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January 16, 2025
IP Forecast: Mass. Court To Hear Inequitable Conduct Fight
A federal judge in Massachusetts will hear arguments that a CEO’s “intentional misrepresentations, omissions and half-truths” at the patent office should sink his company’s infringement case over tamper-resistant plastic containers. Here's a spotlight on where that case stands — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.
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January 16, 2025
Texas Judge Says 3 States Can Pursue Mifepristone Suit
A Texas federal judge said Thursday that Idaho, Missouri and Kansas can continue to challenge federal approvals for the abortion medication mifepristone in Texas federal court after private plaintiffs dropped their claims.
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January 16, 2025
Nicaragua Co. In Solar Row Asks Texas Justices For New Trial
A Nicaragua company tapped to build a solar park in that country asked the Texas Supreme Court to wade into its long-running dispute with companies that allegedly conspired to sell it tens of thousands of counterfeit solar panels.
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January 16, 2025
FDIC Case Belongs In Fed. Court After Jarkesy, 5th Circ. Told
A former Herring Bank executive argued in a Fifth Circuit brief that the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s in-house enforcement proceedings against him denied him his right to a jury trial in federal court, saying the allegations against him involve legal issues that have historically been decided by juries.
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January 16, 2025
Texas Justices Question If Courts Can Rethink TCPA Motions
Texas justices questioned whether a trial court can reconsider a motion under the state's anti-SLAPP law to dismiss a farmland-centered REIT's suit against a Dallas-based hedge fund, saying during oral arguments Thursday that allowing it to do so might create a "big hammer" hanging over the parties' heads.
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January 16, 2025
Allstate Hit With Class Action Over Driver Data Collection
Allstate illegally obtained the personal driving data of millions of policyholders via software embedded in third-party apps and secretly used that data to hike premiums, deny claims or drop policyholders from coverage altogether, according to a proposed class action filed in Illinois federal court.
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January 16, 2025
NPE Patent Litigation Increased By 22% In 2024
Patent lawsuits launched by nonpracticing entities shot up in 2024, with the Eastern District of Texas being the primary hotbed for such cases, according to a new report.
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January 16, 2025
Expert Witnesses Limited In J&J Talc Ch. 11 Dismissal Try
A Texas bankruptcy judge limited Thursday the number of expert witnesses that can provide testimony in an upcoming hearing on talc claimants' attempt to dismiss the Chapter 11 case of Johnson & Johnson's talc unit.
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January 16, 2025
Texas Ozone Fight A Repeat Of 2007, EPA Tells 5th Circ.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that Texas is feigning a misunderstanding of the Clean Air Act, saying it couldn't have hit the state with a "surprise switcheroo" because it was in an identical situation more than a decade earlier.
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January 16, 2025
McNair Son Wants Legal Fee Fight Set Back In Motion
The eldest son of late Houston businessman Bob McNair asked a Texas appeals court Wednesday to reverse an order temporarily halting his litigation seeking legal fees connected to a probate case over the management of his family's companies.
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January 16, 2025
Hearthside Proposes $30M In Ch. 11 Key Employee Bonuses
The bankrupt parent of snack maker Hearthside Food Solutions proposed a pair of retention and incentive payment plans that would provide up to $30 million in bonuses to key employees in the company's Texas Chapter 11 case.
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January 16, 2025
Calif. Law Firm Settles 2 Suits Alleging Debt Relief Fraud
A debt relief law firm in California reached settlements Thursday in two separate lawsuits that accused the firm of charging its clients for worthless services, a little more than two weeks after the cases were brought in federal courts.
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January 16, 2025
Paxton-Tied Developer Pleads Guilty In Bank Fraud Case
A real estate developer whose ties to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton were central to his 2023 impeachment case pled guilty Wednesday to unrelated charges of making false statements to a mortgage lender.
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January 16, 2025
Paxton Seeks To Nix Ethics Case After Deputy Beats Suit
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked the Texas Supreme Court to toss an ethics case against him over a lawsuit challenging 2020 election results, saying the matter fails on the same separation of powers grounds that the court recently cited in nixing a similar case against his first assistant.
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January 16, 2025
Biden's Imprint On The Judiciary In 6 Charts
President Joe Biden leaves office with 235 lifetime judges confirmed, just one more than President Donald Trump seated during his first term, and many firsts for diversity.
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January 15, 2025
Alaska Says Death Of USF Would Be 'Devastating' For State
The people of Alaska will suffer if the U.S. Supreme Court does not undo a Fifth Circuit decision demolishing the Federal Communications Commission's multibillion-dollar subsidy fund, which reduces phone and internet costs for schools, libraries and low-income households, the state has told the justices.
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January 15, 2025
Foes Of Expanded Oil Facility Face Texas Panel's Tough Queries
A Texas appeals court directed some pointed questions to environmental groups seeking to challenge an oil facility's expansion during oral arguments Wednesday, saying facilities like the one in question have to go somewhere or else "the Europeans will starve in the cold this winter."
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January 15, 2025
Fed. Circ. Upholds Semiconductor Co.'s PTAB Win Over Chip IP
The Federal Circuit on Wednesday backed a Patent Trial and Appeal Board finding that semiconductor company Microchip Technology had shown that some claims of an HD Silicon Solutions microprocessor patent are invalid as obvious.
