Retail & E-Commerce

  • January 30, 2025

    Grocery Chain Investor Sues Over Systems Upgrade Claims

    Discount grocery operator Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. and two of its executives face a proposed investor class action alleging they failed to offer realistic forecasts for the company's internal systems upgrade process, hurting investors after they were forced to acknowledge systems transition issues had hurt profits.

  • January 30, 2025

    2nd Circ. Voices Unease Over Ex-Iconix CEO's Fraud Retrial

    The Second Circuit on Thursday expressed doubt regarding the conviction of Iconix Brand Group founder Neil Cole, who was found guilty of fraudulently booking $11 million of revenue to hit earnings targets, and appeared open to the argument that his retrial violated the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment.

  • January 30, 2025

    Card Co. Netspend Inks $1.1M NY AG Deal Over Fees, Freezes

    The New York Attorney General's Office said Thursday that Netspend, a fintech debit and prepaid card provider, will pay nearly $1.1 million to settle claims that it charged New Yorkers illegal fees and allowed debt collectors to seize protected funds.

  • January 30, 2025

    Erewhon, Mother's Market Sued Under Prop 65 For Lead In Chips

    Erewhon and Mother's Market & Kitchen sold kale chips with cadmium and lead, which could cause cancer and reproductive harm, a consumer protection group said Wednesday in a complaint in California state court that seeks to hold them liable for violations of Proposition 65.

  • January 30, 2025

    Google Judge Leery Of Administration Of $90M Antitrust Deal

    A California federal judge overseeing Google's $90 million antitrust deal with Play Store developers expressed "doubt" Thursday about the decision of counsel representing smaller developer plaintiffs to stay with an administration company handling the settlement distribution, two months after criticizing the administrator's work as "the worst performance I've seen."

  • January 30, 2025

    Circle K Gas Franchise Hit With Data Breach Class Action

    Gas and convenience store chain Circle K was hit with a proposed class action in Georgia federal court over allegations that it failed to adequately safeguard the sensitive personal information of its employees during a May 2024 data breach.

  • January 30, 2025

    Consumers Want L'Oréal Acne Products Suits In Hawaii

    Plaintiffs suing L'Oréal for selling acne products that could break down into the carcinogen benzene took a second stab at consolidating their lawsuits, asking the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation on Thursday to join the suits in Hawaii.

  • January 30, 2025

    Canadian Pot Equipment CEO Says CBP Illegally Booted Him

    The Canadian CEO of a company that makes cannabis agricultural equipment has sued the U.S. Homeland Security Department and Customs and Border Protection, saying they detained him at the U.S.-Canada border and ordered his removal for allegedly abetting the spread of narcotics despite a prior U.S. Court of International Trade finding that his company was operating legally.

  • January 30, 2025

    Amazon Can't Lob 'Hail Mary' In Price-Gouging Suit, AG Says

    Washington's attorney general said Wednesday that Amazon can't dodge a proposed class action alleging price-gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic, telling a federal judge that a pivotal state high court ruling in the case was clear on how Washington law allows the consumers to sue.

  • January 30, 2025

    Ga. Businesses 'Over The Moon' With Tort Reform Proposals

    Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp unveiled a long-awaited tort reform package Thursday that, if passed, would limit businesses' premises liability, limit plaintiffs' attorneys' rhetoric around damages and require increased disclosures for third-party litigation funding, among a slew of other proposals.

  • January 30, 2025

    Meta VR Headsets Are Not 'Wireless Telephones,' Judge Says

    A federal judge in the Western District of Texas has decided Meta's Quest brand of virtual reality headsets can't be considered "wireless telephones" in a patent lawsuit just because they come preinstalled with the Messenger app, which can take calls.

  • January 30, 2025

    Takeaways From Jack Daniel's Latest Dog Toy Win

    Jack Daniel's won the latest round last week in its long-running legal battle against the maker of a squeaky, poop-themed dog toy that mimics the whiskey maker's famous bottles, with an Arizona federal judge ruling that VIP Products' parody tarnishes Jack Daniel's brand by associating it with feces.

