Analysis

Keeping Google Ad Tech Biz Intact 'Not A Close Call'

By Bryan Koenig

The Justice Department Antitrust Division and Federal Trade Commission are now 0-3 in their efforts to break up major technology companies, and with monopolization trials still ahead against Amazon.com and Apple, observers say a Virginia federal judge's newly unsealed ruling underscores the legal and practical difficulties of those efforts.

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FTC Chair Defends Overlapping Antitrust Authorities

By Matthew Perlman

Federal Trade Commission Chair Andrew Ferguson on Friday defended his agency's continuing role as an antitrust enforcer despite a U.S. Supreme Court decision that weakened the agency's independence and left it as beholden to the White House as its counterpart at the U.S. Department of Justice.

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6th Circ. Undoes Ky. State Court Remand Of PBM Fight

By Kellie Mejdrich

The Sixth Circuit on Friday ruled that Kentucky's lawsuit accusing pharmacy benefit managers of conspiring with drug manufacturers to increase the prescription opioid supply belongs in federal court, given the appellate court's precedential ruling from January reversing remand of another state's dispute against PBMs.

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FTC's Meador Touts Right-To-Repair Progress After Deere Case

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

Federal Trade Commissioner Mark Meador has hailed the commission's "progress" in right-to-repair enforcement during recent remarks before the National Farmers Union, touting the agency's July settlement in its case against John Deere.

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Paramount Gets Foreign Investment Nod For $110B WBD Deal

By Al Barbarino

The Federal Communications Commission has approved a Paramount Skydance request to permit foreign ownership as part of its $110 billion plan to buy Warner Bros. Discovery. 

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Frozen Potato Makers Must Face Bulk Of Price-Fixing Case

By Lauraann Wood

The four companies controlling roughly 98% of the frozen potato product market must face consumers' accusations that they shared competitively sensitive information and coordinated other efforts to carry out an illegal price-fixing scheme, an Illinois federal judge has ruled.

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Gerber Can't Trim Antitrust Claims Over Perrigo Factory Sale

By Dorothy Atkins

A New York federal court on Friday rejected Gerber's bid to trim a baby-formula packager's antitrust lawsuit against the Nestle-owned company, finding that the packager sufficiently alleged Gerber recently sold its infant-formula factory to Perrigo to entrench Perrigo's market power "at the expense of potential competitors."

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OpenAI Can't See SpaceXAI, Apple Antitrust Settlement Terms

By Ganesh Setty

OpenAI cannot access a confidential settlement between Elon Musk's SpaceXAI and Apple Inc. over SpaceXAI's antitrust lawsuit challenging Apple's integration of OpenAI's ChatGPT into its devices, a Texas federal court has ruled, finding the settlement isn't relevant to the case against OpenAI.

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NY Surgeons Say Elevance Penalty Policy Is Anticompetitive

By Gianna Ferrarin

A practice group for independent neurosurgeons lobbed an antitrust suit against Elevance Health Inc. in New York federal court alleging the insurer is impeding their ability to compete for patients by threatening to financially penalize and terminate in-network facilities that work with them.

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Gaming Record Label Sues Rival Over YouTube Takedowns

By Rachel Riley

Video-game music record label GameChops launched a lawsuit in Washington federal court Friday accusing a Washington-based competitor of a campaign to force it to accept "unjustified and unreasonable demands," primarily by flagging its YouTube videos for takedown based on fabricated copyright concerns.

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Apple Says Ex-Worker Took 33 Files, Wiped Mac For OpenAI

By Ivan Moreno

Apple has told a California federal judge that a former engineer now at OpenAI downloaded at least 33 confidential files from Apple's Box repository after his departure, wiped an Apple-owned computer before returning it, and later told another former Apple employee who had joined OpenAI to erase her device.

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Ex-Animal Rescue Dir. Owes $975K In TM Feud, Judge Says

By Elliot Weld

A Pennsylvania federal judge has awarded animal shelter and rescue Last Chance Ranch a $975,000 judgment against its former director, saying the cyberpiracy and trademark infringement merited damages and attorney fees.

