Retail & E-Commerce

  • December 10, 2024

    Trader Joe's Seller Fumbled Burger Deal, Poultry Co. Says

    Pilgrim's Pride told a federal jury Tuesday it was not ultimately responsible when a grocery supplier used its bony chicken shipments to make burgers, arguing the vendor failed to inspect the meat for excessive bones, leading to eventual recalls and the end of its Trader Joe's deal.

  • December 10, 2024

    9th Circ. Upholds $850K Penalty In EPA Fine Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday upheld a $850,000 penalty against Multistar Industries Inc. for Clean Water Act violations related to chemical storage, saying it agrees with the Environmental Protection Agency's view that the company was not exempt from the rules for storing hazardous materials.

  • December 10, 2024

    5th Circ. Asks ATF Where To 'Draw The Line' In Trigger Ban

    A Fifth Circuit panel has pressed the government on how so-called "forced reset triggers" are different from bump stocks, asking where it was supposed to draw the line to determine whether the triggers turn semiautomatic firearms into federally banned machine guns.

  • December 10, 2024

    Ohio Justices Undo Paint-Maker's Lead Paint Coverage Win

    Insurers for Sherwin-Williams Co. don't have to cover the paint-maker's portion of a $305 million settlement to abate lead paint in California homes, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, finding the payment does not qualify as damages under its commercial general liability policies.

  • December 10, 2024

    Google Takes Aim At Ad Tech Antitrust Claims In States' Suit

    Google has blasted the lawsuit accusing it of illegally manipulating the advertising market, saying that Texas and the roughly dozen other states behind the litigation are "playing a shell game" in which they serially amend their complaints to "avoid the weaknesses of their antitrust claims."

  • December 10, 2024

    $24.6B Kroger-Albertsons Merger Blocked By 2 Judges

    Kroger's planned $24.6 billion purchase of Albertsons suffered double whammy blows Tuesday, first from an Oregon federal judge who temporarily blocked the deal in a Federal Trade Commission challenge, and then from a Washington state judge who sided with the state's attorney general and issued a permanent, national block.

  • December 10, 2024

    NY Appealing Judge's Dismissal Of Plastic Pollution Suit

    New York Attorney General Letitia James is appealing a harshly worded ruling that dismissed her suit against PepsiCo Inc. and its Frito-Lay subsidiary over plastic pollution on the Buffalo River.

  • December 10, 2024

    Atty Recommended For Sanctions After 'Bad Faith' Filings

    A Florida magistrate judge has recommended sanctioning an attorney representing a franchisee in a contract dispute with CBD American Shaman LLC, saying his duplicate filings — including four motions to reconsider a single order — amount to bad faith.

  • December 09, 2024

    9th Circ. Tosses Regal Cinemas' COVID Coverage Suit

    Regal Cinemas cannot get coverage for its losses stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ninth Circuit ruled Monday, finding that a decision from New York's top court, along with a contamination exclusion, doomed any chance of coverage under the theater chain's policies with units of Allianz, Liberty Mutual and Zurich.

  • December 09, 2024

    O'Melveny Faces DQ Effort In Hyundai TM Dispute

    An attorney defending computing company Hyundai Technology in its trademark dispute with Hyundai Motor Co. told a California federal judge Monday that O'Melveny & Myers LLP should be disqualified from representing the automotive giant because it retained and used a privileged document that was inadvertently shared in discovery.

  • December 09, 2024

    Judge Eyes Far Less Trial Time In Meta Case Than FTC Wants

    The Federal Trade Commission likely has to cram much more trial in much less time than it had planned after a D.C. federal judge suggested Monday that the agency's social media monopolization case against Meta Platforms Inc. can't go much past the first week of June 2025.

  • December 09, 2024

    LendingTree Pushes FCC Again To Rework Lead Consent Rule

    Loan marketer LendingTree is making one more effort to persuade the Federal Communications Commission to trim the scope of its lead generation consent rule in hopes of seeing changes before the regulations take effect in January.

  • December 09, 2024

    Amazon Says FTC Lacks Authority To Bring Antitrust Case

    Amazon has told a Washington federal court that the Federal Trade Commission is overstepping its authority by bringing its antitrust case directly in court without pursuing an in-house case targeting the e-commerce giant's treatment of sellers on its platform.