  • January 30, 2025

    Turkey Buyers' $32M Cargill Price-Fix Deal Scores Early OK

    Turkey buyers' proposal for a $32 million settlement of price-fixing claims against Cargill sailed through the initial approval stage Thursday as an Illinois federal judge praised the deal as "substantial" relief for the class.

  • January 30, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs Valentino $200K Award In Copyright Feud

    The Second Circuit on Thursday affirmed the enforcement of a Milanese arbitral award favoring Italian luxury fashion house Valentino following a copyright dispute with a New York-based designer, agreeing with a lower court that the parties' contract delegated jurisdictional questions to an arbitrator.

  • January 30, 2025

    Rumors Fly As Trump Seeks Deal To Keep TikTok Alive

    President Donald Trump seems to be getting exactly the "bidding war" he wanted as multiple entities fight for a role in keeping TikTok available in the U.S. Here, Law360 provides a rundown of the latest rumors and developments in the TikTok saga, along with other notable rumors from the past week.

  • January 30, 2025

    Drivers' Collective Cert. In Amazon Suit Won't Go To 9th Circ.

    Amazon didn't show how letting the Ninth Circuit mull a collective certification will speed up litigation in an 8-year-old suit accusing the company of misclassifying workers as independent contractors, a Washington federal judge ruled, denying the company's appeal bid.

  • January 29, 2025

    Turkey Producers Say Burford Unit's Suit Is Purely Profit-Led

    Turkey producers fighting consolidated price-fixing claims in Illinois urged a federal judge Tuesday to kick a Burford Capital Investment unit's claims out of the case on summary judgment, arguing the action exists solely because of the litigation funder's drive to profit from a lawsuit.

  • January 29, 2025

    BI Ignored 'Red Flag After Red Flag' On Zantac, Jury Hears

    Counsel for two men retrying their cancer case against Boehringer Ingelheim told an Illinois state court jury Wednesday that the drugmaker stuck its head in the sand and ignored warning signs that taking its over-the-counter Zantac could lead to cancer development.

  • January 29, 2025

    Apple Will Appeal Denial Of Bid To Defend Google Search Deal

    Apple said Wednesday that it will appeal an order refusing to let it intervene in the government's search monopolization case against Google to defend a multibillion-dollar revenue-sharing deal that makes Google the default search engine for the Safari browser.

  • January 29, 2025

    Roomba Maker Escapes Suit Over Scuttled Amazon Merger

    A Massachusetts federal judge has permanently thrown out a shareholder class action accusing iRobot Corp. of misleading investors about expected regulatory opposition that ultimately led to the abandonment of a proposed $1.7 billion merger with Amazon, saying "the pleading process ought not be used as a trial balloon, with repeated bites at the apple."

  • January 29, 2025

    5th Circ. Rejects Outside Bid To Defend CFPB Small-Biz Rule

    The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday stood by its decision to refuse two advocacy groups' request to help defend the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's small business lending data rule, a day after the bureau and the suing banking trade groups pushed back and said they are fine to litigate themselves, without intervention.

  • January 29, 2025

    USPTO Backlog 'Unacceptable,' Trump's Commerce Pick Says

    Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's backlog of unexamined patent applications is "unacceptable," and pledged to work to reduce it so that patents are issued more quickly.

  • January 29, 2025

    CPSC Wants Baby Sleep Co.'s Weighted Blanket Suit Tossed

    The Consumer Product Safety Commission urged a D.C. federal court to toss a suit brought by Dreamland Baby Co., saying it and one of its commissioners acted within their authorities when warning the public against using weighted blankets for infants, like the ones the company makes.

  • January 29, 2025

    5th Circ. Says DOT Must Redo Airline Fees Disclosure Rule

    The Fifth Circuit has ordered the U.S. Department of Transportation to reassess its rule requiring airlines to more clearly disclose add-on fees upfront, saying the Biden administration failed to properly consider public comments on how costly it would be for airlines to comply with the 2024 mandate.

  • January 29, 2025

    Co.'s Missing Signature Prevents Arbitration In Wage Row

    A former home sales representative for a cosmetics company can keep her wage suit in court, a California state appellate panel ruled, affirming a lower court's ruling that the company failed to show it had a valid arbitration agreement with the worker because it didn't sign the pact.

