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July 25, 2024
Blue Bottle Won't Be Sanctioned Or Pay Atty Fees In TM Row
Blue Bottle won't be sanctioned nor ordered to pay $1.15 million in fees for losing its trademark suit against a company selling "Blue Brew" brand accessories, with a California federal judge ruling Wednesday that its infringement claims weren't frivolous and that its likelihood of confusion argument was "rooted in good faith."
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July 25, 2024
Google Wants To Keep 'Monopolistic Status Quo,' Epic Says
Epic Games assailed Google on Wednesday for overcomplicating and overpricing changes to the Play Store required by the gaming giant's antitrust jury win, arguing that what Google says are needed security and maintenance protocols are just the latest effort to relitigate the case and "weaken the remedy."
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July 25, 2024
Ninth Circ. Vacates, Remands BIA Sexual Misconduct Dispute
The Ninth Circuit vacated and remanded a lower court's ruling that the Bureau of Indian Affairs isn't liable for the actions of one of its officers who sexually assaulted a Northern Cheyenne woman, saying conflicting statements create a factual dispute regarding whether the officer was acting within the scope of his employment.
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July 25, 2024
Newsom Cites High Court In Ordering Encampments Cleared
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered state agencies to start removing homeless encampments on state property while providing outreach services to homeless residents following a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave governments broader authority to ban camping in public.
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July 25, 2024
Defense Teams' Solidarity Key In Hawaii DA's Acquittal
California federal prosecutors' bribery case against a prosecutor, a businessman and an outside counsel collapsed after no defendant turned state's evidence and one even testified for the defense, showing the value of presenting a unified front, the winning lawyers said.
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July 25, 2024
New Tree Co. Owners Can't Lodge Suit Over Defunct ESOP
Alerus Financial NA defeated a lawsuit claiming it unlawfully let the former owners of a tree care company take a large portion of the business's $34 million sale price, with a California federal judge saying the new owners can't sue on behalf of a defunct employee stock ownership plan.
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July 25, 2024
California Disses Chamber's Climate Compliance Attack
The state of California on Wednesday slammed the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's attempt to block the state's corporate climate disclosure rules before discovery opened in the Chamber's suit, arguing it should be allowed a chance to disprove the group's "vague and unsubstantiated" claims.
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July 25, 2024
Texas Judge Again Orders Transfer Of SpaceX NLRB Suit
A Texas federal judge again denied SpaceX's request that he reconsider an earlier decision transferring to California the company's challenge to the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board, reaffirming a May decision holding the company did not provide good reason to rethink the transfer.
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July 25, 2024
Solar Tech Co. Investor Drops Securities Action
An Enphase Energy Inc. shareholder told a California federal judge he's voluntarily dismissing a proposed class action alleging the energy technology company and its executives had failed to disclose slow growth trends.
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July 25, 2024
Justices Urged To Hear Red State Bid To End Climate Torts
Industry groups and conservative think tanks urged the U.S. Supreme Court to take up a novel request by 19 Republican-led states to nix climate change torts brought by rival state governments against fossil fuel companies, arguing the rival states' claims violate the constitutional bounds of state authority.
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July 25, 2024
Calif. Appeals Court Revives Roadside Attraction Challenges
A California state appeals court revived two suits targeting San Benito County approvals for a roadside attraction proposed to be built along Highway 101, holding that the Center for Biological Diversity and the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band filed timely challenges to the so-called Betabel Road project.
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July 25, 2024
GSK To Remove '100% Natural' Chapstick Labels To End Suit
A class of consumers is asking a California federal judge for approval of a settlement to end claims that chapstick made and sold by GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Holdings (US) LLC and Pfizer Inc. was deceptively marketed as "100% Natural."
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July 25, 2024
EPA OIG Says Texas, Calif. Pollution Sources Need Oversight
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has, since at least 2006, failed to keep tabs on air pollution sources in California and Texas that might require more stringent control measures, the EPA's internal watchdog said Wednesday.
