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Retail & E-Commerce

  • June 02, 2025

    Defamation Litigation Roundup: Cheetos, NASCAR, OpenAI

    In this month's review of ongoing defamation fights, Law360 looks back on developments in a man's case against Frito-Lay Inc. over what he called the company's defamatory statements disputing his role in the invention of a flavor of Cheetos.

  • June 02, 2025

    Ashurst, King & Wood Guide $9.1B Soul Patts Merger Plan

    Washington H. Soul Pattinson and Co. Ltd. and building products maker Brickworks Ltd. plan to merge into a company with a market capitalization of AU$14 billion ($9.1 billion), aiming to eliminate a decades-old cross-shareholding structure and create a unified entity, the Australian investment firm disclosed on Monday.

  • May 30, 2025

    'Not Sure It Fits': Google Judge Challenges DOJ AI Boost Idea

    Generative artificial intelligence may be the future of online search, but a D.C. federal judge cast doubt Friday on the Justice Department's bid to force Google to share and syndicate its search results with companies like OpenAI as he mulls what remedies to impose against Google's search monopoly.

  • May 30, 2025

    'Humongous' Apple Must Face Boosted 186M Antitrust Class

    A California federal judge on Friday granted App Store users' request to amend their class definition in a yearslong antitrust fight against Apple, rejecting Apple's argument that the changes unfairly add millions of new members and noting that the 185.9 million-member class stems from the fact Apple is "humongous."

  • May 30, 2025

    Meta Looks To Nix FTC's Lead Econ Expert After Antitrust Trial

    Meta Platforms asked a D.C. federal judge Friday to strike testimony the Federal Trade Commission's lead economics expert gave during a bench trial in the antitrust case over Meta's purchase of Instagram and WhatsApp, saying the "biased witness" — a New York University School of Law professor — "advocated" for the case.

  • May 30, 2025

    Shopper Wants Class Cert. In Mistranslated Cookie Label Suit

    A shopper has urged a California federal court to certify three classes of consumers accusing a Japanese convenience store chain of selling snacks with dangerously mistranslated English labels that failed to disclose nut allergens, arguing common legal issues predominate because the company used "uniformly mistranslated" labeling across thousands of products.

  • May 30, 2025

    Wholesalers Take Rejected 5-Hour Energy Suit To 9th Circ.

    Family-owned wholesalers want the Ninth Circuit to take a look at a recent ruling that said while they were able to show the maker of 5-Hour Energy committed price discrimination by offering Costco disproportionate promotions, they weren't able to show that discrimination hurt them.

  • May 30, 2025

    TopCo Settles Suit Over Cough Syrup Billed As 'Non-Drowsy'

    The parties in a lawsuit alleging Tussin cough syrup's "non-drowsy" label is deceptive because the syrup makes users sleepy told an Illinois federal judge that they've reached a binding settlement that would end the case.

  • May 30, 2025

    Nicotine Tax Dispute Heads To Texas Supreme Court

    The Texas Supreme Court on Friday agreed to review a dispute over whether a vape company that sells oral nicotine products should be subject to a state tax on tobacco products.

  • May 30, 2025

    Google Must Turn Over Docs About Potential Ad Tech Breakup

    A Virginia federal court granted a request from government agencies on Friday for internal Google LLC reports analyzing a potential breakup of its ad tech business, as the sides ready for a September trial to determine what remedies to impose on Google for monopolizing key ad tech markets.

  • May 30, 2025

    Peet's Coffee, AddShoppers Beat Cert. Bid In Privacy Suit

    A California federal judge refused to certify a proposed class action alleging AddShoppers and Peet's Coffee illegally tracked visitors' browsing activities to send targeted advertising emails, ruling Thursday that the named plaintiffs' claims are not typical of the groups they want to represent, since they did not receive emails about any products.

  • May 30, 2025

    Woman's $56M Slow Cooker Burn Verdict Reduced To $8.8M

    A Colorado federal judge has reduced a nearly $56 million verdict in favor of a woman who suffered burns after her slow cooker exploded while in use, awarding her $8.8 million after applying the state's statutory caps on noneconomic and exemplary damages.

  • May 30, 2025

    NJ Pot Shop Fails To Prove Urgency In $273K Fund Dispute

    A New Jersey federal judge on Friday declined to unfreeze $273,820 of a dispensary's funding frozen in an account between a payment processor and a Florida bank, saying the dispensary hasn't shown it is at risk of insolvency without the money.

  • May 30, 2025

    Giant Eagle Worker Seeks Initial OK For $669K ERISA Deal

    A proposed class of employees at Pennsylvania-based gas and grocery chain Giant Eagle asked a federal court for preliminary approval of an almost $669,000 settlement of their claims that the company overspent their retirement savings on administrative fees.

  • May 30, 2025

    Bass Pro Reels In Final Approval For $5M Tobacco Suit Deal

    A Missouri federal judge has granted final approval to a $4.95 million settlement in a lawsuit that accused Bass Pro Shops of failing to tell employees who used tobacco how they could avoid incurring an extra $2,000-per-year charge for health insurance.

  • May 30, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Kirkland, Cravath, Latham

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, WiseTech completes a $2.1 billion merger with E2open, Acrisure buys a payroll management company for $1.1 billion and Hailey Bieber sells her Rhode skincare and makeup company to e.l.f. beauty for $1 billion.

  • May 29, 2025

    Eyemart Shakes Suit Over Sharing Of Health Data With Meta

    A Texas federal judge has tossed a proposed class action accusing Eyemart Express LLC of unlawfully sharing information about website visitors with Meta Platforms Inc., finding that the plaintiffs had failed to allege that any of their private health data had been sent to the social media platform. 