Expert Analysis

  • Reviewing 2024's Crucial Patent Law Developments

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    As 2024 draws to a close, significant rulings and policies aimed at modernizing long-standing legal practices or addressing emerging challenges have reached patent law, says Michael Ellenberger at Rothwell Figg.

  • Series

    Fixing Up Cars Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    From problem-solving to patience and adaptability to organization, the skills developed working under the hood of a car directly translate to being a more effective lawyer, says Christopher Mdeway at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • 2024's Most Notable FTC Actions Against Dark Patterns And AI

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    In 2024 the Federal Trade Commission ramped up enforcement actions related to dark patterns, loudly signaling its concern that advertisers will use AI to manipulate consumer habits and its intention to curb businesses' use and marketing of AI to prevent alleged consumer deception, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Making The Pitch To Grow Your Company's Legal Team

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    In a compressed economy, convincing the C-suite to invest in additional legal talent can be a herculean task, but a convincing pitch — supported by metrics and cost analyses — may help in-house counsel justify the growth of their team, say Elizabeth Smith and Roger Garceau at Major Lindsey.

  • Data Privacy Landscape After Mass. Justices' Wiretap Ruling

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    In Vita v. New England Baptist Hospital, Massachusetts’ highest court recently ruled that the state’s wiretap law doesn’t prohibit all tracking of website user activity, but major financial and reputational risks remain for businesses that aren't transparent about customer’s web data, says Seth Berman at Nutter.

  • Del. Dispatch: The 2024 Corporate Cases You Need To Know

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery in 2024 issued several decisions that some viewed as upending long-standing corporate practices, leading to the amendment of the Delaware General Corporation Law and debates at some Delaware corporations about potentially reincorporating to another state, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Unwrapping Retailer AI Risks Amid Holiday Shopping Season

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    While generative artificial intelligence tools can catalyze game-changing results for retailers looking to stay ahead of the competition during the holiday season, and year-round, it can also bring certain legal risks, including product liability concerns, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • When US Privilege Law Applies To Docs Made Outside The US

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    As globalization manifests itself in disputes over foreign-created documents, a California federal court’s recent trademark decision illustrates nuances of both U.S. privilege frameworks and foreign evidentiary protections that attorneys must increasingly bear in mind, say attorneys at Hunton.

  • Notable 2024 Trademark Cases And What To Watch In 2025

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    Emerging disputes between established tech giants and smaller trademark holders promise to test the boundaries of trademark protection in 2025, following a 2024 marked with disputes in areas ranging from cybersquatting to geographic marks, says Danner Kline at Bradley Arant.

  • Examining Vidal's Guidance On PTAB Section 315 Time Bar

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    Last month's decision by outgoing U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal in Luminex v. Signify addresses the Section 315 statutes that preclude institution of inter partes review proceedings after certain civil actions are filed, and is instructive as PTAB panels are likely to follow this approach going forward, says Amanda Wieker at McGuireWoods.

  • What 2024 Trends In Marketing, Comms Hiring Mean For 2025

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    The state of hiring in legal industry marketing, business development and communications over the past 12 months was marked by a number of trends — from changes in the C-suite to lateral move challenges — providing clues for what’s to come in the year ahead, says Ben Curle at Ambition.

  • How Trump's Tariff Promises May Play Out In 2nd Term

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    While it is unclear which of President-elect Donald Trump's promised tariffs he intends to actually implement in January, lessons from his first administration, laws governing executive action and U.S. trade agreements together paint a picture of what may be possible, say attorneys at Butzel.

  • Series

    Group Running Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The combination of physical fitness and community connection derived from running with a group of business leaders has, among other things, helped me to stay grounded, improve my communication skills, and develop a deeper empathy for clients and colleagues, says Jessica Shpall Rosen at Greenwald Doherty.

  • Marketing Messages Matter In State AG Consumer Protection

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    Attorneys general interpret marketing claims far more broadly than many companies may realize, so to mitigate potential risk, businesses should be vigilant about all consumer messaging, including communications that may not traditionally be considered advertising in the colloquial sense, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Opinion

    6 Changes I Would Make If I Ran A Law School

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    Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner identifies several key issues plaguing law schools and discusses potential solutions, such as opting out of the rankings game and mandating courses in basic writing skills.

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