States Sue To Block $6.2B Tegna Acquisition Despite Feds' OK

By Matthew Perlman

A coalition of state enforcers on Thursday sued to block Nexstar Media Group Inc.'s planned $6.2 billion purchase of rival broadcast company Tegna Inc., alleging the move would create a "broadcast behemoth" with the ability to raise television prices for consumers and control content.

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Live Nation CEO Says He Can't Recall 'Market Power' Remark

By Pete Brush

Live Nation's longtime CEO sparred Thursday with states that say the $36 billion entertainment giant engages in monopolization, telling a Manhattan federal jury the business is a "better mousetrap" than rivals and saying he couldn't recall telling investors the company has "incredible market power."  

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FTC Official Says 'Reverse Acquihires' Come With 'Risk'

By Bryan Koenig

A senior Federal Trade Commission antitrust staffer said Thursday that nothing about "reverse acquihires" should let companies think they can skirt merger scrutiny, arguing in Washington, D.C., remarks that the deals clearly amount to the acquisition of assets covered under U.S. antitrust law.

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FTC Head Touts Consumer Protection's 'Relative Simplicity'

By Bryan Koenig

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson on Thursday promised to keep increasing the agency's focus on consumer protection, asserting in Washington, D.C., remarks that while antitrust enforcement remains a priority, consumer protection cases can come with faster and more meaningful relief for Americans.

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DOJ Antitrust Head Tells Staff: Don't Worry About Criticism

By Bryan Koenig

The acting head of the U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division said Thursday that he pays no heed to criticism of the agency and tells staff to do the same, while asserting in Washington, D.C., remarks that there's no better time to come work for the DOJ.

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Tulane Panel Flags Growing Political Influence On Dealmaking

By Al Barbarino

At the annual Tulane Corporate Law Institute on Thursday, panelists warned that politics is increasingly shaping dealmaking and complicating how transactions are negotiated and executed, with one likening the discussion to a "hostage" situation.

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Affiliated Cos. Not Automatically Linked, EU High Court Says

By Natalie Olivo

Businesses are not automatically linked for the purposes of determining state aid eligibility merely because an individual holds a majority stake in each of them, the European Court of Justice said Thursday in a dispute between a Latvian company and the country's tax authorities.

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EU Court Advised To Uphold €20M Canned Veg Cartel Fine

By William Janes

A European Union advocate general recommended on Thursday that the bloc's highest court dismiss a challenge from a canned vegetable producer to a €20 million ($23 million) fine for cartel activity, suggesting that the EU's competition enforcer didn't miscalculate the fine.

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Del. Supreme Court Revives Payscale's Noncompete Suit

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Supreme Court on Thursday revived Payscale Inc.'s lawsuit seeking to enforce an 18-month noncompete agreement and related restrictive covenants against a former sales executive, ruling that a lower court dismissed the case too early by improperly weighing facts and drawing inferences against the company.

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5th Circ. Weighs Release Of Apple IP Agreements To Xiaomi

By Spencer Brewer

A Fifth Circuit panel on Thursday asked why patent licensing agreements between Apple Inc. and Blackberry Corp. should be circulated beyond outside counsel of a Chinese rival to Apple involved in overseas litigation, questioning the parties on why they "can't live" with an exclusion preventing in-house counsel from seeing the records.

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CVS, Caremark Pocket Money Meant For Rebates, Suit Claims

By Emily Brill

CVS charges drug manufacturers "exorbitant" fees in exchange for pushing their products, then pockets the money instead of funneling it toward customer rebates as it promises, a federal lawsuit alleges, accusing the company of collecting billions of dollars at customers' expense and violating the anti-racketeering statute.

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Organizers Of 7-Marathon Event Accuse Rival Of Defamation

By Ganesh Setty

The organizers of an event to run seven marathons across all seven continents in seven days accused two California residents who have organized a similar event of defamation in Florida federal court, alleging they tried to divert participants away via "harassment and intimidation."

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TriZetto Wants To Expand IP Claims Against Infosys

By Elliot Weld

Cognizant TriZetto Software Group has asked a Texas federal judge to allow it to amend its trade secret suit against Infosys Ltd., saying a recent discovery has revealed that Infosys' alleged misconduct "goes much deeper."

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Fintech Co. Says It Caught Rival Stealing Code 'Red-Handed'

By Corey Rothauser

Financial technology company MyCard Inc. has filed a suit against rival Atomic FI Inc. in Delaware federal court alleging MyCard has uncovered direct evidence that the competitor copied proprietary software after planting a hidden "honeypot" string in MyCard's code.

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Sports Flooring Distributors Lose Bid To Reinstate Contracts

By Elaine Briseño

A Utah federal judge has denied a group of sports flooring distributors their request to reinstate and maintain their contracts, saying the plaintiffs likely failed to follow their contracts with the defendant manufacturer, undercutting allegations that their distribution agreements were unlawfully terminated.

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4th Circ. Backs T-Mobile In Signal Interference Suit

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Act dooms every bit of an internet and phone service provider's suit accusing T-Mobile of interfering with and slowing down its signals, the Fourth Circuit said Thursday, declining to revive the litigation.

