Retail & E-Commerce

  • September 30, 2024

    Licensed DC Pot Shops Take Aim At Illicit Stores

    A new lawsuit in D.C. federal court is taking aim at allegedly "unlicensed and illegal cannabis dispensaries" in the district, saying the unregulated market is squeezing out legal businesses.

  • September 30, 2024

    Speedway Workers' BIPA Suit Headed To Trial

    An Illinois federal judge said Sunday that Speedway must defend itself at trial against a now-certified class of employees who say the gas station chain required employees to scan their fingerprints to clock in to and out of work for years without ever obtaining their informed consent. 

  • September 30, 2024

    Bed Bath & Beyond Investors Lose Bid For Class Cert.

    A D.C. federal judge has refused to certify a class of Bed Bath & Beyond investors in a suit alleging they were misled by company executives, saying that while the investors met many certification requirements, certification cannot be granted because the market for the company's stock was not efficient during the proposed class period.

  • September 30, 2024

    Calif. Gov. Signs Bill To Allow Cannabis Cafes

    California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday approved a bill that would pave the way for cannabis retailers to sell food and drink for on-site consumption — akin to the cannabis cafes found in Amsterdam — as well as host live events on their premises.

  • September 30, 2024

    Popwallet Shareholders Sue Buyer Snap Inc. After Stock-Drop

    Stockholders of virtual payment wallet startup Popwallet Inc. have sued tech company Snap Inc. for fraud and equitable fraud in Delaware's Court of Chancery, accusing Snap of withholding deeply negative news about its own business until after closing on a mostly paid-in-stock merger in late 2021.

  • September 30, 2024

    Alaska Seeks Toss Of Challenge To New Hemp Regulations

    The state of Alaska is asking a federal court to throw out a bid by a hemp industry group to block enforcement of regulations prohibiting the sale of intoxicating hemp products, saying the regulations are not preempted by federal law.

  • September 30, 2024

    Epic Accuses Samsung Of Helping Google Block App Fix

    Epic Games filed a new federal lawsuit Monday against Google and Samsung, alleging the search giant and the phonemaker have teamed up "to preemptively undermine" a looming order forcing Google to permit competition with its Play Store.

  • September 27, 2024

    Corporate Raider Accused Of Shirking $180M SEC Judgment

    Corporate takeover specialist Paul A. Bilzerian, accused of ducking a more than $180 million judgment owed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for decades, was indicted alongside his longtime accountant and his cannabis company on Thursday, California federal prosecutors said Friday.

  • September 27, 2024

    SEC Says Ex-Chewy Exec Inside Traded On Pet Insurer Deal

    A former executive at pet supply company Chewy agreed Friday to pay more than $35,000 to settle charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that he traded on inside information about the company's plans to announce a deal with a pet insurance company.

  • September 27, 2024

    Apple, Visa And Mastercard Want Out Of 'Tap Pay' Fee Suit

    Apple, Visa and Mastercard on Thursday urged an Illinois federal court to toss several retailers' proposed antitrust class action accusing the three of conspiring to restrain competition in point-of-sale transaction payment networks, saying in separate motions that allegedly unlawful agreements they entered "expressly preserve" Apple's right to compete.

  • September 27, 2024

    Constitution Permits Blocked Anti-Laundering Law, Panel Told

    The U.S. government urged the Eleventh Circuit on Friday to reinstate the Corporate Transparency Act passed in 2021, arguing that the anti-money laundering law is within Congress' powers to regulate economic activity and necessary to have businesses report beneficial ownership to combat crimes like tax evasion and terrorist financing.

  • September 27, 2024

    Juul Stockholder Class Sues In Del. Over Controller Windfall

    Two stockholders of e-cigarette venture Juul Labs Inc. sued the company's controllers and board on Friday in a proposed class derivative action seeking damages for an alleged top stockholder scheme to avoid huge liabilities under terms said to have cost the company billions.

  • September 27, 2024

    Washington Judge Refuses To Halt State Assault Weapon Ban

    A Washington federal judge has declined to pause enforcement of an Evergreen State ban on the sale of assault weapons, ruling the Olympian shooter and gun sellers challenging the law had failed to show such weapons are commonly used for self-defense and thus protected by the Second Amendment.

  • September 27, 2024

    CFTC Accuses Firms Of $3.6M Retail Forex Fraud

    The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday targeted a commodity trading platform the regulator alleged was behind a scheme that scammed $3.6 million from Asian American customers who thought they were investing in retail foreign exchange and commodity futures contracts.

  • September 27, 2024

    Hemp Org., Cheech & Chong Take Aim At New Calif. THC Ban

    A leading hemp industry trade organization has teamed up with the cannabis brand fronted by stoner comedians Cheech and Chong to challenge new emergency regulations in California that ban the sale of hemp products containing the psychoactive cannabinoid THC.

  • September 27, 2024

    NC Biz Court Trims Pot Farm Fight With 'Amazon Of Hemp'

    An online hemp retailer has narrowed a North Carolina farm's lawsuit alleging the retailer doctored its THC reports before listing the farm's products for sale online, with a state Business Court judge finding they aren't competitors and the farm otherwise failed to show the retailer tried to pass off the hemp producer's products as its own.

  • September 27, 2024

    Why Many Drugs Remain Pricey 40 Years After Hatch-Waxman

    In the four decades since Congress passed the Hatch-Waxman Act in an effort to make generic drugs more available, the pharmaceutical industry has used patent thickets, "evergreening" and pay-for-delay tactics to block competition and keep prices of life-saving specialty drugs astronomical, several legal experts told Law360, while the industry argues other parties shoulder more of the blame.

  • September 27, 2024

    50-Year-Old Lobs Age Bias Suit At Sporting Products Co

    A 50-year-old Amer Sports recreational gear salesman alleges the Chinese investors who purchased the company passed him up for leadership roles despite his decades of experience and excellent performance, and then fired him when he complained about age discrimination.

  • September 27, 2024

    L'Oréal Can't Turn Off Try-On Tool BIPA Suit

    An Illinois federal judge on Friday refused to dismiss a proposed class action accusing L'Oréal USA of violating Illinois' biometric privacy law with its virtual try-on tool, saying the beauty giant failed to give the plaintiff constructive notice of its arbitration terms and that she'd done enough at this stage to plausibly allege it collected her biometric identifiers.

  • September 27, 2024

    NY Court Won't Transfer DOJ's Live Nation Antitrust Case

    The New York federal judge overseeing the government's antitrust case against Live Nation said Friday he will not transfer the action to Washington, D.C., where a court handled a settlement clearing the concert promotion giant's 2010 purchase of Ticketmaster.

  • September 27, 2024

    Nike's Conduct In TM Battle Warrants Atty Fees, Report Says

    Sportswear giant Nike Inc.'s behavior and threats against a Pennsylvania apparel company during a trademark dispute are severe enough to support ordering Nike to pay attorney fees, a special master has said.

  • September 27, 2024

    Womble Bond Adds Holland & Knight Business Litigator

    Womble Bond Dickinson has added a former Holland & Knight LLP business litigation partner to its office in Nashville who before his more than 20-year legal career was a U.S. Navy lieutenant on the USS Gettysburg, the firm announced Thursday.

  • September 27, 2024

    'No Question' Google Faces Ad Tech Competition, Judge Says

    The Virginia federal judge weighing the fate of Google's display advertising placement technology signaled potential trouble for the Justice Department on Friday, during a dramatic last day of the bench trial where she suggested the market is as competitive as the search giant maintains.

  • September 27, 2024

    Philip Morris Says Nicotine Pouch Suit Is Preempted

    Philip Morris International Inc. and a subsidiary are urging a Connecticut federal judge to throw out claims that they falsely advertised nicotine pouches as safe and healthy and marketed them to adolescents, saying the claims are preempted by federal law.

