Split 9th Circuit Panel Calls Cooler Trademark Claims ‘End Run’ Around Patent Law
SAN FRANCISCO — A split Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a California federal judge’s grant of summary judgment in favor of Igloo Products Corp. on a federal false advertising claim against it, with the panel majority saying that Igloo’s claim that it had created the “first biodegradable cooler” was not a comment on the nature of the product itself and thus not actionable under the Lanham Act.
LTD Benefits Denial Involving Long COVID Survives 6th Circuit Review
CINCINNATI — Saying in part that the administrator of a long-term disability (LTD) plan “adequately considered the evidence . . . and arrived at a reasoned decision,” a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 7 affirmed judgment against a project director who stopped working because of symptoms she attributed to long COVID, was denied LTD benefits and then unsuccessfully asserted breach of contract and bad faith claims; the panel also affirmed the lower court’s denial of the claimant’s requests for both broad and limited discovery.
Appeals Court Affirms PTAB’s Rejection Of DraftKings’ Late Invalidation Argument
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel affirmed a decision from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) to find that the company formerly known as DraftKings Inc. failed to show that a single patent claim was invalid in its otherwise successful challenge of another company’s online gaming patent; the panel agreed with the PTAB that an argument regarding the patent claim was inappropriately raised for the first time in a footnote in a reply brief.
Split 7th Circuit Upholds Consent Decree Extension In 2018 Noncitizen Detainee Case
CHICAGO — A split Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel upheld a trial court’s decision to extend a 2021 consent decree in a class action by noncitizens challenging warrantless arrests by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and partially upheld an order to release class members arrested without warrants, reversing only the portion of the order that required the release of “potential class members” and any other individual arrested pursuant to I-200 warrants, warrants that were issued in the field.
Final Approval Of $1.57M Settlement Granted In VPPA Data Sharing Class Action
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge granted final approval to a $1.57 million class settlement resolving claims that a pair of online retailers violated the Video Privacy Protection Act (VPPA) and California’s unfair competition law (UCL) by disclosing consumers’ video purchase information to third parties through website tracking technologies.
Judge: Expert’s Testimony In Retaliation Employment Case Is Irrelevant, Unreliable
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Testimony from an expert retained by a man who sued his former employer will not assist a jury in determining whether the man was fired in retaliation for using leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), a West Virginia federal judge said in a May 7 order granting a motion to exclude his testimony.
BJ’s, Pension Fund File Stipulation Of Dismissal After Stockholder Proposal Filed
BOSTON — BJ’s Wholesale Club Holdings Inc. and a pension fund filed a stipulation and proposed dismissal order on May 6 to end the fund’s suit against BJ’s for violations of federal securities law after the fund’s stockholder proposal was included in the company’s 2026 proxy materials as required by a federal judge in Massachusetts.
Amici Curiae Have No Standing To Seek Stay Of Block To CDC Vaccine Changes
BOSTON — Ruling that amici curiae who were denied intervention and were not parties to a case except as amici and had no standing to seek a stay, a Massachusetts federal judge on May 6 denied the motion of amici children’s advocacy group and others to stay the court’s grant of preliminary relief, which stayed a January U.S. Department of Health and Human Services memorandum announcing the reduction on the number of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommended childhood vaccinations from 17 to 11 and the appointment of 13 new members to the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
U.S. High Court Denies Apple’s Bid To Stay Contempt Mandate In Antitrust Dispute
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on May 6 denied Apple Inc.’s application to stay a Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals reversal of its order staying a mandate regarding a contempt judgment against Apple over anticompetitive practices on its App Store in an antitrust dispute with Epic Games Inc.
4th Circuit: PTAB Draft Decisions Fall Under FOIA Exemption
RICHMOND, Va. — A Virginia federal judge correctly concluded that the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) properly withheld draft decisions in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held, agreeing that the materials were “predecisional” and “deliberative” under the meaning of a FOIA exemption.
No Coverage Owed For Environmental Remediation Costs, Fla. Federal Judge Says
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — No coverage is owed to an insured for remediation costs associated with contamination discovered at an insured shopping center because the policy’s exclusion for site development and construction activities clearly bars coverage, a Florida federal judge said May 6 in granting the insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings.