Fed. Circ. Wary Of Reviving $200M Google Case Axed Midtrial

By Ryan Davis

A Federal Circuit panel on Friday appeared skeptical of efforts by Brazos Licensing & Development to overturn a directed verdict decision by U.S. District Judge Alan Albright that cleared Google of infringing a Brazos location tracking patent during a more than $200 million trial.

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High Court Grants Review Of Falun Gong Cisco Spying Case

By Y. Peter Kang

The U.S. Supreme Court said Friday it will determine whether the Ninth Circuit was right to reinstate a suit brought under the Alien Tort Statute suit alleging that Cisco aided the Chinese government's allegedly unlawful crackdown on the Falun Gong religious movement.

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Justices Will Weigh FCC's Monetary Penalty Powers

By Christopher Cole

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to take a look at the Federal Communications Commission's authority to issue fines by announcing it would review both a Fifth Circuit ruling in AT&T's favor curtailing the agency's ability to issue fines using its own in-house legal process and a case that Verizon lost in the Second Circuit.

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Calif. Wage Suit Settles Months After Atty Admits To AI Mishap

By Emily Sawicki

A proposed wage and hour class action that drew the legal world's attention in November after the plaintiff's counsel admitted to using a half-dozen artificial intelligence tools to prepare a botched motion has now ended, with a Northern California federal judge granting a joint dismissal following a settlement agreement.

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Ramey Ducks BlackBerry's Sanctions Bid Over 'Frivolous' Suit

By Elliot Weld

Patent attorney Bill Ramey has avoided sanctions requested by BlackBerry Corp. for what the smartphone company called the "frivolous and unreasonable" way he litigated a case brought on behalf of Silent Communications LLC.

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News Orgs. Want OpenAI Sanctioned In Copyright MDL

By Adam Lidgett

News organizations, including The New York Times, are sparring with OpenAI over allegations that the artificial intelligence company didn't properly maintain output logs of its ChatGPT chatbot in multidistrict copyright litigation in New York federal court.

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X Strikes Back At Music Publishers With Antitrust Suit

By Craig Clough

X Corp. accused the National Music Publishers' Association and the largest music publishers in the United States of an anticompetitive conspiracy, alleging in a suit filed Friday that the industry's top players colluded against the social media company in an "extortionate campaign" over copyrighted music licenses.

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Ky. AG Sues Character.AI Over Harm To Minors, Suicides

By Mike Curley

The state of Kentucky is suing the company behind Character.AI, alleging it has failed to implement safeguards to protect children that use the platform to chat with bots from psychological manipulation, self-harm and suicide.

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Squires Sets Precedent, Guidance On Discretionary Denials

By Dani Kass

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires on Friday designated four decisions on discretionary denials at the Patent Trial and Appeal Board precedential and another nine informative.

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Analysis

How New Judges Can Quell Patent Litigation Fears

By Dani Kass

Patent litigation has a reputation for being particularly complex due to its technical content, which can be intimidating for litigants, attorneys and judges alike. In the first of a two-part series, several judges in the trenches of patent law spoke with Law360 about how new judges can make patent litigation less overwhelming.

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Wash. Gov. Pitches Bills On AI Chatbots, Vaccines, Housing

By Ben Adlin

Washington state's governor announced six bills Friday that he's asking lawmakers to pass in the legislative session that kicks off Monday, including measures to increase housing, guard Washingtonians from people posing as law enforcement, reinforce the state's vaccine decision-making authority and establish protections around AI chatbots, particularly for youth.

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Sens. Urge App Stores To Ban X, Grok Over Sexual Images

By Allison Grande

A trio of U.S. Senate Democrats are calling on Apple and Google to remove the apps for the social media platform X and the generative artificial intelligence chatbot Grok from their app stores until the owner of these services, Elon Musk, adequately addresses the AI tool's generation of sexually explicit content, including "harmful and likely illegal depictions" of women and children. 

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USTelecom Wants 'More Green Lights' For Broadband In '26

By Christopher Cole

A key telecom industry group says that if 2025 was marked by continual delays in broadband deployment, 2026 needs to be the year when construction crews actually break ground on federally backed projects.

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Brief

FCC Approves Telecom's New Plan For Alaska Buildout

By Nadia Dreid

An Alaskan telecommunications company has received the go-ahead from the Federal Communications Commission to deploy its mobile service throughout the far-flung state with federal support, after the new plan showed the firm could triple the number of people for whom it provides service.

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Brief

SpaceX Can Build Up Its Next-Gen Constellation, FCC Says

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission gave its stamp of approval Friday for SpaceX to ramp up its second-generation Starlink satellite system.

