Judge Wary Of DOD Rationale For Anthropic Risk Label

By Madeline Lyskawa

A California federal judge appeared unconvinced Thursday by the government's claim that its designation of Anthropic PBC as a supply chain risk to national security was based on a credible threat and not retaliation for publicly criticizing the Trump administration.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Tesla Tells Justices USPTO Is 'Gutting' Patent Reviews

By Ryan Davis

Tesla Inc. has become the latest company to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review limits that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has put on patent challenges, arguing that the office is "gutting" the review system created by the America Invents Act.

Petition attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

2 Traders Admit Guilt In Stolen BigLaw Info Scheme

By Chris Villani

Two men pled guilty Thursday in Massachusetts federal court to their roles in a sweeping scheme to trade on inside information stolen from huge corporate law firms about upcoming deals.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

XAI Can't Unmask Jane Does In Deepfake Suit, Judge Says

By Gina Kim

A California federal judge on Thursday declined to order a group of women suing xAI Corp. over Grok-generated deepfakes of them in sexual situations to reveal their identities and allowed them to proceed pseudonymously, finding their fears of threatened harm and retaliation from having to disclose their real names were reasonable.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Instagram Could Easily Disrupt User Permascrolling, Jury Told

By Cara Salvatore

A Silicon Valley tech guru and theorist testified on Thursday in Tennessee's trial against Meta that, for him, it took "less than 10 lines of code" to create a time delay that broke the grip of a hard-to-resist design feature he released to the world in 2006, infinite scroll.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Renters Seek $120M Fee Award In RealPage Rent-Fixing MDL

By Craig Clough

Renters in sprawling multidistrict litigation that reached nearly $360 million in preliminary settlements with building owners over their alleged use of RealPage's software to inflate rents asked a Tennessee federal judge to approve $119.9 million in attorney fees, saying they've expended over 100,000 hours on the case.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Minn. Social Media Mandate Muzzles Sites, Says Tech Group

By Jonathan Capriel

Tech trade group NetChoice is urging a federal court to reject Minnesota's bid to keep alive its new law requiring social media companies to display mental health warning labels at the login page, arguing the statute forces these companies to become "mouthpieces" for the state, violating the First Amendment.

Memorandum attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Squires Grants 6 Patent Petitions, Denies 4 In New Order

By Ryan Davis

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Director John Squires has granted six requests for America Invents Act patent reviews and rejected four in his latest batch of decisions.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ease Broadband Buildout To Fuel AI Boom, Lawmakers Urged

By Christopher Cole

Lawmakers must put an end to delays in broadband deployment and renew a federal cybersecurity statute if they hope to feed the artificial intelligence boom while curtailing safety concerns, U.S. senators heard Thursday.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

FCC Says EchoStar Can't Use Trust Fund To Pay Itself

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission is not pleased that EchoStar is trying to convince a bankruptcy court to let it use a trust fund created to pay contractors to build its now-abandoned 5G network to instead pay a loan one EchoStar subsidiary made to another.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

AT&T's Copper Network Retirement Needs Review, FCC Told

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

The Communications Workers of America, rural counties in California and a consumer advocacy group for affordable utilities urged the Federal Communications Commission to reverse its automatic approval of AT&T's request to retire copper-line networks in California, saying that significant public interest concerns have to be addressed first.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Consider 4.4GHz Band To Expand 5G, 6G, Report Says

By Nadia Dreid

As the federal government eyes a pair of bands for the expansion of 5G and 6G, a spectrum researcher has released a report saying that the 4.4 gigahertz band is the best option.