  • December 09, 2024

    2nd Circ. Compares Trader Joe's Execs' COVID Trips For Bias

    The way that Trader Joe's treated a similarly situated male employee is critical to the success of a sex discrimination lawsuit brought by a female ex-vice president who was fired after taking a vacation in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, judges of the Second Circuit suggested Monday.

  • December 09, 2024

    Bed Bath & Beyond Irons Out 401(k) Fee Suit Deal

    Bed Bath & Beyond has agreed to settle a suit from workers alleging mismanagement of an employee 401(k) plan, according to a joint filing from the parties entered Monday in New Jersey federal court.

  • December 09, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Backs Priceline, Booking's Patent Case Win

    The Federal Circuit on Monday backed a Delaware federal court's ruling that Priceline.com LLC and Booking.com did not infringe an e-commerce patent, agreeing with how a judge construed key claim terms.

  • December 09, 2024

    Pa. Fudge Maker Seeks Atty Fees In 'Moonshine' TM Fight

    Even though a Pennsylvania jury had found that Local Yokels Fudge and Christopher Warman's ex-wife had copied his secret "Chocolate Moonshine" fudge recipe, the defendants want Warman to pay some of their legal bills because they say he made frivolous trademark claims and falsely claimed they were still using the recipe after the 2023 trial.

  • December 09, 2024

    NJ Says Sherwin-Williams' Bid To Stay Pollution Suit Too Late

    New Jersey has pushed back against a bid from Sherwin-Williams to pause a suit from Garden State regulators over the contamination at one of its former plants, arguing that the stay request should have been filed months ago.

  • December 09, 2024

    Judge Axes $33M Suit Challenging Feds' Wildfire Response

    An Oregon federal judge has dismissed a suit by two lumber companies claiming that the U.S. Forest Service failed to properly fight a wildfire in the Willamette National Forest, holding that the agency's decisions are shielded under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

  • December 09, 2024

    Barington And Thor Invest In Macy's, Push For New Direction

    Barington Capital Group LP and Thor Equities LLC said Monday they've taken a position in Macy's as they pushed the storied retailer to make strategic changes to help "improve shareholder value," while Macy's acknowledged the development and disclosed it was being counseled by Wachtell Lipton Rosen & Katz on the matter.

  • December 09, 2024

    NC Hemp Store Owners Say Raids Targeted Their Race

    North Carolina sheriff's deputies allegedly "ransacked" and robbed two hemp stores and harassed their Middle Eastern owners in an effort to run them out of their community despite the businesses being legal, according to a new complaint filed in federal court.

  • December 09, 2024

    Paul Hastings, Paul Weiss Lead $6.7B Pactiv Evergreen Sale

    Packaging products maker Novolex, advised by Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP, on Monday announced that it will combine with food merchandising product manufacturer Pactiv Evergreen, led by Paul Hastings LLP, in a $6.7 billion take-private deal that is backed by private equity funds.

  • December 06, 2024

    USDA Orders Raw Milk Be Tested For Bird Flu

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday issued a federal order requiring raw milk across the country to be tested as part of an effort to control and stop the spread of bird flu.

  • December 06, 2024

    Neb. Tribe Asks US High Court To Undo Tobacco Sales Ruling

    A Nebraska tribe's tobacco companies are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an Eighth Circuit ruling that held the state can regulate a tribally owned manufacturer's sales of cigarettes to Indigenous-owned distributors, arguing that Native American nations' ability to conduct their own affairs within their own borders is at stake.

  • December 06, 2024

    Judge Denies Publix Bid To Appeal Opioid Coverage Ruling

    A Florida federal judge on Friday rejected Publix's request for a judgment that would have allowed it to immediately appeal a decision that said seven of its insurance policies didn't provide coverage for opioid lawsuits the grocery chain is facing.