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9th Circ. Revives Suit Over Milliman's 'Fuzzy Matching' Tactic

By Bonnie Eslinger

The Ninth Circuit on Friday reversed a decision tossing one of two classes in litigation accusing consulting firm Milliman of peddling inaccurate information by using a strategy known as "fuzzy" data matching to compile its reports, saying the lower court applied a too-high standard at the summary judgment stage for showing class members were harmed.

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Fed. Circ. Doubts Trade Secret Was Properly Spelled Out

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Circuit spent part of its Friday morning mulling whether it is the court's job to, in the words of the judge who killed the trade secrets claims brought by a MasterCard unit against two McKinsey consultants, "do APT's job for it by mining its trade secrets from the raw materials."

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USPTO Pushes Back At Tesla PTAB Policy Fight At Fed. Circ.

By Adam Lidgett

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the owner of three patents for self-driving vehicles urged the Federal Circuit on Friday to ignore Tesla's argument that the USPTO can't use the time before trial in patent litigation to deny patent reviews before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

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Rakoff Hints 'Baby Shark' Mail-Service Precedent Is Unpopular

By Pete Brush

U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff on Friday critiqued a Second Circuit decision requiring mail service to alleged Chinese infringers of "Baby Shark" trademarks, which he said may slow Google's effort to shutter an alleged China-based global phishing scam.

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Pegasystems Opt-Out Investors Get Green Light For IP Claims

By Katryna Perera

A majority of claims brought by Pegasystems Inc. investors who opted out of a $35 million securities class action settlement will proceed after a Massachusetts federal judge found that a Virginia Court of Appeals ruling reversing a trial court's $2 billion intellectual property judgment against Pega doesn't change the viability of the current suit's claims.

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Furniture Store Employees Get 1st OK For Data Breach Deal

By Abigail Harrison

A North Carolina federal judge has granted preliminary approval in a class action settlement to a former employee of a new and used office furniture company in a data breach lawsuit that's just over a year old.

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Groups Oppose Feds' Bid To Stay $100K H-1B Visa Fee Suit

By Britain Eakin

Medical and other groups challenging President Donald Trump's $100,000 H-1B visa fee urged a California federal judge to reject the federal government's bid for a stay in the case, saying they are facing imminent harm without court intervention.

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Paramount Seeks To Toss Privacy Suit Over Kids' Data

By Rae Ann Varona

Paramount Skydance Corp. urged a California federal court to toss a "haphazard" proposed class action that accuses the media giant of unlawfully disclosing the personally identifiable information of children who streamed content on their families' devices, saying the kids' parents failed to sufficiently allege any of their claims.

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State Looks To Nix RealPage Case Over NY Rental Pricing Law

By Matthew Perlman

The New York attorney general's office urged a federal court Friday to toss a case from property management software company RealPage Inc. challenging a new state law that prohibits building owners from using software to collude on residential rental rates.

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Gaming Co., Founders Spar Over Survival Game Earnout

By Jarek Rutz

A Delaware Chancery Court judge on Friday pressed lawyers for a video game studio's founders and its South Korean parent on sharply divergent explanations for why the founders were fired and control of the company seized, as the sides argued over post-trial relief in a fast-tracked earnout dispute tied to a potential $250 million payout.

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IDEXX Software Defect Blamed For At Least 40 Dog Deaths

By Rae Ann Varona

Two Los Angeles-based veterinary clinics say pet healthcare diagnostics company Idexx Distribution Inc. fraudulently concealed a software algorithm defect that allegedly led to at least 40 dogs dying and hundreds of animals getting sick or missing treatment due to false diagnostic testing, according to a new lawsuit in California state court.

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H-1B Spouses Challenge End Of Auto Work Permit Extensions

By Britain Eakin

Seven spouses of H-1B visa holders asked a California federal judge to block the Trump administration's end of automatic work permit extensions, saying the move was based on unsupported national security grounds to fast-track the policy without public input.

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Skechers, Tech Co. Investors Sue For Stock Appraisals In Del.

By Jeff Montgomery

New entrants have joined two stock appraisal suits now before Delaware's Court of Chancery, potentially adding millions to the stakes in existing battles over the value of shares of footwear venture Skechers Inc. and restaurant software company Olo Inc.

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Roundup

NC Biz Court Bulletin: Trade Secrets Row, A Patient Data Deal

By Hayley Fowler

The North Carolina Business Court closed out the year by tossing a trade secrets fight brought by a corrugated packing manufacturer against its onetime star salesman and signing off on a $2.45 million settlement ending claims a healthcare system sold patients' data to Meta.

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Brief

Patent Protection Firm Ends Software Infringement Suit

By Elliot Weld

A patent protection services firm has dropped its case against a photo-editing software company alleging infringement of three patents covering advanced image processing.