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Analysis

AI 'Brainrot' Fight Tests Copyright, TM Reach Of Viral Memes

By Ivan Moreno

A bat-wielding wooden drum named Tung Tung Sahur is raising questions Mickey Mouse, Godzilla and James Bond never posed: Can a "brainrot" character created using artificial intelligence be protected by copyright, and can it later function as a trademark if it went viral before anyone used it as a brand?

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DOJ Revises Policies Over False Claims Act Suits

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of Justice issued revisions Friday to department policy governing False Claims Act lawsuits, emphasizing that agency guidance documents have limited effect and that the government should continually assess whether to seek dismissal of qui tam actions.

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Time Is On Payment Processors' Side As Deal Dynamics Shift

As payment processors increasingly use timing and volume to gain leverage, merchants should negotiate payment processing agreements well before renewal or migration deadlines, ensuring proper benchmarking, reserve, data, termination and transition terms are in place, says James Alexander at Reed Smith.

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Senior Lawyers Survey: Tell Us About Your Career

How are senior lawyers adapting to evolving career paths and emerging technologies? Share your perspective in this five-minute survey.

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The 2026 Regional Powerhouses

By Cara Bayles

From major deals to high-profile litigation, the firms named to Law360's 2026 Regional Powerhouses list are leading the way across 14 states. They deliver deep regional expertise and make a lasting impact at the state and local level.

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Analysis

Attys 'Itching' To Join Congressional Probes Of Trump Admin

By Phillip Bantz

Efforts to recruit high-powered lawyers to Capitol Hill to potentially lead congressional committee probes into the various dealings of President Donald Trump's administration are gaining momentum as Democrats push to retake control of Congress in the quickly approaching midterm elections.

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Ex-DOJ Chief Lambastes 'Abuses Of Power' In Goldstein Case

By Jeff Overley

The U.S. Department of Justice constantly made false statements in its criminal case against famed appellate advocate Tom Goldstein, and his convictions must be erased because "prosecutorial misconduct pervaded every stage of the proceedings," a former DOJ prosecutor told the Fourth Circuit.

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Roundup

Taxation With Representation: Davis Polk, Latham, Sullivan

By Zak Kostro

In this week's Taxation With Representation, a group backed by Michael Dell's family office and Sequence Holdings acquires a majority interest in The Baldwin Group, May Mobility merges with a blank check company, and Infineon Technologies sells its memory chip business to Winbond Electronics.

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Ex-Wis. Judge Keeps License Amid ICE Conviction Appeal

By Ryan Boysen

The ex-Wisconsin judge convicted of obstructing an ICE arrest will remain an attorney in good standing while she appeals, after the Supreme Court of Wisconsin declined to suspend her law license.

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Richards Layton Litigator Selected For Chancery Seat In Del.

By Rose Krebs

A Richards Layton & Finger PA attorney has been nominated by Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer to serve on the bench of the nationally important Chancery Court, a venue that adjudicates some of the biggest corporate law cases.

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Judge Questions Whether 'Lawfare' Fund Fight Is Really Moot

By Jared Foretek

A Virginia federal judge seemed unlikely to toss a challenge to the Trump administration's nixed "Anti-Weaponization Fund" and tax audit immunity for the Trump family Friday, saying she worries the fund could be revived in a different form down the road.

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Chief US District Judge In SC To Take Senior Status Oct. 1

By Courtney Bublé

Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy Cain of the District of South Carolina has informed the president that he will be taking semiretired status on Oct. 1, according to an update posted Friday by the federal judiciary.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Starbucks settled a high-profile discrimination suit with Florida over its diversity, equity and inclusion policies, agreeing not to use race- or sex-based goals in hiring and promoting. And the SEC floated changing how publicly traded companies seek shareholder input, including promising to end one pathway for shareholders to place their proposals on corporate ballots. These are among the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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Reed Smith Defends Docs Production In Ex-Atty's Bias Suit

By Jake Maher

Reed Smith LLP urged a New Jersey court on Thursday to reject an "impulsive" motion from a former attorney suing it for gender discrimination seeking to strike its answer and affirmative defenses.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Schemery Zicolello leads this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a Third Circuit panel ruled that police cannot conduct warrantless strip searches outside of jails or prisons absent consent or an emergency.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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