FTC, AGs Say Amazon Pocketed $20B With Fraudulent Auctions

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Federal Trade Commission and a bipartisan coalition of 22 states sued Amazon Monday, alleging it secretly overcharged advertising customers more than $20 billion by manipulating how it set prices for ads on its e-commerce website.

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Valve's 15K Antitrust Arbitrations Will Stay On Ice, Judge Says

By Ben Adlin

Arbitrations between gaming giant Valve Corp. and nearly 15,000 gamers will remain paused as the Ninth Circuit weighs whether the antitrust disputes are eligible for arbitration under the company's updated subscriber terms, according to a bench ruling Monday from a Seattle federal judge.

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Perrigo Settles Antitrust Suits Over Baby Formula Market

By Rae Ann Varona

Perrigo settled a couple of lawsuits filed in New York federal court that accused the company of cutting an anti-competitive agreement with Gerber to maintain a monopoly in the store-brand infant formula market, according to a letter filed Monday in a Brooklyn court.

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9th Circ. Won't Rehear Eye Drop Antitrust Suit Despite Dissent

By Bryan Koenig

A forceful dissent from a pair of Ninth Circuit judges wasn't enough to keep the full appellate court from letting stand a panel decision preserving wholesalers' district court win accusing the maker of Clear Eyes drops of illegal price discrimination favoring Costco.

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AGs, WGA Slam Paramount's Bid For $1.9B Merger Suit Bond

By Lauren Berg

The Writers Guild of America and Democratic attorneys general urged a California federal judge Monday to reject Paramount Skydance Corp.'s bid to make them put up a $1.9 billion bond, saying it was the studio's idea to pause closing its planned $110 billion purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery.

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ChatGPT, Reddit, Roblox ID'd For Extra EU Digital Safeguards

By Bryan Koenig

The European Commission labeled ChatGPT, Reddit and Roblox on Monday as large enough to warrant extra rules for policing illegal content and other mandates, bringing the number of companies hit with Digital Services Act labels up to 28.

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Controversial Tweak To Calif. Antitrust Law Heads To Newsom

By Lauren Berg

A bill that would expand California's Cartwright Act to allow the state to pursue monopoly and monopsony claims against a solo company, instead of requiring multicompany coordinated conduct, is headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk after state lawmakers passed a narrowed version of the controversial measure Sunday.

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'Kentucky Hammer' Pushes To Duck Antitrust Suit

By Emily Sawicki

A Kentucky personal injury firm led by litigator Darryl "The Hammer" Isaacs is looking to duck an antitrust suit filed by a former firm lawyer, arguing the suit fails to state a plausible claim for any allegations leveled against it.

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Domino's Seeks To Deliver Noncompete Suit To Arbitration

By MJ Koo

Domino's Pizza asked a Washington state court to compel individual arbitration of a former yard driver's proposed class claims alleging the company's conflict-of-interest policy illegally restricted workers from taking second jobs, arguing the worker signed a binding arbitration agreement when he was hired that includes a class action waiver.

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Baird Sues Colo. Firm Over Alleged Adviser-Poaching Scheme

By Zach Dupont

Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. claimed in Colorado state court that a competing financial services firm is using false and misleading statements about its independence to lure away Baird advisers and clients, according to the company's complaint.

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Tech Biz Challenges ICE's $95M Sole-Source Blockchain Award

By Elaine Briseño

Chainalysis Government Solutions accused the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of improperly awarding a nearly $95 million sole-source contract for forensic software, arguing the government should have held a full competition for the "largest blockchain analytics contract" it ever awarded.

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Sony, Warner Music Sue Anthropic Over 'Brazen' IP Theft

By Rae Ann Varona

Sony Music and Warner Chappell Music have accused Anthropic in California federal court of carrying out a "brazen campaign" of musical composition theft, alleging the Claude-maker stole lyrics and sheet music by scraping websites, exploiting datasets and "destructively scanning" physical copies of copyrighted music.

