With a new year underway, legal professionals worldwide continue to navigate the complexities and challenges presented by a rapidly escalating global legal landscape. If you’ve been too wrapped up in your own legal endeavors to stay informed, catch up on last week’s buzzworthy firms, stories, and analyses as featured on Law360. The online legal news…
Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC made a significant stride in strengthening its antitrust team, with the firm announcing the recruitment of two prominent legal figures from Baker Botts LLP. The legal powerhouses announced joining Wilson Sonsini are Maureen Ohlhausen, former acting Director of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and Taylor Owings, a past U.S….
In recent legal developments, disbarred attorney Tom Girardi is alleged to have exaggerated his symptoms in an attempt to validate his dementia claims. The determination was made by a Los Angeles federal judge who found Girardi competent enough to stand trial for charges that involve theft of millions of dollars from his clients. This conclusion…
A federal judge in Florida reaffirmed a decision on Friday, which stated sanctions may be necessary against Craig Wright, the self-declared inventor of bitcoin, as Wright was accused of delaying the disclosure of specific financial information to the receiver of a $143 million verdict against him. The presiding judge aligned with the magistrate judge’s findings…
The D.C. Circuit has maintained the dismissal of a complaint alleging campaign finance violations in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, according to a recent court ruling. The court agreed that the Federal Election Commission’s decision to forego an investigation cannot be challenged in this matter. The D.C. Circuit’s decision reaffirms a vital component of the…
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has decided to consider a challenge against a 2018 blockchain patent, as reported by Jared Foretek in Law 360. The patent in question has been flagged by a collective of cryptocurrency advocates, alleging that it is stifling progress in the fields of decentralized finance and cryptocurrency. While this…
A recent federal court ruling has resulted in an $8 million award to Taser, effectively concluding an infringement lawsuit that the company had lodged against Phazzer Electronics, its rival in the stun-gun market. The ruling comes after Phazzer failed to appropriately respond to a sanctions bid which alleged the firm’s refusal to produce relevant documents…
In a recent ruling that drew the attention of the legal industry, a Delaware judge has invalidated a gene therapy patent held by the University of Pennsylvania. The patent had been at the center of a legal dispute against biopharmaceutical company Sarepta. The court found that the patent, which pertains to a combination of two…
Thomas Girardi, a former high-profile attorney, has been embroiled in a scandal of legal nature. Federal Judge, Josephine L. Staton, in a recent ruling stated that Girardi exaggerated his mental decline. The ruling, which was made public last Friday, found Girardi to be mentally fit to stand trial in his ongoing fraud case. Despite acknowledging…
The U.S. Supreme Court is set to recommence for a new calendar year, choosing to inaugurate its first hearing by addressing key legal predicaments concerning immigration court removal procedures for migrants, the legality of general impact fees enforced by state legislatures, and the issue of substitute expert witnesses in criminal trials. Read the original article…
In a recent development, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) reinforced an earlier decision to deny Post Foods LLC’s bid to register a trademark on its Fruity Pebbles cereal brand. The TTAB concurred with an initial judgment by a trademark examiner who stated that the colors of a cereal are not “inherently distinctive”. Post…
A panel of the Ninth Circuit on Friday denied a request by Valeant Pharmaceuticals for a review of its decision to revive a False Claims Act. The Act has accused Valeant of fraudulently procuring a patent in an effort to extend its monopoly on the drug Apriso. Valeant Pharmaceuticals, a major drug manufacturer, had hoped…
A recent controversy concerning experts in the courtroom has stirred up discussions among legal professionals. The question at hand – do experts need ‘permission slips’ to testify in court? The implications of such a rule can have widespread effects on the way trials are conducted. The title of the article, found on Above The Law,…
A defamation lawsuit filed against the NBA’s Utah Jazz and, at the time, Oklahoma City Thunder’s point guard Russell Westbrook, has been dismissed by the Utah Court of Appeals. The couple, Shane Keisel and Jennifer Huff, alleged defamation and emotional distress after a courtside altercation with Westbrook in a March 2019 game. The attended game…
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal has expressed intentions to reconsider whether the Patent Trial and Appeal Board made the right decision in dismissing the attempts made by Nokia to stand up against a collection of fiber optic communication patents held by NextGen Innovations LLC. The decision to review the claims comes amidst…
Health technology company Koninklijke Philips NV is pushing back against disinfectant brand SoClean Inc. The latter alleged that Philips had improperly attributed disinfecting products as the reason behind a significant recall of breathing devices. Nonetheless, Philips counters that SoClean diluted its trademarks by informing consumers that its ozone-based cleaner was compatible with the medical devices….
Key changes are underfoot in the world of Intellectual Property (IP) law as two of the industry’s heavyweights, King & Spalding LLP and Crowell & Moring LLP, announce new hirings. King & Spalding LLP has increased the depth of its IP team in Austin, Texas, bringing on board a seasoned litigator from McKool Smith. This…
In a recent legal escalation, VirnetX Inc., a cybersecurity firm, was denied a petition for the Federal Circuit to reassess two of its rulings which supported the Patent Trial and Appeal Board’s (PTAB) conclusions. The PTAB had earlier nullified the patent claims of VirnetX pertaining to a particular agile network protocol. These claims were contested…
Legal professionals attending the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference are seeking to cultivate valuable discussions with fellow dealmakers about opportunities in capital investment and M&A prospects. Their optimism is bolstered by a host of notable acquisitions within recent weeks. Law360 reports. If realized, increased activity in the M&A space could signal a flourishing period in…
Male grooming company, Manspot, has taken a proactive approach in the dire face of a trademark infringement dispute. The firm has requested an Illinois federal court for an assertion that it is not infringing on the trademark of a similarly named competitor who recently issued a cease-and-desist order. In an interesting twist to regular trademark…
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has started accepting applications for its newly established design patent practitioner bar. This initiative is a significant move towards recognizing the unique skill set of practitioners with a focus on artistry who will, following this development, be able to prosecute design patent applications. Historically, prosecuting patent applications involved…
Two nonfiction authors, who are also journalists, have initiated a proposed class action lawsuit against tech giants Microsoft and OpenAI. The plaintiffs allege that their works were unlawfully utilized to train versions of the large language model, ChatGPT. The lawsuit materialized on a Friday, as confirmed by a legal update from Law360. It maintained that…
The Supreme Court has seemingly faced delays in releasing decisions for its october terms in recent years. A significant leak of the Dobbs draft in May 2022, led the Court to increase their efforts in deterring such an occurrence from happening again. This effort arguably affected the pace of decision release for the October 2022…
The US Supreme Court, on Friday, temporarily reinstated Idaho’s abortion ban, including emergency abortions, and has agreed to hear arguments on the matter. The ban, as dictated by the Section 18-622 of the Idaho Statutes, criminalizes performing or initiating an abortion, unless the failure to do so might result in the death of the mother….
In response to the ever-increasing digitalization of the world, legal professionals are reevaluating their legal tech budgets to address the reality of ‘Digital Transformation Budgets’. This focus on digital transformation is expected, especially amidst the ongoing global pandemic that has compelled corporations and law firms to invest more in digital infrastructure. A key figure in…