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Retail & E-Commerce

  • April 21, 2025

    Amazon Says Sanctions Unwarranted In Drivers' Wage Suit

    Potential members of a collective action accusing Amazon of misclassifying drivers were not coerced into talking to attorneys representing the company, Amazon told a Washington federal court, urging the court to reject the drivers' bid to slap sanctions on the company.

  • April 21, 2025

    US, Italy Say Tech Cos. Must Not Face Discriminatory Taxes

    Italy and the U.S. agree that discrimination tech companies face in the form of digital services taxes must end in order to enable investments from those companies, according to a joint statement by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Donald Trump.

  • April 21, 2025

    Supreme Court Won't Hear Neb. Tribe's Tobacco Sales Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear two Nebraska tribal companies' bid to undo an Eighth Circuit ruling that held the state can regulate a tribally owned manufacturer's sales of cigarettes to Indigenous-owned distributors after officials attempted to apply a settlement with major tobacco companies on the Winnebago reservation.

  • April 21, 2025

    High Court Wants SG's Input On Home Depot ERISA Case

    The nation's highest court asked the U.S. solicitor general Monday to opine on whether it should hear a retirement plan mismanagement case from Home Depot workers who say the Eleventh Circuit wrongly required them to link financial losses to alleged breaches of fiduciary duty.

  • April 21, 2025

    Justices Won't Hear Mall Of America's Sears Lease Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a case filed by the owner of Minnesota's Mall of America against Sears Holding Corp. over a transfer of a 100-year lease for an anchor store location, leaving in place a lower court's finding that the mall's lease was not a "true" contract.

  • April 21, 2025

    Justices Won't Hear Patent Eligibility Ruling Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday decided to skip a case brought by a company that had lost a patent case against Amazon, declining the challenge asserting that courts routinely issue summary judgment rulings on patent eligibility, even if there are disputes of fact.

  • April 18, 2025

    Walgreens To Pay DOJ $300M Over Invalid Prescriptions

    Walgreens revealed in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing Friday that it will pay upward of $300 million to resolve U.S. Department of Justice allegations that it knowingly filed millions of prescriptions for opioids and other drugs that didn't have a legitimate medical purpose or weren't valid.

  • April 18, 2025

    Google May See Some Light In The Ad Tech Ruling

    The ruling this week in the U.S. Department of Justice's ad tech monopolization case against Google was a major victory but not a total win for the government, and it raises questions about what the fix should be, especially with a trial looming over remedies in a separate case over search.

  • April 18, 2025

    IP Notebook: AI Prompts, DMCA Battle, Squishmallows Scuffle

    Welcome to IP Notebook, a recurring series that highlights disputes and legal developments that raise novel or crucial questions in the trademark and copyright space.

  • April 18, 2025

    FTC's Southern Glazer's Pricing Case Preserved

    A California federal judge refused to toss the Federal Trade Commission's price discrimination lawsuit against Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits LLC, concluding the alcohol distribution giant moves liquor around enough to trigger interstate commerce and that the FTC has adequately alleged unfair treatment of mom-and-pop stores relative to big box retailers.

  • April 18, 2025

    Judge Sides With Wash. In NY Distillery's Sales Reg Challenge

    A federal judge has rejected a New York whiskey maker's challenge to a Washington rule that distilleries must have a physical in-state location to sell to Evergreen State consumers online, saying the regulation isn't discriminatory because it "applies evenhandedly" regardless of the producer's home state.

  • April 18, 2025

    Insurer Says Smoke Shop Not Covered In Nitrous Oxide Suit

    An insurer for a smoke shop told a Florida federal court it owes no coverage for a proposed class action accusing various shops of selling nitrous oxide products for recreational drug use, pointing to an exclusion barring coverage for injury arising out of "psychotropic substances."

  • April 18, 2025

    NC High Court Snapshot: Livestock Litigation Takes Limelight

    The North Carolina Supreme Court's April lineup will find the justices delving into a squabble over backyard chickens in a residential neighborhood and a consumer fraud class action with Home Depot in the crosshairs.

