Chhabria's Privacy Ruling An 'Outlier,' Judge Tells Tech Giants

By Bonnie Eslinger

Google and Meta urged U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín on Thursday to toss putative class claims alleging the companies unlawfully collected information from website users buying erectile dysfunction medication, pointing in part to a ruling on intent from her Northern District colleague, which the judge called an "outlier."

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Another Atty Sanctioned For Allegedly Hallucinated Case Law

By Andrea Keckley

A Florida judge on Wednesday issued a blistering order against an attorney who became the latest of many to face sanctions over filings with case law suspected of being hallucinated by generative artificial intelligence, ordering him to take AI ethics courses and repay opposing counsel's fees.

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$33M Sonos Appeal Has Fed. Circ. Asking: What's Up, Alsup?

By Dani Kass

A Federal Circuit panel struggled Thursday to piece together the different interpretations of what U.S. District Judge William Alsup decided before upending Sonos Inc.'s $32.5 million jury verdict against Google LLC, with one judge claiming disbelief that there could be such a "fundamental disconnect" between the companies' understandings.

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AT&T's $181M Patent Loss Gets Tough Look At Fed. Circ.

By Theresa Schliep

A Federal Circuit panel had hard questions for an attorney looking to safeguard Finesse Wireless' $181 million verdict against AT&T and Nokia for infringing a pair of radio interference patents, with one judge in particular seemingly taking issue Thursday with the infringement findings. 

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Apple, Visa And Mastercard Beat Payment Fee Collusion Suit

By Rae Ann Varona

An Illinois federal judge on Wednesday dismissed several retailers' proposed antitrust class action that accused Apple, Visa and Mastercard of scheming to restrain competition in point-of-sale transaction payment networks, saying the express terms of agreements retailers had claimed were anti-competitive showed otherwise.

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Judge Trims IP Claims In Voice Actors' Suit Against AI Co.

By Ivan Moreno

A New York federal judge ruled Thursday that two voice actors accusing an artificial intelligence startup of cloning their voices for narration software without permission can proceed with their state-level claims, but their trademark and most of their copyright claims must be dismissed for now.

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X Can't Escape Don Lemon Suit, But Musk Can, Judge Says

By Adam Lidgett

X Corp. has lost its bid to ditch all of former CNN anchor Don Lemon's lawsuit claiming the social media platform reeled him into a talk show partnership and then unceremoniously canceled the deal, although its leader Elon Musk was allowed to duck out of the case.

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'Admonition' But No More Amazon Penalty For Hidden Docs

By Bryan Koenig

A federal judge in Washington state took Amazon.com to task Thursday for "bad faith" material review that labeled tens of thousands of documents as covered by attorney-client privilege despite involving no legal advice, but the judge, who is presiding over the Federal Trade Commission's Prime subscriptions case against the company, opted against further punishment.

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$4.4B T-Mobile, UScellular Deal Gets DOJ OK, With A Warning

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice gave its all-clear Thursday to T-Mobile's plan to take over most of UScellular's wireless operations, finding that T-Mobile's commitments to bolster the flagging company outweigh, at least for now, worries over the disappearance of UScellular's underdog offerings.

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Trump Says 50% Copper Tariff Will Begin Aug. 1

By Natalie Olivo

President Donald Trump said his new 50% tariff on copper imports will take effect Aug. 1, citing national security concerns.

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House Dem Says FCC Must Follow Law On DEI Probes

By Christopher Cole

A House Democrat who helps oversee the Federal Communications Commission says agency chief Brendan Carr must avoid any hint of targeting companies' diversity initiatives for political reasons rather than legal rationale against discrimination.

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SEC's Peirce Says Tokenized Security Issuers Must Heed Law

By Tom Zanki

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's Hester Peirce is cautioning market participants that issuers of digital versions of securities, often described as tokenized securities, must comply with federal laws even as they pursue innovation.

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Broadcast Groups Want Status Quo On AM Band Licenses

By Jared Foretek

AM broadcasters urged the Federal Communications Commission to allow them to continue dual operations in both the expanded and standard AM bands, telling the commission in a new filing that it should go ahead and shut down two AM-related dockets if it means that the status quo is maintained.

