First Republic Executives Fail in Attempt to Recover Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plan Assets
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a district court’s dismissal of a declaratory judgment action, explaining that declaratory judgment jurisdiction does not “arise merely on the basis that a party learns...more
Honeywell International Inc. has taken a proactive stance against what it describes as "unwarranted and unfounded" patent litigation by filing a declaratory judgment action in the Western District of North Carolina against...more
We’ve written about accountant liability. We’ve written about bookkeeper liability. A carefully crafted complaint can state viable claims for either. But business appraiser liability?...more
On April 1, 2025, United States District Judge Jed S. Rakoff granted Defendants Marut Enterprises LLC and Brett Marut’s (collectively, “Defendants”) motion to dismiss and entered final judgment against Foto Electric Supply...more
The Central District of California denied a defendant’s motion to dismiss or transfer plaintiff’s first-filed declaratory judgement action based on defendant’s later-filed patent infringement suit in Wisconsin. Though suit...more
This week, the City of Cleveland (the City) and the State of Ohio (the State) took several key actions in the battle to prevent the Cleveland Browns from relocating to a domed facility in Brook Park, Ohio. On January 14,...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (the “Fifth Circuit”) ruled on December 31, 2024 that Serta Simmons Bedding’s (“SSB”) 2020 uptier exchange included a transaction that, contrary to the assertions of...more
In Lexington Insurance Co. v. Mueller, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision regarding the jurisdiction of the Cabazon Reservation Court in a dispute between Lexington Insurance Company and...more
That was the first sentence of Judge RaymondKethledge’s opinion vacating a district court order that certified a class of over 11 million Ohio residents who alleged various companies put their health at risk by manufacturing...more
As noted in an April 27th blog post, the Arkansas Department of Energy & Environment – Division of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”) filed a Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (“Complaint”) in the United States...more
On November 15, 2022, a California district court declined to dismiss a declaratory judgment action brought by a data scraper, 3taps, Inc. (“3taps”), against LinkedIn Corp. (“LinkedIn”). (3taps, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp., No....more
In a September 22, 2022 decision, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York held a commercial general liability policy’s war and financial services exclusions barred coverage for a suit arising out of the...more
Several patent litigations have been filed involving mRNA pioneers such as Moderna, Inc. and BioNTech, Inc. (with Pfizer) over the past year relating to sales of the Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine products...more
MITEK SYS., INC. V. UNITED SERVS. AUTO. ASS’N - Before Dyk, Taranto, and Cunningham. Appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Summary: Declaratory judgment plaintiffs must identify...more
APPLE INC. v. ZIPIT WIRELESS, INC. [OPINION]- PRECEDENTIAL - Before Hughes, Mayer and Stoll. Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Summary: Notice letters and related...more
In Blue Cube Spinco LLC v. The Dow Chemical Company, C.A. No. N21C-01-214 PRW CCLD (Del. Sup. Ct. Sept. 29 2021), the Delaware Superior Court found that an M&A buyer had adequately alleged breach of contract claims for a...more
Allegations of indirect patent infringement require, among other things, pleading that the defendant had knowledge of the asserted patent. It is not well-settled law, however, whether notice of a complaint itself satisfies...more
Insurers nationwide are awaiting the forthcoming decision of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPMDL) on consolidating COVID-19 business interruption coverage lawsuits. In the meantime, some federal courts are...more
Optis Wireless Technology, LLC filed a declaratory judgment action in the Eastern District of Texas seeking judgment that it complied with its fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) obligations when it offered a...more
The plaintiffs, U.S. Fire Insurance Co. and North River Insurance Co., issued 12 umbrella and excess umbrella liability policies for a combined coverage of $244 million to a manufacturer of respiratory protection equipment...more
Addressing personal jurisdiction in a declaratory judgment action, the US Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit reversed the district court’s bench trial verdict, finding that the district court lacked specific personal...more
In a closely watched case, a New Hampshire federal court has ruled that the Wire Act is limited to sports betting and set aside the DOJ’s recent opinion to the contrary. However, it limited the scope of its declaratory relief...more
In an effort to side-step the lawsuit filed against it by the New Hampshire Lottery (and others), the Department of Justice (DOJ) asserts that its recent reinterpretation of the Wire Act doesn’t apply to lotteries. As we...more
No. Erbaviva, LLC, a California LLC, sent a demand letter to Era Organics, a Florida company. The letter identified a number of Erbaviva federal trademark registrations, and “request[ed]” Era Organics: 1. Request the...more
No. Micro Processing Technology, Inc. sent a letter to Plasma-Therm alleging that Plasma-Therm was infringing MPT’s patent. Plasma-Therm filed a declaratory judgment action seeking a declaration that it did not infringe....more