thursday.
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April 18, 2024
3 Firms Advise French Software Firm Planisware's $257M IPO
French software company Planisware on Thursday launched its initial public offering on the Euronext Paris exchange with plans to raise around €241 million ($256.9 million), giving the company a valuation of €1.1 billion.
Expert Analysis
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HHS' Updated Tracking Tech Guidance Offers Little Clarity
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights' updated guidance on the use of online tracking technologies appears more focused on legal issues raised in ongoing litigation with the American Hospital Association and less on practical guidance for covered entities, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.
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Ready Or Not, Big Tech Should Expect CFPB Surveillance
In light of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's proposed plan to supervise large companies providing the vast majority of digital money transfers, not only will Big Tech have to prepare for regulation previously reserved for traditional banks, but the CFPB will also likely face some difficult decisions and obstacles, says Meredith Osborn at Arnold & Porter.
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3 Cybersecurity Takeaways From White House Tech Report
Tech companies and software developers should take stock of the Biden administration's push for improved cybersecurity in a recent White House report, especially given that the report lays new building blocks related to potential liability for developers, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Facts Differ But Same Rules Apply
Zachary Jacobson and Sarah Barney at Seyfarth examine two decisions illustrating that reliance on a technicality may not save an otherwise untimely appeal, and that enforcement of commercial terms and conditions under a federal supply schedule contract may be possible.
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Untangling The Legal Complexities Of Trade Secrets And AI
With broad adoption of generative artificial intelligence, some have suggested trade secret law is the best means for protecting innovations, but while this protection may apply to all forms of information, the breadth of coverage may make identifying the information and later misappropriation difficult, say Joshua Lerner and Nora Passamaneck at WilmerHale.
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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Examining The Arbitration Clause Landscape Amid Risks
Amid a new wave of mass arbitrations, recent developments in the courts and from the American Arbitration Association suggest that companies should improve arbitration clause drafting to protect themselves against big-ticket settlements and avoid major potential liability, say attorneys at Benesch.
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How Activision Ruling Favors M&A Formalities Over Practice
The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent nod to a proposed class action, alleging shareholder notice violations in Activision Blizzard’s sale to Microsoft, puts practitioners on notice that customary merger and acquisition market practices do not offer protection from potential liability, say John Stigi and Eugene Choi at Sheppard Mullin.
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Past CCPA Enforcement Sets Path For Compliance Efforts
The California Privacy Protection Agency and the California Attorney General's Office haven't skipped a beat in investigating potential noncompliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act, and six broad issues will continue to dominate the enforcement landscape and inform compliance strategy, say attorneys at Reed Smith.
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How Policymakers Can Preserve The Promise Of Global Trade
Global trade faces increasing challenges but could experience a resurgence if long-held approaches adjust and the U.S. accounts for factors that undermine free trade's continuing viability, such as regional trading blocs and the increasing speed of technological advancement, says David Jividen at White & Case.
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10 Areas To Watch In Aerospace And Defense Contracting Law
The near future holds a number of key areas to watch in aerospace and defense contracting law, ranging from dramatic developments in the space industry to recent National Defense Authorization Act updates, which are focused on U.S. leadership in emerging technologies, say Joseph Berger and Chip Purcell at Thompson Hine.
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Opinion
Proposed MDL Management Rule Needs Refining
Proponents of the recently proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16.1 believe it may enhance efficiency in multidistrict litigation proceedings if adopted, but there are serious concerns that it could actually hinder plaintiffs' access to justice through the courts — and there are fundamental flaws that deserve our attention, says Ashleigh Raso at Nigh Goldenberg.
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Meta Data Scraping Case Has Lessons For Platforms, AI Cos.
The California federal court ruling that artificial intelligence company Bright Data's scraping of public data from Meta social media sites does not constitute a breach of contract signals that platforms should review their terms of service and AI companies could face broad implications for their training of algorithms, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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How Harsher Penalties For AI Crimes May Work In Practice
With recent pronouncements from the U.S. Department of Justice that prosecutors may seek sentencing enhancements for crimes committed using artificial intelligence, defense counsel should understand how the sentencing guidelines and statutory factors will come into play, says Jennie VonCannon at Crowell & Moring.