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Navigation Co. Says Study 'Validates' GPS Backup Plan

By Tom Lotshaw

Geolocation company NextNav Inc. told the Federal Communications Commission in a letter Wednesday that detractors of its proposal to use the lower 900 MHz spectrum to deploy an Earth-based backstop for the Global Positioning System have raised unfounded concerns and mischaracterized an engineering study supporting its proposal.

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9th Circ. Upholds Converse's Win In Website Chat Wiretap Suit

By Allison Grande

The Ninth Circuit has refused to revive a proposed class action accusing Converse Inc. of allowing a third-party vendor to intercept website visitors' chats, finding that there was "no evidence" that the sneaker maker had violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

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DOL Urges 9th Circ. To OK Toss Of HP 401(k) Forfeiture Suit

By Kellie Mejdrich

The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Ninth Circuit to reject HP Inc. workers' bid to revive a proposed class action alleging forfeited employee 401(k) plan contributions were mismanaged, arguing a lower court properly tossed the case for failure to state a claim for violating federal benefits law.

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Airline Mogul Resolves Hacking Case Against NC Investigator

By Hayley Fowler

Aviation executive Farhad Azima has resolved his long-running lawsuit accusing a North Carolina private investigator of leaking his emails as part of an international hacking conspiracy, according to a joint motion dropping the case filed in federal court.

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Stewart Won't Review Newer IP Without Challenger's Promises

By Dani Kass

The acting U.S. Patent and Trademark Office director on Thursday discretionarily denied challenges to patents issued within the last four years after the alleged infringer didn't file a stipulation in parallel litigation to limit overlap.

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Bettors Fight To Keep Suit Over DraftKings Promos Afloat

By Alex Lawson

DraftKings customers alleging the online betting giant's advertisements fuel gambling addiction are pushing to keep their proposed class action against the company alive, throwing water on its effort to escape the lawsuit by leaning on its extensive disclaimers and fine print.

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Crypto Exec Fights NY Suit, Cites Due Process Violation

By Sydney Price

The CEO of a venture capital firm accused of misleading investors into buying up a crypto token with the help of an endorsement from Argentine President Javier Milei just before it tanked said an attempt by New York to exercise jurisdiction over him would be unconstitutional.

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Apple Tees Up Bid To End App Store Antitrust Class Action

By Matthew Perlman

Apple is preparing to file a summary judgment motion in California federal court seeking to end claims from a class of more than 185 million users in a long-running case accusing it of monopolizing the distribution of apps on its devices.

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Samsung Accused Of Retaliating Against Pregnant NJ Worker

By Carla Baranauckas

A former senior product manager has filed a pregnancy discrimination lawsuit in New Jersey state court against Samsung Electronics America Inc. and the staffing agency cyberThink Inc., alleging she was unlawfully terminated shortly after disclosing her pregnancy and requesting modest workplace accommodations.

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Deals Rumor Mill

SpaceX Seeks Record $400B Valuation, Plus More Rumors

By Tom Zanki

Elon Musk's satellite and rocket maker SpaceX is planning to raise money in a private round that would value the company at a record $400 billion, Starbucks China is seeking bids for a stake sale that could value the chain at $10 billion, plus online fashion giant Shein hopes to salvage its long-awaited IPO by listing in Hong Kong.

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Ropes-Led ICapital Valued At $7.5B After $820M Fundraise

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Ropes & Gray LLP-advised fintech company iCapital on Thursday revealed that it raised more than $820 million in its latest financing round, bringing the New York-based company's valuation to over $7.5 billion.

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WilmerHale, US Trustee Spar Over Work In 23andMe Ch. 11

By Emlyn Cameron

The U.S. Trustee's Office argued Thursday the consumer privacy ombudsman in genetic testing company 23andMe's Chapter 11 shouldn't be allowed to hire lawyers from WilmerHale over conflict of interest concerns the firm disputed, an issue the presiding Missouri bankruptcy judge promised to rule on promptly.

