Benton Housing Associates Limited Partnership (“Benton Housing”) filed on August 9th in the United States District Court for the District of Arkansas (Central Division) a Complaint against the following defendants: City...more
PART 2: LAUNCH OF THE REGISTER OF DAMAGE FOR UKRAINE - This week, the Register of Damage for Ukraine (the “Register”) officially launched, meaning that the claims submission process for those seeking compensation for the...more
The Second Circuit just raised the bar for recovering avoided costs as unjust enrichment in a Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) case. With a successful DTSA claim, a trade secret owner may obtain an injunction against further...more
In the December 5, 2022 opinion (Cummings Properties, LLC v. Darryl C. Hines, No. 21-P-1153), the Massachusetts Appeals Court considered whether a commercial landlord can collect accelerated rent upon a tenant default,...more
Some important insurance decisions were handed down over the past month. We begin in Ohio, where public nuisance claims by state and local governments over opioids and lead paint were on full display. In Acuity, the...more
Suppose you have not registered your copyright in a book with the U.S. Copyright Office until someone has infringed your copyright by copying substantial portions of your book. Let’s also suppose you can prove that the...more
Copyright owners now have another venue for enforcing copyrights: the Copyright Claims Board (CCB). Established by the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2020 (CASE Act), the CCB aims to provide...more
[co-author: Ivy Attenborough, Summer Associate] Thank you for reading the June 2022 issue of Sterne Kessler's MarkIt to Market® newsletter. This month, we discuss the differences between Copyright Claims Board and federal...more
Tommy, Bon Jovi fans know, is in trouble. From the opening lines of the song, “Livin’ on a Prayer,” we learn that things are so bad that Tommy’s got his six-string in hock. The song implies that Tommy is in straits because...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed a judgment holding a lawyer jointly and severally liable for trade secret misappropriation and fraudulent transfer and enjoining any further use of the trade secrets...more
Let’s suppose that you have not registered your copyright in a book with the U.S. Copyright Office and you find someone has infringed your copyright by copying substantial portions of your book. Let’s also suppose you are...more
Tortious interference with business relations involves a third party using false claims against a business in order to drive business away or prevent the business from entering a relationship with another party. The key...more
Tortious interference, also known as intentional interference with contractual relations, is a common law tort that occurs when a party intentionally sabotages or otherwise damages the plaintiff’s contractual business...more
The Chief Judge of the Southern District of Florida has ruled that corporate-competitor plaintiffs may recover lost profits under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act ("FDUTPA"). In Tymar Distribution LLC v....more
In Johnson v. Columbia Debt Recovery, a Washington district court awarded each plaintiff $30,000 in emotional distress damages under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), $120 in treble actual damages under the...more
The Copyright Alternative in Small Claims Enforcement Act (CASE Act) was signed into law on December 27, 2020, as part of the Omnibus COVID-19 Relief Bill. The CASE Act establishes a completely new forum for resolution of...more
Class action litigation brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is on the rise—particularly in California—after the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a 2017 decision applying a hypertechnical...more
Now entering its ninth month in the United States with no sign of slowing down, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many employers to make permanent changes to business operations in order to survive. Among the most noticeable...more
Liquidated damages are a sum specified in a contract as the measure of recovery in the event of a breach of the contract. Liquidated damages provisions are common in construction contracts to guard against damages that the...more
On Oct. 6, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is set to hear oral arguments in Pearson v. Allstate Fire and Casualty Insurance Company. The case centers on statutory construction of Chapters 542 and 542A of the...more
Colloquially known as the ‘‘Rocket Docket,’’ the Eastern District of Virginia (‘‘EDVA’’) has been the speediest federal court for civil trials since 2008, according to the annual data compiled by the Administrative Office of...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on August 7, 2020 issued its post-trial findings of fact and conclusions of law in Obeslo v. Great-West Capital Management, LLC et al. The ruling comes at the tail end of a...more
Imagine litigating an infringement case for two years, and after a nine day jury trial, obtaining a jury’s verdict that says you’ve established infringement and awards your client $5,000,000. Then you realize that the jury...more
AUSTRALIAN THERAPEUTIC v. NAKED TM, LLC - Before O’Malley, Reyna, and Wallach. Appeal from the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board - Summary: Standing to Challenge A Registered Mark at the TTAB Does Not Depend on the...more