Report attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Brief

FCC Official Calls E-Rate Review 'Long Overdue'

By Christopher Cole

A top official at the Federal Communications Commission said the agency's review of the E-Rate fund for schools and libraries will be a much-needed reexamination of a 30-year-old telecom program.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fed. Circ. OKs Samsung Win Over Patent Tied To $81M Award

By Elliot Weld

The Federal Circuit on Thursday upheld a Patent Trial and Appeal Board decision invalidating a patent covering standard-essential 5G wireless network technology that Samsung was directed to pay $81 million for infringing, rejecting G+ Communications LLC's procedural and evidentiary arguments.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

WDTX Jury Awards $1.5M In Lighting Patent Retrial

By Adam Lidgett

A Texas federal jury has awarded Chinese company Jiaxing Super Lighting almost $1.5 million in damages from rivals found to have infringed an LED tube lamp patent, a year after the Federal Circuit ordered a new trial.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Insurance Sales Agents Win Conditional Cert. In Pay Suit

By Benjamin Morse

A New Jersey federal magistrate judge conditionally certified a collective of insurance sales agents, finding they offered more than speculation that common policies deprived them of pay for computer work and bonuses.

4 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Valve Scores Quick Appeal In Gamer Arbitration Clause Fight

By Rachel Riley

A Seattle federal judge on Thursday granted Valve Corp.'s bid for a quick appeal of an order declining to halt antitrust arbitrations brought by hundreds of individual gamers, pausing the litigation for the video game developer to seek the Ninth Circuit's input on whether the arbitrations can proceed under its subscriber terms.  

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Workers, Korean Tractor Co. Settle Data Breach Claims

By Carla Baranauckas

A proposed class action against tractor manufacturer Daedong USA over a 2025 network breach that exposed sensitive employee information has been settled, according to a docket entry in North Carolina federal court.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

T-Mobile Says WCO Spectrum Can't Fix Antitrust Claims

By Matthew Perlman

T-Mobile has told a California federal court that WCO Spectrum has admitted it does not have what it needs to state a viable antitrust counterclaim in the mobile carrier's case accusing the spectrum-buying company of racketeering.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Apartments.com Tells Judge Rent Payment Fees Not 'Junk'

By Holly DeMuth

The company behind Apartments.com on Wednesday said its costs are clearly disclosed and users have options for avoiding them when paying rent, in a bid to have a Washington federal judge throw out a proposed class action accusing it of charging "junk fees."

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Cloud Tech Co. Hid AI Shift's Toll On Revenue, Investor Says

By Sydney Price

Rackspace Technology, a cloud computing and artificial intelligence solutions company, has been accused of misleading investors about the value of its strategic partnership with Advanced Micro Devices Inc. and its decision to shift capital away from its private cloud business, resulting in a recent financial guidance cut.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Fitch Even Says €10M French Patent Feud Must Be Arbitrated

By Caroline Simson

Fitch Even Tabin & Flannery LLP is urging an Illinois federal court to halt a €10 million ($11.5 million) French lawsuit by former clients who accuse the intellectual property law firm of downplaying the economic viability of their patents, saying the matter belongs in arbitration.

2 documents attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

3 Firms Steer NYSE Owner ICE's $6B MarketAxess Deal

By Al Barbarino

The parent company of the New York Stock Exchange announced Thursday it has agreed to acquire MarketAxess Holdings Inc., a trading platform for fixed-income markets, for $6 billion, in a deal steered by three law firms.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Deals Rumor Mill

Curium, Sazerac And Stripe Pursue Megadeals, And More

By Al Barbarino

Reports of potential multibillion-dollar deals were plentiful this week, with U.S. alcohol producer Sazerac steadfast in its $15 billion pursuit of the maker of Jack Daniel's; Curium reportedly in advanced talks to acquire fellow radiopharmaceutical firm Lantheus Holdings Inc. for up to $8 billion; and Nvidia, Stripe and Devon Energy all linked to sizable strategic bets of their own.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Latham Secures SEC Relief For Data Center Securitizations

By Jessica Corso

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission staff have freed some types of data center financing from having to comply with Dodd-Frank Act rules on credit risk retention and conflicts of interest, agreeing with Latham & Watkins LLP attorneys' arguments that the financial instruments are not asset-backed securities.