  • May 29, 2025

    Split 9th Circ. Says Spa's Rule On Certain Trans Women Biased

    A divided Ninth Circuit refused to reinstate a Korean spa's constitutional challenge against the Washington State Human Rights Commission and ordered it to rescind its policy denying admission to trans women without gender-affirming surgery, noting Thursday the policy violated state law prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

  • May 29, 2025

    FTC Seeks To Push Amazon Antitrust Trial To 2027

    The Federal Trade Commission and Amazon on Wednesday fought over the agency's proposal to push back an antitrust trial into 2027 to account for the e-commerce giant's alleged efforts to obstruct discovery, with Amazon telling a Washington federal judge that it was the FTC that insisted on a burdensome discovery.

  • May 29, 2025

    Amazon Says Class Too Complex To Certify In Antitrust Suit

    Amazon has told a Washington federal judge in a newly unsealed filing that a proposed class of nearly 300 million customers would be far too unwieldy for certification and defining the market in a suit accusing the company of inflating prices of items sold on its platform.

  • May 29, 2025

    Columbia Sportswear Gets Mixed Trade Secrets Ruling

    An Oregon federal judge has partially sided with motions by Columbia Sportswear Co. and a former employee in a case alleging the worker took trade secrets with him when he left the company, but denied the bulk of the requests from all parties seeking to end the suit in their favor.

  • May 29, 2025

    Ore. Pot Regulator Will No Longer Require Labor Peace Pacts

    Oregon's cannabis regulator said Thursday that it would no longer enforce a voter-approved law requiring cannabis businesses to enter into labor peace agreements with their employees, following a federal judge's ruling that the law was preempted by federal policy.

  • May 29, 2025

    Cannabis Package Maker Alleges Trademark Infringement

    A manufacturer of packaging designed for cannabis products alleged in a lawsuit filed Thursday in Oklahoma federal court that a competitor has been infringing its designs and trademarks with knockoff wares.

  • May 29, 2025

    No Coverage For Clothing Chain's COVID-19 Losses

    A national clothing retailer can't get coverage for its pandemic-related losses, a Tennessee federal court ruled, permanently tossing the case and saying its Hartford policy plainly excluded the losses regardless of whether Tennessee law or Pennsylvania law — the original jurisdiction of the case — applied.

  • May 29, 2025

    Wash. Justices Upend Cannabis Co. Win In Wage Suit

    Washington state's Department of Labor and Industries does not need to issue a formal letter demanding an employer pay a specific sum to employees before launching a wage and hour lawsuit, the state's supreme court held Thursday, upending a cannabis company's win in a lawsuit the agency launched against it.

Expert Analysis

  • Influencer IP Case Risks Judges Becoming Arbiters Of 'Vibes'

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    The case of Gifford v. Sheil, pending in Texas federal court, involves an influencer alleging that distinctive social media aesthetics constitute protectable property, and reflects a troubling trend: the overreach of intellectual property law in areas better left for creative freedom, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

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    Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • For Accounting Integrity, Start With The Rank-And-File

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    Macy's acknowledgment of an employee's accounting mistake underscores a valuable lesson for company leaders in fostering compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act by cultivating a culture committed to strong accounting integrity and robust oversight, say Keerthika Subramanian and Jon Mantis at Winston & Strawn.

  • A Look At FDA's Plans To Establish New OTC Drug Category

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    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recently finalized rule, creating a new over-the-counter pathway for drugs when patients satisfy certain conditions, may be useful for off-patent drugs with established safety records, though switching to OTC comes with additional costs and considerations, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Chancery May Have Raised Bar For Books, Records Requests

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    The Delaware Court of Chancery recently approved the denial of a books and records demand against Amazon, raising important questions about what evidence and purpose a stockholder is required to show to succeed on such a request, say attorneys at Selendy Gay.

  • Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

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    Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.

  • Series

    Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Opinion

    No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

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    A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • 5 Advertising Law Trends To Watch In 2025

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    Although advertisers are encouraged by the incoming Trump administration's focus on deregulation, this year could feel like wading through uncharted waters, and decreased federal government regulation may mean increased state regulation, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • 5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

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    In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Best Practices To Find Del. Earnout Provisions That Hold Up

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    Recent Delaware earnout litigation illustrates the need for careful drafting and proactive planning to avoid later divergent interpretations of the signed contract, and a series of drafting tips can help, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • NY Plastic Pollution Verdict May Not Bode Well For Other Suits

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    The dismissal of New York state's public nuisance complaint against PepsiCo over pollution of the Buffalo River with the company's single use plastic bottles may not augur well for similar lawsuits filed by Baltimore and Los Angeles County, although tort law varies from state to state, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.

  • Preparing For Mexican Drug Cartels' Terrorist Designation

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    In the event President-elect Donald Trump designates Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, businesses will need to consider how their particular industry is affected and evaluate previously legitimate practices given the cartels' involvement so many sectors of the economy, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Penn State Brand Case Leaves Ornamentality Unresolved

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    While the recent jury verdict in Penn State University v. Vintage Brand was a win for the college and brands, legal practitioners should expect plenty of litigation around unaddressed ornamentality issues of whether marks that are not yet incontestable can be canceled for being used solely in decorative, non-source-identifying ways, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Series

    Illinois Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

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    While the last quarter of 2024 didn't bring any notable state financial legislation, Illinois banks did see developments in the challenge to the Interchange Fee Prohibition Act, and received some awaited guidance on credit line disclosures and bank-fintech relationships, say attorneys at Dykema.

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