6th Circuit: Agreements Unambiguously Gave Furniture Company Rights To Lamp Marks
CINCINNATI — A Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a Michigan federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of a furniture company, agreeing with the judge’s determination that a royalty agreement allowed the company to use and own trademarked designs and names related to creations from influential modernist designer George Nelson.
Split 4th Circuit Affirms Injunction In Federal Officers’ DEIA Assignments Case
RICHMOND, Va. — In holding that the due process clause of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution “has been construed to require federal government agencies to adhere to their own binding regulations,” a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals majority affirmed a federal judge’s partial grant of a motion for preliminary injunction in a lawsuit filed by national security workers alleging that they were wrongly forced to choose resignation or termination because they were in temporary assignments related to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA).
Appeal Of Order On Silica Exclusion Not Warranted, Federal Judge Says
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge denied an insurer’s motion for certification for an interlocutory appeal of an order in which the judge found that silica and total pollution exclusions do not bar coverage for underlying silica bodily injury suits filed against an insured after determining that the insurer failed to show that the order presents substantial grounds for a difference of opinion.
Judge Tosses Medicare Fraud Suit Against Staffing Company For Lack Of Jurisdiction
HONOLULU — A Hawaii federal judge on July 7 dismissed without prejudice and without leave to amend a suit filed by UnitedHealthcare Insurance Co. against a staffing company for emergency medicine physicians for alleged Medicare fraud related to submitting a claim through the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process, finding that the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction because United failed to show that the alleged fraud presented a “substantial” federal issue.
Dental Machine Learning Patent Abstract, Federal Circuit Agrees With Judge
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on July 7 affirmed a California federal judge’s holding that a dental technology plaintiff-appellant company’s patents describing the use of machine learning technology in a dental imaging tool were directed at patent-ineligible abstract concepts.
D.C. Panel Partly Reverses Multiemployer Fund’s Withdrawal Liability Victory
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Weighing in on a separate aspect of the withdrawal liability case that spawned a May 21 ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on July 7 partially reversed and remanded a summary judgment ruling in which a multiemployer pension fund had prevailed on all issues.
High Court Leaves In Place Stay Of Injunctions Blocking Enforcement Of App Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on July 6 denied applications in two separate cases seeking to vacate the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ stay of lower court injunctions preventing the enforcement of a Texas state law that requires age verification and parental consent before minors download mobile applications.
Judge Dismisses Poet’s Copyright Claims Against Taylor Swift With Prejudice
FORT PIERCE, Fla. — A federal judge in Florida on July 6 dismissed with prejudice a pro se plaintiff’s copyright infringement claims against pop singer Taylor Swift and related entities, finding that any alleged overlaps between the plaintiff’s poetry and Swift’s lyrics were unprotectable ideas, themes, metaphors, words and short phrases, and that the complaint still did not plausibly plead unlawful copying.
Immigration Class Settlement To End 18-Year Internal Vetting Policy
SEATTLE — The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program (CARRP), an internal vetting policy implemented in 2008, will be rescinded pursuant to a class settlement reached in a nearly decade-long case over the vetting process that was found by a federal court in Washington to have been adopted in an “arbitrary and capricious” manner.
Bacteria Exclusion Bars Coverage For Legionnaires’ Disease, Magistrate Judge Says
TUCSON, Ariz. — An insurer owes no duty to cover a bodily injury claim filed against an insured health club by a club member who contracted Legionnaires’ disease in the club’s sauna because the policy’s fungi or bacteria exclusion clearly applies as a bar to coverage, an Arizona federal magistrate judge said July 6 in recommending that the insurer’s motion for summary judgment be granted.
Federal Circuit: Patent Settlement After Appeal Moots Section 101 Arguments
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a July 6 ruling, a Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel said that a settlement agreement in a patent infringement dispute mooted the plaintiff-appellant’s appeal of a New York federal judge’s finding that the patent claims at issue were invalid as abstract.