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.
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.
Claimants In Talc Company’s New Chapter 11 Case Appeal Global Settlement Approval
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Asbestos claimants in the new Chapter 11 case of talc producer Vanderbilt Minerals LLC filed three appeals, the most recent on May 5, of a New York federal bankruptcy judge’s approval of a global settlement among the debtor and its affiliates resolving intercompany claims by the affiliates in exchange for the transfer of certain assets to the debtor, including a manufacturing plant in Kentucky and a mine in Arizona.
Panel Agrees: Mobile Tech Patent Claims Abstract In Complaint Targeting Google
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A Federal Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on May 5 affirmed a California federal judge’s finding that mobile device technology patent claims asserted in an infringement suit against Google LLC were invalid as directed at the abstract concept of screening notifications without an additional inventive concept.
Plaintiffs Seek Approval Of $250M Settlement Over Apple’s Misleading AI Claims
SAN JOSE, Calif. — The plaintiffs representing a putative class of consumers who say they were misled into overpaying for Apple Inc.’s latest iPhone models based on Apple’s misrepresentations about the artificial intelligence capabilities that the iPhone 16’s “Apple Intelligence” and Siri software would offer moved May 5 for preliminary approval of a $250 million settlement, with an estimated $70 million in attorney fees, to resolve their claims that Apple violated California’s unfair competition law (UCL) and other laws.
U.S. Sues Minnesota Over Climate Change Action Against Fossil Fuel Companies
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Contending that “Minnesota unilaterally claimed” a “regulatory authority” over greenhouse gas emissions “when it sued national energy producers in state court for alleged violations of state law,” the United States sued the state in federal court pursuant to the U.S. Constitution and the Clean Air Act (CAA) “to vindicate the supremacy of federal law in matters concerning the regulation of global greenhouse gas emissions and to redress its irreparable injuries.”
Minn. High Court Finds Geofence Warrant Violated State Constitution, Remands
ST. PAUL, Minn. — In a divided decision, the Minnesota Supreme Court held that a geofence warrant used in a homicide investigation violated the state constitution’s particularity requirement and, in what it described as its first consideration of the constitutionality of such warrants, ruled that although geofence warrants are not categorically unconstitutional, the warrant at issue impermissibly granted law enforcement discretion to expand the scope of the search, reversing an appellate court decision and remanding for further proceedings.
Smart TV Viewer Data Class Action Narrowed, But Privacy Claims Proceed
SAN FRANCISCO — A California federal judge partially granted and partially denied a data analytics company’s motions to dismiss and strike a data privacy class action that alleges unlawful interception and monetization of users’ video-viewing data, holding that the plaintiffs plausibly alleged Article III injury based on the collection and commercialization of identifiable viewing histories and user profiling, but dismissed claims brought under the Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act (CDAFA), the California unfair competition law (UCL) and some claims brought under the California Invasion of Privacy Act (CIPA) for failure to state a claim.
New York Federal Judge Postpones Government’s Termination Of TPS For Yemenis
NEW YORK — A federal judge in New York granted motions in two putative class complaints to postpone the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) secretary’s decision to terminate the temporary protected status (TPS) for Yemen, which was first designated in 2015.
Expert Can Testify On How Costco Could Have Prevented Fall; Summary Judgment Denied
NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana federal judge on May 4 ruled that an expert can testify about the relative safety of a speed bump that a woman allegedly tripped over in a Costco parking lot and denied the store’s motion for summary judgment.
Judge Enters $36M Judgment In Hong Kong Company’s Favor For Brand Dispute
LOS ANGELES — A California federal judge on May 5 entered judgment confirming a JAMS award worth more than $36 million against the Hong Kong entity that owns the distribution rights for a popular pop culture and lifestyle brand and in favor of a distributor, also based in Hong Kong, that was accused of violating the parties’ licensing agreement, after dismissing the rights owner’s petition to vacate as untimely and rejecting its arguments opposing confirmation.