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BOSTON — The Suffolk County, Mass., Superior Court on May 8 entered judgment in favor of a dead smoker’s estate worth more than $13 million in compensatory and punitive damages after a jury found in favor of the estate on its claim that a tobacco company’s “power of coercion conspiracy” caused the smoker’s lung cancer and death. VIDEO FROM THE TRIAL IS AVAILABLE.
PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 8 affirmed a lower court’s judgment that an employee who sold his software company to a company that manufactures electronic voltage instruments is entitled to an award of $800,000 pursuant to a holdback agreement regarding obtaining his revenue goals, finding that the lower court did not err in its determination that the employee’s interpretation of the agreement is “reasonable.”
CINCINNATI — Affirming a ruling against BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Inc. (BlueCross or BCBST) in a dispute involving coverage for fertility treatments, the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on May 8 agreed with application of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act “saving clause” and a Tennessee federal court’s conclusion that the focus of a New Hampshire regulatory proceeding was BCBST’s role as an insurer, not its role as an ERISA fiduciary.
SAN FRANCISCO — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority affirmed a lower federal court’s summary judgment ruling in favor of a charterer legal liability insurer in a coverage dispute arising from a deckhand’s injury, finding that the policy was not triggered because the insured is liable for causing injuries to the seaman by breaching its duties as the owner of a natural gas extraction platform and not for breach of its duties as a charterer.
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s ruling denying a motion by the Federal Trade Commission seeking preliminary injunctive relief against the acquisition of the video game developer Activision Blizzard Inc. by Microsoft Corp., finding that the lower court correctly held that the FTC did not show the likelihood of success on the merits of its claim made pursuant to the Clayton Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 7 affirmed a decision from the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) to uphold the rejection of an attorney’s application for the mark US SPACE FORCE, which came only days after President Donald J. Trump’s 2018 initial public proposals of the military branch, which was subsequently formally created.
THETFORD MINES, Quebec — A Canadian court on May 7 granted an application to apply legal protections to Asbestos Corp. Ltd. as the company filed a Chapter 15 bankruptcy in U.S. court in the hopes of restructuring.
BALTIMORE — The mayor and city council of Baltimore on May 7 filed a complaint alleging violations of the city’s consumer protection ordinance based on the sales of Zyn nicotine pouches, accusing the defendants Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) and two Swedish Match entities of “an extensive campaign to create new nicotine addicts to ensure profits” in part by “ensuring nicotine addiction in the City of Baltimore’s children and adolescents.”
FORT WORTH, Texas — Companies representing the interests of drug compounders on May 7 filed a notice of interlocutory appeal to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals immediately after a Texas federal judge in an order under seal granted two motions for summary judgment in a dispute over whether the agency properly determined that the shortage of tirzepatide, a drug for diabetes and weight loss, had ended when it removed the drug from the agency’s drug shortage list.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A Florida appeals court panel held April 16 that a lower court’s partial summary judgment ruling that a homeowners insurer waived its lack of “prompt notice” defense as a matter of law “was erroneous both procedurally and on the merits,” reversing and remanding for a new trial so the insurer can present the defense in a coverage dispute with its insureds.
NEW ORLEANS — A split Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction an appeal by Amazon.com Services LLC challenging the “constructive denial” of its injunctive relief motion concerning two National Labor Relations Board proceedings that it alleged it was being subjected to in violation of the U.S. Constitution.