Expert Analysis

  • What 4 Cyber Protection Actions Mean For Marine Transport

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    Several recent steps by the Biden administration are necessary to address the cyber threats that increasingly disrupt the maritime sector, but also impose new legal risks, liabilities and operating costs on the owners and operators of U.S.-flagged vessels and facilities, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Inside Antitrust Agencies' Rollup And Serial Acquisition Moves

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    The recent request for public comments on serial acquisitions and rollup strategies from the Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Justice Department mark the antitrust agencies' continued focus on actions that fall below premerger reporting thresholds, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Always Be Closing

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    When a lawyer presents their case with the right propulsive structure throughout trial, there is little need for further argument after the close of evidence — and in fact, rehashing it all may test jurors’ patience — so attorneys should consider other strategies for closing arguments, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Rare Robinson-Patman Ruling Exhibits Key Antitrust Risk

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    A rare federal court decision under the Robinson-Patman Act, which prohibits certain kinds of price discrimination, highlights the antitrust risks faced by certain suppliers and is likely to be cited by future plaintiffs and enforcement officials calling for renewed scrutiny of pricing and discounting practices, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Counterfeits At The Olympics Pose IP Challenges

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    With the 2024 Olympic Games quickly approaching, the proliferation of counterfeit Olympic merchandise poses a difficult challenge to the protection of intellectual property rights and the preservation of the Olympic brand's integrity, says Kimiya Shams at Devialet.

  • Series

    Playing Chess Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    There are many ways that chess skills translate directly into lawyer skills, but for me, the bigger career lessons go beyond the direct parallels — playing chess has shown me the value of seeing gradual improvement in and focusing deep concentration on a nonwork endeavor, says attorney Steven Fink.

  • Crafting An Effective Workplace AI Policy After DOL Guidance

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    Employers should take proactive steps to minimize their liability risk after the U.S. Department of Labor released artificial intelligence guidance principles on May 16, reflecting the reality that companies must begin putting into place policies that will dictate their expectations for how employees will use AI, say David Disler and Courtnie Bolden at ​​​​​​​Porzio Bromberg.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Attys Can Be Heroic Like Olympians

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    Although litigation won’t earn anyone an Olympic medal in Paris this summer, it can be worthy of the same lasting honor if attorneys exercise focused restraint — seeking both their clients’ interests and those of the court — instead of merely pursuing every advantage short of sanctionable conduct, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • Momofuku Chili War May Chill Common Phrase TM Apps

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    Momofuku’s recent trademark battle over the “Chili Crunch” mark shows that over-enforcement when protecting exclusivity rights may backfire not just in the public eye, but with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as well, says Anthony Panebianco at Davis Malm.

  • Unlocking Blockchain Opportunities Amid Legal Uncertainty

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    Dozens of laws and legal precedents will come into the fore as Web3, metaverse and non-fungible tokens gain momentum, so organizations need to design their programs with a broader view of potential exposures — and opportunities, say Teresa Goody Guillén and Robert Musiala at BakerHostetler and Steve McNew at FTI Consulting.

  • 4 Ways Businesses Can Address Threat Of Mass Arbitration

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    Attorneys at DLA Piper examine the rise of mass arbitration in light of JAMS' new procedures and guidelines, and provide four steps e-commerce businesses can take when revising their dispute resolution provisions to maximize the chances those revisions will be held enforceable.

  • How Cannabis Rescheduling May Alter Paraphernalia Imports

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    The Biden administration's recent proposal to loosen federal restrictions on marijuana use raises questions about how U.S. Customs and Border Protection enforcement policies may shift when it comes to enforcing a separate federal ban on marijuana accessory imports, says R. Kevin Williams at Clark Hill.

  • Trademark In Artistic Works 1 Year After Jack Daniel's

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    In the year since the U.S. Supreme Court's Jack Daniel's v. VIP Products ruling, courts have applied Jack Daniel's inconsistently to deny First Amendment protection to artistic works, providing guidance for dismissing trademark claims relating to film and TV titles, say Hardy Ehlers and Neema Sahni at Covington.

  • Live Nation May Shake It Off In A Long Game With The DOJ

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    Don't expect a swift resolution in the U.S. Department of Justice's case against Live Nation, but a long litigation, with the company likely to represent itself as the creator of a competitive ecosystem, and the government faced with explaining how the ticketing giant formed under its watch, say Thomas Kliebhan and Taylor Hixon at GRSM50.

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