  • April 18, 2025

    Latham-Led Vacasa Sticks With Casago, Rejects $131M Bid

    Latham & Watkins LLP-advised Vacasa said Friday that its board has rejected a revised acquisition bid from Davidson Kempner Capital Management, indicating that price alone wasn't enough to result in a superior deal to the company's existing agreement with Casago.

  • April 18, 2025

    Union Hits Kroger Chain With Counterclaim In Strike Suit

    The Kroger-owned grocery chain King Soopers violated a poststrike agreement with a United Food & Commercial Workers local by pressuring the union to agree to a collective bargaining agreement by an arbitrary deadline, the union alleged in a counterclaim in the company's strike lawsuit against it in Colorado federal court.

  • April 18, 2025

    Federal Cannabis Law Reform Eyed In Bipartisan Push

    A bipartisan group of representatives has introduced legislation to reconcile the conflicts between the federal prohibition on cannabis and state laws that legalize it, and to prepare the country for federal legalization.

  • April 17, 2025

    Sandberg Says FTC Market View Makes No Sense In Meta Case

    Meta Platforms' former longtime board member and Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg pushed back Thursday on crucial Federal Trade Commission arguments trying to shape the market the social media giant is accused of monopolizing, criticizing a friends and family definition the FTC is using to exclude TikTok as a competitor.

  • April 17, 2025

    DC Circ. Says Lateness Doomed Starbucks' NLRB Challenge

    The National Labor Relations Board was not obligated to accommodate Starbucks after its attorney filed a challenge to a board judge's ruling 23 minutes late, the D.C. Circuit ruled Thursday, holding that the board did not abuse its discretion by refusing to process the challenge.

  • April 17, 2025

    Wash. Justices Back Consumers In Old Navy Spam Email Suit

    Washington's highest court said in a 5-4 ruling Thursday that the state's spam law bars commercial emails that include any false information in their subject lines, endorsing two consumers' broader interpretation of the statute in a proposed class action against Old Navy.

  • April 17, 2025

    Ibotta Misrepresented Kroger Deal, Shareholder Suit Alleges

    Digital consumer discount company Ibotta Inc. was hit with a proposed shareholder class action claiming its registration statement for its April 2024 initial public offering omitted information regarding the nature of its relationship with grocery retailer The Kroger Co., prompting stocks to plummet when investors learned the relationship had ended.

  • April 17, 2025

    ITC Blocks Chinese Co.'s Plastics Tech Over Patent Dispute

    The U.S. International Trade Commission issued a limited order barring a Chinese company from importing parts used in molding machines that make plastic bottles, following an infringement case from a Canadian rival — though the trade agency split in its decision not to issue a cease-and-desist order targeting imported parts that already made it into the U.S. 

  • April 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Tosses Objections To $10.4M CVS Wage Settlement

    A pharmacist's objections to a $10.4 million settlement of a wage and hour class action affecting 24,000 CVS employees hold no weight, a Ninth Circuit panel found, ruling Thursday that a California federal judge adequately considered the merits of each objection before tossing them.

  • April 17, 2025

    Pot Cos. Can't Get Block On Mich. City Licensing Fees

    A Michigan federal judge won't block the enforcement of cannabis licensing fees by the city of Grand Rapids, finding the companies objecting to the fees haven't shown they face irreparable harm without an injunction.

  • April 17, 2025

    Fla. 'King Of Vape' Brings Defamation Suit Against NY Post

    A Florida retail store owner who operates under the name "The King of Vape" brought a federal defamation lawsuit against News Corp., saying the New York Post ran a recent story falsely describing him as an anti-Israel advocate and terrorist supporter who was recently sued for selling illicit e-cigarettes.

  • April 17, 2025

    'Moonshine' Fudge Maker Must Pay Fees For Failed IP Claims

    The maker of "Chocolate Moonshine" fudge may have won a trade secrets case against his ex-wife and her new chocolate company, but he must pay the defendants more than $174,000 in attorney fees and costs for his unsuccessful trademark and copyright infringement claims.