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January 15, 2025
Sidley-Led Flowco Raises $427M In Year's First Major IPO
Oilfield equipment and services provider Flowco Holdings Inc. on Wednesday priced a $427 million initial public offering above its range, represented by Sidley Austin LLP and underwriters' counsel Latham & Watkins LLP, marking the year's first sizable IPO.
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January 15, 2025
Block Pays Regulators $80M Over Cash App AML Compliance
Jack Dorsey's fintech company Block Inc. has reached an $80 million settlement over alleged anti-money laundering compliance failures by its mobile payments platform Cash App, a coalition of state banking regulators announced Wednesday.
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January 15, 2025
Legislators Say Transparency Act Defies First Amendment
The Corporate Transparency Act is an unnecessary intrusion into the First Amendment rights of Americans, U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and 13 House members told the Supreme Court in seeking to maintain an injunction issued in December.
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January 15, 2025
Noncompete Ban Has A Defender In Wings If Trump FTC Won't
Entrepreneurs group Small Business Majority wants the Fifth and Eleventh circuits to let it intervene to defend the Federal Trade Commission's currently blocked noncompetes ban if FTC Republicans stop arguing for the rule as expected once they take power.
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January 15, 2025
Maxell Battery Patent Sinks At Federal Circuit
Japanese consumer electronics outfit Maxell on Wednesday failed to persuade Federal Circuit judges to change anything about a patent board ruling that wiped out all the claims in a battery patent asserted in a suit against a Chinese rival.
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January 15, 2025
Acting USPTO Head Corrects Errors In PTAB Samsung Denial
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's acting director has found that the Patent Trial and Appeal Board made incorrect statements when it refused to review a display patent challenged by Samsung due to an upcoming Texas trial, but still left the denial intact.
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January 15, 2025
Justices Struggle With Tech Advances In Texas Porn Law Row
Several U.S. Supreme Court justices on Wednesday focused on how a decadesold brick-and-mortar precedent applies to a Texas law requiring age verification on porn websites while struggling to reconcile technological advancements with First Amendment protections.
Expert Analysis
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Google And The Next Frontier Of Divestiture Antitrust Remedy
The possibility of a large-scale divestiture in the Google search case comes on the heels of recent requests of business breakups as remedies for anticompetitive conduct, and companies should prepare for the likelihood that courts may impose divestiture remedies in the event of a liability finding, say Lauren Weinstein and Nathaniel Rubin at MoloLamken.
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Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics
Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.
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Exploring Practical Employer Alternatives To Noncompetes
With the Federal Trade Commission likely to appeal a federal court’s recent rejection of its noncompete ban, and more states limiting the enforceability of these agreements, employers should consider back-to-basics methods for protecting their business interests and safeguarding sensitive information, says Brendan Horgan at FordHarrison.
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It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers
Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.
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What VC Fund Settlement Means For DEI Grant Programs
An unexpected settlement in American Alliance for Equal Rights v. Fearless Fund, based on specific details of an Atlanta venture capital fund's challenged minority grant program, leaves the legal landscape wide open for organizations with similar programs supporting diversity, equity and inclusion to chart a path forward, say attorneys at Moore & Van Allen.
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Missouri Injunction A Setback For State Anti-ESG Rules
A Missouri federal court’s recent order enjoining the state’s anti-ESG rules comes amid actions by state legislatures to revise or invalidate similar legislation imposing disclosure and consent requirements around environmental, social and governance investing, and could be a blueprint for future challenges, say attorneys at Paul Hastings.
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Nuclear Waste Storage Questions Justices May Soon Address
The petition for the U.S. Supreme Court to review U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission v. Texas stands out for a number of reasons — including a deepening circuit split regarding the NRC's nuclear waste storage authority under the Atomic Energy Act, and broader administrative law implications, say attorneys at MoloLamken.
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Series
After Chevron: Conservation Rule Already Faces Challenges
The Bureau of Land Management's interpretation of land "use" in its Conservation and Landscape Health Rule is contrary to the agency's past practice and other Federal Land Policy and Management Act provisions, leaving the rule exposed in four legal challenges that may carry greater force in the wake of Loper Bright, say Stacey Bosshardt and Stephanie Regenold at Perkins Coie.
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DOJ Must Overcome Hurdles In RealPage Antitrust Case
The U.S. Department of Justice's recent claims that RealPage's pricing software violates the Sherman Act mark a creative, and apparently contradictory, shift in the agency's approach to algorithmic price-fixing that will face several key challenges, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.
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How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations
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.
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The Fed. Circ. In August: Secret Sales And Public Disclosures
Two recent Federal Circuit rulings — Sanho v. Kaijet and Celanese International v. ITC — highlight that inventors should publicly and promptly disclose their inventions, as a secret sale will not suffice as a disclosure, and file their patent applications within a year of public disclosure, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.
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The State Law Landscape After Justices' Social Media Ruling
Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent NetChoice ruling on social media platforms’ First Amendment rights, it’s still unclear if state content moderation laws are constitutional, leaving online operators to face a patchwork of regulation, and the potential for the issue to return to the high court, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of its preemption interpretations and growing pressure from state regulators signal potential changes ahead for preemption in U.S. financial services, and the path forward will likely involve a reevaluation of the entire framework, say attorneys at Clark Hill.
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Avoiding Corporate Political Activity Pitfalls This Election Year
As Election Day approaches, corporate counsel should be mindful of the complicated rules around companies engaging in political activities, including super PAC contributions, pay-to-play prohibitions and foreign agent restrictions, say attorneys at Covington.
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Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles
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.