Civil Remedies › Communications & Media Law › Civil Procedure

Platinum Sports Shoots Air Ball; Sixth Circuit Dismisses Action Against Governor Snyder And Attorney General Schuette For Lack Of...

In 2011, the Michigan legislature enacted laws barring sexually oriented businesses from displaying signs on premises, or off-site billboards, that contain more than "words or numbers." See MCL §§ 125.2833 and 252.318a. ...more

First Circuit Vacates Denial Of Class Certification In Opinion Concerning Pfizer’s Off-Label Marketing Of Neurontin

In Harden Manufacturing Co. v. Pfizer, Inc., 712 F.3d 60 (1st Cir. 2013), one of three cases addressing Pfizer’s off-label marketing of the anticonvulsant drug, Neurontin, the First Circuit vacated the district court’s denial...more

Michigan District Court Holds State Prohibition On Class Actions Does Not Preclude TCPA Class In Federal Court

Pending before the court was Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s TCPA claim contending Defendant sent unsolicited faxes in violation of the law. Also pending before the court was Defendant’s Motion to Strike class...more

A Q&A With Jeff Ifrah on the FTC’s Latest Draconian Tactics

Some lawyers who deal regularly with the Federal Trade Commission in investigations of allegedly false and deceptive online advertising have noticed that the agency is beginning to take steps in these investigations that are...more

Illinois Federal Court Certifies Considerable Class In Data Company Privacy Suit

On April 2, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois certified a class of individuals who downloaded and installed tracking software created and operated by a data company and distributed by one of the...more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- April 11, 2013

- American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. v. Aereo, Inc., USCA Second Circuit, April 1, 2013: Second Circuit affirms district court’s denial of plaintiffs’ request for preliminary injunction prohibiting defendant, Aereo,...more

The Aereo and ReDigi Decisions: Courts Continue to Wrestle With the Application of Copyright Law to the Redistribution of Digital...

A series of recent decisions in the Second and Ninth Circuits—including Viacom v. YouTube and UMG v. Veoh (both dealing with the distribution of user-posted copyrighted content by video hosting services) and AP v. Meltwater...more

Illinois Supreme Court Debates the Insurability of TCPA Federal Junk Fax Penalties

Earlier this month, on the final day of arguments for the March term, the Illinois Supreme Court heard oral argument in Standard Mutual Insurance Co. v. Lay. Lay presents the question of whether the penalty imposed by Federal...more

Naffe v. Frey, et al.

Reply Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint for Failure to State a Claim (FRCP 12(b)(6))

In his Renewed Motion to Dismiss (“the Motion”), Mr. Frey established that the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) fails utterly, as did its predecessor, to meet the standards required to sustain a lawsuit under Fed. R. Civ. P....more

Supreme Court Raises The Bar For Class Actions

Today the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a pivotal decision, holding that as a prerequisite for certification of a class action, a plaintiff must introduce admissible evidence to show that the case is susceptible to awarding...more

"Supreme Court Reverses Massive Antitrust Class Action Against Comcast"

On March 27, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court, by a vote of 5-4, reversed a sprawling class action encompassing more than 2 million current and former Comcast subscribers who alleged violations of federal antitrust laws. See...more

Consumer Products Settlements Containing Cy Pres Distributions Receiving Increased Scrutiny

In a recent decision, In re Baby Products Antitrust Litigation, 2013 U.S. App. LEXIS 3379 (3d Cir. Feb. 19, 2013), the Third Circuit vacated the district court’s order approving a $35.5 million class action settlement which...more

Naffe v. Frey, et al.

Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss First Amended Complaint for Failure to State a Claim (FRCP 12(b)(6))

From the Introduction: This is a motion to dismiss Plaintiff’s First Amended Complaint (“FAC”). In moving to dismiss the first Complaint filed in this action, defendant John Patrick Frey (and former defendant Christi Frey)...more

Privacy Class Actions: Year-in-Review

During 2012, privacy class actions continued to trend toward two major categories: 1) actions that arose out of a data breach event and 2) actions brought to prosecute an alleged consumer privacy right....more

Georgia Supreme Court Holds Faxes Need Simply Be Sent, Not Received In Order To State TCPA Claim in $459 Million TCPA Case

In 2002 and 2003, Defendant, a siding, window and gutter installation company, contracted with a third party to send a total of 318 unsolicited advertisements to various fax machines in the Atlanta, Georgia area. A class...more

IP Case Alert - Nov 2012

In This Issue: Nominal Fair Use Doctrine Bars Winchester Mystery House Trademark Infringement; Fees Clause In Purchase Order And Invoice Entitled Fabric Wholesaler To Attorney’s Fees For Claims Made By Clothing...more

Missouri Court of Appeals Reverses and Renders Summary Judgment, Holding Insurer Not Liable For Indemnity Because TCPA Statutory...

Plaintiff insurance company appealed the trial court’s summary judgment order in favor of Defendants who had settled an underlying action involving the allegedly unsolicited transmission of more than 10,000 faxes in violation...more

Court Provides SLAPP Relief - But Not Enough

In 2010, Ontario's Anti-SLAPP Advisory Panel released released its Report to the Attorney-General. (A "SLAPP" is a "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation" - a lawsuit intended to silence criticism by employing a...more

Food Litigation Newsletter - November 2012

This newsletter aims to keep those in the food industry up to speed on developments in food labeling and nutritional content litigation. We welcome your comments. For a subscription to the electronic copy with links to...more

Ninth Circuit Takes Narrow View of Prior Express Consent in Debt Collection Case

In Meyer v. Portfolio Recovery Associates LLC, plaintiff Jesse Meyer (Meyer), on behalf of himself and a putative class, alleged that debt collection service Portfolio Recovery Associates (PRA) violated the federal Telephone...more

IP Update, Vol. 15, No. 9, October 2012

In This Issue: Patents - A Licensee Can Sometimes Bear the Burden of Proof on Non-Infringement; No Permanent Injunction if Plaintiff and Defendant Did Not Directly Compete; Ongoing Royalty to Be Applied Instead;...more

Decades of Delay Are OK: First Circuit Rejects Laches Defense Based on “Doctrine of Progressive Encroachment”

In a case on appeal from the District of Puerto Rico, the First Circuit held that the “doctrine of progressive encroachment” defeated a junior user’s laches defense, despite the fact that the junior user had been co-existing...more

US Court of Appeals for Ninth Circuit Affirms Class Certification, Order Granting Preliminary Injunction to Stop Calls and Holds...

Meyer v. Portfolio Recovery Associates, LLC, No. 11-56600, 2012 WL 4840814 (9th Cir. Oct. 12, 2012) Pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit was the district court’s: (1) Provisional certification...more

Linkedin Lockout Loss for Employee

Can your employer demand access to your Linkedin account? Can your employer keep access to your account after you terminate employment? Can you sue for damages if your employer denies you access to Linkedin, and your...more

Southern District of Florida Holds Offer of Judgment Does Not Afford Full Relief and Plaintiff Entitled to Summary Judgment on...

Buslepp v. B & B Entertainment, LLC, No. 12-60089-CIV, 2012 WL 4761509 (S.D. Fla. Oct. 5, 2012) Plaintiff’s claims in this purported class action arose out of a contention that he received unsolicited commercial text...more