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June 13, 2024
IP Forecast: Cooley Atty Faces DQ Bid Over Past Patent Work
A prominent Cooley LLP lawyer will face questions next week in a Philadelphia courtroom over her work a decade ago at her former firm defending a cloud software startup that is now suing a Cooley client. Here's a spotlight on that case — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.
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June 13, 2024
Mich. Co. Claims Mexico Owes $2.7B For Illegal Land Grab
A Michigan consumer products manufacturer has asked an international tribunal to order Mexico to pay it $2.7 billion, saying the country wrongfully seized 700 acres of the company's agricultural land in the Mexican state of Jalisco.
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June 13, 2024
Equipment Maker Looks To Chill Ice Creamery's Use Of Its IP
A company that holds a patent for making ice cream using cryogenics has accused a Florida franchisor of falsely claiming to operate under a patent, saying in Washington federal court that the dessert purveyor has even been charging franchisees an "intellectual property fee."
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June 13, 2024
Wawa Beats Suit By Man Who Lost Leg In Crash Outside Store
A New Jersey appellate court handed a victory to Wawa on Thursday, ruling that the convenience store didn't own the area outside the store where a customer lost his leg in a car accident while jaywalking and thus was not liable.
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June 13, 2024
Subway Can't Nix Arb. Award To Family Of Murdered Worker
A Texas appellate panel on Wednesday declined to vacate an arbitration award to the family of a woman killed while working at Subway after rejecting Subway's argument the neutral arbitrator's Facebook posts complaining about State Farm and its attorneys are evidence of bias, finding neither are involved in the underlying case in any way.
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June 13, 2024
Payroll Records Doom Restaurant's Bid For H-2B Bartenders
A U.S. Department of Labor judge has refused to let a Maryland business hire eight foreign bartenders, saying payroll information undermined claims that the business was experiencing surging demand between the spring and fall.
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June 13, 2024
New Evidence Triggers Amended Misclassification Complaint
Growers accusing a chicken farm of misclassifying them as independent contractors can amend their suit, a South Carolina federal judge ruled Thursday, agreeing that new evidence they obtained could expand the suit's reach.
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June 13, 2024
Hemp Co. Sues SD Gov. Over New Cannabinoid Law
A South Dakota hemp company on Thursday filed a federal lawsuit against the state's governor and attorney general over a new law due to take effect next month that would ban the processing of hemp derivatives into intoxicating products.
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June 13, 2024
Brewpub Reaches $115K Deal To Exit EEOC Retaliation Suit
A restaurant and brewery agreed Thursday to pay $115,000 to resolve a lawsuit from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accusing it of firing a Black cook for flagging verbal abuse of Black and Hispanic employees in the workplace, according to a filing in Georgia federal court.
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June 13, 2024
4th Circ. Revives Bacardi Fight Over Expired TM Renewal
The Fourth Circuit on Thursday revived Bacardi's lawsuit challenging the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision to renew an expired trademark registration for Havana Club rum, finding such registration renewals can be reviewed by the courts.
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June 13, 2024
Tribes Fight BC's Consultation Policy On Aboriginal Rights
Indigenous nations along British Columbia's U.S. border want a say in projects they claim will threaten the environment and their quality of life after the Canadian province announced plans earlier this year to develop a policy to clarify how tribes located outside the country are consulted on such endeavors.
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June 13, 2024
Starbucks Must Share Hot-Drink Training Info In Burn Suit
Starbucks must turn over information on how it trains employees to handle hot drinks at drive-throughs and on recent complaints received in the Detroit area, a Michigan federal judge said Thursday after finding the information is relevant to a customer's suit alleging she was severely burned when a lid popped off her hot tea cup.
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June 13, 2024
Perdue Wants Copycat Wage Suit Tossed or Transferred
Perdue Foods asked a Maryland federal judge Thursday to throw out or transfer to Georgia a chicken grower's suit alleging independent contractor misclassification, saying the claims are identical to another suit in that state the named plaintiff was involved with.
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June 13, 2024
Mass. High Court Approves Tipped Wage Ballot Measure
Massachusetts' highest court on Thursday gave its blessing to a November ballot question asking voters to increase the state's minimum wage for tipped workers, finding that pairing the measure with a provision to allow tip pooling is part of an overall public policy goal to boost wages for all service industry employees.
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June 13, 2024
Brazilian Food Chain Co. SouthRock Files Ch. 15 In Texas
SouthRock Capital Ltda., a Brazilian private equity company that operates international food service brands including Starbucks and TGI Friday, filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in Texas, blaming its insolvency on the COVID-19 pandemic and volatility in Brazil's economy.
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June 13, 2024
Supreme Court Tightens NLRB Injunction Test
The U.S. Supreme Court made it tougher for the National Labor Relations Board to win injunctions against employers Thursday in a case involving Starbucks, directing courts to strictly apply a four-factor test when the board sues to stem alleged unfair labor practices.