Letter attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DOJ Wants Rethink On Apple's Peek Into Feds' Phone-Buying

By Bryan Koenig

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a special master to rethink his New Jersey federal court mandate giving Apple a look into how the Pentagon, CIA, State Department and other federal agencies purchase smartphones, arguing that the retired federal judge applied the wrong legal standard in the antitrust case.

Motion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Landlord Denied Sanctions Against DC In RealPage Case

By Matthew Perlman

A D.C. Superior Court has refused to sanction the district's attorney general's office for alleged discovery failures in a case accusing RealPage of helping residential building owners use software to inflate rents.

Order attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Defenders Have 'Ethical Duty' To Use AI, NACDL Paper Says

By Brandon Lowrey

Horror stories abound about lawyers getting punished for filing briefs riddled with artificial-intelligence hallucinations. But in a report released Thursday, the nation's biggest criminal defense association said attorneys should be just as scared about failing make enough use of the new technology.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Employer Lessons From Apple Ruling Resolving OT Question

In Costa v. Apple, a California federal court recently handed employers a win on a previously unresolved wage and hour question, offering a reminder that favorable outcomes on novel issues often hinge on the specific facts of a company's own program and compliance efforts, say attorneys at Foley & Lardner.

Decision attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Series

Teaching SEC Investigations Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Instructing a law school course on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission investigations has made me a more thoughtful, deliberate practitioner because it requires me to continually reassess and challenge what I know about securities law enforcement, how I know it and how best to explain it, says David Chase at Miami Law.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Advocacy Group Says Law Firm Fellowship Program Biased

By Patrick Hoff

A legal advocacy group said Thursday it had lodged U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charges against a nonprofit and law firms including Jones Day, White & Case and Morgan Lewis, claiming Muslim and Middle Eastern students were getting unlawful preference in a fellowship program.

1 document attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

ABA Eyes Nixing School DEI Standards To Sway Trump Admin

By Emma Cueto

The American Bar Association is poised next week to eliminate the first of multiple diversity-related law school standards, a controversial move that it hopes will allow it to remain an accreditor despite an uncertain outcome in the face of a Trump administration increasingly wary of the association's role in legal education.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

WilmerHale Sued Over Accidental Client Data Disclosure

By Andrea Keckley

A proposed federal class action filed Wednesday accuses WilmerHale of failing to protect clients' personal information after an employee allegedly disclosed sensitive data, including Social Security numbers, to an unauthorized person who misrepresented their identity back in May.

Complaint attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Ill. Atty Sanctioned For AI Slop In Starbucks Bias Suit

By Adrian Cruz

A unanimous Illinois appeals court sanctioned an attorney representing a former Starbucks employee in a workplace discrimination suit after determining that he submitted briefs using false citations and quotations hallucinated by artificial intelligence software.

Opinion attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Trump May Renominate Blanche If GOP Holdouts Block Vote

By Courtney Bublé

With Sens. John Cornyn, R-Texas, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., still on the fence about acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation to be attorney general, President Donald Trump said Thursday he might renominate Blanche next year when the two senators are no longer serving in the Senate.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »

DA Says Trump's NY Hush Money Conviction Must Stand

By Frank G. Runyeon

New York prosecutors told a state appellate court that President Donald Trump's 34-count felony conviction for falsifying business records is "unaffected" by the U.S. Supreme Court's watershed presidential immunity decision and should be upheld.

Brief attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Judiciary's Bid To Control Courthouses Gets Senate Push

By Courtney Bublé

A bipartisan group of senators introduced a bill on Thursday that would create a pilot program for the federal judiciary to obtain direct authority to maintain its buildings, which the judiciary says is desperately needed.

Bill attached | Read full article » | Save to favorites »

Bronx Legal Aid Organization's Union Rejects New Pay Offer

By Andrea Keckley

The Bronx Defenders' executive director said on Thursday that the union representing the organization's over 300 attorneys and staff has rejected an updated offer on wages, with both sides still at odds over the prospect of separate salary scales for lawyers and social workers.

Read full article » | Save to favorites »