Technology

  • July 24, 2024

    Latham, Stevens & Lee Guide Bitcoin Co.'s $365M SPAC Deal

    Bitcoin rewards provider Fold and a special purpose acquisition company announced Wednesday they agreed to merge through a transaction that will take Fold public at an estimated $365 million valuation, with attorneys from Stevens & Lee and Latham counseling the parties.

  • July 24, 2024

    Digital Info Not Covered By Smuggling Law, Ky. Court Holds

    A Kentucky federal judge has ruled that digital information isn't covered by the federal smuggling statute and dismissed a charge against a magnetics manufacturer and two executives accused of emailing magnet schematics to Chinese companies.

  • July 24, 2024

    CFIUS Reviews Slumped In 2023, Penalties Increased

    The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States experienced a significant drop in the number of cases it reviewed in 2023, but levied a record number of penalties last year, according to an annual report to Congress.

  • July 24, 2024

    Legal Tech Co.'s $1.3M Data Privacy Deal Gets OK'd

    A Kansas federal judge granted preliminary approval to a proposed $1.3 million settlement between a data and professional services company catering to law firms and a class of thousands of its customers and employees, who said their personal information was stolen in a March 2023 data breach that exposed 200 gigabytes of sensitive information.

  • July 24, 2024

    Ex-Pharma Exec Gets Jail For Insider Trading On Kodak Loan

    A Manhattan federal judge sentenced a former pharmaceutical executive from South Carolina to three months in prison Wednesday for taking over $500,000 of illegal trading profit based on his advance knowledge that Kodak would get a massive pandemic-era government loan.

  • July 24, 2024

    5th Circ. Strikes Down FCC's Universal Service Fund

    The full Fifth Circuit struck down the Federal Communications Commission's system for subsidizing telecommunications service for rural and low-income users as unconstitutional Wednesday, reversing a panel decision and triggering a circuit split with three other appeals courts that upheld the fee regime.

  • July 24, 2024

    Rising Star: Latham's Whitney Weber

    Whitney Weber of Latham & Watkins LLP earned a complete defense verdict for NextGen Healthcare in a rare "holders' claim" case and a dismissal of a federal securities class action for Peloton, earning her a spot among the technology law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 24, 2024

    Wilson Sonsini Leads PE-Backed OneStream's $490M IPO

    Private-equity backed financial software provider OneStream Inc. railed in debut trading Wednesday after pricing a $490 million initial public offering above its range, represented by Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and underwriters counsel Latham & Watkins LLP, kicking off a potentially busy week for IPOs.

  • July 24, 2024

    T-Mobile Plugs $4.9B Into JV With KKR To Buy Metronet

    T-Mobile announced Wednesday that it has partnered up with private equity giant KKR to acquire pure-play fiber company Metronet in a joint venture that sees T-Mobile investing roughly $4.9 billion at deal close, in a transaction built by eight law firms.

  • July 23, 2024

    Samsung Loses Bid To Throw Out $303M Patent Verdict

    A Texas federal judge shot down Samsung's attempt to throw out a $303 million verdict over infringement of server memory patents, saying the South Korean electronics giant's arguments that Netlist's comments prejudiced it during trial fell short in a July 12 opinion that was unsealed Tuesday.

  • July 23, 2024

    X's Tesla Ties Could Require Judge's Recusal, Watchdog Says

    Elon Musk's X Corp. wants to avoid disclosing its financial links with Tesla in the social media company's defamation lawsuit against Media Matters for America because the Texas federal judge overseeing the case likely holds Tesla stock and would need to recuse himself, the progressive media watchdog said.

  • July 23, 2024

    ​​​​​​​Nigeria Fines Meta $220M Over WhatsApp Privacy Policy

    Nigerian regulators have hit Meta with a $220 million fine over alleged privacy and antitrust violations and ordered the company to stop sharing WhatsApp users' data with advertisers without express permission, the culmination of a nearly three-year-long investigative process.

