Communications & Media Law › Civil Procedure › Business Torts

Delaware Supreme Court Upholds Collateral Estoppel in Multiforum Litigation

The Delaware Supreme Court recently held that the dismissal of a shareholder derivative suit by a California federal court had a preclusive effect on a substantially similar suit pending in the Delaware Chancery Court against...more

Campmor, Inc. v. Brulant, LLC

Opinion Denying Daubert Motion in Limine to Exclude SEO Expert at Trial

Defendant Brulant moves in limine to preclude the testimony of Brian Cooper, Plaintiff Campmor’s expert witness on search engine optimization (“SEO”). The Court held a Daubert hearing on April 10, 2013. The motion is denied....more

Naffe v. Frey, et al.

Ruling DISMISSING Complaint under FRCP 12(b)(1) and Section 1983 claim under FRCP 12(b)(6) with Prejudice, etc.

Per Kenneth White, blogger at Popehat.com: http://www.popehat.com/2013/04/19/victory-for-blogger-patterico-in-free-speech-case/ : "Patrick Frey, also known as Patterico, has been living under the cloud of a frivolous,...more

Securities Class Actions Increasingly Target The C-Suite

According to a recently-published PricewaterhouseCoopers report, corporate executives are being named in an alarmingly high percentage of securities class action filings. In 2012, 94 percent of such filings explicitly named...more

Delaware Supreme Court Says No To Botox And No To Multi-Forum Litigation: Court Dismisses Derivative Suit Against Botox-Maker...

In a recent decision, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed the Court of Chancery in Pyott, et al. v. Louisiana Mun. Police Emp. Ret. Sys., et al., holding that a derivative suit against Botox-maker Allergan, Inc. should be...more

Who Owns Your Online Persona?

Originally published in The Recorder on March 22nd, 2013. Eagle v. Morgan, 2013-11-4303 (E.D. Pa. 2013), represents one of the first trials on the issue of who owns social media accounts: the individual employee who...more

Abbott Avoids Shake-Up: False Ad Suit over Ensure Dismissed

Yet another court has tasked plaintiffs at the pleading stage with providing scientific support for false advertising claims that are based on a product’s alleged failure to deliver its promised health benefits. On Friday, a...more

Is the FTC Decision in POM Wonderful a Game Changer? Only Time (and a Pending Appeal) Will Tell

The saga of POM Wonderful, and the ongoing fight over its advertising, is a topic we have covered quite a bit on this blog. While the consumer class action involving POM was recently dismissed, a recent decision by the...more

How Much "Competition", If Any, Is Required to Establish Standing in Lanham Act False Advertising Cases—the Supreme Court May Be...

Lanham Act false advertising law is largely consistent among the various federal circuit courts. However, one area of Lanham Act jurisprudence where the federal appellate courts do not see eye-to-eye concerns who has standing...more

IP/Entertainment Law Weekly Case Update for Motion Picture Studios and Television Networks -- March 14, 2013

In This Issue: - Gibson Guitar Corp. v. Viacom International, Inc., USDC C.D. California, March 8, 2013: District court grants Viacom’s motion to dismiss plaintiff’s Lanham Act and related state law claims for...more

Defrauding Facebook: How One Man Almost Stole The World’s Largest Social Network

In October 2012 Paul Ceglia of New York was arrested on charges he forged documents in a multibillion-dollar scheme to defraud Facebook and its chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. Mr. Ceglia had brought a much publicized lawsuit...more

Claims by Alleged Developers of the Huffington Post Permitted to Proceed

In Daou v. Huffington, No. 651997/2010 (N.Y. Sup. Ct., N.Y. Cnty. Feb. 14, 2013)—a case strikingly similar to the Facebook lawsuit popularized in The Social Network—the Supreme Court (J. Ramos) ruled that political...more

Food Litigation Newsletter - February 2013

In This Issue: - Court Rules that Yogurt Dispute Belongs Before the FDA - Conclusory Allegations that Advertising is “False and Misleading” Fail Minimum Pleading Standards - 5-Hour Energy Authorized To Sue...more

The Common Law Release Rule Meets Its Demise In California

California Code of Civil Procedure Section 877 (CCP 877) modified what is commonly referred to as the common law release rule. Prior to 1957, that rule held that the release of one tortfeasor given by a plaintiff had the...more

US Supreme Court Upholds Arbitrators Authority to Decide the Validity of a Non-Compete Clause in an Arbitration Agreement

The US Supreme Court recently vacated a decision by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, holding that the national policy favoring arbitration found in the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) and supporting case law, a policy which...more

Contract Disputes and Prevailing Party Attorneys Fees in California

Under California law, the recovery of attorneys’ fees are authorized by statute in a variety of situations. Among these are contract disputes. The “prevailing party” in a contract dispute is entitled to recover their...more

E-Discovery Guidelines Coming To A Court Near You

New E-Discovery Guidelines related to the discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”) have been approved by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Find the Guidelines and related documents...more

Notes For General Counsel

A recent article on the Practical Law website, identified major horizon issues for General Counsel. We highlight a selected sample of these issues by subject area below: Commercial: Green Guides The FTC issues revised...more

Legal Project Management Can Reduce Cost and Future Expense

Companies can employ process management techniques to run more efficiently and reduce future legal costs. Among the many steps a company can take in this regard with respect to legal services are the following: 1. When...more

Guidance on Proving Lost Profit Damages Offered By California Supreme Court

Proving lost profits through expert testimony is often key to recovering the full measure of damages in many lawsuits, but the California Supreme Court decision in Sargon Enterprises v. Univ. of Southern California (November...more

Naffe v. Frey, et al.

Tentative Ruling on Motion to Dismiss per FRCP 12(b)(6)

Per Ken White at Popehat (http://www.popehat.com/2012/12/10/update-on-defense-of-patterico/): "In early October I announced that I would be joining Ron Coleman in a pro bono defense of Patrick Frey of Patterico's...more

E-Discovery Litigation Holds

Preserving company E-mail that may be relevant in litigation is important for every business. Failure to do so can open a company to liability for breaching the duty to preserve evidence. Sending a notice to employees who...more

Naffe v. Frey, et al.

Reply Brief in Support of Motion to Strike per California's Anti-SLAPP Law

Per Ken White at Popehat (http://www.popehat.com/2012/12/10/update-on-defense-of-patterico/): "In early October I announced that I would be joining Ron Coleman in a pro bono defense of Patrick Frey of Patterico's...more

Naffe v. Frey, et al.

Reply Brief in Support of Motion to Dismiss Defamation Complaint per FRCP 12(b)(6)

Per Ken White at Popehat (http://www.popehat.com/2012/12/10/update-on-defense-of-patterico/): "In early October I announced that I would be joining Ron Coleman in a pro bono defense of Patrick Frey of Patterico's...more

Naffe v. Frey, et al.

Motion to Strike Under Calilfornia's Anti-SLAPP Law

Per Ken White at Popehat (http://www.popehat.com/2012/12/10/update-on-defense-of-patterico/): "In early October I announced that I would be joining Ron Coleman in a pro bono defense of Patrick Frey of Patterico's...more