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July 25, 2024
Public Counsel Promotes Longtime Civil Rights Atty To CEO
Public Counsel's newly named President and CEO Kathryn Eidmann went to law school focused on becoming a professor, wanting eventually to write academic works on access to justice and other legal issues. That all changed during her first clinic in law school, she told Law360 Pulse in an interview.
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July 25, 2024
Disney Can't Sink Fired 'Star Wars' Actor's Political Bias Suit
Disney and Lucasfilm must face a former "Star Wars" actor's lawsuit claiming she was unlawfully fired for sharing political views on social media, a California federal judge ruled, saying the companies hadn't shown that her statements impeded their artistic expression.
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July 25, 2024
The Biggest Copyright Decisions Of 2024: A Midyear Report
The justices ruled there's no time limit for how far back copyright plaintiffs can pursue infringement damages as long as their claims are timely, and an Ohio jury said video game developers didn't infringe a tattoo artist's works by depicting the images on basketball players. Here's a look at some of the most notable copyright decisions so far in 2024.
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July 25, 2024
Celeb Video Platform Cameo Fined $100K Over Paid Promos
Celebrity video platform Cameo will pay $100,000 as part of a 30-state settlement over claims it failed to inform customers that its advertising service for businesses involved paid promotions.
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July 25, 2024
Deals Rumor Mill: Wiz-Google, Daily Telegraph, Medline IPO
Cybersecurity startup Wiz has rebuffed a buyout offer from Google, former British finance minister Nadhim Zahawi is preparing a $773 million bid for the Daily Telegraph, and medical supplies giant Medline is preparing an initial public offering for 2025. Here, Law360 breaks down these and other notable deal rumors from the past week.
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July 25, 2024
Calif. Justices Rule Prop 22 Is Constitutional
The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the Proposition 22 statewide ballot measure from 2020 that exempts certain app-based drivers from the state's independent contractor classification law, a ruling that could have widespread consequences for the gig economy and driver litigation.
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July 24, 2024
FTC Chair Wary AI Tools Can Be Used For Corporate Collusion
Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan weighed in on a host of topics during a discussion Wednesday at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, expressing concerns about the agency's high legal bills for expert witnesses and describing AI price-setting tools as a potential loophole for collusion.
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July 24, 2024
Solicitor General Warns Against Feds 'Winning At All Costs'
U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar underscored the importance of the federal government ensuring justice is served and not "winning at all costs" during a keynote speech Wednesday at the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference, defending the DOJ's changed position in a high court case concerning a criminal defendant's right to a jury trial.
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July 24, 2024
PepsiCo, Frito-Lay Sued Over Flamin' Hot Cheetos Origin Story
A retired Frito-Lay executive previously touted as the inventor of Flamin' Hot Cheetos is suing the snack giant and its parent company PepsiCo in California state court for defamation and racial discrimination, claiming there's a "smear campaign" to discredit him that has derailed his motivational speaker career and a planned documentary.
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July 24, 2024
Feds Say They're Shielded From Family Separation Damages
The U.S. Department of Justice told a California federal judge on Wednesday that the federal government was immune from claims brought by families seeking damages for emotional trauma after being separated at the border under the Trump administration.
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July 24, 2024
SF DA Sued By Staffer Fired Over 'Panties' Reply-All Snafu
A San Francisco District Attorney's Office staffer who says he was fired after accidentally sending a risqué reply-all email at work has filed a state court lawsuit accusing his former boss and the county of defamation and standing in the way of his getting future employment.
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July 24, 2024
9th Circ. Wants Migrant's Credibility Reviewed After Atty Trick
A split Ninth Circuit panel has ordered an immigration judge to reconsider a Chinese asylum seeker's credibility, saying Wednesday that they incorrectly deemed her untruthful based on her flustered behavior after a government attorney gave her information that turned out to be false.