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Paul Hastings-Led Oncology Firm Prices Upsized $318M IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Boston-based biotech firm Atkis Oncology began trading publicly Friday after raising roughly $318.6 million in its upsized initial public offering, marking the first sizable IPO of 2026.

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Fintech-Focused Lafayette Digital SPAC Prices $250M Offering

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Special purpose acquisition company Lafayette Digital Acquisition I began trading publicly Friday after raising $250 million in its initial public offering, with plans to target the financial services and technology industries.

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Prison Phone Co. Hits Ch. 11 After Judgment In Trust Feud

By Alex Wittenberg

Smart Communications, which provides phone and messaging services for inmates in prisons across the country, has filed for Chapter 11 protection in Florida bankruptcy court facing an at least $42 million judgment tied to a dispute with a family trust over ownership of the company.

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AI Can Help Advisers With Proxy Voting, SEC Official Says

By Sarah Jarvis

Artificial intelligence can assist investment advisers with handling corporate proxy voting decisions, an official with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said in a speech decrying the proxy advisory landscape as dysfunctional.

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Skadden's Ex-Palo Alto Leader Named Aetherflux's COO, CLO

By Rae Ann Varona

The former head of Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP's Palo Alto office Joe Yaffe is now Aetherflux's chief operating officer and chief legal officer as the San Carlos, California, space-based solar power startup moves ahead with its "Galactic Brain" project to launch an artificial intelligence data center satellite in space, Aetherflux announced Friday.

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Shopify Suit Is An Early Antitrust Test Of 'Buy Now, Pay Later'

An ongoing antitrust suit in Minnesota federal court filed by Sezzle against Shopify — one of the earliest such lawsuits focused on buy now, pay later services — could play a particularly informative role in how short-term credit offerings and the broader market develop, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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2025's Most Notable State AG Activity By The Numbers

State attorneys general were active in 2025, working across party lines to address federal regulatory gaps in artificial intelligence, take action on consumer protection issues, continue antitrust enforcement and announce large settlements on behalf of their citizens, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

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Opinion

The Case For Emulating, Not Dividing, The Ninth Circuit

Champions for improved judicial administration should reject the unfounded criticisms driving recent Senate proposals to divide the Ninth Circuit and instead seek to replicate the court's unique strengths and successes, says Ninth Circuit Judge J. Clifford Wallace.

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Bruce Fein Axed As Counsel In Maduro's NY Drug Case

By Rachel Rippetoe

A New York federal judge on Monday said constitutional lawyer Bruce Fein could not represent Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro after Fein admitted to having never spoken to or entered into an agreement of representation for the foreign leader, who was indicted on narco-conspiracy charges this month.

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Analysis

The Issues That Could Decide The Tom Goldstein Tax Case

By Jared Foretek

Federal prosecutors are set to begin making their case against famed U.S. Supreme Court lawyer and SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein at trial Wednesday, alleging that he deliberately hid millions of dollars in high-stakes poker winnings from the Internal Revenue Service between 2016 and 2021 and lied on mortgage applications.

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Haynes Boone Opens Boston Office Led By Ex-K&L Gates Atty

By Tracey Read

Haynes Boone announced Monday that it has opened its 20th office in Boston, and that it has added a former K&L Gates LLP asset management and investment funds partner to lead the Beantown launch.

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SEC Draws From BigLaw To Appoint Enforcement Deputies

By Jessica Corso

Two former BigLaw attorneys, one of whom served as counsel to President Donald Trump during his first term in office, have joined the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as deputy directors of enforcement, the agency announced Monday.

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Sitting Judges Advocate For Bill To Allow Them To Carry Guns

By Courtney Bublé

Three federal judges have come out in support of a Republican-led bill to allow judges and prosecutors to carry concealed firearms across state lines.

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NJ US Atty Office's 3-Person Leadership Unlawful, Court Told

By Emily Sawicki

Criminal defendants in the District of New Jersey are challenging the three-person leadership structure now in place at the Garden State's U.S. attorney's office following the disqualification of Alina Habba, telling the court their due process rights have been violated by the allegedly unlawful system.

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Compromise Funding Bill Gives Judiciary $9.7B

By Courtney Bublé

Congressional appropriators have unveiled a bipartisan compromise funding bill for the federal judiciary for fiscal 2026, which includes the judiciary's requested funding for court security and federal public defenders.

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House Passes Bill To Double Ch. 7 Trustee Fee

By Clara Geoghegan

A bipartisan bill doubling the fixed per-case fees for Chapter 7 trustees is headed to President Donald Trump for a signature, after the U.S. House of Representatives passed it Monday night.

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Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

By Jarek Rutz

The Delaware Chancery Court closed out the week with developments ranging from leadership changes in a $13 billion take-private case and posttrial sparring over a major earnout to fresh governance fights, revived fraud claims and sanctions tied to advancement rights.

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