Retail & E-Commerce

  • October 08, 2025

    Senate IP Leader Plans Push To Pass Patent Eligibility Bill

    Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., the leader of the Senate's intellectual property subcommittee, said Wednesday that before he leaves Congress in just over a year, one of his primary goals will be to advance his long-gestating bill to make more inventions eligible for patents.

  • October 08, 2025

    Amazon Can't Nix Counterclaims In Calif. Solar Projects Battle

    Amazon can't dodge counterclaims in a dispute over the fallout from power purchase pacts tied to two California solar developments, a Washington state judge has said, finding the projects' backers have adequately alleged the tech giant spoiled the deals by abusing its dominance in the renewable energy market.

  • October 08, 2025

    NY AG Cracks Down On Mercury In Skin Lightener Creams

    New York Attorney General Letitia James on Wednesday said she has ordered three companies to end their selling of skin lightening creams that contain dangerously high levels of mercury, sometimes up to 30,000 times the legal limit under the state's law.

  • October 08, 2025

    'I Don't Want To Be A Referee,' Google Search Judge Says

    A D.C. federal judge faced the prospect Wednesday of years more involvement in the U.S. Justice Department's case against Google's search monopoly, saying during a hearing that he's trying to balance avoiding being a "referee" for his remedies decision while preventing "misuses" of data sharing and search syndication mandates.

  • October 08, 2025

    Exxon Retail Voting Program Green Light Inspires Other Cos.

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent green light of Exxon Mobil Corp.'s program to enable automated proxy voting for retail investors has sparked interest among other firms exploring implementing their own such programs, as the oil and gas giant moves to counter activist groups.

  • October 08, 2025

    Judge OKs Amazon's Evidence Clawback In Antitrust Suits

    Amazon can claw back certain documents it handed over during discovery in a series of antitrust lawsuits alleging the company's merchant policies artificially raised market prices, a Seattle federal judge has ruled, rejecting objections raised by consumers suing the e-commerce giant.

  • October 08, 2025

    Federal Court Tosses Challenge To DC Cannabinoid Rule

    A lawsuit seeking to upend Washington, D.C.'s statutes that placed hemp products containing delta-9 THC into same category as marijuana was dismissed on Wednesday when a federal judge ruled that a hemp retailer, who filed the suit after its shop was shut down, totally misunderstood the "2018 Farm Bill and its impact on D.C. law."

  • October 08, 2025

    11th Circ. Urged To Keep Ga.'s E-Commerce Regs On Ice

    Internet trade group NetChoice urged the Eleventh Circuit Wednesday to leave in place an injunction that for more than a year has kept Georgia from enforcing new requirements on e-commerce platforms, arguing the state's law tries to push past a regulatory "ceiling" already imposed by federal law.

  • October 08, 2025

    Judge To OK Neiman Marcus Trust's Altered Payout Scheme

    A Texas bankruptcy judge said on Wednesday he would allow the liquidating trustee in reorganized debtor Neiman Marcus' bankruptcy case to make distributions to unsecured creditors largely along the trustee's requested lines but without an abbreviated deadline for unclaimed funds to revert to the trust.

  • October 08, 2025

    DOJ Asks For Stay In PVC Antitrust Case Amid Criminal Probe

    The U.S. Department of Justice is asking an Illinois federal court to pause discovery in a case accusing polyvinyl chloride pipe manufacturers of using a commodity pricing service to exchange information and fix prices while a grand jury investigates the alleged activity.

  • October 08, 2025

    2 More States Join Growing US Privacy Regulator Consortium

    A bipartisan collective of U.S. regulators that was recently formed to collaborate on the implementation and enforcement of their states' data privacy regimes has swelled to double digits, with the attorneys general of Minnesota and New Hampshire on Wednesday being announced as the group's newest members. 

  • October 07, 2025

    Chobani Says Coffee Rival Can't Claim 'Bright & Mellow' TM

    Chobani on Monday urged a New York federal court to throw out rival Danone's unregistered trademark infringement suit over use of the phrase "Bright & Mellow" to market ready-to-drink coffee, arguing that Danone contends "it alone" may use those "ordinary adjectives."

