Mealey Publications™
TOP STORIES
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments on Jan. 14 on whether voluntary dismissals under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 41 are “final” and may be reopened under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60(b).
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A maker of generic drugs on Jan. 13 told the Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that it should deny Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp.’s motion to expedite the issuance of its mandate, saying the motion comes too soon after the appeals court’s Jan. 10 finding that a district judge was right to reject arguments that a Novartis heart failure drug patent was invalid as obvious but wrong to hold that the claims were invalid for lack of written description.
CINCINNATI — A majority of the Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Jan. 13 affirmed an Ohio federal court’s finding that a commercial general liability insurance policy’s electronic data exclusion bars coverage for Home Depot’s losses stemming from a 2014 data breach, rejecting Home Depot’s contention that the lower court “wrongly expanded the narrow electronic-data exclusion beyond its natural meaning, based on assumed facts outside the record.”
TYLER, Texas — A Texas federal judge on Jan. 13 ordered the effective date of the Food and Drug Administration’s new graphic warnings requirement on tobacco products under the Tobacco Control Act (TCA) postponed pending the outcome of an Administrative Procedure Act (APA) challenge to the rule brought by tobacco companies and retailers, which remains pending after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ rejection of their First Amendment arguments.
NEW YORK — A group of record labels failed to show that video sharing website Vimeo Inc. had “red flag” knowledge that user-uploaded videos contained copyrighted musical recordings, a Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel held Jan. 13, affirming a New York federal judge’s finding that the company is covered by a safe harbor in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that offers protection from infringement liability to some websites for user behavior.
MINNEAPOLIS — A federal judge in Minnesota entered a judgment declining to enjoin a state law on Jan. 13 after excluding an artificial intelligence expert who inadvertently included AI-fabricated cites in his declaration about misinformation and finding that the lone plaintiff with standing lacked the harm required for a preliminary injunction.
FRESNO, Calif. — A federal magistrate judge in California granted final approval of a $5.2 million class settlement to be paid by Walmart Inc. to end a case by workers who alleged that the retailer’s policy requiring nonexempt workers in that state to undergo a COVID-19 screening each shift without pay violated state and federal wage-and-hour laws, as well as California’s unfair competition law.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments Jan. 13 on whether a retired employee of a Florida city has the right to sue under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for discrimination related to the distribution of fringe benefits that took effect after her employment ended.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court on Jan. 13 denied a petition for a writ of certiorari filed by four states led by Ohio that asked the court to determine whether the Clean Air Act (CAA) allows for remand to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to supplement the administrative record with new details after a rule is promulgated in reference to establishment of implementation plans for attaining ozone air quality standards.
PHILADELPHIA — A Pennsylvania court on Jan. 10 affirmed a lower court’s grant of an insurance agency’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in the insured’s assignee’s breach of contract lawsuit seeking coverage for an underlying wrongful death settlement, finding that the suit is barred by the statute of limitations.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In its Jan. 13 order list, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a certiorari petition in which a farm argued that Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo should have prevented the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals from deferring to a regulatory interpretation of the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. (FCIC) in a crop insurance case.