  • July 23, 2024

    Microsoft Calls FTC Price Hike Claims 'Misleading' At 9th Circ

    Microsoft pushed back against the Federal Trade Commission's contention that an increase in the company's gaming subscription pricing is evidence of the anticompetitive effects of the software giant's $68.7 billion acquisition of game developer Activision Blizzard Inc., calling the commission out for trying to "reinvent" its case against the merger on appeal to the Ninth Circuit.

  • July 23, 2024

    Lawmakers Agree On Flexibility To Monitor AI In Finance

    Lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee agreed Tuesday that the stakes are high when it comes to regulating the use of generative artificial intelligence in financial and housing services, and appeared to agree with industry representatives that any regulation should prioritize flexibility to keep up with the fast-developing technology.

  • July 23, 2024

    US, UK, EU Antitrust Enforcers Outline AI Principles

    The top antitrust officials from the U.S. Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission, the European Commission and the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority presented a unified international commitment Tuesday to closely monitor artificial intelligence technology and the companies that they warned could wield AI anticompetitively.

  • July 23, 2024

    Chancery Ends Challenge To $12.5B Qualtrics' SAP Sale

    Saying it was not reasonably conceivable that he would find software giant SAP and Qualtrics International Inc. directors liable for damages after Qualtrics' $12.5 billion sale to Silver Lake Capital despite a superficially better offer, a Delaware vice chancellor on Tuesday dismissed a stockholder challenge to the deal.

  • July 23, 2024

    Sonos Tells Fed. Circ. 100K Patents At Risk If Google Prevails

    Wireless audio brand Sonos has warned the Federal Circuit that a federal judge's decision to scrap its jury win in a $32.5 million patent case against Google means that "about 100,000 patents are vulnerable."

  • July 23, 2024

    FTC Attys On Kroger Case Get Extensions After IT Outage

    The administrative law judge overseeing the Federal Trade Commission's in-house challenge to Kroger and Albertsons' $25 billion merger has given the agency and the grocery behemoths two extra days on a couple of filing deadlines after the FTC said the worldwide Microsoft outage left several counsel laptops unusable.

  • July 23, 2024

    Judge Won't Force Meta To Run Bankrupt Rubio's Ads

    A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Tuesday denied a temporary restraining order requested by fast-casual seafood chain Rubio's Coastal Grill against Meta Platforms Inc., which alleged Meta violated an automatic stay in the Chapter 11 case by not running Rubio's ads after the company didn't pay fees it had incurred prepetition. 

  • July 23, 2024

    On Limiting ITC's Power, House Republican Is 'Appalled'

    Proposals that would restrict how companies can use the U.S. International Trade Commission to go after device manufacturers met a frosty reception from at least one patent-owning Republican on Tuesday, who said he was "appalled" by one idea, and likened another suggestion to communism.

  • July 23, 2024

    Sidley, Cooley Craft Filter Maker's $1B Sale To IDEX Corp.

    Specialty equipment maker IDEX Corp. will buy industrial filter manufacturer Mott Corp. and its subsidiaries in a $1 billion all-cash deal led by Sidley Austin LLP and Cooley LLP, the companies announced Tuesday.

  • July 23, 2024

    Wash. Justices Decline 9th Circ. Request in Uber Murder Case

    Washington State's Supreme Court has declined to answer a certified question from the Ninth Circuit over whether Uber Technologies Inc. had a duty to use reasonable care to protect one of its drivers who was murdered in a carjacking.

  • July 23, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Gives Netflix 2nd Chance To Challenge Broadcom IP

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board must reconsider Netflix's petitions challenging the validity of a Broadcom unit's software performance monitoring patent, the Federal Circuit held Tuesday, finding flaws in the board's refusal to invalidate claims. 

  • July 23, 2024

    Biz Groups Form Lobby Effort To Fight FCC Bulk Billing Rules

    Bulk billing agreements are often a boon for people living in apartment buildings and condos, according to a new coalition made up of multifamily housing organizations and a cable trade group, which was formed to push the Federal Communications Commission to reconsider banning such arrangements.