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Judge Declines New Trial Over Smart TV Patents After LG Win

By Adam Lidgett

A Texas federal judge won't disturb a jury verdict clearing LG Electronics of allegations that it infringed Multimedia Technologies Pte. Ltd.'s smart television patents, shooting down the patent owner's challenge to the finding that the patents were invalid.

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Nokia, Warner Bros. Seek To End Video-Coding Patent Suit

By Adam Lidgett

Nokia and Warner Bros. on Thursday agreed to end a legal fight in Delaware federal court after the Hollywood studio earlier this month lost its bid to toss claims that it infringed a set of the Finnish company's video-coding patents.

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Oil Co. Needn't Give $105M To Bond Insurers, Judge Rules

By José Luis Martínez

A Texas federal judge found Thursday that two insurers are not entitled to receive some $105 million in collateral from Houston-based oil and gas producer W&T Offshore, approving a magistrate judge's report that noted the insurers' allegations are mere "speculation."

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Pallet Biz Tells Mich. Judge To Toss Discovery Bid

By Melanie Dorsey

Pallet company Palltronics is urging a Michigan federal court to deny a rival firm's request for more discovery in their trade secret dispute, arguing the request is unnecessary, premature and filed in bad faith.

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Snoop Dogg's Ice Cream Co. Settles 'Swizzle' TM Battle

By Aaron Keller

Recording artist Snoop Dogg's ice cream company and the fruit bouquet retailer Edible Arrangements have settled a trademark dispute after mediating their use of the word "swizzle" before a Connecticut federal judge.

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Drug Co. Can't Claim Most Docs Contain Trade Secrets At Trial

By Elliot Weld

A Manhattan federal judge ruled Thursday that a pharmaceutical consulting company won't be allowed to argue to a jury that thousands of documents it did not enter into evidence contain trade secrets amid an ongoing misappropriation trial.

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Duke Energy Settlement Raises Key Antitrust Questions

The recent federal court settlement in Duke Energy v. NTE Carolinas II comes in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's failure to address a Fourth Circuit decision in the matter, calling into question the core purpose and effect of antitrust laws, say attorneys at Clifford Chance.

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Series

Coaching Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Coaching youth soccer for my 7-year-old son's team has sharpened how I communicate with clients, prepare witnesses, work within teams and think about leadership, making me a more thoughtful and effective lawyer in many ways, says Joshua Holt at Smith Currie.

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HSF Kramer Hires Axinn Antitrust Lawyer In DC

By Jack Rodgers

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP has hired a former Axinn Veltrop & Harkrider LLP partner, who represented Google in an antitrust investigation into its advertising technology, and who has represented other global companies in competition and related matters.

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Roundup

UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen an ex-professional footballer revive a dispute with Charles Russell Speechlys, Virgin Media face a group data protection claim after hundreds of thousands of customers' personal details were exposed online for months, and Mishcon de Reya sued by a real estate private equity firm founded by a former Morgan Stanley executive.

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Roundup

GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Michele Gorman

Major shareholder groups sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, claiming the agency violated the Administrative Procedure Act. In the meantime, some attorneys think the sanctions that judges are issuing to lawyers over AI-generated errors won't be enough to stop the problem. These are some of the stories in corporate legal news you may have missed in the past week.

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DOJ Rebuked Over Lack Of Candor For 'Imperious Client'

By Jack Karp

A Florida federal judge has rebuked government attorneys for failing to be up-front about legal authority that contradicts their position in a habeas case, warning them not to let their "imperious client" get between them and their ethical obligations.

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Beasley Allen Can't Halt DQ Ruling In J&J Talc Litigation

By George Woolston

A New Jersey state appeals court has refused to pause its decision disqualifying the Beasley Allen Law Firm from representing plaintiffs in multicounty litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, according to a court order.

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Where Calif. State Courts Landed On Generative AI Use Rules

By Emily Sawicki

The majority of California's 58 superior courts — together making up the country's largest trial court system — have decided to greenlight the use of generative artificial intelligence in their work this year, a Law360 investigation found.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Baron & Budd PC, Walden Macht Haran & Williams LLP and Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville PC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the Ninth Circuit revived a major hospital chain's False Claims Act suit accusing large pharmaceutical companies of massive overcharges in a prominent drug discount program.

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Top SEC Enforcer Signals Continuity After Ryan Departure

By Sarah Jarvis

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's acting enforcement chief said Friday that the agency will continue to "focus on quality over quantity" when it comes to the cases it brings, projecting continuity with his predecessor's approach after her abrupt departure from the agency earlier this week.

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Roundup

Balancing The Scales: $3M Jury Verdict, GEO Appeal Denial

By Orlando Lorenzo

A Philadelphia federal judge rejected bids to disturb a $3 million jury award and impose sanctions on plaintiff's counsel arising from proceedings he described as "near-daily Festivus celebrations, where everyone got to air their grievances 'for the sake of the record'" and a Detroit man saw his murder conviction vacated after 27 years due to the case's reliance on a coerced confession and a lack of physical evidence, among other access to justice stories you may have missed.

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Bondi Keeps Ousted Wisconsin US Atty With New Title

By Lauren Berg

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi swapped Brad D. Schimel's title from interim U.S. attorney to first assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin in order to keep him in charge of the office after his tenure expired earlier this week.

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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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