  • October 07, 2025

    Wash. Spam Email Law Is Unconstitutional, Retailers Say

    Beauty retail giant Ulta and home improvement retailer Home Depot argued last week in separate cases that Washington state's Commercial Electronic Mail Act is unconstitutional and preempted by federal law as they seek to shed proposed consumer class actions claiming their promotional emails were misleading.

  • October 07, 2025

    Bausch And Teva Blocked Cheaper IBS Drug, Retailers Say

    A slew of retailers on Tuesday accused Bausch Health Cos. Inc. and Teva Pharmaceuticals of working together to keep the generic version of an irritable bowel syndrome drug off the market until 2028, forcing the retailers and other purchasers of the drug to pay monopoly prices.

  • October 07, 2025

    Sunbeam Ovens Burn Users, Suit Says

    Sunbeam Products Inc. and its parent company, Newell Brands Inc., were hit Tuesday with a proposed class action in federal court over a recalled countertop oven by a New Yorker claiming the appliance burned her and that the company failed to warn about the risks of injury.

  • October 07, 2025

    Hemp Retailer Sues Ohio Police Department Over Seizure

    An Ohio police department seized more than half a million dollars' worth of hemp using a bad search warrant claiming that the hemp, which is legal, was marijuana, the hemp retailer told a federal court Monday.

  • October 07, 2025

    No Coverage For Smoke Shop Over Fatal Crash, Insurer Says

    A smoke shop's insurer told a North Carolina state appeals court the shop shouldn't receive coverage for a lawsuit alleging it's liable for a fatal auto collision because it sold nitrous oxide products to the at-fault driver, arguing its policy covered bodily injury only on the shop's premises.

  • October 07, 2025

    Cuban Cigar Co. Not Entitled To 'Cohiba' TMs, 4th Circ. Told

    General Cigar Co. has asked the Fourth Circuit to overturn a Trademark Trial and Appeal Board decision to grant a Cuban state-owned cigar producer's request to cancel two trademark registrations for the term "Cohiba," contending that the decision conflicts with U.S. law governing the embargo against Cuba.

  • October 07, 2025

    Chanel, The RealReal Fail To Reach Settlement In TM Feud

    Fashion house Chanel and used-items retailer The RealReal Inc. have told a Manhattan federal judge they haven't been able to reach a settlement on Chanel's claims of trademark infringement despite, as The RealReal's attorneys put it, significant efforts being expended to try to reach a compromise.

  • October 07, 2025

    Amazon Supplement Buyers Seek Spoliation Penalties

    Consumers in a proposed class action accusing Amazon of peddling dietary supplements without making federally required disclosures urged a Washington federal judge on Tuesday to punish the e-commerce giant for allegedly failing to preserve product detail webpages they say are key to the litigation. 

  • October 07, 2025

    9th Circ. Tosses Sporting Goods Co. Suit Against Ex-Landlord

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday backed the dismissal of a sporting goods retailer's suit against its former landlord, which was accused of wrongfully charging the retailer with monthly fee invoices even after the retailer left the location it was renting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

  • October 07, 2025

    Apple Seeks To Toss IPhone, Watch Buyers' Antitrust Suits

    Apple has asked a New Jersey federal court to toss multidistrict antitrust litigation brought by iPhone and Apple Watch buyers, arguing that while they "try in vain to invent" theories about how Apple charges monopoly prices the inflation-adjusted price of the latest iPhone is nearly the same as the first model.

  • October 07, 2025

    Evenflo's Recall Over Choking Hazard Is Inadequate, Suit Says

    An Evenflo customer filed a proposed deceptive marketing class action complaint in Massachusetts federal court alleging the company failed to disclose that its Revolve360 Slim child car seats have easily detachable foam headrests that pose potential choking hazards.

  • October 07, 2025

    Planners Should Be Tariffed As Calendars, Fed. Circ. Told

    Weekly planners sold by a California calendar company are advertised for their calendars and should be considered such for tariff purposes, counsel for the business told Federal Circuit judges Tuesday, arguing the lower court and government incorrectly classified them as a type of notebook.

