N.C. Panel: PCOH Exclusion Bars Coverage For Negligence Suit Over Fatal Crash
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina appellate panel on Aug. 5 affirmed a lower court’s grant of a commercial insurer’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in its lawsuit disputing coverage for an underlying negligence action against its smoke shop owner insured arising from a fatal car accident that was caused by an intoxicated driver who inhaled nitrous oxide from a cream charger that was purchased at the insured’s shop, holding that the policy’s products-completed operations hazard (PCOH) exclusion barred coverage.
2nd Circuit Says Customer Data Law Unconstitutional In Row With DoorDash, Grubhub
NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Aug. 5 affirmed a lower court’s grant of summary judgment to DoorDash, Portier and Grubhub in their quest to halt enforcement of a New York City law that would require food delivery services to provide customer data to restaurants, finding that the law violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Nike’s PTAB Loss Affirmed By Federal Circuit In Dispute With Lululemon
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 5 affirmed a finding from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) that multiple claims of a patent held by Nike Inc. describing a watch that can connect to electronic devices were unpatentable as anticipated or obvious in view of multiple prior art references.
9th Circuit Vacates Remand Of ‘Unfair’ Life Insurance Policy Termination
PASADENA, Calif. — A Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 5 vacated a federal judge’s decision granting an insured’s motion to remand her putative class action against an insurer for violating California’s unfair competition law (UCL) based on its alleged termination of her late husband’s life insurance policy, writing that in light of recent precedent the judge should have given the insurer an “opportunity to waive” its adequate-remedy-at-law defense before remanding due to lack of equitable jurisdiction.
California Supreme Court Finds Negligence Claim Not Viable In Safer HIV Drug Cases
SAN FRANCISCO — A divided California Supreme Court reversed a lower court and directed entry of summary judgment for Gilead Sciences Inc., rejecting claims that a duty of care is owed to consumers who allege that they suffered injuries to their kidneys, bones and teeth while the company withheld a safer alternative to a concededly nondefective drug used in the treatment of HIV.
3rd Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of FCA Retaliation Claim Against Device Maker
PHILADELPHIA — The Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of a former employee’s False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation suit against the medical device company that terminated his employment, finding that the operative complaint failed to allege that the former employee held the belief that the employer submitted or would submit fraudulent claims to the government for payment.
Disclosure Statement Hearing Set For Expedited Uniroyal Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
NEWARK, N.J. — Just days after Uniroyal Holding Inc. and an affiliate filed voluntary petitions for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing more than 35,000 pending asbestos injury cases, a federal bankruptcy judge in New Jersey on Aug. 4 scheduled a hearing for Sept. 10 to consider the company’s disclosure statement.
Generic Lidocaine Patch Would Not Infringe Appellants’ Patents, Federal Circuit Agrees
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 4 affirmed a Florida federal judge’s final judgment of noninfringement in a patent dispute over a generic lidocaine patch because intrinsic evidence showed that the accused patch did not use a claimed dissolving agent.
1st Covidien MDL Bellwether Trial Ends With $88 Million Jury Award
BOSTON — A Massachusetts federal jury on Aug. 4 awarded a man and his wife $88 million in the first bellwether case from the multidistrict litigation involving Covidien hernia mesh to go to trial, finding that the manufacturer failed to warn him about the danger of the mesh and made false statements about its safety.
D.C. Circuit Vacates COVID Vaccine PREP Act Suit Dismissal As Violating Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals vacated and remanded a lower court ruling dismissing claims for violation of the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) in parents’ suit alleging that the COVID-19 vaccine caused the death of their 14-year-old daughter, finding that the PREP Act claims could not be dismissed by a single judge because motions to dismiss willful misconduct claims are statutorily required to be heard by a three-judge court.
7th Circuit Sends Kohl’s Pricing Class Suit To Wisconsin High Court To Resolve
CHICAGO — Finding that no decision in the Wisconsin Supreme Court has addressed whether a plaintiff, “lured by false price comparison advertising into purchasing a product that is worth the purchase price, suffers a pecuniary loss,” a Seventh Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel certified a woman’s putative class claims against Kohl’s Corp. and a related entity to the state high court and stayed her appeal of a Wisconsin federal judge’s decision to dismiss her complaint for lack of subject matter jurisdiction.