Telecommunications

April 21, 2025
FCC Commish Names GOP Strategist New Chief Of Staff

A Republican on the Federal Communications Commission has named a New York GOP strategist and media consultant as his new chief of staff and senior adviser.
April 21, 2025
Courts Equipped For Frivolous 'Quiet Hour' Suits, FCC Told

Courts can handle a flood of lawsuits claiming that plaintiffs received unwanted late-night phone calls without the Federal Communications Commission stepping in to decide if they're frivolous, consumer groups told the agency.
April 21, 2025
Microchip Co. Wants USPTO To Apply New Rules Retroactively

A California company behind a new kind of energy-efficient microchip says it's retained a former U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director in order to make the case that the agency's new rules over discretionary denials should be retroactively extended by seven days, in order to wipe out a partially successful patent challenge from a Chinese rival.
April 21, 2025
EFF Tells Fed. Circ. That 6th Circ. Case Aids Bid For IP Docs

A digital rights nonprofit says that a recent Sixth Circuit revival of a fight for documents in a securities suit against a private prison operator bolsters its own bid at the Federal Circuit to unseal documents in a since-concluded patent lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas.
April 21, 2025
T-Mobile Cites 5th Circ. Ruling In Challenge To $92M FCC Fine

T-Mobile and Sprint told the D.C. Circuit that another appeals court got it right when it vacated a $57 million Federal Communications Commission fine against AT&T, asking the D.C. court to take the same approach to commission penalties against them.
April 21, 2025
Former Knicks Player Takes A Shot At Sanctions Against MSG

Former New York Knicks player Charles Oakley has moved for spoliation sanctions against Madison Square Garden and its counsel for allegedly failing to preserve emails, text messages and other material related to his federal assault suit, accusing the venue's operators of having "conveniently lost a lot of information about this case."
April 21, 2025
Justices Won't Hear Patent Eligibility Ruling Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday decided to skip a case brought by a company that had lost a patent case against Amazon, declining the challenge asserting that courts routinely issue summary judgment rulings on patent eligibility, even if there are disputes of fact.
April 18, 2025
No Privilege For Litigation Funder In Netflix Case, Judge Says

A Virginia federal judge said Friday "it is clear" a Finnish executive cannot claim any kind of attorney-client privilege over his relationship with a litigation funder, after his former lawyer was accused of sharing confidential financial information about Netflix Inc. related to a failed patent case against the streaming service.
April 18, 2025
Qualcomm Judge Bemoans 'Inefficiency' In Patent Fights

A Florida federal judge has scheduled a third hearing on claim construction in a ParkerVision Inc. lawsuit against Qualcomm Inc. over wireless communications patents, while commenting about "the inefficiency of patent litigation."
April 18, 2025
Google May See Some Light In The Ad Tech Ruling

The ruling this week in the U.S. Department of Justice's ad tech monopolization case against Google was a major victory but not a total win for the government, and it raises questions about what the fix should be, especially with a trial looming over remedies in a separate case over search.
April 18, 2025
FCC Rejects Changes To 'Silkwave-2' Satellite Plan

The Federal Communications Commission has said no to a satellite operator's request to launch a new satellite after it promised that satellite would be space-bound before it retired a previous one but it didn't happen.
April 18, 2025
Colo. Says Telecom Fiber Installer Sued Too Soon

Whatever beef a telecom contractor has with the Colorado Department of Transportation, the venue for dealing with it is the dispute process the pair agreed on when the agency inked a deal for the company to carry out a fiber-optic installation for it, that agency told a state court.
April 18, 2025
Cybersecurity Ruling Misconstrues Law, FCC Told

Rural broadband companies are voicing opposition to a recent Federal Communications Commission decision requiring them to combat cybersecurity threats, saying the commission failed to consider the regulatory burden the new rules would impose on carriers.
April 18, 2025
5th Circ. Says FCC Can't Fine AT&T $57M Without Trial

The Fifth Circuit has wiped out the $57 million fine that the Federal Communications Commission slapped AT&T with after it and the other major mobile carriers were found to have been selling off people's location data, saying such a penalty without a jury trial was unconstitutional.
April 18, 2025
IP Notebook: AI Prompts, DMCA Battle, Squishmallows Scuffle

Welcome to IP Notebook, a recurring series that highlights disputes and legal developments that raise novel or crucial questions in the trademark and copyright space.
April 18, 2025
Tribal 'Window' For New Spectrum Licenses Defended At FCC

A pair of public interest groups asked Democrats on the Federal Communications Commission to support a tribal "window" allowing Native American bidders a chance to reserve licenses in a commercial spectrum band that's poised for FCC auction.
April 18, 2025
Charter Communications Ends Trade Secrets Suit With Ex-VP

Charter Communications Inc. has settled a trade secrets lawsuit it brought in Connecticut federal court against a former executive it accused of taking confidential information with him when he left for a job with Metronet, one of its competitors, according to a joint stipulation for dismissal.
April 18, 2025
Telecom Says Jarkesy Ruling Dashes FCC's $4.5M Fine

An Austin, Texas-based telecom sought Friday to shake a nearly $4.5 million fine by the Federal Communications Commission after the Fifth Circuit tossed an unrelated $57 million penalty against AT&T based on last year's high court ruling in SEC v. Jarkesy curtailing agency fines.
April 17, 2025
Sandberg Says FTC Market View Makes No Sense In Meta Case

Meta Platforms' former longtime board member and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg pushed back Thursday on crucial Federal Trade Commission arguments trying to shape the market the social media giant is accused of monopolizing, criticizing a friends and family definition the FTC is using to exclude TikTok as a competitor.
April 17, 2025
Wash. Justices Back Consumers In Old Navy Spam Email Suit

Washington's highest court said in a 5-4 ruling Thursday that the state's spam law bars commercial emails that include any false information in their subject lines, endorsing two consumers' broader interpretation of the statute in a proposed class action against Old Navy.
April 17, 2025
UK Says NY Convention Doesn't Kill Sovereign Immunity

Ratifying the New York Convention isn't enough to strip away a state's right to plead sovereign immunity in a later dispute over a contract that might be subject to the convention's rules, a London court has ruled.
April 17, 2025
Robocall Arb. Denied Despite Alleged Recording Of Consent

A federal judge declined to force a Tennessee man into arbitration in his suit accusing a health insurance brokerage of making illegal robocalls, ruling that the plaintiff had created enough doubt to get to trial.
April 17, 2025
Think Tank Urges FCC To Drop $4.5M Fine Against Telnyx

A think tank claimed Thursday the Federal Communications Commission went too far when floating a nearly $4.5 million fine against a telecom for alleged robocall violations and that due process concerns call for rescinding the penalty.
April 17, 2025
Globalstar Pushes For Feds' OK On Mobile Satellite Plan

Globalstar is pressing its bid for the Federal Communications Commission to approve its plan for a U.S. mobile satellite service using licensed spectrum in what's known as the "Big LEO" band.
April 17, 2025
Music Rights Orgs. Trade Barbs In Copyright Office Inquiry

The organizations responsible for getting musical artists their royalty payments sparred with each other in comments to the U.S. Copyright Office, with one legacy organization accusing newer entrants of insufficient transparency, and one of those competitors in turn alleging "anticompetitive practices" by the established players.

Expert Analysis

Overseas Investment Rule Calls For Compliance Caution

Investors should be leery of who and what they are investing in now that the federal outbound investment regime, effective Jan. 2, has extended the governement's regulatory reach to businesses and parties not previously subject to trade restrictions, says Thaddeus McBride at Bass Berry.
The 7th Circ.'s Top 10 Civil Opinions Of 2024

Attorneys at Jenner & Block examine the most significant decisions issued by the Seventh Circuit in 2024, and explain how they may affect issues related to mass arbitration, consumer fraud, class certification and more.
Mentorship Resolutions For The New Year

Attorneys tend to focus on personal achievements or career milestones when they set yearly goals, but one important area often gets overlooked in this process — mentoring relationships, which are some of the most effective tools for professional growth, say Kelly Galligan at Rutan & Tucker and Andra Greene at Phillips ADR.
Series

Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.
5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.
Managing Litigation Side-Switching During 2nd Trump Admin

Now that the new presidential administration is in place, the government will likely switch positions in a number of pending cases, and stakeholders should employ strategies to protect their interests, say attorneys at Covington.
3 Noteworthy Effects Of The 2025 NDAA

The 2025 defense budget includes further restrictions on semiconductor sales to Huawei, requiring companies to rethink customer-base oversight, but other provisions are likely to broaden procurement contract opportunities, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.
Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.
How DOGE's Bite Can Live Up To Its Bark

All signs suggest that the Department of Government Efficiency will be an important part of the new Trump administration, with ample tools at its disposal to effectuate change, particularly with an attentive Republican-controlled Congress, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
5 Notable Information Security Events In 2024

B. Stephanie Siegmann at Hinckley Allen discusses 2024's largest and most destructive data breaches seen yet, ranging from ransomware disrupting U.S. healthcare systems on a massive scale, to tensions increasing between the U.S. and China over cyberespionage and the control of U.S. data.
Series

Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.
Opinion

No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.
5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.
What To Expect From Federal Cybersecurity Policy In 2025

There are 12 cyber policy questions to keep an eye on as the new administration and Republican control of Congress present an opportunity to advance less regulatory approaches and revisit some choices from the prior administration, say attorneys at Wiley.
4 Trade Secret Developments To Follow This Year

Significant developments in trade secret law are likely in 2025, and areas to watch include protection of AI-related innovations, the fate of the Federal Trade Commission's noncompete ban, and questions of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act's extraterritorial reach, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.