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FCC Says Yes To T-Mobile's $5B Metronet Buy After Nixing DEI

By Nadia Dreid

T-Mobile has received the Federal Communications Commission's blessing to go ahead with its $4.9 billion joint venture to acquire fiber company Metronet, one day after telling the agency it would end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs in furtherance of the FCC chair's goals.

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Tegna To Pay $222K To Resolve FCC Probe Into Obscene Video

By Nadia Dreid

Broadcast giant Tegna has agreed to pay more than $222,000 to put an end to an inquiry that began almost four years ago when an unknown party played a 13-second pornographic video clip during an evening weather report on a Spokane, Washington, news station.

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Brief

Mass. Man Agrees To $10K Fine For Pirate Radio Stations

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission slapped a $10,000 fine on a Massachusetts man in a consent decree for operating pirate radio stations from three locations, though it was a reduction from the nearly $598,000 fine the FCC initially proposed.

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Examining TCPA Jurisprudence A Year After Loper Bright

One year after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Chevron deference in Loper Bright v. Raimondo, lower court decisions demonstrate that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act will continue to evolve as long-standing interpretations of the act are analyzed with a fresh lens, says Aaron Gallardo at Kilpatrick.

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Opinion

High Court Must Overrule Outdated Patent Eligibility Doctrine

A certiorari petition should directly ask the U.S. Supreme Court to correct its 1972 patent decision in Gottschalk v. Benson, the critical point where patent eligibility law veered from the statutory text toward judicial policymaking, says Robert Greenspoon at Dunlap Bennett.

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Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures

With the recent rise of securities fraud actions based on external events — like a data breach or environmental disaster — that drive down stock prices, risk disclosures have become more of a sword for the plaintiffs bar than a shield for public companies, now the subject of a growing circuit split, say attorneys at A&O Shearman.

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Harmonized Int'l Framework May Boost Advanced Aircraft

International differences in the certification process for advanced air mobility aircraft make the current framework insufficient — but U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy's recent announcement of a standards harmonization effort may help promote these innovative aviation technologies, while maintaining safety, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Series

Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Playing violin in a string quartet reminds me that flexibility, ambition, strong listening skills, thoughtful leadership and intentional collaboration are all keys to a successful legal practice, says Julie Park at MoFo.

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VC Giant Andreessen Rips Del. Courts, Plans Move To Nev.

By Rae Ann Varona

Venture capital giant Andreessen Horowitz on Wednesday announced plans to reincorporate in Nevada, saying that it was no longer a "no-brainer" to launch a company and incorporate in the historically corporate-friendly state of Delaware.

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Dems Say 3rd Circ. Nominee Urged DOJ To Ignore Courts

By Courtney Bublé

Senate Democrats on the Judiciary Committee on Thursday unveiled 150 pages of documents, which they say substantiate whistleblower allegations against Third Circuit nominee Emil Bove and raise concerns about his conduct during his tenure at the U.S. Department of Justice.

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Trump Taps Holland & Hart Partner For Montana Bench

By Lauren Berg

President Donald Trump announced on social media Thursday he has chosen a Holland & Hart LLP partner and veteran government attorney to serve on the federal bench in Montana.

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Senate Tees Up 6th Circ. Nom Vote As 1st Of 2nd Trump Term

By Courtney Bublé

The first judicial confirmation of the second Trump administration was readied on Thursday, with the U.S. Senate voting 51-43 to end debate on the nomination of Whitney Hermandorfer to the Sixth Circuit.

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Judge Blocks Trump's Birthright Citizenship Order Nationwide

By Britain Eakin

A New Hampshire federal judge on Thursday issued a nationwide block of President Donald Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, and granted certification to a nationwide class that will cover all affected children born in the U.S.

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Analysis

5 Employee Benefits Takeaways On The GOP Tax Bill

By Kellie Mejdrich

Congressional Republicans' sweeping tax and policy bill, which President Donald Trump sought and then signed, contains multiple provisions that caught the attention of employee benefits and executive compensation attorneys, including new changes to high-deductible health plans and an employer-side deduction limit affecting highly compensated employees. Here are five takeaways from employee benefits and executive compensation attorneys on what's in — and out of — the GOP megabill.

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