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Food & Beverage
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May 08, 2024
Vietnam's Labor Issues Mar Bid For Market Economy Status
Representatives from U.S. industry, organized labor, and human rights advocacy urged the U.S. Department of Commerce to reject Vietnam's bid for market economy status Wednesday, denouncing its track record on labor rights.
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May 08, 2024
In Final Memo, Blumenauer Eyes Path Forward For Cannabis
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., a longtime champion of cannabis reform in Congress who plans to retire this year, is calling marijuana reform a "winning issue" for policymakers and outlined numerous actions both legislators and federal agencies can take to move the issue forward.
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May 08, 2024
Blue Bottle Coffee Loses Suit Over 'Blue Brew' TM
A California federal judge has handed a loss to Blue Bottle Coffee LLC in its trademark infringement case against a company selling coffee gear and accessories using the phrase "Blue Brew," saying there wasn't any evidence that customers would be confused.
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May 08, 2024
CBD Retailer Wants To Avoid Privacy Suit
CBD retailer Charlotte's Web Inc. has urged a California federal judge to toss a woman's suit accusing it of secretly recording conversations of those who visit its website, saying the lead plaintiff didn't even use the allegedly wiretapped chat functions and therefore can't have been harmed.
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May 08, 2024
Farmworkers Union Says DOL's 2022 Rules Keep Wages Low
A farmworkers union in Washington state is challenging rules the U.S. Department of Labor introduced in 2022 that the union said are depressing farmworkers' wages.
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May 08, 2024
Mass. Justices May Give Green Light To Tip Ballot Measure
Massachusetts' high court justices appeared skeptical Wednesday of arguments by a group of restaurant owners seeking to kill a ballot question that, if approved, would gradually raise the minimum wage for tipped workers to the state's $15-per-hour standard.
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May 07, 2024
AIG Insurers Near Deal With Foam Co. Over MDL Coverage
Firefighting foam company Tyco Fire Products LP and a group of AIG insurers have reached a tentative settlement that would resolve a dispute over coverage of multidistrict litigation involving Tyco over so-called forever chemicals, according to a notice filed Tuesday in South Carolina federal court.
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May 07, 2024
Target Sued Over Citric Acid In Good & Gather Pasta Sauce
Target has been hit with a putative class action in California federal court by a shopper who alleges the retail giant falsely touts that its line of Good & Gather pasta sauces contain no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives despite containing citric acid.
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May 07, 2024
Canopy Growth Expands In US With Wana, Jetty Buys
Canadian cannabis company Canopy Growth announced Tuesday that its U.S. division has exercised options to acquire two American companies as part of its goal to establish a domestic "brand-focused powerhouse" — acquisitions for which Canopy spent nearly $370 million.
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May 07, 2024
NY Officials Tout Crackdown On Illicit Cannabis Market
New York state cannabis regulators on Tuesday touted new legislative changes empowering them to more swiftly crack down on unregulated marijuana sales, the same day that New York City officials announced a program to step up enforcement against unlicensed retailers.
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May 07, 2024
NYC Eatery Asks 2nd Circ. To Undo Revival Of Workers' Suit
A New York City restaurant operator urged the Second Circuit Tuesday to reject a lower court finding that its workers' federal wage claims may be cut from their class action but can also be reinstated if the appeals court were to vacate their state wage claims, insisting the decision is unfair.
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May 07, 2024
Starbucks Wants NLRB Injunction Bid To Wait On High Court
A Michigan federal judge should wait on deciding whether to issue an injunction against Starbucks in a wrongful firing case out of Ann Arbor, the company argued, saying the U.S. Supreme Court must first decide a case concerning how injunctions are dispensed to National Labor Relations Board prosecutors.
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May 07, 2024
Colo. Judge Iffy On DOJ's Missive In Kroger Merger Challenge
A Colorado state judge said he was unsure Tuesday about how to handle the Department of Justice's recent filing defending the state's authority to challenge Kroger's $24 billion merger with Albertsons, as Kroger claimed federal regulators were flip-flopping their antitrust stance.
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May 07, 2024
Ways And Means Chairs Decry China Tariff Review 'Inaction'
The chairs of the House Ways and Means Committee and its Trade Subcommittee chided U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai in a letter Tuesday over her office's purported "inaction" in reviewing tariffs covering $300 billion worth of goods from China.
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May 07, 2024
DOJ Tells High Court To Undo 4th Circ. OT Carveout Ruling
Employers need only adhere to a less stringent standard in proving whether a worker is overtime-exempt, the U.S. Department of Justice told the U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday in support of the reversal of a Fourth Circuit ruling that sales workers didn't fit the carveout's guidelines.
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May 07, 2024
Starbucks Can't End Investor Suit Over Union-Busting Stance
A Washington state judge won't toss a shareholder suit accusing Starbucks' corporate leadership of diminishing stock values by allowing store managers to quash baristas' organizing efforts.
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May 07, 2024
Panera To Nix 'Charged' Drink At Center Of Death Suits
Panera Bread Co. will soon no longer serve its "Charged Lemonade," the caffeinated drink at the center of two lawsuits that claim the restaurant chain is liable for the wrongful death of two patrons.
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May 06, 2024
Judge Weighs Discovery Need On McD's No-Poach Standard
No-poach antitrust litigation against McDonald's is getting back underway in Illinois federal court following the U.S. Supreme Court's refusal of the fast food giant's appeal, spurring the district court judge to consider whether more discovery might be needed to determine the appropriate standard that will govern the case.