Expert Analysis

  • Best Practices For Influencer Trademark Protection

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    Though the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board recently decided that an influencer couldn't qualify for a retail services trademark registration for posting affiliate links to a third-party website, there are other trademark protections that influencers can pursue for their branding and marketing services, say attorneys at Nixon Peabody.

  • Takeaways From Final Regulations For China Investment Ban

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    ​The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s final rule banning U.S. investment in emerging Chinese technology clarifies some key requirements, includes additional exceptions for covered transactions and attempts to address concerns that the rule will put U.S. businesses at a competitive disadvantage, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Series

    Circus Arts Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Performing circus arts has strengthened my ability to be more thoughtful, confident and grounded, all of which has enhanced my legal practice and allowed me to serve clients in a more meaningful way, says Bailey McGowan at Stinson.

  • Recent Listeria Outbreaks Hold Key Compliance Lessons

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    Listeria outbreaks in ready-to-eat foods from Boar's Head and other companies, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Food and Drug Administration responses to these outbreaks, should be closely evaluated from an overall compliance and risk management perspective by food manufacturers, retailers and industry investors, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • 3 Ways To Train Junior Lawyers In 30 Minutes Or Less

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    Today’s junior lawyers are experiencing a skills gap due to pandemic-era disruptions, but firms can help bring them up to speed by offering high-impact skill building content in bite-sized, interactive training sessions, say Stacey Schwartz at Katten, Diane Costigan at Winston & Strawn and Lauren Tierney at Freshfields.

  • What Cos. Can Learn from Water Microplastics Class Actions

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    Class actions against companies whose bottled spring water allegedly contains microplastics, challenging claims such as "natural" and "100% spring water," seem to be drying up — but these cases serve as a good reminder to other businesses to review regulatory standards, and carefully vet plaintiff allegations at the outset, say attorneys at Keller and Heckman.

  • The Bar Needs More Clarity On The Discovery Objection Rule

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    Almost 10 years after Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 was amended, attorneys still seem confused about what they should include in objections to discovery requests, and until the rules committee provides additional clarity, practitioners must beware the steep costs of noncompliance, says Tristan Ellis at Shanies Law Office.

  • Series

    Being A Navy Reservist Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Serving this country in uniform has not only been one of the greatest honors of my life, but it has also provided me with opportunities to broaden my legal acumen and interpersonal skills in ways that have indelibly contributed to my civilian practice, says Phillip Smith at Weinberg Wheeler.

  • So You Want To Move Your Law Practice To Canada, Eh?

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    Google searches for how to move to Canada have surged in the wake of the U.S. presidential election, and if you’re an attorney considering a move to the Great White North, you’ll need to understand how the practice of law differs across the border, says David Postel at Henein Hutchison.

  • A Look At 2024 NIL Rights And Economies In College Sports

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    Permutations in the arena of name, image and likeness affecting collegiate athletics have continued unabated this year, and practitioners and industry representatives should anticipate significant activity at schools and continuing legal changes at the state level, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Unpacking ÃÛÌÒÊÓÆµ's Unwieldy Buy Now, Pay Later Guidance

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    Both the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent interpretive rule regarding buy now, pay later transactions, and its FAQ guidance, place providers in murky waters with the unenviable position of attempting to place a square, closed-end product in a round, regulatory framework meant for open-end products, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Patent Marking Steps After Fed. Circ. Opens Lanham Act Door

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    Following the Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Crocs v. Effervescent, which seemingly revives private actors’ ability to bring false patent marking claims under the Lanham Act, marketing and legal teams should be careful to avoid advertisement language that implies nonexistent patent rights, says Jeffrey Ratinoff at Spencer Fane.

  • Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals

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    Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.

  • Series

    Playing Ultimate Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    In addition to being fun, ultimate Frisbee has improved our legal careers by emphasizing the importance of professionalism, teamwork, perseverance, enthusiasm and vulnerability, say Arunabha Bhoumik and Adam Bernstein at Regeneron. 

  • Key Legal Considerations After Supply Chain Disruptions

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    After U.S. supply chain disruptions — like the recent port workers' strike, and Hurricanes Helene and Milton — stakeholders should look to contractual provisions to mitigate losses, and keep in mind that regulators will be watching closely for unfair shipping practices, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

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