Expert Analysis
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Preparing For Possible Calif. Criminal Antitrust Enforcement
Though a recent announcement that the California Attorney General's Office will resume criminal prosecutions in support of its antitrust enforcement may be mere saber-rattling, companies and their counsel should nevertheless be prepared for interactions with the California AG's Antitrust Section that are not limited to civil liability issues, say Dylan Ballard and Lillian Sun at V&E.
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California Shows A Viable Way Forward For PFAS Testing
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has no good way of testing for the presence of specific per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances in food packaging — but a widely available test for a range of fluorine compounds that's now being used in California may offer a good solution, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.
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Unpacking The Complicated Question Of CIPA's Applicability
As the number of California Invasion of Privacy Act cases increases, more and more companies with little-to-no California presence are being hauled into California court, raising questions of when CIPA applies and to whom, says Matthew Pearson at BakerHostetler.
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Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent
Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.
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Antitrust Ruling Shows Limits Of US Law's Global Reach
Antitrust plaintiffs often cite the legislative history of the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act to support application of U.S. antitrust law to alleged injuries abroad, but as a California federal court recognized recently in Figaro v. Apple, the cited history does no such thing, say Daniel Swanson and Eli Lazarus at Gibson Dunn.
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New Concerns, Same Tune At This Year's SIFMA Conference
At this year's Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association conference on legal developments affecting the financial services industry, government regulators’ emphasis on whistleblowing and AI washing represented a new refrain in an increasingly familiar chorus calling for prompt and thorough corporate cooperation, say attorneys at Fried Frank.
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Calif. High Court Ruling Has Lessons For Waiving Jury Trials
The California Supreme Court’s recent decision in TriCoast Builders v. Fonnegra, denying relief to a contractor that had waived its right to a jury trial, shows that litigants should always post jury fees as soon as possible, and seek writ review if the court denies relief from a waiver, say Steven Fleischman and Nicolas Sonnenburg at Horvitz & Levy.
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SC Ruling Reinforces All Sums Coverage Trend
A South Carolina state court's recent ruling in Covil v. Pennsylvania National is the latest in a series of decisions, dating back to the 2016 New York Court of Appeals ruling in Viking Pump, that reject insurers' pro rata allocation argument, further supporting that all sums coverage is required whenever a loss could be covered under a policy in any other year, say Raymond Mascia and Thomas Dupont at Anderson Kill.
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What Rescheduling Could Mean For Cannabis Bankruptcies
Bankruptcy courts have historically been closed for cannabis-related businesses, but recent case law coupled with a possible reclassification of cannabis provides cautious optimism, say attorneys at Duane Morris.
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Opinion
DOJ Press Office Is Not Fulfilling Its Stated Mission
The U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs’ apparent practice of issuing press releases when someone is indicted or convicted, but not when a defendant prevails, undermines its stated mission to disseminate “current, complete and accurate” information, and has negative real-world ramifications, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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Opinion
Expanded Detention Will Not Solve Immigration Challenges
The recently defeated bipartisan border package included provisions that would increase funding for detention, a costly distraction from reforms like improved adjudication and legal representation that could address legitimate economic and public safety concerns at much lower cost, say Alexandra Dufresne and Kyle Wolf at Cornell University.
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Opinion
Neb. Justices Should Weigh IRC Terms In Dividend Tax Case
Nebraska’s highest court, which will hear oral arguments in Precision CastParts v. Department of Revenue on April 1, should recognize that the Internal Revenue Code provides key clues to defining “dividends received or deemed to be received,” and therefore limits Nebraska’s tax on foreign-sourced corporate income, says Joseph Schmidt at Ryan.
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What New Waste Management Laws Signal For The Future
Several states have enacted extended producer responsibility and recycling labeling laws that will take effect in the next few years and force manufacturers to take responsibility for the end of life of their products, so companies should closely follow compliance timelines and push to innovate in the area, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.
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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.