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Juul Sublicense Ends Reynolds' Altria Vape Royalty Tab

By P.J. D'Annunzio

A sublicensing agreement between R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. and Juul Labs Inc. relieves Reynolds of its obligation to pay ongoing royalties to Philip Morris parent company Altria Client Services LLC after a federal jury found that Reynolds infringed Altria's vape pen design, a North Carolina federal judge has ruled.

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Judge Trims Claims In Insurance Software Trade Secret Case

By Elliot Weld

A federal judge in Chicago on Monday issued a mixed ruling in a case brought by a company that makes insurance agency management software against a rival that it claims created a fake insurance company to steal trade secrets, dismissing some claims but preserving others for trade secret misappropriation and violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

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Ford, Bronco Builder Rev Up TM Fight Over Custom Builds

By Ivan Moreno

Ford Motor Co. and a custom Bronco builder are trying to pare down their trademark fight in dueling summary judgment bids, with Ford targeting defenses to its claims over Bronco-inspired SUVs and the defendants accusing the automaker of improperly renewing its Bronco registration while the model was out of production.

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Paul Hastings Hires Longtime FTC Mergers Atty In DC

By Jack Rodgers

An attorney from the Federal Trade Commission, who worked with the agency for nearly 20 years and was most recently deputy assistant director in the Mergers I Division, has joined Paul Hastings LLP, the firm announced Monday.

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Kirkland Lands Gibson Dunn State AG Co-Leader In Houston

By Lynn LaRowe

Kirkland & Ellis LLP announced Monday that it has expanded its litigation offerings in Houston with a former co-chair of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP's state attorneys general practice.

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Quinn Emanuel Scoops Up Antitrust Pro From Kirkland In DC

By Gina Kim

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP announced on Monday it has welcomed a Kirkland & Ellis LLP antitrust star with a storied background trying cases involving novel legal issues and representing major clients like UnitedHealth. 

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Ex-Clifford Chance Attys Fight Bid To Toss Clawback Suit

By Ryan Boysen

The two partners facing a $6 million clawback demand by Clifford Chance LLP have again asked a federal judge to decide whether English or New York law should govern the arbitration, claiming the firm's partnership agreement is unclear.

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How Did Litigants Fare In Judge Albright's 55 Patent Trials?

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright oversaw more than 50 patent trials between his 2018 arrival on the bench and planned Monday departure, and in a surprise for many attorneys, there was a near-even split between victories for patent owners and accused infringers.

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New Report Rings Alarm On Threats To Judicial Independence

By Jack Karp

Verbal attacks on judges, disinformation about the courts and the defiance of court orders are undermining the independence of the federal judiciary and significantly affecting individual judges' ability to do their jobs, a report out Monday says.

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Roundup

Defamation Litigation Roundup: NYT, J&J, Azerbaijan

By Theresa Schliep

In this month's review of defamation fights, Law360 details a jury verdict against The New York Times in a suit involving its reporting on a shooting in Alabama, and highlights a judge's decision to spare researchers from a suit by a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary over their talc research.

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House Passes Bill To Curb Secret Prosecutor Orders

By Courtney Bublé

The House passed a bipartisan bill via voice vote Monday afternoon to add transparency to prosecutors' use of nondisclosure orders for telephone service providers.

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Brief

House Passes Bill Adding Texas, California Court Sites

By Courtney Bublé

The House voted 378-10 on Monday evening to expand access to federal courts in Texas and California, the two most populous states in the nation.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court this past week saw disputes over a $200 million federal grant, a $1.7 billion software take-private deal, the ouster of Better.com founder Vishal Garg and a proposed $4 million settlement stemming from an electric vehicle company's SPAC merger.

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Roundup

Hub Hires: MassBar, Kirkland, Troutman

By Chris Villani

Massachusetts' legal landscape saw a sizzling summer finish, with several major firms making hires. Kirkland added a veteran white collar defense attorney, Troutman bolstered its real estate team and Day Pitney nabbed an experienced corporate attorney.

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