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May 06, 2024
US Thrashes Mexico's 'Inaccurate' Portrayal Of GMO Corn
The United States has responded to Mexico's ban on imports of genetically modified corn, calling its portrayal of the risks of such crops an unscientific and "inaccurate" description as well as a violation of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
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May 06, 2024
Fed Law Doesn't Preempt Colo.'s Kroger Deal Challenge: DOJ
The U.S. Department of Justice weighed in on Kroger and Alberton's arguments that the Colorado attorney general should not be able to challenge their national merger, arguing instead that states have an important solo role and there is nothing stopping a state court judge from blocking a deal regionally.
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May 06, 2024
Pet Food Co. Hill's Sues Exec In Del. To Block Freshpet Job
Hill's Pet Nutrition Inc. asked Delaware's Court of Chancery on Monday to bar its former U.S president from taking a position with smaller industry competitor Freshpet Inc., saying the hiring was imminent and urging fast-track proceedings to block the move.
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May 06, 2024
Ex-Worker Sues Fla. Krispy Kreme Over Transgender Status
A former employee at a corporate-owned Krispy Kreme restaurant in Miami has sued the company in Florida state court on allegations of sex and gender discrimination, saying that a manager fired her after learning about her transgender status.
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May 06, 2024
CBP Denies Delay To Ban Ivorian Cocoa, Says Probe Is Active
U.S. Customs and Border Protection countered accusations that it is taking too long to ban cocoa imports allegedly harvested using child labor, telling the U.S. Court of International Trade it does not have a statutory deadline to complete its investigation.
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May 06, 2024
DOL Wants New Union Officer Vote For Midwestern Bakers
An Illinois federal judge should compel a Midwestern bakery workers union to rerun a 2023 officer election because it didn't properly update its members' addresses before sending out ballots, the U.S. Department of Labor has claimed in a new lawsuit against the union.
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May 06, 2024
Nothing Super About GNC 'Super Magnesium' Pills, Suit Says
GNC Holdings was hit with a putative class action filed Friday in Illinois federal court alleging it falsely markets its brand of "Super Magnesium" dietary supplements as containing 400 milligrams of magnesium per serving, despite independent testing that revealed the supplements contain far less than what is advertised.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.
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Judge-Shopping Policy Revisal May Make Issue Worse
The Judicial Conference at its March meeting unveiled a revised policy with the stated goal of limiting litigants’ ability to judge-shop in patent cases, but the policy may actually exacerbate the problem by tying the issue to judge-shopping in polarizing political cases, making reform more difficult, say Robert Niemeier and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.
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2nd Circ. Baby Food Ruling Disregards FDA's Expertise
The Second Circuit's recent decision in White v. Beech-Nut Nutrition, refusing to defer litigation over heavy metals in baby food until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration weighs in on the issue, provides no indication that courts will resolve the issue with greater efficiency than the FDA, say attorneys at Phillips Lytle.
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A Rainbow Of Lessons From Fruity Pebbles' TTAB Loss
The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s January decision to deny Post Foods' bid to register a trademark on its Fruity Pebbles cereal brand underscores the importance of the interplay among mark description, mark drawing and goods identification when seeking protection for trade dress, say Troy Viger and Jenevieve Maerker at Finnegan.
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Assessing FDA Pathways For Genome-Edited Plant Foods
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent clarification of the regulatory pathways for foods produced from genome-edited plants seeks to strike a balance between public health and innovation, and may hold broader significance for developers of novel human foods subject to voluntary notification programs, say Emily Marden and Diane McEnroe at Sidley Austin.
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TTAB Ruling May Broaden Alcohol Trademark Analysis
A February U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision that wine is inherently related to bars and cocktail lounges for trademark protection purposes appears to broaden the scope of exclusivity, highlighting that the more similar the marks, the less related the products must be for the TTAB to refuse registration, says William Borchard at Cowan Liebowitz.
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Opinion
Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year
As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.
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Document Retention Best Practices To Lower Litigation Risks
As new technologies emerge and terabytes of data can be within the purview of a single discovery request, businesses small and large should take four document management steps to effectively minimize risks of litigation and discovery sanctions long before litigation ensues, says Kimbrilee Weber at Norris McLaughlin.
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Series
Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.
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Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents
Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.
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CSA Case Could Shift Intrastate Commercial Cannabis
In Canna Provisions v. Merrick Garland, cannabis companies argue that the Controlled Substances Act is unconstitutional as applied to intrastate commercial cannabis activity; the Massachusetts federal court's eventual decision will be important to the cannabis industry for several reasons, including that the threat of federal enforcement would disappear overnight, says Hilary Bricken at Husch Blackwell.
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What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks
Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.
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Legal Considerations For Circular Economy Strategies
As circular economy goals — generating revenue at multiple points in a product's life cycle — become nearly ubiquitous in corporate sustainability practices, companies should reassess existing strategies by focusing on government incentives, regulations, and reporting and disclosure requirements, say Rachel Saltzman and Erin Grisby at Hunton.
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Preempting Bottled Water Microplastics Fraud Claims
Food products like bottled water are increasingly likely to be targets of consumer fraud complaints due to alleged microplastics contamination — but depending on the labeling or advertising at issue, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act can provide a powerful preemption defense, say Tariq Naeem and Brenda Sweet at Tucker Ellis.
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Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment
As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.