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June 12, 2024
NFL Exec Denies League Fixed Sunday Ticket Price At Trial
One of the NFL's top executives denied on the witness stand Wednesday in a California federal courtroom that the league dictated the cost of the DirecTV Sunday Ticket package, pushing back when an attorney for subscribers bringing multibillion-dollar antitrust claims suggested some internal emails are evidence the league fixed the price.
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June 12, 2024
Oil Cos. Ignore Precedent In Climate Change Row, Tribes Say
Two Washington tribes seeking to remand their consolidated cases against several oil industry giants to state court say the defendants' arguments of complete preemption in their efforts to keep the climate change litigation in the federal circuit misconstrues precedent, including claims to vindicate aboriginal title.
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June 12, 2024
Something Fishy With Conagra's '100% Whole Fish,' Suit Says
Customers alleged in Illinois federal court Tuesday that Conagra misled them by marketing its popular Van de Kamp's and Mrs. Paul's frozen fish products as "100% whole fish," despite artificially adding weight to those fish with an industrial filler and extra water.
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June 12, 2024
$18.8M Theft Coverage Suit Must Be Heard In State Court
A Texas federal judge ruled that a lawsuit brought against an insurer over $18.8 million in theft and vandalism at a Georgia shopping center belongs in state court, refusing to create diversity by removing a plaintiff.
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June 12, 2024
Conn. Eatery Owners Threatened To Kill Ex-Worker, DOL Says
A Connecticut restaurant group and its leaders ordered workers to lie to federal investigators during a wage and hour probe and threatened to kill an ex-worker for helping the U.S. Department of Labor, the agency said in a complaint filed in federal court.
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June 12, 2024
Ex-Wendy's Worker Drops Suit Over Breast-Pumping Space
A former Wendy's employee who accused the company and multiple related entities of failing to provide proper private space for workers to pump breast milk despite federal labor laws requiring them to do so has permanently dropped her claims from Ohio federal court.
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June 12, 2024
Massachusetts Pot Shop To Take Union Fight To 1st Circ.
A Massachusetts cannabis retailer found to have engaged in union busting is appealing a district court order that directed it to bargain with a United Food and Commercial Workers local and to offer to rehire two fired union supporters.
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June 12, 2024
Magistrate Endorses Axing OT Suit But Allowing 2nd Chance
A federal magistrate judge advised tossing an unpaid overtime lawsuit against a California cold storage company that specializes in packing agricultural goods, but said the worker should have an opportunity to flesh out their claims.
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June 11, 2024
NFL Sunday Ticket Monopoly Cost Fans $7B, Expert Testifies
An economist testifying as an expert for the plaintiffs in a California federal trial over multibillion-dollar antitrust claims brought against the NFL by DirecTV Sunday Ticket subscribers said Tuesday that subscribers suffered over $7 billion in damages from DirecTV's alleged monopoly on the television package.
Expert Analysis
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EU Ruling Exposes Sovereignty Fissures In Int'l Arbitration
The European Court of Justice's recent ruling that the U.K. had breached EU law by allowing an arbitral award to proceed underscores the diminished influence of EU jurisprudence in the U.K., hinting at the EU courts' increasingly nominal sway in international arbitration within jurisdictions that prize legal autonomy, says Josep Galvez at 4-5 Gray’s Inn.
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The Merger Cases That Will Matter At ABA Antitrust Meeting
While the American Bar Association's Antitrust Spring Meeting this week will cover all types of competition law issues in the U.S. and abroad, expect the federal agencies' recent track record in merger enforcement to be a key area of focus on the official panels and in cocktail party chatter, say attorneys at Freshfields.
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Series
Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.
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9th Circ. TM Ruling Expands Courts' Role In Application Cases
The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in BBK Tobacco v. Central Coast Agriculture is the first time a federal appeals court has explicitly authorized district courts to adjudicate pending trademark applications, marking a potentially significant expansion of federal courts' power, says Saul Cohen at Kelly IP.
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For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill
A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.
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Opinion
Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea
A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.
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4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best
As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.
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Series
Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer
Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.
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Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown
While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.
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Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs
Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.
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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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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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Take AG James' Suit Over Enviro Claims As A Warning
New York Attorney General Letitia James' recent suit against JBS USA Food Co. over allegedly misleading claims about its goal to reach net zero by 2040 indicates that challenges to green claims are likely to continue, and that companies should think twice about ignoring National Advertising Division recommendations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.
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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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Judge-Shopping Policy Revisal May Make Issue Worse
The Judicial Conference at its March meeting unveiled a revised policy with the stated goal of limiting litigants’ ability to judge-shop in patent cases, but the policy may actually exacerbate the problem by tying the issue to judge-shopping in polarizing political cases, making reform more difficult, say Robert Niemeier and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.