  • September 26, 2024

    Google Lacks Power To Dictate Market, Ad Tech Judge Told

    Google's lead expert witness described an online advertising placement technology industry rife with competition Thursday, telling a Virginia federal judge that the U.S. Justice Department's monopolization allegations exclude key competitors from an improperly defined market.

Expert Analysis

  • Commerce Proposal Could Ease Trade Remedy Administration

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    Recently proposed international trade enforcement regulations could help the U.S. Department of Commerce more easily administer antidumping and countervailing duty remedies, in turn maximizing relief to American companies adversely affected by unfair trade, says Natan Tubman at Buchanan Ingersoll.

  • Rise Of Transpo Contractors Brings Insurance Disputes

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    As more independent contractors are contracted and subcontracted in the delivery industry, companies must be prepared to defend claims from drivers who are injured on the job as they are often seeking to establish an employment relationship with one of the entities in the chain, says Nathan Milner at Goldberg Segalla.

  • 'Greenhushing': Why Some Cos. Are Keeping Quiet On ESG

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    A wave of ESG-related litigation and regulations have led some companies to retreat altogether from any public statements about their ESG goals, a trend known as "greenhushing" that was at the center of a recent D.C. court decision involving Coca-Cola, say Gonzalo Mon and Katie Rogers at Kelley Drye.

  • Co-Tenancy Clause Pointers For Shopping Center Landlords

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    Large retail tenants often require co-tenancy provisions in their leases, entitling them to remedies if a shopping center's occupancy drops in certain ways, but landlords must draft these provisions carefully to avoid giving tenants too much control, says Gary Glick at Cox Castle.

  • Complying With FTC's Final Rule On Sham Online Reviews

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    The Federal Trade Commission's final rule on deceptive acts and practices in online reviews and testimonials is effective Oct. 21, and some practice tips can help businesses avert noncompliance risks, say Airina Rodrigues and Jonathan Sandler at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Assessing Algorithmic Versus Generative AI Pricing Tools

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    A comparison of traditional algorithmic pricing models and those powered by generative artificial intelligence can help regulators and practitioners weigh the pros and cons of relying on large language models to price products or services, say Maxime Cohen at McGill University, and Tim Spittle and Jimmy Royer at Analysis Group.

  • 3 Patent Considerations For America's New Quantum Hub

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    Recent developments signal an incredibly bright future for Chicago as the new home of quantum computing, and it is crucial that these innovators — whose technology has the potential to transform many industries — prioritize intellectual property strategy, says Andrew Velzen at McDonnell Boehnen.

  • Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls

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    Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How Companies Are Approaching Insider Trading Policies

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    An analysis of insider trading policies recently disclosed by 49 S&P 500 companies under a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rule reveals that while specific provisions vary from company to company, certain common themes are emerging, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.

  • 11 Patent Cases To Watch At Fed. Circ. And High Court

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    As we head into fall, there are 11 patent cases to monitor, touching on a range of issues that could affect patent strategy, such as biotech innovation, administrative rulemaking and patent eligibility, say Edward Lanquist and Wesley Barbee at Baker Donelson.

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • Finding Coverage For Online Retail Privacy Class Actions

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    Following recent court rulings interpreting state invasion of privacy and electronic surveillance statutes triggering a surge in the filing of privacy class actions against online retailers, companies should examine their various insurance policies, including E&O and D&O, for defense coverage of these claims, says Alison Gaske at Gilbert LLP.

  • Trending At The PTAB: Obviousness In Director Reviews

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    Three July decisions from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office favoring petitioners indicate a willingness by the director to review substantive issues, such as obviousness, particularly in cases where the director believes the Patent Trial and Appeal Board provided incorrect or inadequate rationale to support its decisions, say attorneys at Finnegan.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

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