  • October 07, 2025

    Price-Fixing Judge Rejects Recusal Bid As Insincere

    A Minnesota federal judge on Tuesday refused to recuse himself from consolidated private price-fixing litigation against a raft of pork producers, saying the defense's claims of bias due to one of his clerks' internships for plaintiff firms are a "fabricated" claim of impropriety.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    4 Former Justices Would Likely Frown On Litigation Funding

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    As courts increasingly confront cases involving hidden litigation finance contracts, the jurisprudence of four former U.S. Supreme Court justices establishes a constitutional framework that risks erosion by undisclosed financial interests, says Roland Eisenhuth at the American Property Casualty Insurance Association.

  • What To Know About Bill Aiming To Curb CIPA

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    A bill pending in the California Assembly would amend the California Invasion of Privacy Act to allow for the use of website tracking technologies for commercial business purposes, limiting class actions seeking damages under the act for industry standard practices, say Katherine Alphonso and Avazeh Pourhamzeh at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • How Attys Can Use AI To Surface Narratives In E-Discovery

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    E-discovery has reached a turning point where document review is no longer just about procedural tasks like identifying relevance and redacting privilege — rather, generative artificial intelligence tools now allow attorneys to draw connections, extract meaning and tell a coherent story, says Rose Jones at Hilgers Graben.

  • Gauging The Risky Business Of Business Risk Disclosures

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    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.

  • Series

    Playing The Violin Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    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.

  • DOJ Enforcement Trends To Watch In 2nd Half Of 2025

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    Recent investigations, settlements and a declination to prosecute suggest that controlling the flow of goods into and out of the country, and redressing what the administration sees as reverse discrimination, are likely to be at the forefront of the U.S. Department of Justice's enforcement agenda the rest of this year, say attorneys at Baker Botts.

  • Series

    NY Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2

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    In the second quarter of the year, New York utilized every available tool to fill gaps left by federal retrenchment from consumer finance issues, including sweeping updates to its consumer protection framework and notable amendments to cybersecurity rules, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • State, Fed Junk Fee Enforcement Shows No Signs Of Slowing

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    The Federal Trade Commission’s potent new rule targeting drip pricing, in addition to the growing patchwork of state consumer protection laws, suggest that enforcement and litigation targeting junk fees will likely continue to expand, says Etia Rottman Frand at Darrow AI.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Practicing Self-Care

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    Law schools don’t teach the mental, physical and emotional health maintenance tools necessary to deal with the profession's many demands, but practicing self-care is an important key to success that can help to improve focus, manage stress and reduce burnout, says Rachel Leonard​​​​​​​ at MG+M.

  • What Expanding Merchant Code Regs Mean For Processors

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    Arkansas and South Dakota recently joined a host of other states that restrict payment processors' usage of merchant category codes with laws that include noteworthy prohibitions against maintaining registries of firearms owners, with ramifications for multistate payment systems, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Forensic Challenges In Lithium-Ion Battery Fire Cases

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    Lawsuits over lithium-ion battery fires and explosions often center on the core question of whether the battery was defective or combusted due to some other external factor — so both plaintiff and defense attorneys litigating these cases must understand the forensic issues involved, says Drew LaFramboise at Joseph Greenwald.

  • ABA Opinion Makes It A Bit Easier To Drop A 'Hot Potato'

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    The American Bar Association's recent ethics opinion clarifies when attorneys may terminate clients without good cause, though courts may still disqualify a lawyer who drops a client like a hot potato, so sending a closeout letter is always a best practice, say attorneys at Thompson Hine.

  • Latest Influencer Marketing Class Actions Pinpoint 5 Themes

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    Several recent deceptive marketing class actions against both brands and influencers attempt to transform arguably routine business practices into a new focus area for consumer complaints, suggesting a coordinated approach to test what could become an increasingly popular area of litigation, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Dupes Boom Spurs IP Risks, Opportunities For Investors

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    The rising popularity of dupe products has created a dynamic marketplace where both dupes-based businesses and established branded companies can thrive, but investors must consider a host of legal implications, especially when the dupes straddle a fine line between imitation and intellectual property infringement, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • A Look At Trump Admin's Shifting Strategies To Curtail CFPB

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    The Trump administration has so far carried out its goal of minimizing the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's authority and footprint via an individualized approach comprising rule rollbacks, litigation moves and administrative tools, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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