  • July 23, 2024

    Litigation Funder Says Apple Doc Request Is 'Mere Suspicion'

    Apple Inc. is trying to make an "end run" around a California trial court by demanding that Omni Bridgeway LLC turn over documents explaining its financial interest in patent litigation against Apple based on "mere suspicion," the litigation funder has told a Delaware federal judge.

Expert Analysis

  • Dapper Settlement Offers Rules Of The Road For NFT Issuers

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    The terms of a $4 million settlement in a class action alleging that Dapper Labs sold its NBA Top Shot Moments as unregistered securities may be a model for third parties that wish to avoid securities liability in connection with offering digital asset non-fungible token collectibles, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice

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    The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Why High Court Social Media Ruling Will Be Hotly Debated

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    In deciding the NetChoice cases that challenged Florida and Texas content moderation laws, what the U.S. Supreme Court justices said about social media platforms — and the First Amendment — will have implications and raise questions for nearly all online operators, say Jacob Canter and Joanna Rosen Forster at Crowell & Moring.

  • In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State

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    On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Limited Changes In USPTO Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling overturning Chevron deference will have limited consequences for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office given the USPTO's unique statutory features, but it is still an important decision for matters of statutory interpretation, especially those involving provisions of the America Invents Act, say Andrei Iancu and Cooper Godfrey at Sullivan & Cromwell.

  • How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts

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    As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.

  • USPTO Disclaimer Rule Would Complicate Patent Prosecution

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    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's proposed changes to terminal disclaimer practice could lead to a patent owner being unable to enforce a valid patent simply because it is indirectly tied to a patent in which a single claim is found anticipated or obvious in view of the prior art, say attorneys at Sterne Kessler.

  • Series

    Boxing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Boxing has influenced my legal work by enabling me to confidently hone the skills I've learned from the sport, like the ability to remain calm under pressure, evaluate an opponent's weaknesses and recognize when to seize an important opportunity, says Kirsten Soto at Clyde & Co.

  • Anticipating Disputes In Small Biz Partnerships And LLCs

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    In light of persistently high failures of small business partnerships and limited liability companies, mediator Frank Burke discusses proactive strategies for protecting and defining business rights and responsibilities, as well as reactive measures for owners.

  • Fed. Circ. Percipient Gov't Contract Ruling Is Groundbreaking

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    The effects of the Federal Circuit's decision last month in Percipient.ai v. U.S. may be limited to commercial product and service suppliers, but it is significant for government procurement in opening the door to protests by suppliers who previously would have lacked standing and Court of Federal Claims jurisdiction, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Opinion

    Industry Self-Regulation Will Shine Post-Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's Loper decision will shape the contours of industry self-regulation in the years to come, providing opportunities for this often-misunderstood practice, says Eric Reicin at BBB National Programs.

  • When Patents As Loan Collateral Can Cost You Standing

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    The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Intellectual Tech v. Zebra Technologies shines a light on loan default provisions' implications for patent infringement litigation, as a default may inadvertently strip a patent owner of constitutional standing to sue over a patent pledged as collateral, say Joseph Marinelli and Suet L. Lee at Irwin IP.

  • 3 Ways Agencies Will Keep Making Law After Chevron

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    The U.S. Supreme Court clearly thinks it has done something big in overturning the Chevron precedent that had given deference to agencies' statutory interpretations, but regulated parties have to consider how agencies retain significant power to shape the law and its meaning, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • Roundup

    After Chevron

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    In the month since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Chevron deference standard, this Expert Analysis series has featured attorneys discussing the potential impact across 26 different rulemaking and litigation areas.

  • Series

    After Chevron: Expect Few Changes In ITC Rulemaking

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's opinion overruling the Chevron doctrine will have less impact on the U.S. International Trade Commission than other agencies administering trade statutes, given that the commission exercises its congressionally granted authority in a manner that allows for consistent decision making at both agency and judicial levels, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

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